Fantasy Football Week 1 Wide Receiver Start/Sit: Rashee Rice, Joshua Palmer, Jayden Reed
Ted breaks down six of the toughest wide receiver start/sit decisions for the first week of the fantasy football season!
The fantasy football season starts tonight! Ironically, Week 1 is often the toughest week of the season in which to make start/sit decisions. Most fantasy managers have an entirely healthy roster, and we have yet to see any real game action. This is especially true at wide receiver, a deep position where players' production can vary hugely from week to week.
But that doesn't mean WR scoring is entirely unpredictable. We can look at matchups and projected roles to find the best and worst plays in a given week. Without further ado, let’s get started.
For more help with your toughest Start/Sit decisions, check out FantasySP’s NFL Start/Sit tool!
Fantasy Football Wide Receivers To Start Week 1
Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Washington Commanders
Godwin is being started in just over 50% of leagues this week, but that number should be much higher. For one, Godwin is simply a good fantasy player. He finished last season as the WR30 in Half-PPR and should be even better this season now that he has moved back to the slot.
Making things even better for the veteran, the Buccaneers are facing the Kliff Kingsbury Commanders in Week 1. In his time as the Cardinals’ head coach, Kingsbury’s teams always played at a blistering pace. That should mean more chances for Godwin to be on the field and rack up those sweet PPR points.
Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Baltimore Ravens
I have my concerns about Rice as a season-long play, but he is a must-start in the season opener tonight. With Marquise Brown out and Xavier Worthy making his NFL debut, Rice is locked in as the Chiefs’ top WR. We all saw how he produced in that role last season. The Ravens’ defense is a tough unit, but Patrick Mahomes is more than up to the task. Start Rice with confidence.
Joshua Palmer, Los Angeles Chargers vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Palmer is apparently being started in under 5% of leagues, a shockingly low number. After all, based on everything we heard from the Chargers during training camp, the fourth-year receiver is the top option in this offense.
Yes, Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman are going to implement a run-heavy scheme. But this is the NFL in 2024: You have to throw the ball a fair amount, especially with a quarterback as talented as Justin Herbert. Palmer is the only receiver on this team with any established chemistry with Herbert, and I expect that to lead to plenty of targets for him early in the season. In a matchup against a very beatable Raiders team, he profiles as a solid flex play or even WR2 option.
Fantasy Football Wide Receivers To Sit Week 1
Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Jets
Don’t get me wrong. In deep leagues, Aiyuk should be started no matter what. But in shallower formats, if there was ever a week to sit a player this talented, this is it.
For one, we know that Aiyuk can be slightly boom-or-bust in this loaded 49ers offense. Last season he had six finishes outside the top 30 weekly WRs, including three outside the top 60.
For another, thanks to his drawn-out contract drama, Aiyuk missed the vast majority of training camp. He could easily take a few weeks to get back to game shape. The 49ers had also begun prepping for their Week 1 game before he returned to practice; there’s a chance Kyle Shanahan will have fewer plays than normal drawn up to go Aiyuk’s way if he started his gameplan unsure of the star WR's status.
Finally, there’s the Sauce Gardner factor. Gardner is arguably the best corner in the league, and there are rumors that the Jets will let him shadow opposing teams’ WR1s more often this year. If he shadows anyone on this 49ers team, it will be Aiyuk, who plays more like a traditional WR than Deebo Samuel Sr. Even if Gardner doesn’t shadow Aiyuk, Michael Carter II is an elite corner in his own right. With all these red flags, benching Aiyuk for another good option isn’t as crazy as it may initially sound.
Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers @ Philadelphia Eagles
While a lot of these picks for Week 1 are actually the opposite of my season-long takes, this one is right in line. Reed was often overdrafted this offseason, and the same reason I was fading him in drafts is why I'm worried about him for Week 1.
The big question with the Packers’ receivers is how many snaps each player will see. With Reed, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks, they have more talented young receivers than they do every-down roles.
This is especially true for Reed, who almost never featured in two-receiver sets as a rookie. He still saw enough snaps to produce solid numbers, but that was often thanks to injuries, especially to Christian Watson. With Watson and everyone else fully healthy to start this season, it remains to be seen how many routes, let alone targets, Reed will be able to command. I recommend leaving him on your bench until we see how the Packers plan to rotate their young receivers this season.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos
The issue with JSN is very similar to the one with Reed. Many fantasy managers are projecting a breakout season for the 2023 first-rounder after a very lackluster rookie year. With Smith-Njigba's prospect pedigree and the Seahawks having an entirely new coaching staff in town, that is certainly a possibility.
But we still don’t know for sure when or if the Seahawks’ new coaches will prioritize the sophomore in this offense. The last time we saw Seattle on the field, JSN was their clear third receiver, playing a low-ADOT slot role behind Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. Given that Lockett is planning on playing in Week 1 despite dealing with an injury, there’s a chance that is still the case. If JSN comes out in Week 1 and racks up targets downfield or even just finishes with a 90% route share, it’s full steam ahead. Until we see that, though, I recommend leaving the Ohio State product on your bench.
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