Week 1 is finally here! Let’s go over start and sit recommendations to open the season.
Quarterback Starts
Jared Goff vs. New Orleans Saints
Goff has averaged 8.1 YPA, 280 passing yards and 2.3 touchdown passes over the last two seasons at home. Detroit enters with a fully healthy pass-catching group and the league’s highest projected team total (28.5 points). This matchup should be extremely fast paced. Goff is a top 10 QB start in Week 1.
Kyler Murray vs. Green Bay Packers
Murray gets a home matchup indoors against a Packers’ defense that projects to struggle until Micah Parsons returns; Green Bay might have a bottom three defensive line right now. Kevin O’Connell routinely produced big stats from his quarterbacks before the J.J. McCarthy debacle, and Murray’s fantasy upside is higher than all previous versions given his rushing ability.
Malik Willis @ Las Vegas Raiders
Willis will run like crazy this season, and he gets an inviting matchup indoors to open his Miami career. He owns a 14.5% scramble rate, has averaged 58 rushing yards during games started and is the all-time leader in fantasy points per drop back by a wide margin. Miami isn’t messing around and will start rookies Chris Bell and Caleb Douglas immediately without pitch counts. Willis should be treated as a QB1 this week.
Running Back Starts
David Montgomery vs. Buffalo Bills
Montgomery experienced a downgrade in environments going from the Lions to the Texans, but he gets a favorable matchup Sunday. Buffalo was a run-funnel defense last season, allowing the most RB rush touchdowns in the NFL. Of course, defenses can change dramatically season to season (or even week to week), but there’s a chance the Bills take a step back on that side of the ball with Sean McDermott gone. Moreover, C.J. Stroud has performed significantly better at home throughout his career. Woody Marks will also get touches, but Montgomery should be locked in fantasy lineups this week.
Jaylen Warren & Rico Dowdle vs. Atlanta Falcons
Warren and Dowdle will split work in Pittsburgh’s backfield, which produced the fifth most RB fantasy points last season. Warren will inherit a bunch of targets with Kenneth Gainwell gone, as Aaron Rodgers peppers his backs relentlessly at this stage of his career. Meanwhile, Dowdle is the favorite for goal-line carries. Game-script should be favorable with the Steelers approaching touchdown favorites with Cooper Rush starting, making both Pittsburgh backs viable starters this week.
Chuba Hubbard vs. Chicago Bears
Jonathan Brooks’ soaring ADP surpassed Hubbard’s by a few rounds at one point late in draft season, but the latter enters healthier and the early favorite for rushing work in Carolina. Brooks will likely open the year as the Panthers’ passing down back and has far more long-term upside, but Hubbard is a sneaky flex option in Week 1 against a shaky Bears’ defense.
Wide Receiver & Tight End Starts
Jalen Coker vs. Chicago Bears
Coker averaged nearly as many targets and more catches, receiving yards and fantasy points than Tetairoa McMillan after Carolina’s Week 14 bye last season. Coker also outperformed McMillan in yards per route run and first-read target percentage while seeing four times the number of red-zone targets. Coker owned a 22% target share over that final stretch if also including the playoff game, when he put up 12-9-134-1 against the Rams. Chicago gave up the second most fantasy points to the slot last season, where Coker ran 60% of his routes. He’s a sneaky start in Week 1.
Tre Tucker vs. Miami Dolphins
Tucker was already in line to be a major beneficiary of Klint Kubiak’s play action system and leading one of the NFL’s thinnest WR groups, and he’ll now see increased targets with Brock Bowers out. You likely have better options with no bye weeks and injuries yet to hit too hard entering the season, but Tucker is a sleeper WR3 if needed.
Juwan Johnson @ Detroit Lions
Johnson will be a key part of New Orleans’ offense with Jordyn Tyson out. Johnson quietly finished third in receiving yards among tight ends last year, and he’ll catch more touchdowns in 2026; the Saints are due for regression after scoring a TD on an NFL-low 44% of red-zone drives last season, and Taysom Hill is gone. Johnson benefits from a Kellen Moore system that put him in the slot 40 percent of the time (TE3) and ranked first in plays per minute last season.
This game will be fast paced and indoors with an over/under approaching 50 points. Detroit will be missing both of its starting safeties (Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph), so Johnson is a top 10 TE this week.
Michael Mayer vs. Miami Dolphins
Bowers is out after undergoing a surprise “meniscus trim,” making Mayer a fantasy TE1 this week. Mayer was a strong prospect who produced during games Bowers missed last season and now gets an immeasurable upgrade in offensive systems. Mayer was going to be part of the Raiders’ offense even before Bowers’ injury thanks to a shallow WR group in Las Vegas, and he gets a matchup against a Miami defense that allowed the second most receptions to tight ends last year. Mayer is a TE1 this week.
Sits & Fades
Jayden Daniels @ Philadelphia Eagles
Daniels should have a big bounce back season in 2026, but he’s a bench candidate in Week 1. He travels to Philadelphia to face an elite pass rush while missing LT Laremy Tunsil. The Eagles surrendered the fewest number of passing touchdowns last season, and the Commanders have the same team point total (19.5) as the Titans this week. Daniels is a borderline QB1 to open the season, with Murray, Willis and Tyler Shough all possible alternatives.
Quinshon Judkins @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Judkins looks like a beast, but he’ll cede passing down work to Dylan Sampson in one of the league’s worst offenses. Moreover, Judkins gets a stout Jacksonville run defense; only the Broncos and Seahawks allowed fewer fantasy points to running backs last year. Jaguars’ opponents owned a league-low 36% rush rate. The Browns sport an NFL-low 15.5-point team total this week, when Judkins is a fade.
MarShawn Lloyd @ Minnesota Vikings
Few players saw their ADP rise more than Lloyd over the summer thanks to the uncertain status of Josh Jacobs. Lloyd enters Week 1 atop Green Bay’s RB depth chart, but Chris Brooks and Pierre Strong will form a committee. The Packers’ offensive line looks like a bottom-five unit, and Lloyd is in danger of losing snaps while facing a blitz-heavy Brian Flores defense. Lloyd didn’t exactly light it up during the preseason (20 carries for 60 yards), yet fantasy managers are treating him close to an RB2 (RB27 in ECR) in a tricky matchup this week.
Rome Odunze @ Carolina Panthers
Odunze is expected to practice Friday, but he’s a risky play Sunday if active. A new calf injury has sidelined him this week, and there’s a good chance he’s limited if he suits up. Odunze enters third in Chicago’s target pecking order behind Luther Burden and Colston Loveland after missing practice time, and Carolina was a run-funnel defense last season. Sit Odunze in Week 1.