2023 Fantasy Football Week 1: Start Em’ or Sit Em’ Wide Receivers

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 Justin Jefferson and Tyreek Hill who are matchup proof and should be in your starting lineups every week barring a major circumstance.

Wide Receivers to Start:

Chris Olave

Chris Olave had a solid rookie season with Jameis Winston throwing him the ball. Imagine what he can do with a quarterback with an arm like Derek Carr. Olave is one of our breakout candidates for the year and it all starts week 1 with Olave’s first of many impressive performances of the year.

Jahan Dotson

The Commanders get an easy week 1 matchup against an Arizona Cardinals team in shambles. Dotson should overtake Terry McLaurin as the #1 receiver of the future in Washington and both should see good matchups against the dismal Cardinals.  

Drake London

Second year quarterback Desmond Ridder is going to be the starter in Atlanta. During the games that Ridder played last season, he made a connection with Drake London. We expect Ridder to continue to look London’s way from the get-go and he shall benefit from the situation. 

Wide Receivers to Sit:

Gabe Davis

One of the biggest boom or bust candidates in the NFL is Gabe Davis. He can either have 200 yards and 3 touchdowns or not see the ball at all. Unfortunately against the Jets pass defense, we think it’s going to be closer to the latter.

Michael Pittman Jr

Pittman Jr is a wide receiver who sees a lot of touches, but that doesn’t reciprocate into yards and touchdowns. That is because of the inconsistency he’s had in quarterback play in his first two years in the league. The Colts have since downgraded at quarterback with Anthony Richardson who is a fairly inaccurate passer and we don’t think this will bode well for Pittman Jr’s fantasy relevance. 

Odell Beckham Jr

It might be tempting to play Odell Beckham Jr given how big of a name he is. But we’re talking about a player who hasn’t played in a game in over a year and wasn’t even the top option when he was playing. He’s past his prime and in his first game back in the league, he won’t get many opportunities to make plays as the Ravens should be running all over the league’s worst run defense.