The fantasy football season is finally here. There is no Week 1 to react to yet, which makes this column an exercise in anticipation rather than analysis. These are the players I expect to be the hot names on the wire once the first Sunday is in the books.
As a quick prelude, of course, every manager is entering Week 1 with the team they drafted and is presumably happy with those players. Nobody is dropping guys they just spent picks on. But there are going to be players who end up not playing and may become IR-eligible, which frees up a roster spot. At the very least, if you can’t pick any of these players up right now, their names will be on your radar heading into Week 1.
As always, all players are rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.
Malik Willis, QB, Miami Dolphins
Rostered: 42%
Nobody is walking into this season excited about the Miami Dolphins. Fantasy managers do not have high hopes for this offense, and that is a perfectly reasonable place to be. Fantasy managers are also quite a reactionary bunch. All it takes is one good Sunday.
Miami draws the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1. That is a pretty favorable opening spot. It would not shock me if the Dolphins were not only competitive, but won the game.
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The scenario to watch for is simple. Miami looks better than expected, even against what may be a weak opponent, and Malik Willis plays well. That puts him firmly on the Week 2 streaming radar, and the Week 2 opponent is a San Francisco 49ers defense that might be coming off giving up a boatload of points to the Los Angeles Rams.
If Willis posts strong rushing numbers in Week 1, he will be very popular ahead of Week 2. Beat the crowd to him.
Sam Darnold, QB, Seattle Seahawks
Rostered: 28%
Streaming quarterback is a game of looking one week ahead, not one week behind.
I don’t expect anything amazing from Sam Darnold in Week 1 against the New England Patriots. But he will be mighty appealing in Week 2 regardless of his performance, because the matchup does the work for him.
The Arizona Cardinals allowed the fourth most points per game to opposing offenses last season. They then declined to invest in improving that defense this offseason. Darnold will undoubtedly be a streaming option in Week 2.
If you completely punted quarterback on draft day, or you are in a very large league where the position dries up in a hurry, you can get ahead of the game. Stash Darnold now for the Week 2 start.
Tyjae Spears, RB, Tennessee Titans
Rostered: 37%
Now for the one that requires a little faith. This one is highly speculative. It hinges upon what we saw in the preseason actually manifesting in games that matter, which is a bet that goes wrong constantly.
Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard were in a much more even timeshare in limited preseason action. Of course, it absolutely could have been as simple as Robert Saleh wanting to get both backs to work with the first team. Coaches do that in August all the time. We’ll find out soon enough.
If Spears plays close to 50% of the snaps in Week 1 and earns 12-14 opportunities, that would be a clear sign that he should be a priority waiver wire add.
Dylan Sampson, RB, Cleveland Browns
Rostered: 15%
Maybe I’m banging the drum a bit too hard here. But I really don’t understand the lack of enthusiasm around Dylan Sampson.
Start with the setup. The Cleveland Browns are very likely to be trailing more often than not. Sampson is their clear passing down back. Those two facts go together in a way that should be getting more attention than it is.
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Now apply it to Week 1. Cleveland gets the Jacksonville Jaguars in a game they are probably losing by double digits. If the Browns are trailing by multiple scores for most of the second half and we see a heavy dose of Sampson as they abandon the run, he could rack up four or five cheap receptions. That kind of line is quite useful in PPR formats.
Given how I expect this Week 1 game to go, I think Sampson is on the field a lot more than Quinshon Judkins managers would care to see. He will be a popular name ahead of Week 2.
Tre Tucker, WR, Las Vegas Raiders
Rostered: 22%
I had to do a double take when I saw that roster percentage number. 22%? For a starting X receiver?
Tre Tucker is the unquestioned No. 1 wide receiver on what should be a much-improved Las Vegas Raiders offense. Yes, Brock Bowers is the true “WR1” here even though he plays tight end. Nobody is arguing otherwise. There’s still room for another player in this passing attack to be fantasy viable.
Let me be honest about the ceiling, though. I’m not saying Tucker is going to repeat his random 40-point explosion from Week 3 of last season ever again. Nor am I saying there’s top-20 upside here. There absolutely is not. But is there a world where he’s a weekly WR3/Flex option? Certainly.
Against a porous Miami defense, Tucker could have a nice Week 1 line. Nothing crazy. Just enough to get fantasy managers interested, which is the whole point of a column like this.
Adonai Mitchell, WR, New York Jets
Rostered: 15%
At this point, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind about how the New York Jets wide receiver rotation is going to look. Garrett Wilson is the clear WR1. Adonai Mitchell is the WR2 as the other receiver on the field in 12 personnel. Omar Cooper is firmly behind Mitchell as the WR3. That’s the pecking order.
New York probably won’t need to go super pass-heavy against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1, which means the box score might be underwhelming. Look past it. As long as Mitchell is on the field and running as many routes as his role suggests he will, he should be worth rostering in fantasy.
This is not a player you necessarily need to grab now. Just remember his name when it’s inevitably time to shake up rosters after Week 1.
Brenton Strange, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars
Rostered: 37%
I am way ahead of consensus on Brenton Strange. Week 1 will be very telling for whether I am on the right path.
Strange was the clear TE1 for the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. I think he will be in that same role this season. There’s a lot of ambiguity as to how the Jaguars might handle their abundance of wide receivers. That same ambiguity does not exist at tight end. One position group is a puzzle. The other is settled.
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Here comes the caveat. Strange may not be the second or even third option in the Jaguars’ passing game, which is obviously less than ideal. But he’s shown upside before. He also has touchdown equity in a great offense. That combination is enough for me, and I think he could be a very popular pickup after Week 1.
A.J. Barner, TE, Seattle Seahawks
Rostered: 18%
A true afterthought in fantasy drafts, A.J. Barner might be the breakout tight end nobody is talking about this season.
The flashes were there last year. Barner posted games of 24.3 and 17.1 fantasy points. Most importantly, he was an 80% snap share player in the playoffs. Those are the games that matter most and are far more telling than anything in the regular season.
Then look at the depth chart. The Seattle Seahawks do not have a clear second option in the passing game behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Somebody is going to be. What if it’s the 24-year-old Barner?
