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
In 2025, the Jets surrendered the second-most fantasy points, second-most rush yards after contact and fifth-most explosive runs to running backs. Over their final eight games of the season, they surrendered 16-plus fantasy points to nine different RBs. All of this is great news for Pollard, who had a strong finish to 2025 -- averaging 19.6 touches and 107 scrimmage yards per game over the final five weeks -- and posted the same number of explosive runs on the season (27) as Jahmyr Gibbs and Christian McCaffrey.
Notable starts
Irving takes on a Bengals defense that allowed the most fantasy points to running backs last season, as well as the second-most rush yards over expected.
With Kyle Monangai potentially shaking off the rust after missing a few weeks of practice due to a knee injury, Swift -- the reigning fantasy RB15 -- should have control of the Chicago backfield against a defense that was relatively soft against running backs in 2025.
New England has made it relatively clear that Stevenson is the lead back, and primary backup TreVeyon Henderson has been ruled out from the opener due to an ankle injury. While the Seahawks had a great run defense last year, Stevenson can compensate with his pass-catching, as he did against them in Super Bowl LX (five catches, 40 yards, receiving TD, 17.3 fantasy points).
Warren led all qualified running backs with a 34.7 percent missed tackle rate on his 251 touches last season and I foresee Atlanta’s defense taking a step back in 2026.
Sit 'Em
Sit of the Week
After the departure of Travis Etienne Jr. in free agency, it seemed like the entire fantasy community crowned Tuten as the Jaguars’ new RB1. I didn’t hop aboard the bandwagon, not after they signed former Commander Chris Rodriguez Jr., who was coached by the Jaguars’ Liam Coen when they were both at the University of Kentucky in 2021. Coen has said there will be more of a committee approach in the backfield this year. It’s worth noting Rodriguez outperformed Tuten in yards over expected per carry, EPA per carry, yards before and after contact per carry and, most notably, explosive run rate. Tuten could play his way into Etienne’s role eventually, but I need to see it before starting him with confidence.
Notable sits
Hubbard missed the preseason with a hamstring injury and only just returned to practice last week, while Brooks has been absent from practice this week due to "general soreness." Sit both backs until we see how their health and this Carolina committee shakes out.
Harvey was great for fantasy managers over the last six weeks of his rookie season, when J.K. Dobbins was out with an injury. However, when Dobbins was healthy -- like he is now -- Harvey played just 29 percent of the snaps and averaged 7.5 touches per game.
Fantasy managers might be excited to start Lloyd as the presumed starter in Josh Jacobs’ absence, but I’d wait to see how the backfield split with Chris Brooks (and Kaleb Johnson) shakes out.
