Fantasy Football Week 1: Running Back Streaming Options
After weeks of strategy articles, player ranking, projections, studying and fantasy drafts, the season is finally upon us. Congratulations! You made it to kickoff. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Dallas Cowboys tonight in the first game of the NFL season.
But wait. Maybe you drafted J.K. Dobbins a couple of weeks ago and have a hole at running back. Or perhaps you selected Cam Akers back in June or Travis Etienne a few weeks ago. Maybe you drafted Justin Fields or Trey Lance as your QB1, anticipating that they would win their respective starting quarterback competitions. If that’s the case, you will need to find an option to start in Week 1.
Perhaps you drafted A.J. Brown and are panicked that he missed practice on Wednesday. Or maybe you punted the tight end position and aren’t happy with the injured Adam Trautman or the healthy Cole Kmet as your starter.
Don’t worry. There are plenty of streamable replacements available on the waiver wire to plug into your roster. Let’s dig in and see if we can find some solid streamers heading into Week 1.
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Week 1 RB Streamers
Kenyan Drake, Las Vegas Raiders
I know it’s the Raiders so it’s hard to put too much stock into this, but Las Vegas paid Drake a lot of money to come to play for them so you’d have to assume they’re going to use him. While he doesn’t seem to be in danger of missing this week’s game against the Ravens, Josh Jacobs (undisclosed) missed two days of practice this week which could open the door for Drake to get a little extra work. The matchup isn’t fantastic, but Drake should be playable -- especially in PPR leagues.
James White, New England Patriots
I’m not sure if this totally qualified as “sneaky,” but White is ranked around RB50 this week and was little more than a late-round target in fantasy drafts coming off a very lackluster year. However, with Rhamondre Stevenson nursing a dislocated finger (he’s still expected to play), White could see some extra work against the Dolphins this week and will most definitely benefit from the change to Mac Jones under center.
Ty’Son Williams, Baltimore Ravens
Everyone got a little spooked about Williams when Le’Veon Bell was signed to the Ravens practice squad this week, but the former BYU Cougar will head into this week as the Ravens RB1 after Gus Edwards went down with a torn ACL in Thursday’s practice. Williams could be red-zone gold!
