The wide receiver position should give fantasy football owners plenty of decisions throughout the year. The position is regularly the easiest position to find promising players on the waiver wire, but it’s also one where players can register plenty of peaks and valleys on a weekly basis.
Here’s our list of week 1 match-ups that we love, like and hate for the wide receiver position.
Love
Randall Cobb
What is there not to love about Cobb regarding Green Bay’s opening week game against the Chicago Bears?
Aaron Rodgers absolutely torches the Bears every time the two teams play. Rodgers is 11-3 with a 69 percent completion rate to go along with 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions in his career against the Bears.
With Jordy Nelson out for the year, Cobb will get the lion’s share of the work. There are some injury concerns, but Cobb has publicly said he won’t miss a game.
Cobb also has seen plenty of success against the Bears. In seven career games, he has five touchdowns and averages 58.6 yards per game against Chicago.
That was at the number two slot. Now as the dominant receiver, Cobb should enjoy far more targets, and if the Bears are a similar defense as last year, that will likely result in plenty of receptions.
Like
Demaryius Thomas
We’ve been down on Peyton Manning all preseason. But, we still like him enough to show up early in the season, and
in the confines of Denver, Manning should shine in the opening week.
That helps Thomas, who should be the main target of Manning’s, and who could also see more targets in the red zone without the presence of a big bodied tight end like Julius Thomas.
Against Baltimore, Thomas has registered two touchdowns in three career games. He’s racked up 22 targets in those three games.
And don’t be fooled by Baltimore’s reputation of being a great defense. The Ravens allowed the 10th-highest amount of passing yards per game last season, and the secondary didn’t get much better in the offseason.
Manning may struggle later in the year, but for the first few games, he should be on target, as long as he can stay upright.
Hate
Sammy Watkins
The Buffalo Bills wide receiver is depending on a first-year starter in Tyrod Taylor to get him the ball, so Watkins’ value is slim anyway.
Combine the inexperience at the quarterback position with head coach Rex Ryan’s philosophy of running the ball first and focusing on a solid defense, and fantasy football owners who have Watkins on their team could be in for a long season.
Week 1’s match-up against the Indianapolis Colts also creates problems because of Vontae Davis lining up across Watkins on a regular basis. Davis didn’t allow a touchdown thrown in his direction last season, and he makes it hard on quarterbacks to just complete passes. Pro Football Focus calculated that quarterbacks netted a 38.8 QB rating when throwing in Davis’ direction last year.
With Taylor manning the quarterback position and Davis making it difficult on quality quarterbacks to throw in his direction, Watkins will be a bad start in week 1.
