Should You Start Dallas Goedert or Luke Musgrave in Fantasy Football This Week?

Friday night football is usually reserved for high school football; however, the NFL has decided it’s time to stick its hands in the pot and has granted us the Green Bay Packers vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. This matchup led to the debate of Dallas Goedert or Luke Musgrave for Week 1 fantasy football.

Goedert gives you a steady hand at a challenging position to analyze, while Musgrave is a behemoth of a man playing tight end and can create upside for your lineup.

Both players have talents they can bring to the field but play on potent offenses with a slew of wide receiver and running back talents to steal from their target share. Correctly identifying the right player is the only way to elevate our lineup and not feel the dread of a bust before most games on Sunday.

Week 1 Fantasy Outlook for Dallas Goedert

We know the Eagles have multiple avenues where their offense can dominate you on the field. They could throw it to A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and even their newly acquired wide receiver, Jahan Dotson. They could run with Saquon Barkley and use Jalen Hurts’ legs to gain first downs. This makes us question where Goedert lands within the hierarchy of this offense.

His situation doesn’t fit with one of our favorite rules: starting a tight end who is athletic and sits within the top three options of his offense. Sadly, Goedert may become a safety value when teams blitz and nothing more within this stacked offense.

The excellent news for Goedert’s fantasy outlook is that the Eagles showed a weakness to the blitz, which opponents took full advantage of in 2023. If teams decide to move down the same avenue of attack this season, Hurts will have to get the ball out quickly, and Goedert will be there to help facilitate the quick-striking offense.

Week 1 Fantasy Outlook for Luke Musgrave

Musgrave is an exceptional athlete with a body that looks like it was built in a lab. He stands 6’6″ and weighs 253 pounds, which makes him an instant mismatch against defenders weekly. You can put a linebacker on him, but he will blow right past them with his speed. If you put a defensive back on Musgrave, he will dominate the smaller-framed defender.

Musgrave has hands strong enough for Jordan Love to trust. The issue for Musgrave is the immense amount of talent surrounding him. He doesn’t even have the tight end position locked up, as Tucker Kraft is another big body who can create his mismatch on the field.

After you widen the lenses, you head into the wide receiver room, the deepest in the NFL. The Packers can send out Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, and even Bo Melton.

We still need to finish the talent in Green Bay; now, we must look at the running back room, which consists of Josh Jacobs and MarShawn Lloyd. The Packers can call any play at any time with success due to the talent they surrounded Love with within 2024. It just hampers how often Musgrave’s number will be called.

The excellent news about Musgrave is that the Eagles’ linebackers were a point in contention last season. The LB room was much maligned, and although they have brought more players in, we will need to see improvement to believe it. The Eagles did add Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, but he is more of an opportunistic player than a brute force that can slow down the big-body Musgrave.

Who Should I Start in Week 1?

The Pro Football Network Fantasy Football Start/Sit Optimizer says that Goedert is the player to start. His projected 8.6 points include a projected 3.29 receptions and 41 yards. Musgrave is expected to score only 7.5 points in Week 1.

Pro Football Network’s Consensus Fantasy Football Rankings fully agree with the optimizer, as our rankings reflect the same lead for Goedert. He has the more consistent profile for your fantasy line in Week 1.