Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings 2020

The fantasy football season is finally a few days away and I, for one, could not be more excited to have fantasy football to look forward to each and every week. In order to prepare you for the first week of the season I have re-run the FantasyProjection model and utilized a combination of full season player projections (see 2020 Fantasy Rankings), 2019 defensive stats, and offseason changes to develop the projected scoring to the decimal for each player. These rankings are based on a .5 PPR scoring system. The rankings are listed below by position for your use in any start sit decisions you have in week 1. Good luck in the first game of the fantasy football season!

Quarterbacks

1Lamar Jackson BAL vs. CLE
2Patrick Mahomes KC vs. HOU
3Russell Wilson SEA at ATL
4Deshaun Watson HOU at KC
5Dak Prescott DAL at LAR
6Carson Wentz PHI at WAS
7Drew Brees NO vs. TB
8Matt Ryan ATL vs. SEA
9Josh Allen BUF vs. NYJ
10Kyler Murray ARI at SF
11Ben Roethlisberger PIT at NYG
12Cam Newton NE vs. MIA
13Tom Brady TB at NO
14Aaron Rodgers GB at MIN
15Jimmy Garoppolo SF vs. ARI
16Jared Goff LAR vs. DAL
17Matthew Stafford DET vs. CHI
18Gardner Minshew II JAX vs. IND
19Ryan Tannehill TEN at DEN
20Tyrod Taylor LAC at CIN

Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson comes into the fantasy football season ranked as the 3rd best option at the position for week 1. Wilson has consistently been in the top 5 at the position and finished again as the 4th best QB for the 2019 season. Wilson has a chance to repeat as a top 5 QB in the 2020 season and will start his run agaisnt the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons were the 27th worst defense against the QB based on fantasy points per game. This is a big matchup boost for the already stellar Wilson who will have a strong showing in week 1. FantasyProjection: 275 yards 2 TDs passing 23 yards rushing

Cam Newton

Cam Newton finds himself on a new team in New England, one that is used to having the best QB in the game, and he will have to try to live up to these expectations. Newton’s 2019 season was plagued by injuries and was eventually shut down for the season after not being able to play through injury. Cam Newton is expected to be fully healthy and will be looking to get back to his QB1 form like where he finished in 2018 (QB12). Cam draws one of the best matchups in the league in week 1 fantasy football season against the Miami Dolphins who were 31st worst againts opposing QBs on a fantasy points basis in 2019. This is the chance for Cam to shine and prove that New England made the right decision. FantasyProjection: 243 yards 1.5 TDs 27 yards 0.3 TDs rushing

Running Backs

1Christian McCaffrey CAR vs. LVR
2Dalvin Cook MIN vs. GB
3Ezekiel Elliott DAL at LAR
4Saquon Barkley NYG vs. PIT
5Josh Jacobs LVR at CAR
6Austin Ekeler LAC at CIN
7Alvin Kamara NO vs. TB
8Derrick Henry TEN at DEN
9Joe Mixon CIN vs. LAC
10Clyde Edwards-Helaire KC vs. HOU
11Miles Sanders PHI at WAS
12Aaron Jones GB at MIN
13Mark Ingram II BAL vs. CLE
14James Conner PIT at NYG
15Kenyan Drake ARI at SF
16Nick Chubb CLE at BAL
17Chris Carson SEA at ATL
18Todd Gurley II ATL vs. SEA
19David Johnson HOU at KC
20Melvin Gordon DEN vs. TEN

Josh Jacobs

Josh Jacobs is set to take an even bigger step forward in his second year in the NFL even after his amazing rookie debut. Jacobs is the main offensive weapon in the Raiders attack and is a threat through both the running and passing games. I expect Jacob will be a strong RB 1 each and every week. He is currrently ranked at RB5 for the week 1 fantasy football rankings not only due to his extraordinary talent, but his matchup against the Panthers. The Panthers were the worst team in the league against opposing RBs allowing 29 fantasy points per game to the position. To make things worse the Panthers lost their star linebacker Luke Kuechly to retirement. The Panthers are the best matchup for running backs in week 1 and we can expect a stud performance out of Jacobs against them. FantasyProjection: 97 yards 0.6 TDs rushing 3 receptions 24 yards 0.1 TDs receiving

Mark Ingram

Mark Ingram ends up fairly high in the week 1 fantasy football rankings for the RB position, but for very good reason. Ingram seems to be a forgotten man at the RB position in season long rankings especially seeing that he finished the 2019 season as 8th best RB. Now I understand that the Ravens drafted a flashy new rookie by the name of J.K. Dobbins, but especially in the first few games of the season very few rookies find themselves in a significant workload position. I expect Ingram to still be the go to RB for the first few games and potentially share the workload later on in the season. Ingram also faces the 25th worst defense against fantasy RBs for the 2019 season in the Cleveland Browns. This should be a great week for Ingram and his fantasy owners finding himself on the fringe of RB1 territory in week 1. FantasyProjection: 72 yards 0.7 TDs rushing 2 receptions 18 yards 0.2 TDs receiving

Wide Receivers

1Michael Thomas NO vs. TB
2Davante Adams GB at MIN
3Julio Jones ATL vs. SEA
4Tyreek Hill KC vs. HOU
5Chris Godwin TB at NO
6Allen Robinson CHI at DET
7DeAndre Hopkins ARI at SF
8Mike Evans TB at NO
9JuJu Smith-Schuster PIT at NYG
10DJ Moore CAR vs. LVR
11Kenny Golladay DET vs. CHI
12Amari Cooper DAL at LAR
13Cooper Kupp LAR vs. DAL
14A.J. Brown TEN at DEN
15Adam Thielen MIN vs. GB
16Terry McLaurin WAS vs. PHI
17D.J. Chark JAX vs. IND
18Tyler Lockett SEA at ATL
19Odell Beckham Jr. CLE at BAL
20Calvin Ridley ATL vs. SEA
21Keenan Allen LAC at CIN
22Robert Woods LAR vs. DAL
23DK Metcalf SEA at ATL
24Courtland Sutton DEN vs. TEN
25Julian Edelman NE vs. MIA

Michael Thomas

Michael Thomas is an no brainer at the number one position for the week 1 fantasy football rankings for WR. Thomas has been other worldly for fantasy pruposes the last few seasons and will continue to rack up receptions and yards at an alarming clip this year. Thomas will start his fantasy football season facing the 2019 worst defense against opposing receivers. If you didnt already think that Thoas deserved to be number one in week 1 then that last sentence should go along way to solifying that. I’m expecting a big first game from Thomas proving exaclty why you spent first round draft capital on him. Fantasy Projection: 20 receptions 119 yards 0.6 TDs

JuJu Smith-Schuster

OK I know it was tough to see JuJu Smith-Schuster struggle last year after you spent such high draft capital on him, but I believe if you stuck with him into this season he will prove he is worth the pain of last season. JuJu is finally getting back his biggest fan QB Ben Roethlisberger. Last year was marred by the star QB being injured most of the season and JuJu’s stats depleted because of it. Let’s all try to remember the season JuJu had with Big Ben in 2018 when he had 111 receptions for 1,400 yards and 7 TDs which was good for a 9th best fantasy finish at the WR position. I’m banking on the connection to remain strong between the WR and his QB and for his fantasy owners to see the re-emergence of the 2018 WR1. It will help in week 1 that he faces the 2019 27th worst defense against WR’s, expect the WR1 performance out of JuJu. FantasyProjection: 6 receptions 74 yards 0.6 TDs

Tight Ends

1George Kittle SF vs. ARI
2Travis Kelce KC vs. HOU
3Mark Andrews BAL vs. CLE
4Zach Ertz PHI at WAS
5Darren Waller LVR at CAR
6Hunter Henry LAC at CIN
7Tyler Higbee LAR vs. DAL
8Evan Engram NYG vs. PIT
9Jared Cook NO vs. TB
10Hayden Hurst ATL vs. SEA
11Rob Gronkowski TB at NO
12Austin Hooper CLE at BAL

George Kittle

It is really not much of a surprise to anyone to see Mr. Kittle at the top of the week 1 fantasy football rankings for tight ends. Kittle has been amazing for the 49ers over the past few years and I really don’t think there is a chance of him stopping now. Kittle will face the Cardinals in week 1 who were the worst defense against TE in 2019. To put this into perspective, the Cardinals allowed 16 fantasy points on average to the TE position whereas the second worst defense only allowed 12 fantasy points per game. This matchup is a huge plus to an already top option at the position. Fantasy Projection: 7 receptions 81 yards 0.4 TDs

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