Week 1 Preview

ShivaKamina vs. Cuckfor17

Nick's wide receiver room is the best in the league on paper — Nacua is a top-2 WR in the sport, London is a target alpha, and A.J. Brown is now Drake Maye's WR1 in New England. Puka gets the 49ers in Melbourne on Thursday night (a Thursday-morning start for us, so set your lineup early). Caleb Williams gets a soft opener at Carolina and is the kind of high-completion QB this scoring rewards.

The problem is the backfield. Javonte Williams is a fine RB2 on SNF at the Giants, but RJ Harvey is one-third of a Denver committee that nobody — including Sean Payton — has sorted out, and Denver's Monday night total is the lowest of the week at 42.5. Harvey's carry count is the swing stat in this game.

Clint drafted the format. Josh Allen is the QB1 in every format and a monster in this one (rushing attempts count, completions count), and he's at Houston in the week's highest total (52.5). Derrick Henry at Indianapolis is nearly a lock for the 20-carry bonus. Etienne in New Orleans gets volume but is at Detroit, which could turn into garbage-time receptions or a benching — either is fine in PPR. The receivers (Higgins, DJ Moore, Kincaid) are the soft spot: Moore is a low-end WR2 in Buffalo's spread-it-around attack and Kincaid is boom/bust.

Bench notes: Clint has Jaxson Dart on the bench for a bye-week later; Nick has Mike Evans and Zay Flowers sitting, which is defensible given Evans' camp injuries.

WillRicker vs. WillHillPen

Chris has the 1.01 in Jahmyr Gibbs, who gets the Saints at home in what should be the best offensive environment of the week. He also has the best tight end in the league in McBride. And then he has two of the three biggest Week 1 injury questions in all of fantasy football:

• Jeremiyah Love (high-ankle sprain since Aug. 13) is roughly 50/50 per Arizona's own coaching staff. If he's out, Tyler Allgeier starts for the Cardinals — and Chris doesn't have Allgeier.
• Malik Nabers is coming off a torn ACL. He's shed the no-contact jersey and is trending toward playing on SNF, but the Giants have been noncommittal.

Chris's bench doesn't help much: Tyreek Hill is a free agent without a team, Rico Dowdle is half a Pittsburgh committee, and Davante Adams is the one real pivot if Nabers sits. If both Love and Nabers are out, Chris is starting Dowdle and Adams. Watch the Friday injury report, Chris. Seriously.

Will Hill, reigning Money Bags MVP, drafted a team with no obvious hole. Jayden Daniels is a top-four QB whose rushing attempts get paid in this format. McCaffrey is CMC. Hampton is a Year-2 breakout candidate against a rebuilding Arizona defense. Rashee Rice's suspension threat evaporated (NFL closed its case, no discipline) and he's healthy — he's a WR1 at a WR2 price. Loveland is a top-three rookie TE. Even the Lions DEF at home vs. the Saints is a smart stream. The only nitpick: McConkey and Hampton both play the Cardinals, and Daniels is at Philadelphia against a real defense.

ncvotta vs. Achilles

Votta has the best single stack in the league: Burrow to Chase, at home against Tampa Bay in what projects as a shootout. Burrow's completion volume is tailor-made for this scoring, and Chase is a top-three overall WR. Saquon at home vs. Washington is a smash spot. Kenneth Walker is the sneaky piece — he's Andy Reid's new three-down back and should flirt with the 20-carry bonus on Monday night, low total or not. Swift at Carolina is a plus matchup for the FLEX, and Tyler Warren is a rookie TE with legitimate TE1 upside.

Akeem's roster is stacked with players who play early: Maye, Henderson, and JSN are all in Wednesday night's season opener (Patriots at Seahawks), so Akeem will know a third of his score before anyone else has set a lineup. Maye is a consensus top-three QB now. JSN is a top-three WR. Bowers is a top-two TE. Henderson is the highest-upside handcuff-turned-starter in football. The concern is depth: Christian Watson at the FLEX is a coin flip in Green Bay's committee, and Olave is at Detroit in a game the Saints could lose by three touchdowns (which, in PPR, sometimes helps).

Notable bench: Akeem has Marvin Harrison Jr. sitting in a Cardinals offense with the lowest team total in the league — correct call. Votta has Jayden Reed and Makai Lemon stashed, both of whom could matter by October.

Tate & Bake vs. Injured Reserve

The reigning champ's roster is built around a running back room that should be illegal: Bijan (1.02, at Pittsburgh), Jeanty (RB1 in Kubiak's zone scheme, vs. Miami), and Chase Brown in the FLEX, who had a 72% opportunity share and 11 touchdowns last year and gets a Tampa Bay defense at home. In a league that pays half a point per carry, three backs who each project for 18+ touches is a structural advantage every week.

Two things to watch. First, Egbuka is dealing with a toe sprain and Bowles has only said he's "hopeful" for Week 1 — the bench has Carnell Tate and DK Metcalf as fallbacks, and Tate is the better play if Egbuka sits. Second, the Packers DEF at Minnesota is running without Micah Parsons for at least four games (Reserve/PUP). That's a name-brand defense without its best player, on the road, in a division game. Not a disaster, but not the plug-and-play it looked like in August. Mayfield at Cincinnati should be fine; the Bengals' game environment will force him to throw, and completions pay.

Cheese, meanwhile, named the team "Injured Reserve" and then drafted George Kittle, who is on PUP recovering from a torn Achilles and whose Week 1 status in Melbourne is genuinely uncertain, and stashed Jordyn Tyson, who is on IR until at least Week 5. Commitment to the bit. Kittle wants to play; the 49ers haven't committed. If he sits, Brenton Strange is the bench pivot and a steep drop-off. The rest of the lineup is legitimately good: ARSB is a top-six PPR receiver in the best offensive environment of the week, Kyren Williams is a workhorse, James Cook gets that 52.5-total game in Houston, and rookie Cam Skattebo has a workhorse profile in New York on SNF. Garrett Wilson gets the Titans. Trevor Lawrence at home vs. Cleveland is a middling QB1 play.

Bench watch for Cheese: Jadarian Price could be the Seahawks' lead back with Charbonnet on PUP, and Jaylen Waddle just became the Broncos' WR1. Both are legitimate flex options if the injury news turns.

Locker Room Guy vs. MudFlapMilly

Adam. Buddy. Your RB2 slot is empty and there is not a single running back on your bench. Your bench is Luther Burden, Jared Goff, Chris Godwin, Wan'Dale Robinson, and Jordan Addison. That is five players who cannot legally occupy an RB slot. The waiver wire has Malik Davis, Jacob Saylors, and Roschon Johnson trending, and any of them is worth more than zero. Lineups lock at kickoff. This is the entire preview for this matchup if it doesn't get fixed.

Assuming it does get fixed: Adam's actual starters are excellent. Hurts and Jonathan Taylor are two of the best assets in this scoring format — Hurts for the rushing attempts and short-yardage touchdowns, Taylor for the near-guaranteed 20-carry bonus. Jefferson is a target monster regardless of who's throwing (Kyler Murray, as it turns out, at home vs. Green Bay). Pickens is now a co-alpha in Dallas. Pitts is finally a weekly TE1. The Eagles DEF at home vs. Washington is one of the three best DST plays of the week.

Eric is running the other elite rushing QB in Lamar, plus Achane, who is the entire Dolphins offense and a top-12 PPR back on receptions alone — at Las Vegas, in a game Miami will probably be trailing, which is good for Achane. Judkins is the featured back in Cleveland's new run-heavy Monken offense with a rebuilt line; volume should be there. Lamb on SNF and Nico Collins in the 52.5-total game are strong WR plays. The risk is Tucker Kraft, returning from a mid-2025 torn ACL and only activated off PUP in late July. Confirm he's a full-go before locking him in; Eric has no bench TE, so it's Kraft or the wire.

Also, Eric: the Broncos DEF at Kansas City on Monday night is a tougher spot than it looks. Mahomes is back and Kenneth Walker is a real threat. Fine, but not a smash.