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Fantasy Football Start Sit Week 1 (2025): Fast Start for Ricky Pearsall?

The opening week of the season can be a challenge without accrued data. The simplest advice: Don’t overthink things and stick with your guys. After all, you drafted them for a reason. 

However, that doesn’t mean you should strictly adhere to the order in which you drafted those guys. Some might be dealing with a minor injury. Game situations and matchups differ.

That’s why our Who to Start tool is an invaluable weapon in the arsenal of the well-prepared fantasy manager.

Quarterbacks

Start 

Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals 

The Cardinals are 5.5-point road favorites in Week 1 thanks to an inviting opener in New Orleans. Arizona has the 11th-highest implied total, which profiles well for Murray to get off to a fast start. 

Last season, New Orleans ranked 30th in total defense, surrendering 379.9 total yards per game. The Saints ranked 27th against the pass and 31st at stopping the run. 

This is an ideal matchup for Murray, who is capable of exploiting this defense on the ground or through the air. 

The Saints will also have a tough time sustaining drives with Spencer Rattler at the helm. 

Look for Arizona to get off to a fast start, with Murray challenging for top-10 fantasy production in the season opener. 

Sit

Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

Goff has had mixed results in nine career matchups against the Packers. He has averaged 234 passing yards and 1.8 TDs in those games. True to his well-documented home/road discrepancy, however, Goff has struggled in Green Bay.

In four career trips to Lambeau Field, Goff has averaged 206 passing yards, 1 TD, and 0.5 INTs. 

Green Bay’s defense allowed the sixth-fewest yards per game to opposing offenses last season and just added Micah Parsons to reinforce the pass rush. 

It’ll also be the Lions’ first game without OC Ben Johnson and working behind a revamped O-line.

Running Backs 

Start

James Conner, Arizona Cardinals

The Saints were a sieve against the run last season, allowing the second-most rushing yards (2,404) and giving up 20 rushing scores. 

There was some talk of the Cardinals employing more of a committee backfield, but Conner looks like the unquestioned lead dog with no signs of slowing down. 

Conner has ranked top-15 in fantasy points per game each of the past four seasons. 

In 2024, he exceeded a 61% snap rate and led all RBs with 204 yards after contact. Conner is healthy and will see a positive game script. Arizona enters as road favorites and could be relying on the ground game to run out the clock. 

View Conner as a top-20 option in Week 1, with a path to top-10 numbers. 

D’Andre Swift, Chicago Bears 

Volume remains king in fantasy football. D’Andre Swift ranked seventh in opportunity share and 10th in snap share among RBs last season. Chicago didn’t add any competition for those touches through free agency.

And new HC Ben Johnson has familiarity with Swift. The RB averaged 13.5 PPR points per game in 2022 with Johnson as Detroit’s OC. Johnson praised Swift’s explosiveness and versatility before this year’s draft, and then chose not to select a RB until Kyle Monangai in the seventh round. 

That tells us Swift’s role as Chicago’s lead back is secure. And he should see plenty of opportunities as a runner and receiver on Monday. The Bears arrive as 1.5-point home underdogs to the Vikings in a game that has plenty of fantasy appeal.

Sit

Breece Hall, New York Jets

New York’s backfield presents more ambiguity than we’d like. New HC Aaron Glenn has stated throughout the offseason that he plans to use all three RBs. And the preseason usage showed exactly that. 

Hall still tops the depth chart but is expected to see fewer carries. He remains a valuable pass-catching option, but QB Justin Fields tends to take off running rather than heavily targeting his RBs.

In addition to usage uncertainty, New York finds a potentially brutal Week 1 matchup. The Jets host a potent Pittsburgh defense that ranked 8th in rush EPA last season and allowed only 1 TD reception to a RB. 

At 18.0 points, the Jets are sporting the second-lowest implied total of Week 1. It will be difficult for Hall to post top-15 fantasy numbers with uncertain usage and a tough matchup.

Javonte Williams, Dallas Cowboys

Williams is the Cowboys’ nominal starter and may be a decent weekly flex option, but he shouldn’t be in Week 1 lineups. 

The matchup is brutal. Philadelphia allowed the second-fewest PPR points per game (16.8) last season to opposing RBs. Now, Williams and his team enter as 7.5-point underdogs in a hostile environment. 

Williams has been inefficient since returning from his October 2022 ACL tear. Last season, Williams averaged a meager 0.28 PPR points per snap, ranking 45th in the league. And he’ll be running behind a declining O-line that has some major question marks. 

Dallas’ backfield rotation is also unsettled. Williams may turn out to be a fantasy asset, but he’s unlikely to be a quality option this week. 

Wide Receivers 

Start 

Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers

Pearsall's late-2024 momentum has carried over into this sophomore campaign. With Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings injured, Pearsall excelled as San Francisco’s No. 1 receiver in training camp and the preseason. 

When Brock Purdy made his preseason debut, his first three targets went to Pearsall, who reeled in all three for 42 yards. 

Aiyuk is on IR, and we still don’t know how healthy Jennings (calf) will be. That sets up Pearsall to see an abundant target load against a Seattle secondary that ceded the 12th-most PPR points to WRs last season. 

Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Emeka Egbuka flashed elite productivity at Ohio State, averaging 2.64 yards per route run and catching 81 balls for 1,011 yards and 10 TDs in 2024.

With Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillian sidelined, Egbuka will open the season as the Buccaneers’ No. 2 wideout. Godwin posted elite production in that role last season, and McMillian averaged 14.3 PPR points per game in Tampa’s final eight contests after Godwin dislocated an ankle. 

Tampa enters this week tied for fifth in implied points, indicating that Egbuka will have opportunities to exploit an Atlanta secondary that allowed 36.9 points per game to WRs last season, third-most in the NFL. 

Sit

DK Metcalf, Pittsburgh Steelers

Being Aaron Rodgers’s No. 1 WR tends to deliver good target volume. Metcalf looks more likely start slowly, though, as Rodgers takes on his former team. 

Metcalf will face Jets’ standout CB Sauce Gardner in primary coverage. Since entering the league in 2022, Gardner’s 91.9 PFF coverage grade leads all CBs. That limits Metcalf’s ceiling in a game where points and yards will be at a premium.

This Jets-Steelers slugfest also has the lowest total (38.5) of the week. Try to look elsewhere for production.

Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders

A contract holdout and an ankle injury that required a stint on the PUP list torpedoed McLaurin’s summer prep coming off a career year. He returned to practice just two weeks ago, which warrants concerns about being in game shape and timing with QB Jayden Daniels. 

The Commanders also traded for WR Deebo Samuel, who is likely to cut into McLaurin’s target share. That especially applies in the red zone, where Samuel’s versatility gives Kliff Kingsbury a new weapon.

McLaurin may need a ramp-up period after his lack of practice reps, and the Giants did a credible job defending him last season. In their two matchups, New York held McLaurin under 25 yards, although he did manage a 2-TD outing. 

Tight Ends

Start 

Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts

We saw rookie lead TEs in scoring each of the past two years. If that happens again, Warren’s the best bet. 

The first-round pick was a versatile superstar last season at Penn State. He led all Big Ten TEs with 104 receptions for 1,233 yards and 8 TDs. He also rushed for 218 yards and 4 TDs -- and even threw for one more. 

The Colts have gotten little consistency at TE, but that should change starting this week. Warren looked every bit the part in the preseason and will be a force on short and intermediate throws.

And the opening matchup is good against a Miami defense that struggled to cover TEs last season.

Sit

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills

After a promising rookie showing, Kincaid’s numbers dropped off last season. He played 188 fewer snaps, saw a reduced route rate, and saw a 34% decrease in PPR scoring. 

He is healthy now, but the addition of WR Joshua Palmer complicates Buffalo’s target hierarchy. 

Baltimore allowed the 12th-most fantasy points to TEs last season. However, the addition of first-round S Malakai Starks joining Kyle Hamilton gives the Ravens an elite pair of safeties. It will be harder for TEs to make plays downfield against this reinforced secondary.

Next Up

Week 1 Matchups That Matter: Trevor Lawrence Primed For A Fast Start

Next Article  

Jody Smith, Analyst

Jody Smith has been playing fantasy football for over 30 years, the last 15 as an analyst, writer, and editor. Jody's rankings have been among the most consistent, placing him inside the top-10 in multi-year accuracy.