As always, Start 'Em, Sit 'Em is geared toward helping fantasy managers make difficult roster decisions. You won't see "start Jahmyr Gibbs" here. Instead, I'm exploring the players closer to the perceived fringe and aiming to optimize your lineups for another weekly win! Importantly, the new "Start of the Week" and "Sit of the Week" are the calls I have deemed the most notable in each category, not necessarily the most necessary players to start or sit.
Also, you'll see quite a few references in this year's column to NFL Pro, and the insights it provides through Next Gen Stats data dashboards, matchup evaluations, All-22 film, and the uniquely trained Fantasy AI Assistant. You can get access to all those tools yourself with an NFL+ Premium subscription!
P.S. Feel free to follow me on X -- @MattOkada -- or Instagram -- @mattokadaNFL -- and hit me with your questions, congratulations or complaints throughout the year.
Start 'Em
Start of the Week
Mayer is an excellent start if Brock Bowers (knee) is inactive again. Mayer ran the second-most routes (23) of any Raiders player in Week 1 and led the team with seven targets. This week, he takes on a Chargers defense that surrendered 24.5 fantasy points to Cardinals TE Trey McBride in the opener. After ranking among the top waiver pickups of last week, Mayer can slide into your starting lineup as a focal point of Las Vegas’ passing attack, pending Bowers’ status.
Notable starts
For the Likely managers who are hesitant to trust his monster Week 1 performance against Dallas, I’m fully bought in. He’s always been talented, but was buried behind Mark Andrews in Baltimore -- now he’s a legitimate TE1 with top-tier upside in New York.
Similar to Likely, Kincaid is a historically efficient tight end who saw legitimate opportunity in Week 1 and capitalized, to the tune of five catches on six targets for 130 yards (against the Texans). Play him again in a Week 2 contest with Detroit that promises plenty of scoring.
Schultz was second to Nico Collins in most of the relevant receiving categories for Houston last week, and Trey McBride was the only tight end to finish Week 1 with more targets (13) than Schultz (eight). Plus, Cincy surrendered an absurd 20.9 fantasy points per game to the position last season.
If you need a deeper play, Ferguson has a solid bounce-back opportunity against a Washington defense that’s been highly susceptible to tight ends since last year and just got crushed by reigning Start of the Week Dallas Goedert.
Sit 'Em
Sit of the Week
Any hope that Pitts and Drake London could carry third-string QB Cooper Rush enough to remain fantasy-relevant was quickly dashed in Week 1. Pitts saw only one target and posted a fantasy doughnut, despite running the second-most routes of any Falcons player (21). Oh, and the team he’s playing in Week 2, the Carolina Panthers, also goose-egged TE Colston Loveland in Week 1. Pitts will be better at some point this season -- probably sooner than later -- but he is very hard to trust based on last week’s data, no matter who’s in at quarterback.
Notable sits
It might not be a bad idea to include the entire Browns offense as a Sit, including the highly drafted Fannin. The 2025 rookie standout had just two receptions for 21 yards in Week 1 and the state of the Cleveland passing game makes him very difficult to count on from a fantasy perspective.
As I somewhat expected in his first game back from an Achilles tear, Kittle was on a pitch count (played 47% of snaps, ran 13 routes) and put up just 3.2 fantasy points in Week 1. He’ll be a full-go at some point this season, but it’s smart and safe to avoid risking a number of dud weeks until he returns to form.
If you drafted Sadiq and are excited by his 11.4 fantasy points in Week 1, I suggest tempering expectations. Sadiq scored more than half those points on a three-yard touchdown run and had just three targets on 12 routes as a receiver. Leave him on the bench until his receiving production reaches reliable heights.
