Buy, Sell, Hold for Fantasy Football Week 1: Go Get Chris Godwin

Before the 2026 NFL season kicks off, we have a few unsung heroes to target in trades. And a few players who have gotten lost in the sauce of their ADPs during fantasy drafts.

Catch them at a discount before the numbers start rolling in.

Here are some Buy, Sell, and Hold players for Week 1.

BUY: Vets With Big Workloads & RB Handcuffs

Chris Godwin | WR | TB

What if Chris Godwin puts up similar fantasy numbers to Emeka Egbuka in 2026? Godwin, drafted seven rounds later than Egbuka, would suddenly look pretty enticing, wouldn’t he?

Bold. I know. But Godwin did outscore Egbuka in five of their last eight games. So… is it really?

Sure, Godwin spent nearly half the 2025 season on the bench nursing injuries. But once he returned and started playing over 60% of snaps in Week 13, he was putting up some very fun numbers for a “late-round guy”:

Week 13: 9.3 pts
Week 14: 8.0 pts
Week 15: 12.0 pts
Week 16: 5.5 pts
Week 17: 20.3 pts
Week 18: 1.3 pts

Getting a cheap piece of Tampa’s offense in Godwin could prove lucrative in 2026, especially in light of Mike Evans’ departure.

Juwan Johnson | TE | NO

Not everyone wants to draft the high-capital Brock Bowers, Trey McBride and Colston Lovelands of the world.

Some of us prefer to wait at the position. And maybe just maybe we aren’t so thrilled with what we landed in our drafts.

And that’s fine!

Because Juwan Johnson is still cheap. And he quietly had:

Six top-10 fantasy finishes at the position in 2025
Seven weeks of double-digit points in 2025
Ten games with 9.5 YPC or higher in 2025

WHODAT, BABY!

Ask not what your fantasy roster can do for you—ask what you can do for your fantasy roster. The answer: Add Johnson.

Backup RBs Before Their Time Comes

Check your bench right now. Are you rostering something unnecessary like:

A second defense
A second kicker
Three QBs in a single QB league (you know who you are)

Rather than wasting your bench spot on something you don’t need and might never need AND DEFINITELY WON’T NEED MULTIPLES OF, slot in a backup RB that could prove helpful to your team this year if they rise up the depth chart.

In no particular order, consider (if you have the ability to—do not drop someone more valuable) stashing these backup RBs still available on most leagues’ waiver wires:

SELL: No One!

Guess what. I’m not ready to sell anyone right now*.

I’m remaining blindly hopeful as we move into Week 1!

*Unless you drafted poorly. Then sell your whole team.

HOLD: Wide Receivers With Questionable Target Shares

DK Metcalf | WR | PIT

Sure, some people are worried that the addition of Michael Pittman might cut into DK Metcalf’s production this season.

And, sure, Metcalf’s average separation score is pretty terrible compared to his peers.

And, sure! Aaron Rodgers doesn’t sling the godd*mn football like he used to!

But I’ll be damned if I’m letting go of DK now. If the Metcalf/Rodgers connection doesn’t grow exponentially stronger in 2026 after DK publicly announced their tight-knit common ground, in… theory… It never will.

Parker Washington | WR | JAX

Hey. So, like… What if Parker Washington is everything we want him to be? What if he does emerge as the WR1 on a team whose HC has a pretty cool track record with WRs.

I know Washington’s hype has grown all offseason, but maybe we don’t churn and burn our way through our entire roster before kickoff this time??

Whatdya say? Hold on and enjoy the ride with me?