Fantasy Football Week 1 Flex Start 'Em Sit 'Em picks feat. Josh Jacobs, Malik Nabers and more
Welcome to Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season. You’ve studied all off-season and are ready to dominate your league on the way to a fantasy football championship. The first step on your journey is setting the right lineup. It’s not the time to get super cute. For the most part, you’re starting your studs. What we’re going to look at here is harder start/sit decisions for the flex position.
For this article, we’re using PPR scoring—all stats courtesy FantasyPoints.com.
Fantasy Football Week 1 Flex Start 'Em picks:
1] Josh Jacobs (RB, GB) vs PHI
I’m all about Jacobs in his first game as a Packer. He’ll face an Eagles defense in Brazil that is trotting out a new defensive scheme designed by Vic Fangio. Typically, this defense has high-flying linebackers who can fill gaps and cover lots of ground. Well, that’s not the case just yet with Philly.
The Eagles will be without starting LB Devin White this week and will start former Saints special teamer Zack Baun and second-year player Nakobe Dean. Neither has proven to be much of a force against the run. Add in the Eagles losing All-Pro Fletcher Cox to retirement, and you have a defense that is ripe for the picking. The Birds were one of the worst tackling teams to end last season. I like Jacobs to get 20 touches and put up an easy 15 fantasy points.
2] Malik Nabers (WR, NYG) vs MIN
There’s nothing about Nabers's game that I don’t like. He’s big, fast, and explosive. A true matchup nightmare. He’s going to be force-fed targets by Daniel Jones. Oh wait, there’s the one thing I don’t like. Jones stinks. But Minnesota’s defense is very suspect.
Last season, the Vikings allowed a league-high 70.3% completion percentage. Even Jones should be able to exploit that. Throw in the issues with personnel in the secondary, and you’ve got the formula for a monster debut for Nabers. I like him to go for over 100 yards and score in Week 1.
Our 'Who Should I Start' tool projects a return of 13.2 points for Nabers this week off roughly four receptions and 65.7 yards.
3] Chuba Hubbard (RB, CAR) vs NO
Hubbard isn’t a special runner by any stretch. But he is the only game in town. Last year, he took the lead-back role in Carolina and produced seven consecutive 10+ point PPR weeks to close out 2023. I’m infatuated with new head coach and play caller Dave Canales’ offense.
He’s turned around the Seahawks and Bucs offenses in back-to-back seasons. I think he does the same in Carolina, which has an improved offensive line and better weaponry on the outside to keep defenses honest. Hubbard won’t win you a week, but he definitely won’t lose it either.
Fantasy Football Week 1 Flex Sit 'Em picks
1] Rico Dowdle (RB, DAL) vs CLV
While my love for “Uncle Rico” is well known, I’m also a realist. This is a brutal matchup for the Dallas offense. Cleveland is poised for a big season, and they know that the defense will carry them. The Browns are a -2.5-point home favorite. Dallas abandoned the run in the second half of the season last year.
As a team, Dallas didn’t run for more than 140 yards in any game after Week 10. That’s not one player, that’s everyone combined. They failed to rush for 100 yards as a team in three of their final four regular-season contests. Now they’ll trot out Dowdle, who isn’t special at all while being shadowed by the corpse of Ezekiel Elliott. Stay away.
2] Courtland Sutton (WR, DEN) vs SEA
I love this new-look Seahawks defense under former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald. This defense has high-end corners that can shut down a slow, tall receiver like Sutton. This Denver pass game will feature plenty of dump-offs and short passes to get rookie QB Bo Nix comfortable. This isn’t the week for Sutton, who last year was touchdown-dependent to come through.
3] Jaylen Warren (RB, PIT) vs ATL
Warren is coming out of camp nursing a hamstring strain. That’s all I needed to hear to sit him on my bench this week. Atlanta has a fast defense that upgraded all over the place in the offseason. Their speed at linebacker gives me pause with a gimpy Warren trying to catch passes out of the backfield. I don’t trust Warren or his new play-caller, Arthur Smith, to get him enough touches after an injury that is worth starting this week.