New Orleans Saints at Detroit Lions – 1:00 PM ET
- Favorite: Detroit -7
- Game Total: 50.5
- Implied Point Total: Detroit 28.75, New Orleans 21.75
Saints Fantasy Notes
QB Tyler Shough
While Shough finished last season as the QB26, he ended the season with three top-10 fantasy performances in his final six games. He’s shown that he belongs in the NFL, and with a solid cast of receivers including Chris Olave and tight end Juwan Johnson, Shough can at least make a functional offense go and be a solid upside play for fantasy managers this season.
Fantasy Advice: Shough gets the Lions in Week 1, who are missing both of their star safeties, Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, so that’s a definite positive for the passing game of the Saints. Shough is a high-end QB2 with some upside in two-QB leagues or salary-cap DFS. He’s a tougher start in single-QB formats, but he at least has some upside in a potentially high-scoring
environment.
RB Travis Etienne Jr.
However you decide to pronounce his last name these days, Etienne has been fine as a fantasy running back; he had his second top-10 fantasy finish in the last three seasons in 2025 thanks to the offensive environment upgrade put forth by first-year head coach Liam Coen in Jacksonville.
Now in New Orleans, Etienne will be front and center in an ascendant offense with Shough at quarterback, Chris Olave on the outside, Juwan Johnson at tight end and first-round receiver Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) when he recovers. With the money paid to Etienne, he’ll be the bell-cow in this offense, and against the Lions, a slightly above-average team in terms of allowing fantasy points to running backs, it’s a solid spot for volume in what could be a shootout indoors at Ford Field.
Fantasy Advice: Etienne is a solid bet to recoup high-end RB2 value in Week 1 against Detroit, especially if this game breaks open with a lot of scoring.
WR Chris Olave
Olave turned in a career season in 2025, running a career-high 92.4% routes per dropback en route to a WR6 finish with 100 receptions, 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns. Olave will have a little less help than anticipated with Tyson nursing a hamstring injury, which will keep him out for roughly two months. As a player who has run a little longer of an aDOT (average depth of target) than typical top receivers (12.3-yard aDOT last season), Olave earned a massive 151 targets last season. As an incredible target-earner and big-play receiver, Olave just needs to keep the status quo on his end. Against a Lions’ secondary that’s perpetually banged up, he should be able to get his.
Fantasy Advice: Lock in Olave as a high-end WR2 with WR1 spike-week potential if this game against the Lions turns into pinball.
TE Juwan Johnson
Not having Tyson for the beginning of the season certainly helps the bull case for Johnson for 2026. Johnson had a career season in 2025 as the second target for Shough with 100 targets, 77 receptions, and 889 yards, leading to an overall TE8 season.
While Johnson only scored three touchdowns, we’ll hopefully get a bit of a bump this season with further improvement of the Saints’ offensive environment. Against the Lions, Johnson can easily post TE1 numbers by virtue of being the second target in this passing game, despite the Lions giving up the 10th-fewest fantasy points to the tight end position in 2025.
Fantasy Advice: I like Johnson as a big-time sleeper this season, but he’s a nice flex play in TE-premium formats, and a low-end TE1/high-end TE2 this week with a potential shootout looming.
Lions Fantasy Notes
QB Jared Goff
Goff is just a consistency machine over the last four years in Detroit, and he’s never finished outside the top 10 in fantasy scoring among quarterbacks. He’s thrown for at least 4,400 yards and has 29+ touchdown passes in each of those four seasons. With his skill-position players all paid up in long-term contracts, Goff can continue his awesome run with the Lions in his sixth season in the Motor City.
Fantasy Advice: Against the Saints and in what could be a matchup that’s set up for a lot of scoring, Goff is a QB1 option here with a high floor and plenty of ceiling at home in Week 1.
RB Jahmyr Gibbs
With no David Montgomery in Detroit, the Detroit backfield belongs to Gibbs. He could be in line for a generational season now that he won’t have to cede 180 or so carries to another back. (Sorry, Isiah Pacheco and Jacob Saylors.)
Gibbs followed up his overall RB1 season with four more fantasy points, but he finished as RB3. He’s scored at least 19 and 18 total touchdowns in the last two seasons while increasing his receiving output in each NFL season since he’s been in the league, all while averaging over 5.0 yards per carry.
Fantasy Advice: You’re starting Gibbs no matter what.
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
Another season in 2025, another 100+ catches and over 1,200 receiving yards for St. Brown. You can set his production on a clock each season with how automatic the Detroit Lions’ passing game is with St. Brown leading the way. Last year gave us St. Brown’s third consecutive season with 10 or more touchdowns. St. Brown’s production shouldn’t waver too much in 2026, given the core of the team remains largely the same, minus David Montgomery.
Fantasy Advice: Lock in WR1 production for St. Brown in Week 1 against the Saints, despite the fact that the Saints were sneakily above average at bottling up opposing wide receivers last season.
WR Jameson Williams
Williams is one of the highest-upside swings in drafts, and it’s certainly possible that after the Lions paid all of their skill-position players and didn’t bring much depth behind them, the Lions will be much more condensed in terms of not only personnel, but production as well. This season, Williams has a golden opportunity to expand on his 2025 by cresting 100 targets for the first time. If he can earn more target volume at his current 11.5-12.0-yard aDOT over the last two seasons, Williams will be a top-10 fantasy receiver.
Fantasy Advice: Against the Saints, all Williams needs is some target volume and potentially a big play or two to get his fantasy day squared away for managers, so he’s a low-end WR2 with tons of spike-week potential at home in Week 1.
TE Sam LaPorta
With LaPorta off the injury report after a nagging hip injury that he’s had almost all offseason, he now slides right into the Detroit Lions scoring machine, where the offense looks like it’s set to be very concentrated on St. Brown, Williams, Gibbs and LaPorta this season without much depth getting in the way. That’s great for LaPorta, as he’s been a bit slept on after his TE1 rookie season in 2023. LaPorta missed seven games last season, but has been every bit as efficient as he’s always been. After the catch, LaPorta has upped his YAC per reception from 4.1 yards as a rookie to 6.8 yards last season.
Fantasy Advice: With LaPorta off the injury report and no Demario Davis to blanket linebackers in New Orleans this season, LaPorta is plenty startable, and since he was drafted as such, let’s just stick him in our lineups and not think about it. Plus, this game could end up as a fun shootout!
Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans – 1:00 PM ET
- Favorite: Buffalo -1.5
- Game Total: 44.5
- Implied Point Total: Buffalo 23, Houston 21.5
Bills Fantasy Notes
QB Josh Allen
Allen led all rushing quarterbacks with 579 yards last season, a mark that was the lowest season-long rushing yard total to lead the position since 2009, when David Garrard led the NFL with just 323 yards.
Allen also had his lowest fantasy output since 2019, but still was QB1 in fantasy last season. His 14 touchdowns on the ground last season were Allen’s third straight season with double-digit rushing touchdowns, and we can certainly expect more of the same in 2026. Allen has been a top-two fantasy quarterback each season since 2020, so we’re plenty confident in him continuing his awesome fantasy production.
Fantasy Advice: If you roster Allen, you’re starting him.
RB James Cook
Cook has been THE huge non-Allen beneficiary in this Buffalo Bills’ offense over the last two seasons and still falls through the cracks when we’re talking about elite fantasy running backs. Cook has been a top-eight fantasy back the last two seasons, with at least 12 touchdowns in both seasons and a huge 1,621 rushing yards last season.
Cook’s receiving role is solid enough not to be a detriment, and we know what the Bills want to do with the football: take the air out of it with the running game. New head coach Joe Brady may lean into that run even more now that he’s calling the shots as head coach after a season and a half as offensive coordinator. He’ll have some tough sledding to start the season in Houston against the Texans in Week 1.
Fantasy Advice: You likely selected Cook in the first round, but you’re hoping he can compile some yardage through the air and on the ground. The Texans limited fantasy running backs to the fourth-fewest fantasy points in the league last season and were 10th in EPA per rush allowed. It’s a tough start, but we’re eating our veggies here with Cook.
WR DJ Moore
Moore reunites with Brady, his old offensive coordinator in Carolina and now head coach in Buffalo. It is presumed that Moore would be the top receiver and target for Allen, and it’s looking that way after a very promising training camp and preseason.
Before 2025, Moore had earned at least 100 targets in the six previous seasons and had been no worse than WR25. The hope is that Moore can be something close to what they got when Stefon Diggs came to Buffalo in 2020. That is, a target-earning alpha that can rise above what has been a largely pedestrian pass-catching unit. If Moore has some gas left in the tank after a couple of tumultuous seasons in Chicago, then Moore will be a big bargain for fantasy managers in 2026. He’ll likely see a ton of Derek Stingley Jr. across from him in Week 1, which is a tough matchup. It could be tougher than most considering the Bills are an unconcentrated offense that spreads the ball around.
Fantasy Advice: Moore is still a solid mid-range WR2 this week against a tough Texans defense, but there’s a pretty low floor for Moore with the unconcentrated offense and propensity for Allen to spread the ball around with low pass volume.
WR Khalil Shakir
Shakir is an undervalued fantasy asset who has been one of the better YAC threats in the NFL over the better part of this decade. Shakir has averaged 7.7 YAC per reception over his four seasons as a pro, and has 95 and 91 targets in the last two seasons. This season, DJ Moore steps in as the presumed top wide receiver for the Bills, but Shakir’s role is so important for Buffalo that I can’t imagine him having too much of a drop-off.
Fantasy Advice: In PPR-focused leagues, I’ll start Shakir as a flex, but it’s hard to imagine you not having a few better options that you drafted at wide receiver. Still, if you need him, it’s a solid points floor for your flex in Week 1 against the Texans, where he can grab easy receptions and earn some nice YAC.
TE Dalton Kincaid
It’s abundantly clear that Kincaid is talented, and his efficiency spiked up massively in his third season in 2025. After posting a YPRR of 1.46 and 1.62 in his first two seasons, Kincaid’s YPRR shot up to a huge 2.79 mark that paced the entire tight end position in 2025 among all players with at least 200 routes. Kincaid, however, also played much fewer snaps and routes than he has in his career, thanks in part to injuries that limited him to 12 games.
We really need to get Kincaid on the field more to maximize his efficiency into fantasy points consistently. Kincaid has the skill set to lead all Buffalo receivers in every category, but it’s hard to do that when he is rotating with Dawson Knox and Jackson Hawes at his own position.
Fantasy Advice: Against the Texans, who allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points to the tight end position, it’s a bit of an uphill climb for Kincaid. But if we FINALLY get Kincaid with a full route share this season, he’ll be a must-start player each week. As it stands right now with no info, Kincaid is a low-end TE1 or high-end TE2.
Texans Fantasy Notes
QB C.J. Stroud
After his awesome rookie season in 2023, Stroud’s last two seasons have not inspired any confidence in him going forward, having finished as fantasy’s QB18 and QB21 in the next two seasons. He’s had Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz, but after that, it’s anybody’s ballgame as second-year receiver Jayden Higgins suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season. Stroud has played game manager, and that’s just not good enough for fantasy football.
Fantasy Advice: Against the Bills, who had the sixth-lowest EPA per pass attempt allowed, Stroud is a tough start in single-QB leagues, but maybe as a low-end QB2 in two-QB leagues? It’s a hard sell in either format, honestly.
RB David Montgomery & Woody Marks
Houston wants to run the ball more than anything, and after giving Marks and the remains of Nick Chubb a try last season, the Texans went out and acquired Montgomery to be a dependable volume-based back. When you’re next to Jahmyr Gibbs, anybody pales in comparison, but Montgomery was very competent last season, still plugging away with 4.5 yards per carry and 716 rushing yards on 158 carries. He’s also still a solid factor in the receiving game. There’s not much mystery with Montgomery; you know exactly what you’re getting.
As for Marks, he didn’t exactly pass his audition to be the Texans’ running back, considering Houston immediately went to the trade market to acquire Montgomery. But he’ll have some role on this Texans squad, likely as a spell for Montgomery and as a pass-catcher, his one solid skill.
Fantasy Advice: The Bills allowed the 11th-most fantasy points to running backs last season, which could be a shock to some. Montgomery, with some volume, can find the holes here in this Bills’ defense and be a competent, high-floor RB2 in Week 1. Marks is a low-end flex play if he’s going to carry a receiving role in tandem with Montgomery.
WR Nico Collins
While Collins has missed some games in all five NFL seasons he’s played in his career, there’s no doubt that he’s a monster for fantasy managers when he is on the field. One of the most efficient and productive receivers, Collins has put up awesome stat lines despite any shortcomings quarterback Stroud has.
He’s hyper-targeted, with Collins sporting a 24.8% TPRR, which is a target on basically one of every four routes he runs. He’s put up the same 24.8% first-read target rate and is Houston’s clear top target on the field, especially with the turnover the team has had with injuries to Higgins and the recovery of Tank Dell.
Fantasy Advice: Collins is a low-end fantasy WR1 against the Bills, even in a tough matchup. The Bills will throw cornerback Christian Benford across from Collins, who held Collins to two catches and 43 yards in a meeting last season.
TE Dalton Schultz
With Higgins lost for the season, the rest of the pass-catchers shift up, and no player is in a better position to be the second fiddle next to Collins than Dalton Schultz.
Yes, I heard the groans. I get it.
Schultz earned a career-high 102 targets last season and put up an 82-777-3 line for Houston last season to finish at TE10. Somehow, Schultz has finished as a TE1 in five of the last six seasons, calling into question my existence. I don’t know how this all happened with Schultz, but we just can’t fight it at this point.
Fantasy Advice: The one good thing about playing Buffalo this season is that Matt Milano, tight end killer, is no longer on the roster. We’ll see if Cole Bishop and Terrel Bernard have the chops to defend Schultz, but I like him in Week 1 as a target compiler and safety valve for Stroud. Even better if it’s TE Premium! Fire up Schultz this week!
Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts — 1:00 PM ET
- Favorite: Baltimore -3.5
- Game Total: 47.5
- Implied Point Total: Baltimore 25.5, Indianapolis 22
Ravens Fantasy Notes
QB Lamar Jackson
I don’t think I have to convince anybody to start Jackson in any week of the fantasy football season, much less Week 1. With that said, Jackson’s rushing output cratered last season from 915 rushing yards in 2024 to just 349 in 13 games. With a new offense and 30-year-old offensive coordinator Declan Doyle directing it, Jackson has received rave reviews in training camp. Hopefully, we’ll get a nice rebound from Jackson this season.
Fantasy Advice: If you roster Jackson, you’re starting him in your fantasy lineup.
RB Derrick Henry
We have all tried and failed to write the fantasy football obituary for Henry. We have all failed, as he has posted four straight RB8 or better seasons. He has put the haters in the dirt at every turn. We need to stop fighting it. I’m on “Team Big Dog” until the wheels fall off, which may be in 2063 with the way he’s going.
Fantasy Advice: It’s the same thing as Jackson: If you roster Henry, you’re starting him.
WR Zay Flowers
Flowers just put up a WR7 season in 2025, and he has averaged 114 targets over his first three seasons while leveling up his efficiency with career highs across the board in receptions (86) and yards (1,211). Not much should change about this offense in terms of the pecking order of the receivers and pass-catchers, especially at the top, so expect another quality season from Flowers in 2026.
It starts in Week 1 against the Colts, where he should see quite a bit of Sauce Gardner, but Flowers should be able to provide some fireworks if the efficiency machine is humming from the get-go in Baltimore with Doyle, who Flowers called “a genius” despite the former being a first-time play-caller and new offensive coordinator.
Fantasy Advice: He’s a set-in-stone fantasy WR2 who we’re hoping gets in the end zone more this season.
TE Mark Andrews
It’s been a drop-off over the last couple seasons for Andrews, whose fantasy value has sunk like a stone in the ocean. Andrews has posted three straight seasons of fewer than 70 targets, and has been outside the top-12 at the position in two of the last three seasons. At the very least, the personnel is in place for Andrews to have the tight end room by himself in terms of receiving production, but is he good enough in his age-31 season to capitalize on that?
Fantasy Advice: Against the Colts, who were 16th in fantasy points allowed to tight ends, Andrews can be trotted out as a TE1. However, with volume concerns, he’s probably more of a TE2 unless he shows he has more gas in the tank this season.
Colts Fantasy Notes
QB Daniel Jones
Jones did everything he could do and then some, propelling the Colts to an 8-2 start before fracturing his leg and then tearing his Achilles tendon a couple of weeks later. Jones got the franchise tag and then a new deal to stay with the Colts on a two-year extension.
From the start of the 2025 season until Week 12, when Jones fractured his fibula, he was the seventh-best quarterback in EPA per play and 10th-best in completion percentage over expected (CPOE). He exceeded all expectations in 2025, and he’ll be looking to run it back in 2026 with most of the same players back, minus Michael Pittman Jr.
Fantasy Advice: Against a solid Baltimore offense and Jones still a bit on the mend less than a year after his ruptured Achilles’, I’m a little less enthused about starting him outside of two-QB leagues. In managed single-QB leagues, I’m holding off until I see what he looks like at game speed.
RB Jonathan Taylor
A healthy Taylor is a bell-cow in every sense of the word. In the four seasons where Taylor played at least 14 games, he has at least 1,150 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns each time and been a fantasy RB1. As long as the offense flows through Taylor, he will get all the work he can handle. There were some pronounced splits, with Taylor being a monster with Jones healthy and the RB22 without him in the lineup.
To start the season against the Ravens, Jones is in the lineup, so hopefully we’re on the good side of that split. The Ravens allowed the ninth-fewest fantasy points to the running back position last season, but not every back they faced is Taylor, to be fair.
Fantasy Advice: If you roster Taylor, you’re starting him against the Ravens.
WR Josh Downs
With Pittman off to Pittsburgh, the door is open in Downs’ fourth NFL season to FINALLY play more on the outside. Will the Colts deploy him there? Well, the signing of Keenan Allen didn’t exactly help things in that department. Downs has always been very efficient as a receiver, and he has earned targets in his slot-only utilization over his first three seasons. With Alec Pierce reprising his role as the downfield “explosives” wide receiver that they paid him to be, it’s likely up to Downs and tight end Tyler Warren to carry the mantle and earn targets in this offense. If Downs plays on the outside and continues his efficient receiving ways, we’re looking at an ADP steal this season. Even if Downs continues playing in the slot, he’s still going to earn targets, but the upside is lower.
Fantasy Advice: Facing off against the Ravens, Downs is a solid flex play despite the tough matchup. The Colts are going to need chain-movers, and Downs is that with Warren.
WR Alec Pierce
Pierce is currently dealing with a heel injury and was limited on Wednesday’s injury report. His status for Week 1 up in the air.
After an early part of his career running cardio through some painful Colts offenses, Pierce put on his best DeSean Jackson impression and achieved his first 1,000-yard receiving season on just 47 receptions. No wide receiver was close to Pierce’s 12.1 yards per target last season. Not Jameson Williams (11.5) or even Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11.4). Pierce was utilized effectively as a deep threat and was handsomely rewarded with a big-money contract to stay in Indianapolis. Will he be expected to earn more targets at a shorter aDOT?
Fantasy Advice: It’s possible Pierce is held out a week after having surgery in the offseason to repair his heel. If he does play, he’s a boom-or-bust flex play at the start of the season to see if Pierce adds any more work in the intermediate range to his workload.
TE Tyler Warren
For the Colts in the passing game, it seems like everything is set up for Warren to be the top target of this offense. Even with Pierce expected to be ready for Week 1 and Downs a worthy target of Daniel Jones’ passes, Warren is expected to make a sizable second-year leap. Warren was awesome in his rookie season, with 106 targets and a 76-817-4 line, and he doesn’t have to deal with Pittman as he’s now in Pittsburgh. Warren finished just behind Downs in targets per route run last season (21.1%) and should meet or exceed that mark this season. Most of the intermediate targets in the offense should flow through Warren.
Fantasy Advice: Against Baltimore, a top-four defense against tight end fantasy scoring last season, Warren is still somebody that needs to be started in every league.
Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars — 1:00 PM ET
- Favorite: Jacksonville -8.5
- Game Total: 39.5
- Implied Point Total: Jacksonville 24, Cleveland 15.5
Browns Fantasy Notes
QB Deshaun Watson
Watson against one of the best pass defenses in the NFL in Week 1. What could go wrong? Watson has been horrible in every way imaginable, both on and off the field. He hasn’t finished among the top-10 fantasy quarterbacks in a week since Week 9 ... of 2023.
Fantasy Advice: We can’t recommend Watson this week against the Jaguars.
RB Quinshon Judkins
Judkins did not start his rookie season until Week 2, but when he did, he was easily the best runner on the team and plenty useful in fantasy until a late-season lower-leg fracture ended his 2025 campaign. Now healthy and behind a fully remade offensive line with five new starters, it’s going to be a bit scary, but Judkins has volume on his side and a ton of talent, so perhaps Judkins can be the most consistent cog in this Browns’ offense? Hey, at least Watson only needs to hand off to him, right?
Fantasy Advice: The Jaguars were the seventh-stingiest defense in terms of allowing fantasy points to running backs and the 12th-best defense in EPA per rush attempt, so Judkins is on a Sisyphus-like trajectory of rolling that ball uphill in this offense. Based on pure volume, we’ll slot Judkins in as a mid-range RB2 with upside despite the tough matchup.
WR Jerry Jeudy
Jeudy ended last season catching less than half of his 103 targets and finishing as WR50 in PPR formats. To say the quarterbacking was a nightmare for the Browns, especially for downfield receivers, is putting it mildly. Things aren’t expected to be much different this season as head coach Todd Monken is so damn steadfast in starting Watson. Anyway, Jeudy will earn targets this season next to two rookie receivers, but in terms of catching those targets? It’s a coin flip.
Fantasy Advice: We’re not recommending Jeudy as anything but a desperation flex in the deepest of leagues. And even then ...
WRs KC Concepcion & Denzel Boston
As a primary slot player his first two seasons at NC State with 93% and 82% of his snaps in that alignment, Concepcion found himself more on the outside in 2025 at Texas A&M, lining up wide on 65% of snaps. He could find himself in the slot to start his career, where he has been an excellent target earner with 95, 88, and 101 targets earned in three seasons, good for a 26.6% TPRR in his college career.
Boston is more of your typical “X” receiver, with a 6-foot-4, 209 lb. frame. Boston’s two seasons as a Washington starter produced 60-807-9 and 56-755-10, showing red-zone and downfield prowess.
Both of these players will start, but in terms of who we want to start, Concepcion seems like the better bet to provide fantasy value because of his lower aDOT.
Fantasy Advice: Both Concepcion and Boston are wait-and-see players. With that said, they’re bench stashes and not viable starters for Week 1 against Jacksonville.
TE Harold Fannin Jr.
Despite the horrific quarterbacking being cultivated in Cleveland, Fannin still had the highest targets per route run of any tight end last season, and he did that while playing half of the season as the Browns’ TE2 behind David Njoku without a full route share. Fannin put up 72-731-6 on 104 targets last season to lead the Browns in all categories.
With David Njoku gone, and two rookies stepping into wide receiver roles alongside Jeudy, the best chance for the Browns to move the ball lies in the hands and duck feet of Fannin. Against the Jaguars, who were in the bottom half of the league in defending tight ends, Fannin has a shot to smash. Unfortunately, his quarterback is Watson.
Fantasy Advice: Welp, it’s going to be an adventure for sure, but Fannin is still a TE1 for fantasy with his skills, but one you have to account for a shockingly low points floor, thanks to Watson at quarterback.
Jaguars Fantasy Notes
QB Trevor Lawrence
It only took counts FIVE seasons, but Lawrence finally broke out! Finishing as QB4 last season, Liam Coen must have whispered some good stuff to Lawrence as he put together a complete season and his most rushing yards (359) in a season to boot. For his next act in 2026, Lawrence will get three excellent receivers, a solid tight end and an upside-filled backfield to make life easier. Is that in the cards? I don’t see why not.
Fantasy Advice: The Browns were pretty stout against quarterbacks last season, as they were third in defensive EPA per pass attempt, but Lawrence is still worthy of starting consideration in Week 1.
RBs Bhayshul Tuten & Chris Rodriguez Jr.
In many ways, the battle between Tuten and Rodriguez is a battle between the spreadsheet socialists and the boomer IKB (I know ball) contingent. Tuten is the analytics darling, who general manager James Gladstone said was “exactly what we’re looking for” before drafting him in the fourth round in 2025. Rodriguez has history with Liam Coen going back to Rodriguez’s college days at the University of Kentucky. Both will get a shot at this backfield, and Tuten will likely get the first crack. But both are fantasy viable for sure.
Fantasy Advice: We really don’t know how the workload split will look for these two backs, and then there’s LeQuint Allen, who will also factor in pass protection. Tuten as a flex play seems like the right move for the upside, but Rodriguez is a wait-and-see option to see how the backfield shakes out after the dust settles in Week 1.
WR Parker Washington
Washington ended his 2025 campaign with three straight top-10 fantasy finishes, and he’s vaulted up the rankings as a top-30 receiver as of this week. The analytics are on him big time, as Washington posted a superb 9.6 yards per target, a 21.4% TPRR and over 2.00 yards per route run last season. There’s a reason why Travis Hunter is slated to play mostly cornerback this season, and it’s because of Washington.
Fantasy Advice: In the slot in Week 1 for the Jaguars, Washington should be able to start 2026 how he finished 2025, so I have Washington as a high-floor WR3 with heaps of upside.
WR Brian Thomas Jr.
After a dominant 2024 rookie season where Thomas finished as the overall WR4, he fell 36 more spots to finish as WR40 in a lost season that leaves some doubt as to which Thomas is the real one. Granted, he had injuries all season, with a high ankle sprain and a hurt shoulder, but the drop-off after that was stark for Thomas, as his target-earning efficiency fell and his aDOT ballooned from 11.9 yards in his rookie season to 14.8 yards, indicating more downfield work that doesn’t mesh too well with earning targets. Thomas has been one of the more polarizing players to draft, and we’ll get answers soon on which Thomas is the real one, between his rookie season and last season.
Fantasy Advice: Thomas is a boom-or-bust flex play against the Jaguars, where Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell have been an awesome shutdown duo for outside receivers since they paired up last season.
WR Jakobi Meyers
Meyers established himself as a focal point of the much-improved Jaguars passing game last season following a midseason trade from Las Vegas. He has somewhat fallen by the wayside as the trendier Washington and Thomas have grabbed headlines, relegating Meyers to the boring veteran option. Still, he is a new favorite target of Trevor Lawrence and has the capability to provide a strong target-earning presence on this Jacksonville passing offense.
Fantasy Advice: There’s a lot of target competition in Jacksonville lately. Against the Browns, we should see Meyers plenty involved. He’s a low-end WR3 for me, or a flex play in some leagues that start two wide receivers. I would feel better about him in PPR formats rather than in half-PPR or in standard.
TE Brenton Strange
Even though Strange missed five games last year, he was pretty solid in a lot of metrics. His biggest issue, especially this season, is target competition, as he has to compete with three solid wide receivers for targets. It doesn’t make the situation super great for him, but the offensive environment is good enough for Strange to have some spike weeks every so often.
Fantasy Advice: With the Browns much more susceptible to tight end fantasy scoring (11th-most fantasy points allowed to tight ends) than on the outside, Strange is a sneaky TE1 play this week if Thomas, Washington and Meyers find the footing a bit more difficult in Week 1.
This article originally appeared on The Huddle: The Outlook - Week 1 (Page 2)
