Week 1 Approaches! (Start/Avoid)

Hello everyone, and welcome back to fantasy football.

It's been a while - Luke was off being a dad, while Noah was taking the bar. Needless to say, football is back tonight, and that is beautiful. Your teams are all drafted, and it's time to set your lineups for the weekend. After a long hiatus, we here at TOFFG are here to help, with our weekly Start/Avoid column.

It's fairly self-explanatory, but here's how it works: Each week, Luke and I will each select two players to start and two players to avoid. We'll throw in two sentences why. Our goal here is not to dictate your lineups - if we tell you to Avoid Russell Wilson and he's your only QB, then you don't have much choice. However, we do want to temper your expectations and highlight places where we are concerned (or excited!) about potential production for the week.

Without further ado, here is Week 1 Start/Avoid!

Start:

1.  Ryan Tannehill: Labeled the 11th QB in week one, Tannehill is playing against the 24th ranked passing defense last year. Between Landry, Stills, Parker and Jennings, there are plenty or targets to give Washington fits. -Luke

2. Isaiah Crowell: The third best offensive line is about to go up against the fifth best defensive line in East Rutherford this weekend. With Terrance West being traded to Tennessee and Duke Johnson just getting back on the field from a concussion, Isaiah Crowell should be used to set the tone on offense for Cleveland. -Luke

3. Percy Harvin: Rex Ryan will want to give Tyrod Taylor a safety valve - and that will give Percy Harvin FLEX value this week. I see Harvin lining up for easy screens, in the backfield next to Shady to open running lanes, and occasionally catching a deep ball from Tyrod's cannon. -Noah

4. Jarvis Landry: Ryan Tannehill is going to light up the Redskins. Jarvis Landry will help him do it. - Noah

Avoid:

1. Emmanuel Sanders: Ranked 10th in PPR, Sanders is playing against the 32nd best team against the WR. So it looks like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, this is a new Broncos team and Sanders has said he expects less targets. So I expect to see Sanders to actually end his day at about WR 18-20 as Demaryius gets his targets and CJ Anderson is used to control the game. -Luke

2. Travis Kelce: As the third overall ranked TE for this week, Kelce is going up against the second best overall defense against opposing TE’s. Couple that with the fact that Maclin is catching TD’s from Smith and I can see this as an easy fade option in week one. -Luke

3. Russell Wilson: Yes, I know he's got Jimmy Graham... but I think Seattle controls this game through defense and Marshawn Lynch. This is going to be low-scoring, so I think that Wilson doesn't live up the the Top-10 ranking he has this week. -Noah

4. Matt Forte: Pick a reason... but mine include fewer targets in the passing game and the Bears playing catch-up all game to Green Bay's high octane offense. I love the (banged up) Bears receiving corps here, but I doubt Forte sees nearly as many touches as he'd need to justify his weekly projection. -Noah