Fantasy Football Start/Sit: George Kittle, Blake Corum, Matthew Stafford

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.

Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em Lineup Advice

Here’s Derek Brown’s fantasy football Week 1 outlook for a few players to help with lineup decisions.

Matthew Stafford (QB – LAR)

Matthew Stafford had arguably the best season of his NFL career last year, taking down the MVP award. Stafford finished with a career-high passing touchdown rate (7.7%) as the QB4 in fantasy points per game. It was easily his best season since his first year with the Rams, when he was the QB11 in fantasy points per game. Last year, among 38 qualifying quarterbacks, Stafford was seventh-best in yards per attempt and fantasy points per dropback, 25th in adjusted completion rate, second in hero throw rate, and 13th in catchable target rate. Stafford should have time to operate from the pocket this week. Yes, San Francisco will have an improved pass rush with Nick Bosa back (limited to three games last year) and the addition of Osa Odihizuwa, but this is still a defense that had the third-lowest pressure rate and the fewest sacks in the NFL last season. Last year, the 49ers gave up the 11th-most passing touchdowns, the tenth-highest passing success rate, and the tenth-most passing yards. Stafford should have a nice Week 1. Last year, in his two games against the 49ers, he was the QB8 and QB2 in weekly fantasy scoring with at least three passing touchdowns in each game.

Blake Corum (RB – LAR)

Blake Corum is a viable touchdown-dependent flex this week with a good matchup. Last year, in Weeks 7-18, Corum helped Kyren Williams with the heavy lifting on early downs, averaging 10.5 rushing attempts and 53.6 rushing yards. He didn’t offer much through the air during that stretch with only seven targets and 27 receiving yards. If you’re looking to flex Corum this week, he’ll have to pay off in the rushing department and (hopefully) fall into the end zone. Last year, among 49 qualifying backs, Corum ranked sixth in explosive run rate and 11th in missed tackle rate. Last year, San Francisco allowed the highest rushing success rate, the tenth-most yards before contact per attempt, and had the seventh-lowest hit rate at or behind the line of scrimmage.

George Kittle (TE – SF)

It seems like George Kittle will be ready to rock for Week 1. Now, if he’s active, will he play a full-time role for the 49ers? I doubt it, but he could still easily have a 50-60% snap rate and be heavily involved when they are passing and around the goal line. When Kittle was on the field last year, he didn’t show any signs of slowing down. Among 54 qualifying tight ends, he ranked fourth in target share (20%) and yards per route run (2.30), third in receiving yards per game (57.1) and first-read share (24.3%), and second in first downs per route run (0.139). Kittle could have another amazing season in 2026 for fantasy, but I’m willing to sit him in Week 1 with the playing time concerns and a tough matchup. Last year, the Rams allowed the third-fewest yards per target and the seventh-fewest fantasy points per opportunity to tight ends.

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.