season premiere of stardom.
You're innocent Jared. What
happened there was the fan wearing that zero jersey. Mike.
He pushed Jared. Goff. He
couldn't get up. He got up the second time. Either way, it's
time to celebrate the starts and
the seats for the 2024 season. Getting going quarterback
starting. Mike, it looks like
you've got Richardson Jared Goff survives not being able to make
that leap there Matthew Stafford
and the rookie Jayden Daniels I've been telling people to
draft Jayden Daniels all summer
long. I'm not shying away from starting him in week one unless
you maybe paired with Jared Goff
there, but Jayden Daniels can run and that is what we care
about. Even if there's ups and
downs as a passer, his legs will more than make up for that last
season, four quarterbacks ran
for at least 500 yards. Three of them averaged over 20 fantasy
points per game. The bucks
struggled against the pass last year, and they are largely
bringing back the same defense
because they had to use all their money to bring back their
offense. So yeah, I think Jayden
Daniels again, unless maybe you paired him with Goff like I did
in a bunch of leagues, then I
think you just you start Jayden Daniels no questions asked. All
right. So we got starts for a
couple of young guys. We discussed Aaron Rodgers firmly
in your sights. Who else are you
looking at in the sits for quarterbacks. This Marcus might
want to cover his ears. This
might be a little spicy but I'm sitting Brock Purdy this week
against the New York Jets. The
Jets it's all about the matchup and how elite their defense is.
They allowed the second fewest
fantasy points per game to QBs last year. They shut down elite
options like Josh Allen, Patrick
Mahomes. And let's remember Brock Purdy struggled against
some tough passing defenses.
Remember what happened when he faced the Ravens, plus Trent
Williams, Brandon Aiyuk just
kind of getting back into the fold because of all of that. I
think you play it safe and you
go in another direction week one and you don't start. Brock Purdy
against the best secondary in
football. And then I also am sitting Justin Herbert this
year, this week I mean, one
passing touchdown in each game against the Raiders last year.
The Raiders only allowed 300
passing yards, one time last season. We all think the
Chargers are going to run the
ball a whole bunch. This could become a run fest and then
Justin Herbert is still dealing
with plantar fasciitis, which is an injury that can linger. All
of that being said, I know he's
a big name. I'd rather start the rookies like Caleb or Jayden
Daniels or some of these other
guys ahead of Herbert in week one. Yeah, it's all, it's all
it's weird with all the change,
in Los Angeles, you you lean towards the rookies. More like
you feel like you know more
about what the rookies are going to do than even Justin Herbert.
Let's go. Some running backs.
Who are we starting this week? You see, I like Connor, I like
Mostert, Zamir White. And then
let's start with Javonte Williams here of the Broncos
going up against the Seattle
Seahawks. He is a full year removed now from a knee injury
that clearly sapped a lot of his
burst and explosiveness last season. He looked like himself
once again in the preseason. The
Broncos, they're going to throw the ball to the running backs
more than any other position,
any other team. It is a staple in Sean Payton's offense, and I
know the Seahawks completely
revamped their defense, new coach, all of that. But they did
struggle mightily against the
run last year, so I'm willing to roll the dice. On the upside,
that is Javonte Williams. And
just so you guys cannot say I am a homer, I am starting James
Conner against the there it is.
He averaged 18 fantasy points per game with Kyler Murray last
year. Murray is playing in week
one, and the strength of the bills defense is their pass rush
and their cornerbacks. But they
are very weak at linebacker and they already struggled against
the run last year. Now they're
even thinner there. This year, and I think the Cardinals are
going to try to just control the
clock, keep Josh Allen on the sideline. So I expect to see a
lot of James Conner in this one.
And then this last one hurts my heart. Oh no I'm I am a huge
Austin Ekeler fan. Love Austin
Ekeler. We all do love in Burgundy now I think in week one
we got to sit him though. It
pains me to say it but we don't know how the usage is going to
be distributed in this
backfield. Just yet. And with the rookie quarterback that
tends to run a bit. I want to
make sure the volume is there for Austin Ekeler before I go
and get him in the lineup. Plus
the bucks I said they're bringing back a lot of their
defense. Well last year they
were very stingy in the bottom five in fantasy points and
receiving yards allowed to
running backs. I am opting to take a wait and see approach
with Austin Ekeler. But don't
worry I think there'll be plenty of air guitar shows later in the
season. Yeah, it's coming up.
Also sets for Jalen Warren. The entire Bengals and Cowboys
running back rooms as well.
We're going to get some wide receivers and tight ends coming
up. We continue here on NFL
Fantasy Live. But it's time to football. Hey let's go over to
some more starts and sits wide
receiver and tight end time with the man who operates the starts
and sits on NFL.com. Go to
NFL.com, slash Startseite to see all of Michael Florio's work. So
your starts at wide receiver
including Rashee rice. Looking at the list here. Calvin Ridley
Terry McLaurin Malik Nabers.
Let's go through some of these breakouts for you here in your
starts at wide receiver I love
me some Calvin Ridley this week. This year whatever. Because
fantasy football let's not
forget is supposed to be fun. And there's nothing more fun
than when your wide receiver
catches a long touchdown. And I expect plenty of those. For
Ridley, this year. Will Levis
led the NFL by far in deep pass attempts and first read passes.
Ridley is their best deep
threat. He is their first read target. He already had the
highest share of end zone
targets last year, and with the bears being so stout against the
run, I think in week one, we're
going to see a lot of passing from the Titans and rookie Malik
Nabers. I don't care that it's
his first game in the NFL. He is special and he is going to show
it the moment he steps on a
football field. He could win downfield. He could win after
the catch. He is always a threat
to go the distance. And I think starting and he's going to be
their entire passing attack.
We're talking 910 targets in play. The moment he steps on the
field. You see right there he
can do special things. I have him on a bunch of teams and I
cannot wait to watch what he is
going to do this season and throughout his NFL career. Yeah.
Looking forward to Malik Nabers
loaded up with targets. We're starting all of these guys, but
we go over to some sits at the
wide receiver. We got Zay flowers, Rome Odunze, Keon
Coleman and Jordan Addison.
Let's let's get to Zay flowers. Why you got Zay flowers on the
bench I know he is the spiciest
name there. And people are probably wondering why. The
whole reason is because one the
Chiefs are just still a very good defensive unit, but two,
Zay flowers was much better last
year when Mark Andrews was not on the field and when he was,
when Andrews played, flowers
averaged 11 fantasy points per game. That ballooned to over 17
per game without him. Lamar did
struggle passing against his Chiefs secondary last year. With
the King there, I think they're
going to want to show off their new toy, and I expect the Ravens
just to run a lot in this. And I
know you might be like, well, Darius Sneed isn't there
anymore. Yeah. But Spags still
is. So I still fear this Chiefs defense. Yeah Steve Spagnuolo
knows, specifically, considering
how they played against them in the AFC Championship game, he
knows what to do against this
particular group with Monken over there on the other side.
Let's go over the tight end
position. And it is time. It's the season premiere of this
particular love fest of course
Jake Ferguson start Dallas Goedert Tyler Conklin. But we
don't talk about them, Mike. We
don't talk about Mr. Pitts. Whoa. Look, everyone is labeling
this as the Arthur Smith revenge
game. No no no, no, this is the Kyle Pitts revenge game. He is
looking at the other sideline
like you held me back for two seasons in my NFL career. I'm
ready to show the world just how
good and how talented I am. And one big thing is they continue
to talk about using him more in
short yardage situations and putting him in a position to win
after the catch. What a concept.
I mean, we've only been calling for that and for his usage to
change over the last two years.
I think it's going to start in a week one, and I was all ready to
say he's fully healthy. I know
he's dealing with the hamstring tweak right now, but if he plays
in week one, I think you want
him in your starting lineup, especially Kirk Cousins,
Achilles, all that. He's going
to be getting rid of it quickly. And I said earlier I was a jet
sleeper for you. Tyler Conklin I
know this might sound crazy, but outside of Garrett Wilson,
Conklin is probably the best
target for Aaron Rodgers, at least in week one. And with
Rodgers coming back first game
off of this Achilles injury against that Niners pass rush, I
think he's going to be looking
to get the ball out very quickly. And Tyler Conklin is a
safe, secure target over the
middle of the field. I think volume will win out in this as
the Jets have to put up some
points because the 40 Niners will get some of their own. So
yeah. Tyler Conklin, if you're
going a little bit deeper at tight end this week, he is a
name I like. Keep an eye out for
Tyler Conklin. There are some big name tight ends Mike that
you've got on the bench
including David Njoku against the Cowboys Dalton Schultz,
Brock Bowers the rookie going on
your bench as well as as well as Cole Kmet. Yeah. And David Njoku
I know some people are like I
drafted him to be my tight end one. And I see the upside there.
It's certainly there. But I need
to see it first. With Deshaun Watson last season he averaged
just 8.8 fantasy points per game
with Watson 4343, nearly half of his fantasy production last year
came in five games with Joe
Flacco. And I know you're like well he led all tight ends in
NFL and end zone targets last
year. One came with Deshaun Watson. So until we see these
two on the same page I don't
know I don't really want to trust him in my starting lineup
yet. Once we see it I think you
could go in and he becomes a weekly starter. But I need to
see it first. All right. If you
want to see all of Michael Florio starts and sits on the
same page, go to NFL.com slash
Startseite to see all of his work ahead of week one. Let's
get some more work from Marcas
Grant and some more sleepers.