Sit/Start Week 1: Reviewing All Fantasy Relevant Players In Every Single Game

Game Info

Kickoff: Sunday, September 10th, 4:25 PM ET

Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL

Betting Odds: Chicago -1, 43 total via PFF.com

Network: FOX

Writer: Matt Prendergast (@amazingmattyp on X/Twitter)

Green Bay Packers

UPDATED 8/9 – Please to see the GB WRs recommendations below, with new notes, because stretching is important!

Quarterback

Jordan Love (Start QB2)

A personal admission: I am a lifelong Packers fan – we should know that before we go much further – and I’m old enough to remember the Before Days. I grew up watching Lynn Dickey, David Whitehurst, Randy Wright, and Rich Campbell. There was indeed a Green Bay team playing between Bart Starr and Don Majkowski, and it was often challenging to watch. And then we entered the Era of Prosperity, led by two of the greatest quarterbacks to ever hurl the leather and take no blame, and who were also secret weirdos of the highest degrees. Those days are over now. We have entered an Era of Love.

We all know the same things here: Jordan Love is a first-round pick who has spent three years sitting behind one the greatest quarterbacks to ever step on the field and create his own system of hobo hand signals. We’ve seen little ‘real’ gameplay to figure much out about him, suffice to say the first year we saw nothing, the second year looked really ‘YEESH’, and then last year we saw…growth. Like a guy who was understanding the job ahead. And now that it’s his, well, we’re hearing positives all around – poise, calm, a deep grasp of the system and expectations. As a fan, this is exciting to no end! But as a predictive analyst here, well, I still know nothing.  This preseason, Love went 21 for 33 for a total of 183 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions, and he looked like he knew what he was doing the whole way: great signs. All that said, this team, as noted by many, is ‘Getting Carded for Cigarettes’ young; there are going to be mistakes. Probably a lot of them. But there’s a lot of talent around here too, and it’ll be interesting to watch it regardless; The point is, Jordan Love is going to get some points, pretty consistently, but until further developments reveal what’s actually here, I’m topping him off in that ’15-20 a game’ range.

Running Backs

Aaron Jones (Start, RB2), AJ Dillon (Sit, Flex)

Even though it feels like he’s been in the league for 15 years, Aaron Jones is only 28 and hasn’t shown any signs of talent erosion quite yet. He’s an ideal RB2 who will sneak you RB1 performances 3-4 times a season. With a lifetime YPC of 5.1, he’s consistent as all get out, and perhaps more importantly, this season the receiving skills component is going to be critical to continued success: Jones should serve as a security blanket for Love all season long. That said, AJ Dillon and his beefy thighs will continue to cut into Jones’s carries, but not so much his targets or productivity. With pure running as his primary fantasy component, Dillon generally rolls between 30-65 ypg, and the early season TD vulturing disappeared during the back half of the season. While Dillon is an endlessly likable guy, I’m not sold that GB thinks of, or uses him as, the successor to the throne, and I would be wary of running him out there outside of a flex most weeks or in a bye-week ‘must’ situation. We don’t have that week one, so I’m leaving him as a sit. Keep an eye out early in the season for Emanuel Wilson – I’d snap him up in a minute in a Dynasty situation – he earned his way onto this roster for a reason, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pop in more often as the year proceeds.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Update 8/9: Well, this is a bit of a tangled ball of cables, and I don’t know that it’s going to be unraveled before kickoff, but here’s some new thoughts regarding this crew. With Romeo Doubs returning to practice, and Christian Watson declining to attend for the past couple due to also enjoying hamstring functionality concerns, here’s how I’d approach this crew for week one: REDRAFT. BURN IT ALL DOWN!  We like fun don’t we folks? Seriously though, here’s potential adjustments dependent on gametime circumstances.

If Doubs plays, and Watson does not, elevate Romeo to a solid WR2, and obviously sit Christian. 

If Watson plays, and Doubs does not, see below, we sail on steady through those previously charted waters.

If both Watson and Doubs are a go, well, I feel like they’ll both be used in moderation, with a lot more spreading it around to anybody with a set of functional hands, so I might still lean to Romeo as a low-end WR2, solid WR3, but downgrade Watson to a WR3/Flex. If both practice today, this is where I’d put my stocks.

If both miss this opening game, pick up Jayden Reed/Luke Musgrave and throw them in a spare flex spot – this also elevates AJ Dillon to a Flex/borderline RB2. While certainly less than an ideal situation, Love will be throwing, and Aaron Jones can’t do everything. Probably. But he’s going to be dynamite in that RB2 hole.

Christian Watson (Start, WR2), Romeo Doubs* (Start, WR3/Flex), Jayden Reed (Sit, Flex), Samori Toure (Sit), Luke Musgrave (Sit, TE2) 

This is a rough one to wade through week one because man alive there are a lot of what-ifs. So let me get this out there – I love Christian Watson, his athleticism is crazy, and he’s got all the makings of a big-play highlight reel career. But if I’m looking long-term, I might like Romeo Doubs more. His hands and early signs of communication with Love look like the beginning of something special. However, we aren’t talking long-term. Matt, you dope, we’re talking Chicago! I was leaning towards calling both Watson and Doubs WR2 candidates this week, because I believe they’ll be featured early and often all year long. HOWEVER, Romeo gets the asterisk because he’s come up with an unclear hammy issue this past week and it doesn’t sound certain that’s going to be all peachy keen by kickoff. Matt LaFleur has always tended to lean towards resting guys that need additional time, so if Romeo is active gameday, I like him with limited usage. With or without Doubs’ appearance, I’m looking for some big play attempts to Watson in this one as they try to quickly establish Jordan Love as the next Bear killer.  Jayden Reed has got all the skills, but I can’t run a rookie WR3 out this early, and in a 12-14 team league he’s likely sitting on the wire anyway. I listed Samori Toure primarily because he’s the next man up in the event Doubs is out, but I don’t find him roster-worthy.  On the TE front, Luke Musgrave has looked the part in preseason, but he’s not your TE1 (He’s not is he? He is? What happened at that Draft? DID YOU GET INTO THE JAGERMEISTER AGAIN?!?), and you should treat him as such.

Chicago Bears

Quarterbacks

Justin Fields (Start, QB1)

Yes.  Historically, and from direct observation, these late edition Packers have tended to struggle a) early season, every season, with stopping the run, and b) having no idea how to handle running quarterbacks. Is this anecdotal? Partly, but I’ve lived it.  Justin Fields scored on the ground in both meetings last year (and ran for over 70 in the first meeting). With an improved OL featuring Nate Davis and rookie Darnell Wright, as well as his upgraded receiving crew, Fields should have a greatly improved opportunity for balanced attacks this year. In an opening week showdown with their most storied rival, this is a prime opportunity for him to take the next step in an offense that is being developed around him to showcase his strengths.

Running Backs

Khalil Herbert (Start, RB2), D’onta Foreman (Sit, Flex)

Nothing I’ve seen, performance-wise or report-wise, tells me there’s any reason to not consider Khalil Herbert the clear RB1 in Chicago going forward. Cranking out 731 yards on the ground and 4 TDs as second fiddle in a timeshare – while missing 4 games – was clearly enough for the Bears to clear out the garage.  He’ll benefit from Fields’ running prowess and should see success early against a Green Bay rushing D that finished last year at 26th and lost some components in the offseason. As far as D’Onta Foreman goes, it feels more like ‘right place, right time’ after a relatively lackluster career to that point. As a general principle, when I see a running back switch teams in an offseason after they had a breakout, and they don’t immediately command the starting job – or even a clear split – I don’t trust that. D’Onta may serve as a short-yardage goal-line hawk, but that remains to be seen.

Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends

D.J Moore (Start, WR2), Darnell Mooney (Sit, Flex), Chase Claypool (Sit, Flex), Cole Kmet (Start, TE2), 

D.J. Moore is a lot of fun, isn’t he? That dude got 888 receiving yards and 7 TDS last year catching balls from Baker Mayfield, PJ Walker (R.I.P), and the empty husk of sadness that is Sam Darnold. Now THAT’s talent! In the preseason here, he went 2 for 3 and a touchdown – and what a touchdown it was –  to add to the hype.  The big question here is if he’s going to see the same amount of targets as he did in Carolina (118 last year). Statistically, the Bears were a little stingy there last year (Mooney led with 61 before the injury, and #2 was Dante Pettis with 41). As a WR, he seems to just be hitting his prime, and the Bears just didn’t have a guy like that last season. They didn’t even have a Darnell Mooney for half the year either, and Chase Claypool didn’t seem to bother trying after the trade.  So what I’m saying is: when Equanimeous St. Brown is your most consistently available WR for a good chunk of the year, that position is naturally going to get fewer targets. Moore is a must-go at WR2 – if he dropped and you got him for a deal later on, great get for your WR3/Flex spot.  I’m unsure about Mooney until we see some more fieldwork on that ankle, and I don’t love him against the GB secondary. Regarding Claypool – that trade was a washout, and until he shows consistently otherwise, Chase shouldn’t be on a fantasy squad. Over at TE, though? People LOVE Cole Kmet in Chicago. He led the team in targets at 69 and added in seven trips to the end zone too; he’s who you drafted to start for your fantasy team, so go right ahead.