10 Things to Know For Week 1: A Must-Add DST, Four Rookies to Stash, and More

Week 1 is upon us. Reminder: Friends and family come and go, but fantasy football championship banners hang forever.

This brings us to today's goal:

10 mostly fantasy-relevant things to know ahead of Week 1

...that ideally will help make you both a better fantasy manager and overall person.

Strap in for rookie stashes, injury updates, a sleeper DST, my favorite handcuffs, Week 2 waiver wire predictions... and more!

As always: It's a great day to be great.

1. Football is back. Yay! But also, r-e-l-a-x

Because we're about to see some random ass things happen, both good and bad.

In Week 1, 2024, guys like Allen Lazard (26.9 PPR points), Isaiah Likely (26.1), Anthony Richardson (26.1) and Rhamondre Stevenson (21.6) each produced boom performances … that were largely followed by a whole lot of nothing for the rest of the season.
We also saw studs like Amon-Ra St. Brown (4.3), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (3.9), Terry McLaurin (3.7) and Drake London (3.5) fail to reach even five fantasy points during the opening 60 minutes of last season… before they all went on to be top-18 WRs in PPR points per game.

Again: Be excited! The greatest sport ever invented is gracing our televisions for the next six months! Tailgates are back! Hoodie weather is around the corner! We can once again watch games at the bar instead of pretending to want to talk to people!

Life is good … just remember that six long, cold months of anticipation naturally lead to overreactions surrounding *one* data point of the 2025 season. When in doubt over a performance, trust the eventual utilization data above all else–in the meantime try your best to simply enjoy consistent 11-on-11 car crashes featuring finely tuned athletic machines throwing around a ball that isn't even round.

2. If I could ask a fantasy football genie three questions…

Here's the bit: We've spent all offseason agonizing over specific usage questions and still have more questions than answers mere days before kickoff. The involved uncertainty has led to plenty of depressed ADPs across the industry, so the goal here is to ponder what would be three particularly helpful outcomes to know from the upcoming slate of action. Cool? Cool.

Who is the RB1 in Jacksonville? Anyone who pretends to have a clear idea of how work will be divided between Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby and Bhayshul Tuten this season is kidding themselves. This has accordingly led to all three being priced in the RB3-4 range throughout the offseason. Of course, a clear RB1 could quickly skyrocket up the ranks—particularly if this Liam Coen-led attack comes close to reaching newfound high-end scoring expectations. I've tried to leave more fantasy drafts than not with one of these (typically Tuten since he's the cheapest).
Is Isiah Pacheco the workhorse in Kansas City? Because his borderline RB2 ADP could look like a Prime Day-level bargain if so. It certainly seems possible: Pacheco posted 80% and 66% snap rates with 42 combined carries and targets during essentially his only two healthy games of last season. The man is *one* year removed from working as the RB14 in PPR points per game. Then again, things could get muddy here if Kareem Hunt is more involved than expected in early-down and short yardage situations, while Brashard Smith also looks like a threat to steal some pass-down work.
Will Blake Corum have a legit weekly role this season? Because on the one hand, Rams OC Mike LaFleur has openly said he'd like to divvy up the work more this season between Corum and Kyren Williams. But on the other hand, key parties in the Rams organization also hyped up this idea last offseason before eventually handing Williams nearly 400 touches. Look, Kyren got #paid, nobody is debating his status as THE running back, y'all, but he'll look like a Round 3-4 SMASH if last season's ridiculous utilization persists, while Corum could QUICKLY become a priority waiver wire add should he even clearly emerge as the team's RB2 ahead of rookie Jarquez Hunter.

Speaking of this idea of lower-rostered players becoming household names by this time next week…

**3. Favorite candidates to be on the cover of Week 2 waiver wire articles**

My top two…

Dolphins RB Ollie Gordon: This one hurts — I spent March-July drafting Jaylen Wright non-stop because of his chances to obtain… the exact role that has now fallen in Gordon's lap following injuries to Wright (lower body) and Alexander Mattison (neck, IR). And hey, to Gordon's credit, his rather awesome preseason performance made it look like a takeover was possible even before the team's second-year talent got hurt. Let the record show that I am NOT mad. Either way, Gordon is a priority bench stash at the moment thanks to his potential to soak up early-down/goal-line work in a similar manner as Raheem Mostert (234 touches, 21 TD in 2023) while also providing potentially awesome handcuff upside should De'Von Achane (already dealing with a calf injury) miss any time.

Browns RB Dylan Sampson: It remains to be seen when Quinshon Judkins will sign with the Browns. Some reports say this week, but others have speculated that he's not going to be in a position to play in September (independent of a potential suspension) due to the reality that the rookie just missed all of training camp. This makes it plenty possible that Sampson—the team's preseason Week 3 starter alongside Joe Flacco and company—gets a chance to lead the way through the first four weeks of the season with the potential to split things up later and/or again start down the stretch if a suspension does come to fruition. Not a bad deal for hero/zero-RB drafters looking for some RB2 help early in the season.

On the other side of things, Kyle Pitts is my pick to win this season's "Kevin Ogletree" award for a player who posts a BIG Week 1 … before doing next-to-nothing the rest of the season. Pitts torched this very Buccaneers defense (7-88-0, 4-91-2) in 2024 and could feasibly be leaned on more than usual in the team's season-opener if Darnell Mooney (shoulder) is still operating at less than 100%. Again this is a derogatory award, so we're predicting Week 1 fireworks followed by disappointment for the 24-year-old talent. The fantasy GOAT himself Matthew Berry went with Michael Pittman for this ridiculous "award" on THE Fantasy Life Show on Wednesday. Fun!

Now for some additional RBs who we might want to stash on the ole fantasy bench sooner rather than later.

4. Honey, get the handcuffs: Four intriguing rookie RB stashes

What's the only thing cooler than landing the best waiver wire addition during any given week? Already having them on your bench!

I wrote some extended words on fantasy's handcuff hierarchy last week, but four stick out as particularly solid bench stashes ahead of Week 1 thanks to their sub-50% rostership over at ESPN:

Cowboys RB Jaydon Blue (43%, ESPN, 37% Yahoo): Not listed on the team's injury report after suffering an August ankle injury. Blue's explosive pass-catching skill-set could make him the team's go-to option sooner rather than later if Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders are as washed, as many believe.
Jaguars RB Bhayshul Tuten (37.9% ESPN, 58% Yahoo): Discussed previously, but yeah: Tuten joins Blue as rather awesome bench stashes thanks to their dueling handcuff upside and takeover potential.
Dolphins RB Ollie Gordon (31.2% ESPN, 34% Yahoo): Best-case scenario is that Gordon winds up working as fantasy's cheapest version of the David Montgomery/Jordan Mason 1.B/goal line back archetype.
Texans RB Woody Marks (11.8% ESPN, 9% Yahoo) and Dameon Pierce (5.8% ESPN, 4% Yahoo): Houston, your backfield has a problem! (Sorry). But seriously: It remains to be seen if/when Joe Mixon (foot, NFI) will return, and there's a chance Nick Chubb simply isn't a legit answer at this point of his career. Enter: Marks and Pierce, who are the youthful options available inside an offense just one year removed from not totally sucking. I've been more prone to scooping up Pierce–he was reportedly working alongside Chubb and the starters during training camp–but Marks' explosive pass-catching skills makes him a similar, yet lesser known, alternative to Blue.

5. Doctor, doctor, give me the news: Week 1 Injury Watch

Make sure you check out Fantasy Life's Friday Injury Roundup for updated injury analysis later in the week as things become clearer, but as of Wednesday morning I'm mostly concerned with the following 11 fantasy-relevant situations:

Chargers RB Najee Harris (eye): Expected to play against the Chiefs on Friday in Brazil. The Iron Man has never missed a game in his NFL career. I'd be cautious expecting too much work in Week 1, but the reality that his health is now looking good makes Harris a solid FLEX-with-benefits bench stash in the same mold as Rhamondre Stevenson and Braelon Allen.
Dolphins RB De'Von Achane (calf): Reportedly on track to suit up Sunday against the Colts. Treat Achane as the top-10 RB you drafted him as; here's to hoping the issue is fully healed and doesn't flare up.
Bears RBs: Both Roschon Johnson (foot) and Kyle Monangai (undisclosed) have been banged up and missed some late August practices. Neither injury is tentatively believed to be overly severe, but the absence of either could lead to more of a clear workhorse role for starter D'Andre Swift–and perhaps underrated FLEX/handcuff value for the healthier early-down complement.
Falcons WR Darnell Mooney (shoulder): Considered day-to-day. Friendly reminder that Mooney actually had more receiving yards than Drake London through 14 weeks of last season. Obviously we easily still prefer London in these fantasy streets, but Mooney is a good WR5 candidate to easily beat ADP with good health from here on out.
Packers WR Jayden Reed (foot): Apparently trying to play through a Jones fracture. Don't love that! I'm not going to be recommending Reed in close start/sit decisions for the time being. Matthew Golden, Romeo Doubs, TE Tucker Kraft and *gasp* even Dontayvion Wicks deserve solid bumps in the ranks.
Broncos WR Marvin Mims (groin): Seemingly looking good for Sunday. Mims could look like a diamond in the rough of fantasy drafts if his preseason starter usage persists, but I also wouldn't count out Troy Franklin, who has a decent chance of leading this offense in deep ball targets.
Chiefs WR Jalen Royals (knee): Not expected to suit up Friday night, meaning three-WR sets should mostly consist of Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster. The former is the only one who needs to be in lineups, but DFSers should consider a dart on JuJu, who could soak up some of the Rashee Rice-esque low-aDOT targets.
49ers WR Jauan Jennings (calf): Expected to suit up against the Seahawks. A healthy Jennings belongs in the WR3 conversation as long as Brandon Aiyuk (knee, PUP) is sidelined.
Ravens TE Isaiah Likely (foot): Reportedly not expected to play Week 1; even a surprising questionable tag would make him a no-go considering the Ravens play on Sunday night. Enter: Mark Andrews, who is my fourth-ranked TE this week ahead of the week's highest-implied matchup.
Bengals TE Mike Gesicki (hamstring): Missed a good chunk of August, but he's healthy now and fully expected to be good to go for Sunday. There's an outside chance Gesicki is the No. 3 pass-game option in this ever-high-flying Bengals offense. He's my favorite deep league bench stashes at the position.
Buccaneers TE Cade Otton (leg): Head coach Todd Bowles said Otton will miss "a little bit" while dealing with this injury, but Bowles is also sometimes full of shit, and Otton was back at practice on Monday. For now, I wouldn't trust Otton this week with limited snaps possible if healthy, but he could low-key surprise early on while Chris Godwin (ankle) and Jalen McMillan (neck) are sidelined.

Also note that guys like Malik Nabers (toe/shoulder), Justin Jefferson (hamstring), Stefon Diggs (knee), Josh Downs (hamstring), and Khalil Shakir (ankle) are all tentatively expected to suit up based on their recent practice participation and/or coach comments. Yay!

6. Three key Week 1 ranking questions and answers

I'll be publishing an early rankings column midday Monday throughout the season that gives my top-12 QB/TE and top-24 RB//WR alongside some honorable mention picks while also answering a handful of questions regarding some of the week's biggest storylines. You can read the full Week 1 piece here, but I also wanted to highlight the three biggest questions and answers I had.

*Law and Order Music*

These are their stories.

1. Are we positive we'll be getting the same Baker Mayfield (my QB9) in 2025?

On the one hand, Baker has been pretty awesome over the last two seasons on his way to throwing for an NFL-high 69 TDs (nice).

On the other hand, his 2025 environment has several different chances that he must overcome:

Wünderkind OC Liam Coen took his talents to the Jaguars.
LT Tristan Wirfs (knee) and WR Chris Godwin (ankle) are expected to miss the first month of the season.
The regression gods could be coming for Mayfield in both the passing (career-high 7.2% pass TD rate in 2024) and rushing (career-high 22.2 rush yards per game) departments.

A matchup against a Falcons defense that Mayfield shredded for six TDs last season isn't one to be scared of; just realize I'm hesitant in immediately treating the 30-year-old gunslinger as the top-five fantasy option that he finished 2024 as.

2. Should Tony Pollard (my RB18) be trusted with Tyjae Spears (ankle, IR) out?

Probably! After all, he was force-fed the ball with Spears completely sidelined or playing less than a quarter of the offense's snaps last season.

Week 6: 17-93-1 rushing, 3-(-)5-0 receiving, 74% snaps, PPR RB14
Week 7: 16-61-0 rushing, 2-4-0 receiving, 89%, RB32
Week 8: 20-94-0 rushing, 3-23-0 receiving, 82%, RB20
Week 9: 28-128-0 rushing, 3-26-0 receiving, 86%, RB12
Week 12: 24-119-1 rushing, 3-10-0 receiving, 94%, RB5
Week 18: 22-62-0 rushing, 0-0-0 receiving, 73%, RB38

The Titans spent big in free agency on the offensive line and earned a top-10 preseason ranking from ETR's Brandon Thorn. While the matchup in Mile High isn't ideal, it's tough to overly bicker about any RB poised to potentially breeze past 20 touches. Pollard deserves the benefit of the doubt in most low-end RB2/FLEX decisions this week.

3. Should we trust Xaiver Worthy (my WR15) no matter what while Rashee Rice is suspended?

Short answer: Yes. Worthy deserves credit for averaging a robust 17.1 PPR points per game (WR15) from Weeks 11-Super Bowl. Sure, his decrease in aDOT (11.9 vs. 7.5) reflects the potential for some of these opportunities to dry up when Rashee Rice is available…but that won't be until Week 7. Hell, even Jalen Royals (knee) is out for Week 1.

Clearly the Chiefs figured out a good way to get Worthy involved in the underneath areas of the field down the stretch last season…what's the ceiling here if Patrick f*cking Mahomes manages to get on a better page with his 22-year-old WR who is kinda sorta the fastest man in league history in case you forgot.

Moral of the story: Worthy flashed to a high level in year one and continues to project for triple-digit opportunities inside what has usually been one of the league's best offenses thanks to having the game's best QB under center. That should be an archetype we seek out in fantasy land, especially while he faces next to zero target competition in his own WR room.

7. The DST corner: Don't sleep on the 49ers

Every offseason I devote an hour or two to finding a DST that checks the following three boxes:

Great early-season schedule
Solid chance of being a good real-life unit
Cheap enough in fantasy for me to get in the last round or two of my draft

Four contenders immediately emerged when looking at our first criteria: The Patriots, Cardinals, Steelers, and 49ers easily boast the most fantasy-friendly schedules in September when looking at their opponent's 2024 ranks in points per game allowed to opposing DSTs. I figured New England and Arizona would accordingly be the target considering the reality that Pittsburgh and San Francisco have been the far superior real life options more years than not in recent history.

I was wrong!

Current ESPN/Yahoo DST ownership:

Steelers (99% ESPN, 99% Yahoo)
Patriots (74%, 14%)
Cardinals (47%, 37%)
49ers (17%, 32%)

Again, the Patriots and Cardinals are good early-season bets as well, but I do back the 49ers over both for a few reasons:

San Fran projects to be the best real-life team of the bunch, boasting a 10.5 preseason win total.
This defense boasts two of the best individual defenders in the entire league in Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. Both are firmly in their primes.
Former DC Robert Saleh is back. The ex-Jets HC has led top-eight defenses in EPA per play allowed in four of his last six seasons.
This is rather easily the league's easiest schedule. Look at this sh*t!

I totally get riding with elite real-life units like the Steelers, Broncos, Texans and Vikings over playing the matchup game, but I'd probably prefer the 49ers to basically anyone else.

8. Subjectively ranking every game from an entertainment perspective

Bad football will always be better than no football. That said: We obviously are more excited for certain games over others, so every week I'll take a few minutes to rank the upcoming matchups due to subjective, at times stupid and silly reasons.

BUF-BAL: Josh Allen. Lamar Jackson. Sunday night. Only 50-plus point game total of the week. Sometimes football is simply the best.
PHI-DAL: Tough to rank the first game of the season any lower. I also expect Dallas to essentially be the NFC's Bengals: Weekly shootouts that are fun to watch for everyone … except Cowboys fans.
CHI-MIN: JJ McCarthy NFL debut. Will Caleb Williams be good now? Another chess match between Ben Johnson and Brian Flores. All on Monday night football, where I'll personally be tuning in via the always-entertaining Manning Cast.
LAC-KC: Here's to hoping Brazil's turf doesn't resemble Sherbet Land this time around. Either way: Friday night lights featuring Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert. Hell yeah.
GB-DET: The hopeful debut of Micah Parsons in a matchup that is tied for the second-highest game total of the week. This is pretty easily the best game of the late afternoon Sunday slate–at least we have four of them! Nothing on this planet pisses me off more than three-games in the 4pm ET window. Literally nothing.
CLE-CIN: The Bengals are simultaneously capable of scoring 40 points on anyone…and allowing 40 points to anyone. This resulted in Red Zone cinema last season. Fun fact: Joe Flacco leads the NFL in passing yards per game (283.4) over the past two seasons if you only count his 13 starts/extended appearances.
LAR-HOU: I feel like there's a decent tier dropoff around this point. Matthew Stafford's bad back combined with Houston's probably still terrible offensive line could be a recipe for a low-scoring battle, but it's tough to be too down on a matchup between two of the last eight teams standing from last season.
WSH-NYG: I will do everything in my power to never rank Jayden Daniels in the back half of these subjective rankings. Malik Nabers also tends to be appointment television. I'm also intrigued to see just how fearsome this Giants pass-rush could be. Can we call them the New York Sack Exchange? I know the Jets used it in the early 1980s, but c'mon, it's been long enough!
ATL-TB: The Falcons also have Bengals/Cowboys vibes as a potential high-flying offense that could be combined with a meh enough defense to produce weekly fantasy-friendly shootouts. We also have Baker Mayfield AKA the NFL's leader in passing touchdowns … and interceptions … over the past two seasons. This needs to be in the 1pm quad box.
SEA-SF: Will the real Sam Darnold please stand up? If it's the 2024 version, this could be a fun, physical, classic NFC West battle. If it's pre-2024 … yeah. Either way: Healthy Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle will be fun!
JAX-CAR: Travis Hunter and Tetairoa McMillan's NFL debuts! Could Trevor Lawrence maybe finally show some generational flashes if wunderkind Liam Coen is as cool as everyone says he is? Also intrigued to see if Bryce Young's hot and entertaining second half of 2024 carries over into 2025.
NE-LV: Pete Carroll's Raiders debut is combined with Ashton Jeanty's NFL debut. Drake Maye's combination of mobility, arm strength, and occasionally reckless decision making also makes him a fun weekly watch for better or worse.
NYJ-PIT: The good: This season-opening Aaron Rodgers-Justin Fields duel is the sort of revenge-game scenario that football nerds dream of. The bad: A week-low 38.5-point game total reflects the reality that we probably aren't going to be seeing many (any?) offensive fireworks in this one.
IND-MIA: Could be a hilarious eye opener for the odd offseason storyline that Daniel Jones is *good* for these Colts pass-catchers. Which I kind of get, but let's go with "less bad". Then again, maybe this Dolphins secondary is banged up enough for Tyler Warren and company to ball. This ranking will be low if Mike McDaniel has his group partying like it's 2022 or 2023 again, but man, my bad vibes Spidey senses are certainly tingling with the Dolphins at the moment.
DEN-TEN: Could we have picked a single worse spot for Cam Ward's NFL debut than IN Mile High? The Titans are understandably implied to score the fewest points of the week. Side note: There was once a Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel episode that looked at marijuana usage at Broncos tailgates back in the early-mid 2010s. It featured an older woman taking a huge bog rip before saying, "Let's go Broncos!" I've been trying to find the video annually for like a decade, but believe it has been scrubbed from the internet. I will pay anyone $20 if they can find it for me. Scouts honor. But yeah, not overly excited for this one.
NO-ARZ: Alvin Kamara is cool … and I hope that Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. show some better chemistry in year two. That's pretty much all I got here.

9. The kicker minute: Jaguars K Cam Little could be fun

F*ck kickers: I despise them. Larry David explains why they're useless in real life football in this glorious rant. And yet, many insist on including these half-breeds in their fantasy league. Whatever. It's a free country (but please at least cut out the 50-plus yard field goal bonus. It's outdated and ridiculous).

For those persisting with this nonsense: Realize that kickers from mid-tier scoring offenses are actually better targets than those from super high-end units (the more you know!). This makes sense when considering we want groups that can move the ball enough to get into scoring position, but not quite well enough to consistently find the end zone.

This leads me to my kicker bet for Week 1: Jaguars K Cam Little:

42.6% rostered on ESPN.
Hit a 70 yarder in the preseason! Madness. The man was 5/6 from 50+ last year.
Fun fact: Little has never missed an extra point in his life. 24/24 high school, 129/129 college, 35/35 professional.
The Jaguars fit the bill as a potentially good, not great, scoring offense.
Sunday weather in Jacksonville: 89 degrees, sunny, 11% precipitation with 6 MPH.

Broncos K Wil Lutz (17.8%) and Falcons K Younghoe Koo (7.8%) would be my next best picks, although neither was quite as accurate as Little from 50-plus yards last season.

Okay, thank God that section is over with. NOW FOR THE GRAND FINALE.

10. Three Bold Calls for Week 1

And I'm talking BOLD. No predicting Derrick Henry to have a big game, or Nico Collins to have 100 yards: We're dumpster diving here in the pursuit of glory, but I swear there's legit reasoning to the madness.

1. Troy Franklin hauls in a 50-yard TD on his way to a top-20 performance. Everyone (understandably) has hyped up Marvin Mims' preseason usage, but Franklin also profiles as a clear-cut starter in Broncos three-WR sets. No. 1 Titans CB L'Jarius Sneed (knee) could be operating at less than 100% on Sunday–I like Franklin's chances of building off a reportedly great training camp and cashing in on one of Sean Payton's well-designed shot plays. Note that Franklin actually out-targeted Courtland Sutton 12-to-9 on passes thrown at least 30 yards downfield last season.

2. Joe Flacco cooks, torches Bengals for 300-plus yards and 3 TD. As mentioned in my way-too-long entertainment rankings write-up: Flacco leads the NFL in passing yards per game over the past two seasons when controlling for his part-time appearances! I want to be aggressive in targeting whoever is playing the Bengals this season, and up first is Flacco. Don't be surprised if Jerry Jeudy, David Njoku, or hell, potentially even Cedric Tillman and Harold Fannin put their best foot forward in this spot.

3. Giants shock the Commanders, win 17-13 as six-point underdogs. This is more so respect to the Giants' potentially ridiculous pass rush than anything. Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence, and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the same line is scary stuff. Obviously Jayden Daniels is the man, but he did take 47 sacks last season–the sixth-most in the NFL. It wouldn't be Week 1 if a TD underdog didn't make us all remember that we don't know sh*t about f*ck when it comes to predicting the future in the NFL, so this is my pick for that.

Thank you all for reading and best of luck in Week 1 and beyond!