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Points Per Read - Week One

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When it comes to fantasy football, there's truly more to it than just football. Regardless of whether you take part in a league with friends and family, or just a random league you found on ESPN. The goal is always the same, to win the ever so coveted fantasy football championship. 

When it comes to setting your lineup for week one, I wouldn’t really mess around too much. For the most part, week one holds a multitude of unknowns. We have speculated about potential sleepers and players we believe will regress, but at the end of the day it's all just speculation, and the first week of the season is not the time to be taking major risks. 

As for this week, there isn’t too much to mull over. So instead of giving you false hope about potential week one sleepers, we'll go over some known players I believe could start off the year with a bang in 2019. As well as some guys I believe could underwhelm in their 2019 debut. 

Mark Ingram

Ingram is a guy I actually tried avoiding in the majority of my fantasy drafts largely due to his move from New Orleans to Baltimore. Despite Baltimore’s run-heavy tendencies with Lamar Jackson at the helm, their offense just isn’t nearly as prolific as that of the Saints offense. 

This combined with the fact that Ingram just hasn’t been all that durable when asked to be a bell cow made him a risk I wasn’t willing to take. I do believe he is a safe bet in week one, and all fantasy owners should feel confident in starting him. Stacking players against Miami looks like it could be a strong theme this year, especially with running backs, as they possess the 25th ranked run defense in the league. 

Ingram has had 15 games over the past two seasons with at least 13 carries as a member of New Orleans, and he's failed to score at least 12 PPR points just three times, while averaging 17.3 PPR points over that span.

Austin Ekeler

Now, this is an interesting one as, Ekeler isn’t the true starter for Los Angeles, but as Melvin Gordon continues to hold out, the workload will be deferred to Ekeler and Justin Jackson. Last year, Ekeler averaged 15.3 PPR points in four games when Gordon was either out or injured. 

While the Chargers don’t have an easy matchup against Indianapolis marauding defense this week, I still believe Ekeler is a must-start if you don’t have another clear option. Ekeler is a guy 100% of Gordon owners should have locked down in the draft, and if you're one of them, then you can rest easy knowing you have a suitable starting running back for week one. 

Chris Godwin

Godwin was limited to 57% of Tampa Bay pass plays last season, but still somehow amassed 59 receptions for 842 yards and 7 touchdowns. With the departure of Adam Humphries and DeSean Jackson, 180 targets have been vacated, combine this with the fact that Godwin will be running a vast majority of his routes from the slot, which is a position head coach Bruce Arians notoriously loves incorporating in his offense. 

It sets Godwin up for a massive breakout 2019 campaign. He’ll have a decent matchup against the 49ers, as they’ll look to shut down his counterpart Mike Evans, another guy set up for a huge year. Godwin is a guy I feel comfortable starting this week, and we will be monitoring him closely as the year progresses. 

Derrick Henry

Henry finished the 2018 season in blazing fashion, scoring 8 of his 12 rushing touchdowns in the closing five games. No one is really sure how this drastic uptick in production occurred, but Henry owners are hoping his hot finish will carry over to this year. 

I do believe Henry will be more consistent this year, and he'll finish as a top 15 RB, especially in standard leagues. But, his week one matchup is a concern. It's still unknown how Henry will produce following a calf injury he sustained during training camp. Tennessee will also be missing their left tackle Taylor Lewan (suspension), which certainly will work against Henry’s efficiency. Henry is still a must-start in more than 10 team leagues, but don’t be surprised if he has an underwhelming first week.

Tyler Lockett

There are three things in life that are certain: death, taxes and the fact that Lockett is Seattle's only receiver. Lockett was incredibly efficient in 2018, some would say almost too efficient, and I would be one of those people. 

Lockett somehow totaled 57 receptions for 965 yards and 10 touchdowns on a whopping 68 targets. This type of efficiency is definitely not sustainable, as we’ve never seen anything quite like it before. Despite this fact, Lockett is still the only real threat at receiver for the Seahawks. D.K. Metcalf could be a dangerous weapon down the line for Seattle, but his availability for week one remains unclear. The Seahawks will take on the Bengals at home this Sunday, which looks like a favorable matchup for Lockett.



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