2023 Fantasy Football Week 1: Start Em’ or Sit Em’ Quarterbacks

Each week we’ll break down one player that should start in your fantasy lineup and one that would be better left on the bench per position. There are players like Lamar Jackson & Joe Burrow who are matchup proof and should be in your starting lineups every week barring a major circumstance.

Quarterbacks to Start:

Geno Smith

Without Jalen Ramsey, the Rams pass defense isn’t the greatest. Last year, Geno Smith finished 5th in points for fantasy quarterbacks. The Seahawks should dominate the Rams and Geno Smith should have a field day. Geno Smith is the fantasy start of the week at quarterback. 

Kirk Cousins

A player who does well in season openers is Kirk Cousins. Cousins has 20+ fantasy points over the last few season openers and this one shouldn’t be any different. The Vikings were a pass first team last year and made that even more of a case with moving on from veteran running back Dalvin Cook in the offseason. The Vikings should be heavily pass-oriented in this game as Kirk Cousins could easily have himself a 300+ yard showing. 

Dak Prescott

The Cowboys first game of the season is a primetime matchup against the New York Giants. In previous primetime games, Dak Prescott hasn’t had the best of luck with his last outing being against the Commanders where he only put up a whopping 128 yards. That was a shocking game, but when we look at Prescott against the Giants in primetime, he did very well last year. With Zeke out of the picture and Pollard still recovering from injury, we’re expecting a pass first offense for the Cowboys. Dak should bounce back from his last primetime game and be a sleeper start for the week. 

Quarterbacks to Sit: 

Deshaun Watson

The Browns have been the Bengals kryptonite in recent years but it’s been thanks to their defense showing up and not their offense. The Bengals secondary should do a fine job of shutting down the joke of a quarterback in Deshaun Watson. 

Daniel Jones

On the other side of the Cowboys and Giants Sunday Night matchup is Daniel Jones. We think Daniel Jones is a very underrated quarterback in the league and sneakily a very good runner. However, we also think the Cowboys defense is a top 5 unit in the league and Jones is going to have a hard time against them. Jones is a fade for week 1, but he’s someone to keep on your radar for the remainder of the year. 

Matthew Stafford

When Cooper Kupp was out, Matthew Stafford seemed to struggle without his top receiver. With Kupp likely to miss the first few weeks of the season, we’re not trusting Stafford as a fantasy option until Kupp is back. The Rams next best receiving option behind Kupp is Van Jefferson or Tyler Higbee, neither of which Stafford has found much of a connection with.