Best Week 1 RB Matchups
James Cook (Buffalo Bills) vs. Cardinals
This is as good of a matchup as you’ll find in Week 1. Cook faces the Cardinals, who may have the worst defensive line in football. Cook is coming off a season where he earned nearly 1,600 total yards and now gets to follow that up with a matchup against a defensive line whose personnel would likely be backups on most other teams.
The Bills are six-point favorites and projected to score a strong 27 points this week. Cook has an increased chance to score a touchdown in this game. Start him with confidence.
David Montgomery (Detroit Lions) vs. Rams
I’m concerned about the Rams defensive line without Aaron Donald. It’s a unit that has a lot of question marks and now they’ll have a brutal Week 1 matchup against a Lions’ offensive line that may be the best unit in the NFL.
This is the biggest mismatch in the trenches for Week 1.
I believe this makes David Montgomery an incredible play in all formats. Not only because of the matchup, but the Lions might limit Jahmyr Gibbs’ workload as he returns from a hamstring injury. Even if Gibbs is limited by just 10-20%, it would directly benefit Montgomery in a major way. Start Monty this week.
Best Week 1 WR matchups
Malik Nabers (New York Giants) vs. Vikings
Nabers will begin his NFL career with a favorable matchup against the Vikings. Minnesota has the 27th-ranked secondary entering the season, according to PFF.
This Vikings secondary has had an unfortunate offseason. Cornerback Mekhi Blackmon tore his ACL on the first day of training camp and cornerback Shaq Griffin pulled his hamstring on the second day of camp. Not to mention, the team cut their 2022 first-round safety in Lewis Cine and lost rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson to a tragic car accident in July.
The Vikings still need time and resources to fix their secondary, but Week 1 is already here. Expect Nabers to earn plenty of targets in a beneficial matchup, just like he did in the preseason. If Daniel Jones has time to throw, Nabers should have a strong Week 1 debut.
Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) vs. Washington
Godwin will start his season against the Washington Commanders, who lack star cornerback talent. The Commanders lost corner Kendall Fuller in free agency and replaced him with rookie Mike Sainristil and veteran free agent Michael Davis. Davis is coming off the worst coverage year of his career.
There are a lot of question marks in this Commanders secondary and that’s good news for Godwin. Expect Godwin to see more slot usage under new play-caller Liam Coen. We got a glimpse of this in the preseason where Godwin played six of his seven snaps in the slot (86%), which is a large increase from his 32% slot rate last season.
Start Godwin with confidence this week.
Best Week 1 TE matchups
Brock Bowers (Las Vegas Raiders) vs. Chargers
The first-round rookie TE out of Georgia is widely regarded as one of the best TE prospects to enter the NFL after producing three straight seasons of 50+ catches in college. Bowers will kick off his NFL career in Week 1 against the Chargers’ weaker linebackers.
Los Angeles has a lot of question marks at the linebacker position. They bring back Denzel Perryman, who is coming off the worst year of his career. The team may also be starting a rookie in Junior Colson. Their rotational linebacker will likely be Daiyan Henley, who played more than 10 snaps in a game just three times last season as a rookie.
This matchup sets up nicely for Bowers, who can already identify coverages at an elite level and his ability to win after the catch sets him apart from most rookie TEs. Start Bowers in Week 1.
Noah Fant (Seattle Seahawks) vs. Broncos
One of my favorite late-round TE targets in drafts this summer was Fant. He now opens the season in a great spot. Fant will face the Broncos, who have a solid secondary but have weaker personnel at linebacker. Alex Singleton is the Broncos main starting linebacker. He ranked 80th out of 84 qualifying linebackers last season in coverage.
Expect more usage for Fant this season as TEs Will Dissly and Colby Parkinson left in free agency. Fant should be the primary TE in an offense that is projected to pass more under new play-caller Ryan Grubb. Fant ranked 33rd in TE snap share last season but don’t be shocked if this number enters the top 10 at the position in 2024. Start Fant in Week 1 against Denver.
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