Welcome to Sneaky Starts for Week 1 of the 2024 fantasy football season! In this column, I will highlight players at each position that I believe can produce starter-caliber production each week. I will use thresholds of one quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, one tight end, one kicker, and one defense/special teams unit in a hypothetical 12-team league. The trick is that I am only including players currently started in fewer than 50 percent of Fantrax leagues. At the risk of offending those on other platforms, fantasy managers on Fantrax tend to be more serious players. I won’t name any names but trust me when I say that this would be a much easier column for me to write if I used the percentages on some other providers’ sites.
Week 1 Sneaky Starts
Quarterback
Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
Current Start Percentage: 45 Percent (16th among Quarterbacks)
My Current Week 1 Rank: QB14
The Jayden Daniels Era in the nation’s capital officially begins on Sunday when this season’s number-two overall NFL Draft pick plays his first NFL game. Daniels is a dual-threat quarterback who can score fantasy points in the air as well as on the ground. Daniels flashed those skills in limited preseason action. He went 12-for-15 with 123 yards as a passer and also scored a rushing touchdown. His skill set should play well in his NFL debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay allowed the fifth-most passing yards per game last season. And only the Houston Texans gave up more rushing touchdowns to opposing quarterbacks. I would not be surprised at all if Daniels finished among the top-12 fantasy quarterbacks in Week 1.
Other Quarterbacks to Consider
- Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Current Start Percentage: 32 Percent (20th among quarterbacks)
My Current Week 1 Rank: QB15
Running Backs
Jerome Ford, Cleveland Browns
Current Start Percentage: 46 Percent (31st among Running Backs)
My Current Week 1 Rank: RB21
Jerome Ford finished the 2023 season as the overall RB17 in Half-PPR scoring. I expect more of the same in Week 1. Ford should have Cleveland’s backfield mostly to himself in the absence of Nick Chubb. The team placed Chubb on the Reserve/PUP List last week, meaning he is out at least four games. Ford should be good for at least 15 touches in this game. The matchup against the Cowboys is not overly imposing. They were in the middle of the pack in terms of rushing yards and total touchdowns allowed to opposing backs last year. Dallas has an opportunistic pass defense, which may cause Cleveland to be a bit more conservative offensively. That would likely only boost Ford’s impact on the game. I project Jerome Ford to finish as a low-end RB2 in 12-team leagues in Week 1.
Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers
Current Start Percentage: 35 Percent (35th among Running Backs)
My Current Week 1 Rank: RB25
I think we generally tend to overlook Chuba Hubbard and his ability to handle a heavy workload. Hubbard carried the ball 238 times last season. That was ninth-most in the NFL. He also caught 39 passes out of the backfield. Hubbard should once again be heavily involved, at least to start the 2024 season. Rookie Jonathon Brooks is on the Non-Football Injury List, meaning he will miss at least four games. The team’s only other options are Miles Sanders and Raheem Blackshear. Sanders looked dusted last year and recently popped up on the injury report with a finger injury. Blackshear is a 26-year-old with 53 career NFL touches. Hubbard has RB2 upside and at the very least should be a popular Week 1 Flex play in most formats.
Other Running Backs to Consider
- Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers
Current Start Percentage: 42 Percent (33rd among Running Backs)
My Current Week 1 Rank: RB32 - Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
Current Start Percentage: 28 Percent (38th among Running Backs)
My Current Week 1 Rank: RB33
Wide Receivers
Have I mentioned that this exercise would be a lot easier on other game providers? Just see how Chris Godwin stacks up in your league. Fantrax managers are starting Godwin in 81 percent of leagues. As I write this, I am looking at another site that shows him being started in less than 40 percent of leagues. Sheesh.
Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks
Current Start Percentage: 36 Percent (46th among Wide Receivers)
My Current Week 1 Rank: WR38
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Current Start Percentage: 42 Percent (41st among Wide Receivers)
My Current Week 1 Rank: WR39
Interestingly enough, two Seattle Seahawks top this week’s Sneaky Starts list at wide receiver. I do not know if both will pop in Week 1, but I believe both have the potential to do so. It feels like Tyler Lockett has been in the NFL for 20 years. But he is the same age as Davante Adams and Mike Evans. Lockett finished as a top-15 fantasy wide receiver in five consecutive seasons before falling to WR33 last year. I am not saying we should be considering Lockett in the same tier as Adams or Evans. However, he can still be useful as a potential WR3/Flex play even considering his decreased ceiling. I expect that both Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba will have opportunities to make plays in this game. I suspect that Denver will deploy Patrick Surtain II to shadow number-one receiver DK Metcalf. That scenario would leave Lockett and Smith-Njigba to contend with Ja’Quan MacMillan and Riley Moss. Whichever wideout lines up outside against Ross would have the more favorable matchup of the two.
Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs
Current Start Percentage: 45 Percent (39th among Wide Receivers)
My Current Week 1 Rank: WR40
Xavier Worthy is a consensus borderline Flex play, and I tend to agree. Having said that, it feels like the rookie has quite a wide range of Week 1 outcomes. Worthy set an NFL Combine record with a 4.21-second 40-yard dash and is attached to the quarterbacking wizardly of Patrick Mahomes. That means every play seemingly carries the potential of a long touchdown along with it. However, even with Hollywood Brown missing this game, the volume may be a bit hard to come by. Worthy should be well behind Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice when it comes to targets. In a week where most fantasy managers have a full allotment of healthy wideouts, I am not surprised to see Worthy outside of the top 36. But one big play on Thursday night could result in Worthy being started in a majority of leagues going forward.
Other Wide Receivers to Consider
- Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos
Current Start Percentage: 44 Percent (40th among Wide Receivers)
My Current Week 1 Rank: WR41 - DeAndre Hopkins, Tennessee Titans
Current Start Percentage: 40 Percent (42nd among Wide Receivers
My Current Week 1 Rank: WR43 - Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings
Current Start Percentage: 37 Percent (45th among Wide Receivers)
My Current Week 1 Rank: WR44
Tight End
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Current Start Percentage: 38 Percent (15th among Tight Ends)
My Current Week 1 Rank: TE14
I am not sure how to feel about Pat Freiermuth’s Week 1 prospects. Since most of our players are healthy entering the week, I am not sure I would force him into any lineups where an established tight end is available. But that does not mean he should be completely ignored either. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a new quarterback in Russell Wilson and an offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith. After being vilified by the fantasy football community for years due in large part to the perceived lack of involvement of tight end Kyle Pitts, will Smith continue that trend in Pittsburgh? Or will he troll all of us by unleashing Freiermuth on his former team, the Atlanta Falcons? The matchup suggests it may indeed be the latter. The Falcons have been a bottom-five defense in terms of receiving yards allowed to tight ends in each of the past two seasons.
Other Tight Ends to Consider
- Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints
Current Start Percentage: 23 Percent (18th among Tight Ends)
My Current Week 1 Rank: TE15
Kicker
Jason Myers, Seattle Seahawks
Current Start Percentage: 24 Percent (15th among Kickers)
My Current Week 1 Rank: K8
Jason Myers finished last season tied for third among kickers in fantasy football scoring. That was the direct result of a league-high 42 field goal attempts. New head coach Mike Macdonald may employ a more analytics-driven approach than predecessor Pete Carroll. This could reduce Myers’ ceiling from a season-long standpoint. However, I do not think that will play out in Week 1. Seattle will play at home on Sunday against a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix. This should be a game in which Macdonald may play things a bit closer to the vest. That could lead to multiple field goal tries for Myers, who has converted 91.7 percent of his attempts at home in each of the last two seasons.
Other Kicker to Consider
- Cairo Santos, Chicago Bears
Current Start Percentage: 32 Percent (13th among Kickers)
My Current Week 1 Rank: K10
Defense/Special Teams
Chicago Bears
Current Start Percentage: 49 Percent (13th among D/STs)
My Current Week 1 Rank: D/ST4
The Chicago Bears were tied for fifth in the NFL last season with 28 takeaways. They also got much stronger from a fantasy perspective after a rough beginning to the year. Beginning in Week 5, Chicago was the overall D/ST7. The Bears have a favorable Week 1 matchup when they host the Tennessee Titans. Quarterback Will Levis was very good at limiting turnovers upon taking over the starting quarterback job mid-season. However, his lack of accuracy and his propensity to take sacks may lead to trouble against an opportunistic Chicago group. The Bears are an ideal Week 1 candidate for fantasy managers looking to stream defenses early in the season.
Other Defense/Special Teams to Consider
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Current Start Percentage: 20 Percent (17th among D/STs)
My Current Week 1 Rank: D/ST5
Make sure to check out all of our Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings and analysis!