Start em or sit em? Fantasy football start or sit decisions can be excruciating. While it feels great to make the right call and cruise to fantasy glory, it hurts just as much when you have someone erupt while on your bench. You can use our Who Should I Start? tool to gauge advice from fantasy football experts as you make your lineup decisions. And you can also sync your fantasy football league for free using our My Playbook tool for custom advice, rankings and analysis.
Let’s take a look at a few polarizing players and what fantasy football expert Derek Brown advises. And you can find all of DBro’s fantasy football outlook in this week’s fantasy football primer.
- Waiver Wire Picks
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em Lineup Advice: Wide Receivers
While I know Wilson’s 2024 season didn’t turn out the way many had hoped, it was still quite strong. He finally broke into the WR2 ranks as the WR18 in fantasy points per game while setting career highs in receptions (101), receiving yards (1,104), and receiving touchdowns (seven). He ranked tenth in target share, 22nd in receiving yards per game, and 29th in first downs per route run. Aaron Rodgers‘ rollercoaster quarterback play impacted his efficiency metrics. Wilson was also 29th in separation and 35th in route win rate. This season, he won’t have Davante Adams to deal with as he steps forward as the unquestioned WR1 for the team. Last year, Pittsburgh ranked first in single high rate (66.4%). I don’t see their usage of single high declining this year. Last season, against single high, Wilson had a 28% target per route run rate, 2.03 yards per route run, and 0.115 first downs per route run, which were all solid to fantastic marks. Wilson’s biggest hurdle, outside of Justin Fields‘ quarterback play, in Week 1 will be dealing with Joey Porter Jr., Darius Slay, and Jalen Ramsey. Wilson will need all the volume he can get to outkick the horrible matchup.
The Panthers finally gave Bryce Young a true WR1 this season with their selection of Tetairoa McMillan. McMillan could be a wonderful volume hog this year in what looks to be an ascending passing offense, especially with Jalen Coker sidelined to begin the season. During his final two collegiate seasons, McMillan ranked 17th and 21st in yards per route run. In his most substantial preseason action (Week 1), McMillan had a 26.3% target per route run rate and 2.26 yards per route run. It was a small 19-route sample, but quite encouraging nonetheless. I’m not worried about his Week 1 matchup. Last year, Jacksonville allowed the ninth-most fantasy points per game and the fourth-highest PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers. The Jaguars didn’t do anything to improve their perimeter coverage in the offseason, with Jarrian Jones assuming the starting job opposite Tyson Campbell. McMillan will tangle with Jones (2024: 72.6% catch rate, 11th-highest) and Campbell (2024: 67.3% catch rate and 109.7 passer rating allowed) for most of the game (83.3% perimeter in the preseason).
I think we’ll see Travis Hunter in Week 1 play as a full-time or near full-time player on offense at wide receiver, but we have no concrete intel providing us with the insight to exactly how it plays out. Hunter’s snap share will be a mystery until we all see him unveiled in Week 1 and the rest of the season. When he’s on the field with the offense, he should be Brian Thomas Jr.‘s running mate. Hunter ran 63% of his routes in the preseason from the slot, which is what I was expecting before seeing it in his limited preseason action (only seven routes). It was encouraging as he was extremely efficient from the slot in his final collegiate season. Last year, among all FBS wide receivers with at least eight slot targets, Hunter ranked fourth in slot yards per route run. Overall, in his final collegiate season, he ranked 38th in yards per route run and sixth in receiving grade. Hunter will match up with Chau Smith-Wade, who allowed the second-lowest passer rating and the 14th-fewest yards per snap (among 42 qualifying slot corners) last year. In Weeks 7-16, Smith-Wade made six starts. During that stretch, Carolina held slot receivers to the 13th-fewest fantasy points per game. Hunter is a risky start in Week 1.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn
If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant, which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.