With a very exciting week one of the NFL season in the books where we saw Antonio Brown sign with the Patriots, Lamar Jackson threw (yes, threw) for five touchdowns, and we found out that if you ever have fantasy players playing Miami you must start them. All point formats are done in the basic ESPN PPR format. 

Must Start

Tom Brady- Quarterback- New England Patriots: Tom Brady is arguably in his best fantasy situation he’s ever had. He has so many weapons surrounding him in Antonio Brown, Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon, and Demaryius Thomas. He heads to Miami where Lamar Jackson just put on a quarterback clinic and looked like one of the best quarterbacks of all time. Miami surrendered five passing TDs to Lamar Jackson and a Ravens offense that is nowhere near the Patriots talent wise. Look for Brady to easily go north of 30 fantasy points and maybe even around 40.

Kerryon Johnson- Running Back- Detroit Lions: I still have hope Johnson will be a feature back in Detroit. CJ Anderson took double digit carries against the Cardinals last week and took some volume away from Johnson, but they once again have a favorable matchup this week. They host the Chargers who surrendered 25.4 fantasy points to Marlon Mack last week and gave up over 200 rushing yards in the game. Johnson is still listed as the RB1 and will look to have a bounce back week as the star RB for the Lions.

John Brown- Wide Receiver- Buffalo Bills: The former deep ball threat found himself with a very large target share against the Jets with a 29% share. This week Buffalo heads back to Metlife Stadium to take on the Giants who gave up 33.4 fantasy points to Dak Prescott and over 400 yards in the air as well. The Bills don’t have the same level of offense as the Cowboys, but the combination of Brown’s volume along with the terrible pass defense of the Cowboys could result in another big day for him.

Do Not Start

Cortland Sutton- Wide Receiver- Denver Broncos: Sutton had a very solid week 1 as he put up 19 fantasy points and showed he is ready to be the Broncos WR1. I love everything about this kid when it comes to fantasy. He checks a lot of boxes but not this week as they host Chicago. The Bears held Devante Adams (a top 3 fantasy wide receiver) to 7.6 points in week 1 and only gave up a total of 166 yards in the air. If the duo of Aaron Rodgers and Adams can’t put up good numbers against this defense then I am not trusting Joe Flacco and Courtland Sutton.

Kenyan Drake- Running Back- Miami Dolphins: A good rule of thumb for this year is do not start any Miami Dolphins. Especially a Miami running back. The Dolphins host the Patriots who only surrendered 32 rushing yards to the Steelers and James Connor. Odds are the Patriots will go up big and very early on which will lead to Drake getting very few carries as they will need to be passing. Do not be surprised to see Drake repeat his 4.7 fantasy points from week 1. 

Philip Lindsey- Running Back- Denver Broncos: Once again heading back to the Broncos vs Bears game this week. The Broncos showed last week that they are going to be splitting carries between Royce Freeman and Philip Lindsey this year. The fact they are splitting touches against a Bears rush defense who only allowed 47 yards on the ground against the Packers. Aaron Jones in week one only put up 4.9 points and he is a feature back, so starting Lindsey while he also splits carries is too risky for me.

Waiver-wire Pickups

John Ross- Wide Receiver- Cincinnati Bengals: I’m so happy to see this kid finally turning his career around. The NFL combine record holder for the 40-yard has had the start of his career derailed by multiple injuries but showed out in week 1. The speedster caught 7 passes for 158 yards and a TD while playing 81% of his team snaps. One of my fears with Ross is that he is boom or bust but with 11 targets in week 1 he showed he may not just be a deep ball threat. On a team where AJ Green is always questionable, Ross will have the potential for a massive roll in the offense week in and week out. He is only owned in 50% of ESPN leagues.

John Brown- Wide Receiver- Buffalo Bills: Last year the Cardinals really only used Brown as a boom or bust, low volume, deep ball threat wideout. The Bills showed in week one they plan to use him as much more of a feature piece. Brown had 10 targets and Josh Allen turned to him early and often as he posted a 7-123-1 stat line. He is the Bills WR1 and is only owned in 49% of ESPN leagues.

Darren Waller- Tight End- Oakland Raiders: This man is going to be special. He is a pure athlete at 6 foot 6 and can run a 4.46 40-yard dash. Antonio Brown being cut made Waller’s stock sky rocket. He had 8 targets in week 1 and will have a very similar role to what Jared Cook had last year as a Raiders TE. TEs have a major role in Jon Gruden’s offense and he has the potential to be a TE1. He is only owned in 55% of ESPN leagues.