Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields wasn’t supposed to start in Week 1, while Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins had all eyes on him in his first game with his new team.
But Fields was the more impressive of the two players last week, and now fantasy football managers must decide if Fields is the better choice than Cousins going forward.
Should You Start Justin Fields or Kirk Cousins This Week?
In the Pro Football Network Start/Sit Optimizer, PFN’s Consensus Rankings say that Fields is the player to start.
His projected 14.6 points include a projection of 142 passing yards, one touchdown pass, and 46 rushing yards. That narrowly outperforms Cousins’ consensus projection (13.9 points, two touchdown passes, and 4 rushing yards).
My ranking for these two quarterbacks aligns with the consensus.
While Fields never actually led his team to an offensive score, Cousins looked like a player still recovering from an Achilles injury that forced him to miss most of last season.
Fields’ Fantasy Outlook This Week
Fields, who is QB16 in Pro Football Network’s Fantasy Rankings, had a lot of positives in his season-opening performance against the Atlanta Falcons. His passing numbers, while not out of this universe — 17-for-23 for 156 yards — did not include an interception, and he finished with 11.9 fantasy points.
Fields’ passing definitely still needs work. He struggled when passing out of a play-action, going 9-for-13 for 53 yards (4.1 yards per pass attempt). He was better when he did not use play-action on dropbacks, going 8-for-10 passing for 103 yards (10.3 yards per pass attempt). Some of his passes showed the promise that we know he offers as a quarterback.
Justin Fields made a few cool throws in Week 1 pic.twitter.com/3tPu7PcB6J
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) September 10, 2024
But the biggest reason why Fields is a consideration in fantasy lineups is what he can do running the ball. Fields rushed for 57 yards on 14 attempts last week.
Obviously, this is nothing new for Fields, as he has the second-highest rushing yards per game average among quarterbacks (55.2), behind only Lamar Jackson last year.
One thing for fantasy managers to keep in mind about Fields is how he passes against the blitz. Last week, Fields was 4-for-6 passing for only 10 yards when facing a blitz.
And Pittsburgh’s opponent Sunday, the Denver Broncos, blitzed on 50% of the Seattle Seahawks’ dropbacks last week, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. That was the highest percentage of any team in Week 1.
Cousins’ Fantasy Outlook This Week
Just like the Falcons’ offense in general, Cousins was sluggish in the Week 1 loss to the Steelers. Cousins passed for only 155 yards last week, with one touchdown pass and two interceptions.
He was sacked twice, had a 59.0 passer rating, averaged a mediocre 6.0 yards per pass attempt, and wound up with only 6.2 fantasy points last week.
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From a fantasy standpoint, it was Cousins’ fewest fantasy points in a single game in almost two years — Nov. 20, 2022: 2.2 fantasy points vs. the Dallas Cowboys.
It was clear that Cousins, who did not play in any preseason games for the Falcons, was still working his way back from last season’s Achilles injury.
Cousins does have success vs. his Week 2 opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles. In 11 career games vs. the Eagles, Cousins is averaging 303.7 pass yards per game, with 26 passing touchdowns to only nine interceptions.
Kyle Soppe’s Fantasy Outlook for Fields and Cousins
Justin Fields: With Russell Wilson (calf) banged up, Fields opened the season under center. And while his skill set still plays for our purposes, an offense built around George Pickens isn’t going to give him the same upside as the one he left behind in Chicago that featured DJ Moore.
Fields had nearly as many rush attempts (14) as completions (17) in the win last week against the Falcons, a stat line that he could well replicate in this spot against the blitz-happiest team from last week (Denver ranked fourth in blitz rate last season). Yes, that’s what we want, but we need him to be better at it before inserting him into lineups.
Against Atlanta, Pittsburgh had the ball for over 35.5 minutes and yet managed just two trips to the red zone. When all was said and done, all the Steelers had to show for the afternoon on the offensive side of things was six Chris Boswell field goals and a lot of question marks as to what could have been.
With Jaylen Warren at less than full strength and a lack of receiving talent behind Pickens, another vintage script seems likely in the game with the lowest total on the board.
The floor might be higher than others in this range, but Fields’ ceiling in a game like this isn’t enough to justify the risk of starting him. I have him ranked outside of my top 15 for Week 2, slotting behind Caleb Williams (at Houston) after a dud debut and Matthew Stafford (no Puka Nacua this week).
Kirk Cousins: Hogwash. Blasphemy. Rubbish. Malarkey.
Pardon my obscene language, but Cousins’ name has been dragged through the mud of late and someone needs to speak up.
OK, so that may be a bit dramatic, but my guess is that you saw this game on the schedule and immediately thought, “Oh great, Kirk Cousins on primetime. How many different ways can I bet against him?”
Sound about right?
Cousins has actually won seven of his past 10 primetime starts, and he’s cleared 20 fantasy points in each of the past stand-alone spots in which his team reached double figures in points scored – a low bar to clear in today’s game.
His most recent instance? A 28.6-point effort in this exact spot – at Philadelphia in Week 2.
That’s not to say that Cousins is a top-12 option or that he’s going to post a big number, but counting him out based solely on a narrative isn’t the way to make decisions.
The Eagles didn’t exactly impress me on the defensive end in Week 1. They had a few nice stops inside the 20 but didn’t grade out much above where they stood last season as a whole. Plus, they allowed a TD on 28% of opponent drives last season.
Cousins remains a viable QB2 option, and he very well could be a nice DFS showdown play if the public perception of passing on him in prime time tanks his ownership.