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You have lineup questions, we have lineup answers — at least we hope so. Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is here to help fantasy managers make difficult roster decisions. And you know what is a good move? Starting CeeDee Lamb. But that’s too obvious, so you won’t see such simple analysis here. Instead, we’re exploring more debatable situations. And if you can’t find a player you are looking for, please check out the latest NFL Fantasy lineup rankings.
Start ‘Em
Conner is an RB1 as long as he’s on the football field. I said this all summer and it came to fruition in Week 1. He carried the ball 16 times, ran 17 routes and was targeted four times, going for 83 total yards and a touchdown against the Bills. Conner posted 19.3 fantasy points and a top-10 RB finish. Do not forget he averaged 17.8 fantasy PPG last season in Kyler Murray’s starts. Now he gets the Rams, who just struggled mightily against the Lions’ running game in Week 1. Conner should be in your fantasy lineups.
Pollard dominated work in the Titans backfield in Week 1. He played 62 percent of the snaps, with 16 carries to Tyjae Spears’ four. The two split passing game work with both seeing four targets. Pollard finished with 94 total yards and a touchdown. That was good for 18.4 fantasy points and an RB12 finish on the week. The Jets are a tough matchup on paper, but so were the Bears last week and Pollard still produced. Plus, the Niners ran all over the Jets on Monday night. As long as Pollard is seeing this sort of volume, he is very much in play in fantasy football, regardless of the matchup.
I was big on Chargers rookie RB Kimani Vidal this summer. After he was a healthy scratch in Week 1 and Dobbins ran wild, I am waving the white flag! Vidal still could be fantasy relevant, but it might take an injury to create an opportunity for him. Meanwhile, Dobbins played 59 percent of the snaps and turned 10 carries into 135 yards and a touchdown. He had a couple breakaway runs, and while he was chased down both times, I’m giving him a pass with the season opener being his first game back since tearing his Achilles a year ago. Dobbins also led Chargers backs with 13 routes and three targets. He had 98 rushing yards over expectation, while Gus Edwards had -18, per Next Gen Stats. The Bus looked stuck in the mud all game. In a juicy matchup against the Panthers — who gave up 180 yards rushing last week — Dobbins needs to start in fantasy.
We got our first big answer to the Washington backfield question in Week 1, and Robinson was clearly the guy. He ran 12 times for 40 yards and a score, and added three catches for 49 yards on four targets. I would argue that Austin Ekeler looked faster and was worthy of more work, but my opinion on that does not matter to the Commanders coaching staff. As long as Robinson, who played 57 percent of the snaps, is getting that type of workload, he will be in play for fantasy purposes. That’s especially true in a matchup against the Giants, who just allowed the Vikings to move the ball with relative ease. Robinson is a strong start in what could be a lopsided game.
Sit ‘Em
White played fewer snaps than Alexander Mattison in Week 1 — in fact, it wasn’t even close. White was limited to 39 percent of snaps and 13 carries. Mattison played more snaps (59 percent), ran more routes (22 to 9) and saw six targets to White’s two. He had more yards (62 to 46) and scored a touchdown as well. The preseason usage that we thought may not mean anything reared its ugly head in Week 1. I believe this will be a game script thing. When the Raiders have the lead, I expect we will see a lot of White. But when they are trailing, I expect to see more Mattison because he is better in the passing game. I suspect the Raiders will be trailing on the road against the Ravens this week, so I am avoiding White.
Williams played 52 percent of the snaps in Week 1, but he saw just eight carries and two targets. Compare that to Jaleel McLaughlin, who had 10 carries and five targets. Both finished with fewer than 30 total yards, as the Broncos struggled to get anything going on offense. Given the struggles of rookie QB Bo Nix and the offense as a whole, I do not see how you can play Williams with any sort of confidence against the Steelers defense. I had high hopes for Williams, but until we see him and this Broncos offense produce, you should stay away, especially in matchups like this week’s.
I know this is a favorable matchup and Ekeler looked good when he touched the ball in Week 1. He had just six touches in the game, though. While he was the Commanders’ leading receiver, all of the ground work went to Brian Robinson and Jayden Daniels. Ekeler has to compete with both for valuable goal-line touches and the Commanders opted to have Ekeler and Robinson split the pass-game work with each seeing four targets. This was in a game where they trailed throughout. That script should favor Ekeler, but it didn’t. I am as big an Ekeler stan as there is in the fantasy space, but until we see consistent volume, he has to stay on the bench.
Not only did the Panthers once again struggle to move the ball and score points, but Hubbard struggled to see consistent work in Week 1. He played 55 percent of the snaps, but he only had one more carry than Miles Sanders (six to five). He also took a back seat to Sanders in the passing game, not seeing a single target. In total, he finished with 14 yards and less than two fantasy points. There is no way you can trust him in your lineup.
There were high hopes for Brown in fantasy land coming into the season. It took one week to throw cold water on those hopes. Brown played just a third of the snaps, carrying the ball three times. He ran fewer routes and had fewer targets than Zack Moss as well. This happened in a game where the Bengals trailed throughout and were thin at receiver. That is the exact game script that should benefit Brown, but it still favored Moss. Brown is clearly the RB2 in Cincinnati and he needs to be benched until we see him play a more stabilized role.
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