Hey there, reader! I'm Matt. Most people call me Okada (there are too many Matts in the world). For the next 17 weeks, I'll be your guide on the Start 'Em, Sit 'Em fantasy journey.
As always, Start 'Em, Sit 'Em is geared toward helping fantasy managers make difficult roster decisions. You won't see "start Jahmyr Gibbs" or "sit Ben Skowronek" here. Instead, I'm exploring the players closer to the perceived fringe and aiming to optimize your lineups for another weekly win! Importantly, the new "Start of the Week" and "Sit of the Week" are the calls I have deemed the most notable in each category, not necessarily the most necessary players to start or sit.
Also, you'll see quite a few references in this year's column to NFL Pro, and the insights it provides through Next Gen Stats data dashboards, matchup evaluations, All-22 film, and the uniquely trained Fantasy AI Assistant. You can get access to all those tools yourself with an NFL+ Premium subscription!
P.S. Feel free to follow me on X -- @MattOkada -- and hit me with your questions, congratulations or complaints throughout the year.
Start 'Em
Start of the Week
Murray and Jalen Hurts are the only quarterbacks with 500-plus rush yards over expected and a positive career completion rate over expected in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016). In fantasy, that's indicative of a high floor and a high ceiling. In his Minnesota debut, Murray faces the Packers sans Micah Parsons, who will miss at least the first four games as he makes his way back from a knee injury. Green Bay was far less effective against the pass with Parsons off the field, allowing 0.45 fantasy points per attempt without Parsons compared to 0.38 FPPA with him on the field. Armed with Kevin O’Connell’s play-calling and Justin Jefferson at receiver, Murray is my very first Start of the Week.
Notable starts
Dart was a top-eight quarterback in fantasy points per game (FPPG) after stepping into the starting lineup last season and draws a Cowboys defense responsible for surrendering the most fantasy points to QBs last year.
In his two games against San Francisco last year, Stafford racked up 669 yards, seven touchdowns, zero interceptions and 52.46 fantasy points. He still has Puka Nacua and Davante Adams catching passes and Sean McVay calling plays.
Over his past four seasons with the Lions, Goff has averaged 20.6 FPPG at Ford Field. He’s one of the most reliable fantasy quarterbacks in the comforts of his home dome.
Mayfield was averaging 18 FPPG before a Week 12 shoulder sprain derailed the end of his 2025 season. Now he's healthy and highly playable against a Bengals defense that was extremely soft for quarterbacks last year.
Sit 'Em
Sit of the Week
Unless Mahomes is a sudden scratch for Week 1, his first game back since tearing his ACL in mid-December will come against ... the Denver Broncos. When healthy last year, on 45 pass attempts, Mahomes scored just 13.34 fantasy points against Vance Joseph’s defense. He was pressured 14 times and took three sacks, posting his third-lowest success rate of the season (36.7 %). In fact, Mahomes hasn’t hit 18 fantasy points in any of his last four games against his division rival. Find another option for the opener.
Notable sits
Last year, the Saints' Tyler Shough was the only quarterback to score 15-plus fantasy points against the Panthers after Week 8 (he did so twice). Williams struggled often on the road last season, with five of the six games where he was held to 15 points or fewer coming away from Soldier Field.
In his six games against defenses that finished the 2025 season among the top 20 versus fantasy quarterbacks, Love averaged just 10.39 FPPG and never topped 14 points -- including just 7.08 versus Minnesota.
Until further notice, I’m going to try to sit any fringe fantasy QB1 against a Rams defense that has added Myles Garrett, Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson and Aaron Donald this offseason.
