So, you woke up this weekend and realized your opponent this week in fantasy had Josh Allen against the Lions on Thursday, and now you're in a very, very deep hole heading into the weekend. You can't afford to make bad decisions, because you're already down by, like, 125 points or something. What do you do?
Well, one option is to take my advice on some lineup decisions! No promises here, but if you're in a rough spot, these starts and sits can help you claw your way back into Week 2 contention.
Start: QB Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers lost by 22 points in Week 1, yet the team somehow scored 37 points in that loss. The defense just let Carolina down. Quarterback Bryce Young did a strong job, going 23-for-37 for 361 yards with three touchdowns and a pick, and he also added a rushing score as well.
The combination of Young's improvement and Carolina's defensive struggles might turn every 2026 contest for the Panthers into a shootout, making Young an extremely appealing fantasy quarterback on a weekly basis.
This week, he faces NFC South foes Atlanta. The Falcons largely held Aaron Rodgers in check last week despite ultimately losing 20-13, but this Panthers offense feels at least one step above the Steelers' unit. Young's connection with Jalen Coker — who I'm not writing about as my wide receiver start of the week but who you 100 percent should be starting — makes him extra dangerous right now.
Sit: QB Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints
Yes, I am saying to sit a guy who threw for 410 yards last weekend. That happened against a Detroit Lions defense that we now, after Thursday night, have some more evidence to suggest is awful in the secondary. I'm not going to just roll with Shough because of one good week.
That's especially true when you consider that his New Orleans Saints face the Ravens this week. Baltimore's defense was down a bit last season, but in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts, the Ravens defense looked like it was back, holding Daniel Jones to 166 passing yards and a touchdown while picking him off once and sacking him twice.
Shough got off to a rocky start in Week 1 before recovering when he realized how bad the defense he was up against was playing. If he gets off to a rocky start against the Ravens, the team has the personnel to just continue making the game hard for the second-year quarterback.
Start: RB David Montgomery, Houston Texans
The only way that David Montgomery's debut with the Houston Texans could have gone better would have been if the Texans had managed to defeat the Bills. Montgomery found the end zone three times in Houston's 36-31 Week 1 loss.
Remember when there were concerns about a split between Montgomery and Woody Marks? Well, Montgomery dominated the touches pretty clearly in Week 1.
Carries | Targets | Snap Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
David Montgomery | 20 | 3 | 49% |
Woody Marks | 9 | 1 | 51% |
There was a split when it came to playing time, but even with Marks playing one more snap than Montgomery, the Texans leaned far more heavily on Montgomery when he was on the field — and with how much value he produced, there's no reason to think that changes in Week 2 against the Bengals, who gave up a pair of touchdowns on the ground in Week 1 and struggled with run defense all of last season.
(Also, Nico Collins is expected to miss this week's game, so Houston will need to rely even more heavily than usual on its run game.)
Sit: RB Jonathon Brooks, Carolina Panthers
I spent the offseason being very high on post-injury Jonathon Brooks. After Week 1, I'm feeling both good and bad about that. Brooks had just five touches in Carolina's opener, but one of those was a big 48-yard reception, catching the ball on a vertical route down the sideline and showing off part of why he was such an intriguing prospect before his ACL tear at Texas.
The bad news, though, is that he barely saw the field. Brooks played just 13 snaps, accounting for just under 20 percent of Carolina's total snaps. Chuba Hubbard, meanwhile, played 70 percent of the Panthers' snaps in Week 1.
There should come a point where Brooks gets a larger workload, but after seeing his lack of Week 1 touches, fantasy managers are kind of stuck right now in this position where regardless of matchup, they can't risk playing Brooks until they actually start to see him get 10-plus touches per game.
Start: WR Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It's time for a Baker Mayfield revenge game against the Cleveland Browns. (Yes, I definitely could have mentioned Mayfield as my QB start this week for this reason.) That should trickle down into a huge game for Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.
In Week 1 against the Bengals, Egbuka's six targets led the team's wide receivers and trailed only running back Bucky Irving. His 63 receiving yards were the most on the team, and notably, he was on the field a lot, playing 86 percent of Tampa's snaps.
Now, he heads into Week 2 to face a Browns defense that just might be complete dog water. Trevor Lawrence picked this defense apart last week, tossing four touchdowns. Mayfield should do the same, and Egbuka is the most likely player to have a game that looks like Parker Washington's last week, who caught five passes for 83 yards and a score.
Sit: WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals
[Whispering to myself] Don't use the b-word, Justin, don't use the b-word, don't use the ...
Alright. I'm not going to call Marvin Harrison Jr. a bust yet. But the start to his third NFL season was very much not good, as he caught just a single pass. I guess fantasy managers can take solace in it being a 33-yard catch, so he still wound up with 4.3 PPR points, but ... yeah, not great!
The Michael Wilson extension sort of soft-launched this idea that he had surpassed Harrison as the top wide receiver in Arizona. Week 1 solidified that, as Wilson had seven targets and five receptions to Harrison's three targets and one reception. But there was a bigger issue: Kendrick Bourne, who most thought was brought in as depth, actually had eight targets, catching all of them, and tight end Trey McBride was targeted 13 times.
Harrison is third or fourth in the pecking order on a football team with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. You, uhh, can't really rely on a guy like that in fantasy. I'm not saying he's droppable in season-long leagues (yet), but I am suggesting that for Week 2, at least, he's unplayable.
Start: TE Isaiah Likely, New York Giants
So that's what Isaiah Likely is capable of when he's not stuck behind Mark Andrews on the depth chart. In his New York Giants debut, the former Raven was targeted eight times, catching all eight of those for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
The Giants might have a new coaching staff, but they still have a very similar issue to the one they've had for the last couple of seasons, which is a very, very shallow receiving room. Look at the snap rates: Malachi Fields led all wide receivers, playing 72 percent of snaps. That's right: A third-round rookie played the most snaps at wide receiver, catching two passes for 25 yards. Malik Nabers is the No. 1 receiver, but the team seems to be playing it a little safe in terms of how often he's out there, though he did lead the team in targets with nine.
More than likely, Likely and Nabers will see the bulk of Jaxson Dart's targets each week. For Week 2, that means Likely is in a great spot even against a theoretically good Rams defense. (And with Myles Garrett out, that defense won't be at full strength, so Dart should have time to let things develop so he can get the ball to Likely in good spots.)
Sit: TE Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns
One week ago, I was extremely high on Harold Fannin Jr., as he felt like the most quarterback-proof player on this Cleveland Browns roster. It didn't matter that he has Deshaun Watson throwing him the ball, because he had the skill to make a killing as a checkdown option in the short and medium passing game.
Oops. It turns out that, actually, the Browns are just a complete nightmare and no one can be relied upon as long as they keep trotting out Watson. Fannin Jr. was targeted just three times in the loss to Jacksonville, catching two of those for 21 yards. Of Watson's 22 pass attempts, just four were directed to tight ends.
Now comes a meeting with Tampa Bay. Mike Gesicki had a big game against the Bucs last week, but he also had Joe Burrow throwing him the football. It's tough to trust Watson, even if the matchup itself should work in Fannin's favor. He's not an instant bench, but he entered the season as a mid-range TE1 option and by Week 2, he's already fallen into TE2 territory. I know I'll be starting Michael Mayer over him in multiple leagues.
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