Greetings, fantasy fans, my name is Philip Atneosen, the new kid on the block. I will be your guide to fantasy success, hopefully.

In years past, I was just a casual player, but recently I’ve picked up a new hyperactive approach to fantasy football. This is my third year playing, and I have appeared in the playoffs in four of five seasons, finishing the runner-up twice. I have played in multiple formats, including PPR, standard and dynasty leagues. 

So enough about me, here we go.

Week 1 tips

The long wait for the season is over, and it’s important to remember a few things as you shake off the offseason rust.  

The first is to not overreact to what happened in Week 1. If your player had a bad week, don’t trade him immediately. Week 2 is an excellent time to trade for a good player who had a bad week since inexperienced owners always jump to conclusions at the beginning of the season.  

If a player riding your bench has a great week, don’t expect the same in the upcoming week. If you feel that your player will regress after Week 1, Week 2 could be the ideal time to trade that player when their value is high.

Finally, it is important to have realistic expectations with rookie running backs. Fantasy owners were spoiled with the depth of rookie running backs last season. Leonard Fournette, Alvin Kamara and Kareem Hunt, to name just a few, were fantastic.

Many of the rookie running backs this season, such as Rashaad Penny, Kerryon Johnson and Sony Michel have to earn their starting roles before they can make an impact. They will take time; so don’t drop them before they get a chance. Without further ado, here are my starts of the week.

Quarterback- Ben Roethlisberger

Roethlisberger is my start of the week at quarterback because of a few reasons. The Steelers play against a Chiefs secondary that is expected to struggle this year. As reported by ESPN, Philip Rivers threw for 424 yards against them last week, and said, in reality, they should have “thrown for 600 yards.” 

I expect a similar line from Big Ben in what looks to be another offensive battle. Some solid streaming options at QB this week are Cleveland QB Tyrod Taylor at the Saints and Broncos QB Case Keenum against the Raiders.

Running Back- Jordan Howard

Howard pleasantly surprised fantasy owners in Week 1 with five receptions, proving that he’s not limited to rushing the ball. He looked much more comfortable catching the ball than he did last year, meaning he has some worth as a pass-catching back along with Tarik Cohen.

The Bears play at home against the new-look Seahawks defense in Week 2, and I expect the Bears to rely heavily on Howard throughout the game, especially if the Chicago leads after the first half like they did against Green Bay in Week 1.  

Some stream-worthy RBs you might find on your waiver wire include Denver’s Phillip Lindsay, who was given a surprisingly large role last week. T.J. Yeldon of the Jaguars will receive a larger workload with the injury concerns of Fournette and is worth a flex role.

Wide Receiver- Jarvis Landry

After last week’s tie between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, it became very clear that Tyrod Taylor figures to give Landry plenty of touches this season. Taylor looked Landry’s way 15 times in Week 1.

Expect good things from the duo against a Saints defense that allowed backup Ryan Fitzpatrick to score five total touchdowns. And that game was in New Orleans.

Some other good WR options include Quincy Enunwa of the Jets, who was targeted on 10 of 21 passes from Sam Darnold and faces an unproven Miami defense. Ryan Grant of the Colts, who connected with Andrew Luck for eight catches against the Bengals, gets the Redskins this week.  

Tight End- George Kittle

Kittle saw lots of action in the season opener versus the Vikings, pacing all 49ers with nine targets. With Darius Slay taking the Xavier Rhodes role of a shutdown corner on a top receiver, Kittle can figure to get just as much action. Pierre Garcon will draw Slay, and Marquise Goodwin is questionable for the matchup, which is good news for Kittle. The tight end’s numbers could have been even greater if not for a dropped 30-yard pass and a pass off the fingertips in the end zone.

Other start-worthy TEs include Jared Cook, who had a monster game against a tough Rams defense in Week 1, and Eric Ebron, who is a strong bet for end zone targets against the Redskins defense this week.