The NFL returns on Thursday, and that means fantasy football is back. As of August 2021, over 40 million people in the United States play fantasy football, and that number continues to grow. Each week, we will bring you new rankings. The rankings will be based on matchups and injuries.
Let’s start with the Week 1 Quarterback rankings:
Justin Herbert vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Patrick Mahomes at Arizona Cardinals
Josh Allen at Los Angeles Rams
Lamar Jackson at New York Jets
Jalen Hurts at Detroit Lions
Russell Wilson at Seattle Seahawks
Kyler Murray vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Aaron Rodgers at Minnesota Vikings
Tom Brady at Dallas Cowboys
Joe Burrow vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Dak Prescott vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Matthew Stafford vs. Buffalo Bills
Trey Lance at Chicago Bears
Jameis Winston at Atlanta Falcons
Kirk Cousins vs. Green Bay Packers
Trevor Lawrence at Washington Commanders
Derek Carr at Los Angeles Chargers
Carson Wentz at Jacksonville Jaguars
Matt Ryan at Houston Texans
Mac Jones at Miami Dolphins
The top three quarterbacks will shuffle throughout the season, but Herbert, Mahomes, and Allen will likely remain the top three options. As for the other quarterbacks listed, it will depend on the matchups. Justin Herbert has chemistry with his wide-receiver corps, the Chargers added tight end Gerald Everett, which is a big upgrade over Jared Cook, and running back Austin Ekeler is fully healthy and will give Herbert a lot of dump-off yards. In Week 18, the last time the Chargers played against the Raiders, Herbert put up 28.4 fantasy points. Patrick Mahomes also has a favorable matchup, but it remains to be seen how he will perform without top wide-receiver Tyreek Hill. Josh Allen will face a tough Rams defense; therefore, he is behind Herbert and Mahomes for Week 1.
Here are the top 20 Running Backs in the points per reception (PPR) format for Week 1:
Jonathan Taylor at Houston Texans
Austin Ekeler vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Christian McCaffrey vs. Cleveland Browns
Derrick Henry vs. New York Giants
Alvin Kamara at Atlanta Falcons
Dalvin Cook vs. Green Bay Packers
Joe Mixon vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Najee Harris at Cincinnati Bengals
D’Andre Swift vs. Philadelphia Eagles
James Conner vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Leonard Fournette at Dallas Cowboys
Saquon Barkley at Tennessee Titans
Javonte Williams at Seattle Seahawks
Aaron Jones at Minnesota Vikings
Nick Chubb at Carolina Panthers
Ezekiel Elliot vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Josh Jacobs at Los Angeles Chargers
Tony Pollard vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Antonio Gibson vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Elijah Mitchell at Chicago Bears
The top five running backs listed above will be interchangeable based on matchups. The sleeper running back in Week 1 is Tony Pollard. He will have opportunities as a wide receiver and running back, so he will get a lot of chances to rack up rushing and receiving yards.
Next, we have the top 20 wide-receiver rankings:
Justin Jefferson vs. Green Bay Packers
Cooper Kupp vs. Buffalo Bills
Ja’Marr Chase vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Davante Adams at Los Angeles Chargers
Stefon Diggs at Los Angeles Rams
Keenan Allen vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Deebo Samuel at Chicago Bears
CeeDee Lamb vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Michael Pittman Jr. at Houston Texans
Tyreek Hill vs. New England Patriots
Diontae Johnson at Cincinnati Bengals
A.J. Brown at Detroit Lions
Tee Higgins vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Mike Evans at Dallas Cowboys
Terry McLaurin vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Amon-Ra St. Brown vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Mike Williams vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Courtland Sutton at Seattle Seahawks
Gabe Davis at Los Angeles Rams
JuJu Smith-Schuster at Arizona Cardinals
Any wide receiver on a given day could show out and produce for your fantasy football team; however, I believe the wide receivers listed above will be the most consistent in Week 1 because of the targets they could potentially see, which will lead to fantasy football production.
The last top 20 rankings will be for the tight end position:
Mark Andrews at New York Jets
Travis Kelce at Arizona Cardinals
Dalton Schultz vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Kyle Pitts vs. New Orleans Saints
Darren Waller at Los Anegels Chargers
George Kittle at Chicago Bears
Dallas Goedert at Detroit Lions
T.J. Hockenson vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Pat Freiermuth at Cincinatti Bengals
Dawson Knox at Los Angeles Rams
Zach Ertz vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Cole Kmet vs. San Francsico 49ers
Irv Smith Jr. vs. Green Bay Packers
Mike Gesicki vs. New England Patriots
David Njoku at Carolina Panthers
Austin Hooper vs. New York Giants
Gerald Everett vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Noah Fant vs. Denver Broncos
Albert Okwuegbunam at Seattle Seahawks
Evan Engram at Washington Commanders
Most tight ends — outside of the top-seven — are going to be touchdown or bust on most weeks, which means they either catch a touchdown(s) or they don’t produce many fantasy points.
Here are the top-10 defenses and special teams:
San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Bulls
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans
New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons
Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks
Baltimore Ravens at New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions
Tennessee Titans vs. New York Giants
Los Angeles Chargers vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Carolina Panthers vs. Cleveland Browns
Lastly, here are the top-10 kickers for Week 1:
Evan McPherson vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Justin Tucker at New York Jets
Nick Folk at Miami Dolphins
Matt Gay vs. Buffalo Bills
Brandon McManus at Seattle Seahawks
Harrison Butker at Arizona Cardinals
Daniel Carlson vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Matt Prater vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Tyler Bass at Los Angeles Rams
Greg Joseph vs. Green Bay Packers
This wraps up the Week 1 rankings. As mentioned earlier, we will bring you new rankings based on matchups and injuries each week.
Good luck in Week 1!