Fantasy Football Week 1 Rankings: Matchups and Projections for Players We Love
The factors demanding attention to win fantasy football games evolve alongside the league each year, but there is one constant: Matchups reign supreme as a key to success.
Owners can have great drafts, play the waiver wire well and understand the little things such as pass-catching backs vs. thumpers and target hogs vs. deep threats.
But such hard work and understanding don't mean much if owners can't pick the proper lineups based on matchups. The biggest name isn't always the best name, with Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas proving that on Thursday Night Football this week by only scoring four points.
Here's a look at the rest of the slate and the matchups we love.
Week 1 Schedule
| Buffalo at Baltimore | 1 p.m. |
| Green Bay at Jacksonville | 1 p.m. |
| San Diego at Kansas City | 1 p.m. |
| Oakland at New Orleans | 1 p.m. |
| Chicago at Houston | 1 p.m. |
| Cleveland at Philadelphia | 1 p.m. |
| Minnesota at Tennessee | 1 p.m. |
| Tampa Bay at Atlanta | 1 p.m. |
| Cincinnati at N.Y. Jets | 1 p.m. |
| Miami at Seattle | 4:05 p.m. |
| N.Y. Giants at Dallas | 4:25 p.m |
| Detroit at Indianapolis | 4:25 p.m |
| New England at Arizona | 8:30 p.m. |
| Pittsburgh at Washington | 7:10 p.m. |
| L.A. Rams at San Francisco | 10:20 p.m. |
Source: ESPN
Quarterbacks
| 1 | Derek Carr | 20 |
| 2 | Aaron Rodgers | 19 |
| 3 | Matthew Stafford | 18 |
| 4 | Russell Wilson | 17 |
| 5 | Ben Roethlisberger | 16 |
| 6 | Andrew Luck* | 12 |
| 7 | Eli Manning | 12 |
| 8 | Drew Brees | 11 |
| 9 | Kirk Cousins | 11 |
| 10 | Andy Dalton | 11 |
| 11 | Tyrod Taylor | 10 |
| 12 | Carson Palmer | 10 |
| 13 | Alex Smith | 10 |
| 14 | Matt Ryan | 10 |
| 15 | Carson Wentz | 10 |
Author's projections. *If he plays.
The quarterback position stands as a solid example from the intro.
Of course Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers is a strong start most weeks, but owners might not expect the same from Derek Carr of the Oakland Raiders.
But Carr quietly finished as a top-13 scorer at the position last year, going for double-digit performances in all but three games. He starts the season off with a bang this weekend, playing a New Orleans Saints defense that allowed the most points on average to opposing signal-callers last year.
With Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree and others to work with, Carr looks like the surest lock for strong production this week.
Rodgers has an especially strong matchup, too. He'll line up against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which almost writes itself. Their defense has improved over the years, but it still coughed up the sixth-most points to quarterbacks last season.
Keep in mind, too, that Rodgers will have Jordy Nelson back in the fray after he missed all of last season. On the chance the Jacksonville offense gets hot, a high-scoring affair means even more production for Rodgers.
Running Backs
| 1 | Todd Gurley | 18 |
| 2 | Adrian Peterson | 17 |
| 3 | DeAngelo Williams | 16 |
| 4 | Lamar Miller | 15 |
| 5 | David Johnson | 14 |
| 6 | Ezekiel Elliott | 14 |
| 7 | Devonta Freeman | 13 |
| 8 | Mark Ingram | 13 |
| 9 | LeSean McCoy | 12 |
| 10 | Spencer Ware | 12 |
| 11 | Doug Martin | 11 |
| 12 | Carlos Hyde | 11 |
| 13 | Ryan Mathews | 11 |
| 14 | DeMarco Murray | 11 |
| 15 | Frank Gore | 10 |
| 16 | Latavius Murray | 9 |
| 17 | Matt Jones | 9 |
| 18 | Jeremy Langford | 9 |
| 19 | Matt Forte | 8 |
| 20 | Eddie Lacy | 8 |
| 21 | Christine Michael | 8 |
| 22 | Rashad Jennings | 8 |
| 23 | Ameer Abdullah | 7 |
| 24 | Justin Forsett | 7 |
| 25 | Jeremy Hill | 7 |
| 26 | Duke Johnson | 7 |
| 27 | Melvin Gordon | 7 |
| 28 | Isaiah Crowell | 7 |
| 29 | Theo Riddick | 6 |
| 30 | Danny Woodhead | 6 |
Author's projections. *If he plays.
Todd Gurley looks like the new face of running backs this year, especially with Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings perhaps slowed now that starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is out of the picture.
The Los Angeles Rams' lead man finished fifth among backs last year, thanks to 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie over just 13 games. Included in there is a 20-point outburst against the San Francisco 49ers.
The good news is that Gurley gets those 49ers again this week. San Francisco allowed the second-most points to backs last season, and one of the league's biggest rebuilds doesn't stand a chance against the sophomore.
Spencer Ware is a much smaller name than Gurley at this point, but he has one of the biggest ceilings this week while he acts as the injury replacement for Jamaal Charles with the Kansas City Chiefs.
A note by PFF Fantasy Football says it all:
The matchup? A game against the San Diego Chargers, a unit that allowed the fifth-most points to running backs in 2015. Kansas City backs totaled 36 points over two contests against the Chargers last year, and Ware might hit 20 on his own this week.
Wide Receivers
| 1 | DeAndre Hopkins | 18 |
| 2 | Antonio Brown | 17 |
| 3 | Julio Jones | 17 |
| 4 | Odell Beckham Jr. | 16 |
| 5 | Allen Robinson | 15 |
| 6 | Dez Bryant | 15 |
| 7 | Sammy Watkins | 15 |
| 8 | Amari Cooper | 12 |
| 9 | A.J. Green | 11 |
| 10 | Jordy Nelson | 11 |
| 11 | Mike Evans | 10 |
| 12 | T.Y. Hilton | 10 |
| 13 | Brandon Marshall | 10 |
| 14 | Alshon Jeffery | 10 |
| 15 | Donte Moncrief | 8 |
| 16 | Keenan Allen | 8 |
| 17 | DeSean Jackson | 8 |
| 18 | Michael Crabtree | 8 |
| 19 | Doug Baldwin | 8 |
| 20 | Randall Cobb | 8 |
| 21 | Eric Decker | 8 |
| 22 | Marvin Jones | 8 |
| 23 | Larry Fitzgerald | 8 |
| 24 | Michael Floyd | 8 |
| 25 | Jordan Matthews | 7 |
| 26 | Tavon Austin | 7 |
| 27 | Brandin Cooks | 7 |
| 28 | Golden Tate | 7 |
| 29 | John Brown | 6 |
| 30 | Jeremy Maclin | 6 |
| 31 | Jarvis Landry | 6 |
| 32 | Tyler Lockett | 6 |
| 33 | Vincent Jackson | 6 |
| 34 | Pierre Garcon | 6 |
| 35 | Julian Edelman | 6 |
Author's projections. *If he plays.
Pittsburgh Steelers wideout Antonio Brown stands tall as one of fantasy's top options this week.
Shocker, right? Brown was the top scorer at his position last year, posting 243 points in standard leagues, with the second-place guy—Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons—coming in at 231.
Brown is a weird hybrid between a target monster and big-play threat, a guy who can score from anywhere on the field. The impressive production came by way of 195 targets.
Owners lucky enough to land Brown in the first round will start the season off with a bang because he'll get to go against Washington, a team that was third-worst against wideouts last year. The defense added Josh Norman over the offseason, but being the corner to track Brown all over the field isn't a simple task.
Another important matchup is between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, where Sammy Watkins of the former will exploit the secondary of the Ravens, which ranked among the top five worst defenses against wideouts last year.
Watkins has been rather hit-or-miss due to his ability to stay healthy, but look at it this way: He finished just outside the top 15 scorers at the position last year while missing three games.
A surefire star with Tyrod Taylor under center, Watkins looks due for one of the biggest days this week.
Tight Ends
| 1 | Rob Gronkowski* | 13 |
| 2 | Jordan Reed | 11 |
| 3 | Delanie Walker | 11 |
| 4 | Travis Kelce | 10 |
| 5 | Coby Fleener | 8 |
| 6 | Jared Cook | 8 |
| 7 | Zach Ertz | 8 |
| 8 | Zach Miller | 8 |
| 9 | Gary Barnidge | 7 |
| 10 | Julius Thomas | 7 |
| 11 | Jason Witten | 6 |
| 12 | Eric Ebron | 6 |
Author's projections. *If he plays.
Other than the usual names at tight end, two rather unexpected commodities sit in some of the best matchups of the week.
An example is Coby Fleener, who now suits up for the New Orleans Saints. He didn't do much for the Indianapolis Colts over four years, but he will play a much bigger role with his new team, one still looking to fill the void left by Jimmy Graham.
Owners shouldn't expect Graham-type numbers, but Fleener has a great matchup against an Oakland defense that coughed up the third-most points to tight ends last year.
It's the same story for Jared Cook, who now catches passes from Rodgers. He didn't stand much of a chance over his past three years with the Rams, but Cook is traditionally good during the first week of the season, as 4for4 Football's John Paulsen pointed out:
Like its defense in most areas, Jacksonville struggled against tight ends last year while allowing the sixth-most points to the position. Cook will announce his arrival with a new team in a big way.
Defense/Special Teams
| 1 | Seahawks | 10 |
| 2 | Vikings | 10 |
| 3 | Jets | 9 |
| 4 | Bills | 9 |
| 5 | Cardinals | 8 |
| 6 | Packers | 7 |
| 7 | Texans | 7 |
| 8 | Bengals | 6 |
| 9 | Eagles | 6 |
| 10 | Rams | 6 |
Author's projections.
The Vikings might be a team with a muddy quarterback situation for aforementioned reasons, but the defense remains an elite play.
Minnesota finished sixth in scoring last year with a solid six double-digit outings, scoring six defensive touchdowns in the process.
This week's opponent is the Tennessee Titans, which sounds scary because of quarterback Marcus Mariota. But the Titans will look to lean on DeMarco Murray in the backfield and hope a breakout younger play by the name of Tajae Sharpe can lead the team's receivers.
It sounds like a low-scoring affair with plenty of turnover opportunities.
Kickers
| 1 | Justin Tucker | 9 |
| 2 | Adam Vinatieri | 8 |
| 3 | Steven Hauschka | 8 |
| 4 | Cairo Santos | 8 |
| 5 | Mason Crosby | 8 |
| 6 | Blair Walsh | 8 |
| 7 | Dan Bailey | 7 |
| 8 | Matt Bryant | 7 |
| 9 | Nick Novak | 7 |
| 10 | Roberto Aguayo | 6 |
Author's projections.
A game between the Chiefs and Chargers sounds like one ready to offer plenty in the way of scoring, which means big things for Cairo Santos of the former.
Santos finished as a top-10 scorer last year, going for double digits five times and totaling 13 points over two games against the Chargers.
With Alex Smith directing the offense and Ware charging ahead in the backfield, the Chiefs should sit in field-goal range for most of the day. Even better, his defense might have problems containing Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen, meaning more scoring opportunities.
All scoring info courtesy of ESPN.com standard leagues, as are points-against info and ownership stats as of Sept. 8.
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