• Dak Prescott has a rough Week 1 matchup: Prescott will face a very good Cleveland Browns defense in Week 1. The Cowboys quarterback consistently struggled to produce good fantasy numbers against top-10 defenses last season.

• Chuba Hubbard is the clear starter for the Carolina Panthers: With Jonathon Brooks out the first four weeks of the season, Hubbard will step in as a viable fantasy starter.

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Estimated reading time: 15 minutes

Deciding who to start or sit can be as simple as checking PFF’s rankings and choosing the higher-ranked player. This start/sit column goes a step further, examining why a typical starter might struggle in a given week or why an overlooked player could perform well. While usual starters often remain the best choices, we also focus on those borderline players worth considering.

Click here to jump to a position: 
QB | RB | WR | TE | D/ST | K

QUARTERBACKS

START

Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders

Daniels should be an every-week fantasy starter, regardless of his opponent.

Daniels earned a 91.5 PFF rushing grade during his college career, the highest mark among Power Five quarterbacks in the last decade. He also leads the position in missed tackles forced over that same span.

In addition to his superior rushing ability, Daniels scrambled far more frequently than any other quarterback, with 258 career scrambles — the most in the last decade. The next closest player had just 180.

This could result in more rushing attempts and big runs from Daniels than other rushing quarterbacks. Every quarterback with 100 or more rushing attempts in the last 10 years has averaged at least 18 fantasy points per start — a number Daniels should easily achieve.

His ability as a passer shouldn’t be overlooked either, as he has the best mechanics of any passer in the class. He earned a respectable 84.0 career passing grade in college, and while we shouldn’t expect him to reach Jalen Hurts’ current level as a passer, he could well be better than Hurts was as a rookie.

The Commanders face a Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to quarterbacks last season. He should be in starting lineups even if this were a more difficult defense, but this presents an even more favorable opportunity.

Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

The Lions will face the Aaron Donald-less Los Angeles Rams in Week 1. And according to PFF’s strength of schedule tool, this is the seventh-best QB matchup of the week.

The Rams allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks last season.

Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

The Bears will take on the Tennessee Titans, who recorded the fourth-fewest pressures as a team last season, as well as the fourth-fewest combined sacks and hits.

Last season, Tennessee’s leader in pressures was Denico Autry, who is no longer on the roster. His replacement, Sebastian Joseph-Day, recorded a career-high 25 pressures in 2023.

At USC last year, Williams earned a 93.4 passing grade when not under pressure, but that dropped to 38.9 when he faced pressure.

SIT

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Prescott’s fantasy performance was highly inconsistent last year. He finished as a top-four quarterback in seven games but ranked QB16 or worse in another seven, with only three finishes between QB5 and QB15.

His success was largely tied to the quality of the opposing defense. In games where he finished in the top four, he faced defenses that were average to among the worst at allowing fantasy points to quarterbacks, with an average ranking of 24th. Conversely, in all five games against top-10 defenses in preventing fantasy points to quarterbacks, Prescott finished outside the top 15.

According to our strength of schedule tool, the Cowboys have the sixth-worst quarterback matchup this week.

The Browns allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks last season. The team retained Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator, and nine of the 10 defenders who played at least 500 snaps last season remain on the roster. The Browns should remain one of the best defenses this season, which will limit Prescott’s output in Week 1.

Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

According to our strength of schedule tool, the 49ers have the worst QB matchup of the week. The Jets allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks last season.

Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets

The Jets have the second-worst matchup for quarterbacks this week, according to our strength of schedule tool. The 49ers allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks last season.

RUNNING BACKS

START

Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers

Hubbard gradually emerged as the Panthers’ featured back last season. From Week 12 onward, he was the primary option in all situations, playing at least 64% of the snaps in every game, including over 80% in one. During that stretch, he finished as RB27 or better in each of the final seven games, with two top-12 fantasy finishes.

The Panthers drafted Jonathon Brooks as their running back of the future, but he is still injured and will miss at least the first four games of the season. This again leaves Hubbard at the top of the depth chart.

Carolina played its starters for one drive in the preseason. Hubbard played 10 of 12 offensive snaps, with Miles Sanders taking the other two.

It’s possible the Panthers weren’t planning on heavily rotating their running backs in the preseason, suggesting that Hubbard and Sanders may be more evenly split. However, Sanders was limited in practice on Wednesday due to a finger injury, which could lead to Hubbard actually playing more than usual in Week 1.

The Panthers face a New Orleans Saints defense that was average against the run last season. Four of the Saints’ six linebackers appeared on the initial injury report, including two backups who missed practice. With this matchup expected to be more competitive than most Panthers games last season, Carolina should have the opportunity to stick to the ground game. 

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