Fantasy Football Week One Sit Em’s

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It’s time to get at least a part of your lineup submitted if you have key players from the Broncos and Ravens. Submitting one or two player’s is the easy part. Nominating your first five to six draft picks as starters is also rather easy. The tough part comes with the borderline questionable roster positions. Maybe you’re weak at tight end and drafted two mediocre ones. The flex position could be causing you a conundrum or the typical wide receiver three position.
Those bubble players’ are going to be vital for your weekly success. Often times a stat analyzer isn’t going to do justice with those type of player’s and you’re going to have to use your visceral feelings. With the cornucopia of bubble player’s out there it is key you take the appropriate time in analyzing the favorable matchups.

Here is week one’s addition of players to sit that are on the bubble. Win with your fantasy team’s and win against the spread

Quarterbacks

Josh Freeman
I’m big on Freeman having a bounce back season, but it won’t start in week one. The Jets defense has been retooled and Rex Ryan has kept his mouth quiet. He may be answering questions the media directs at him, but his typical antics and happy-go-lucky attitude are out the window. That’s the way he used to be when he ran the Ravens defense. The Buccaneers offense was one of the worst in the preseason. Expect them to take a game or two to turn it up a notch. This will be a low scoring non-fantasy friendly game against the Jets.

Carson Palmer
Early in preseason it’s funny how people can latch onto a team, and the storm catches everyone. Arizona is going to be better than last year but they have a ways to go. People are hyping the Cardinals defense, and overlooking their divisional foe in the Rams. Arizona just lost their first round draft pick in Cooper for the season. That’ s a heavy loss to an offensive line that was putrid last season. The Cardinals are one of those teams that can shuffle the backfield with veterans and draft picks with the best of them. They’ve drafted Ryan Williams, Thomas Jones, Beanie Wells, and now Stephan Taylor and Andre Ellington. They’ve also went the old veteran route with guys like Emmitt Smith, Edgerrin James, and now Rashard Mendenhall. They just can’t figure the backfield out. St. Louis’s defense is vastly underrated and I think they cause problems for four quarters for the Cardinals. The game may be close but I wouldn’t be shocked to see Palmer start the year with two to three interceptions and maybe a lost fumble.

Cam Newton
I’m not sure where Newton’s train of thought is going into the season, but his body language in the preseason seemed not in-tune. Maybe Newton has the old Mike Vick philosophy where he relied on his pure talents early on his career. You’d think Newton would have learned after last season’s atrocious start. To his credit he did correct his woes and finished the last five to six games strong. Based on what the Panthers bring to the table offensively, I think there is just too much pressure on Newton to do it himself. They need more talent around him in the backfield and at wide receiver. Seattle is a hawking opportunistic defense. I see Newton getting frustrated early moaping with a black towel on his head on the sidelines early in this game.

Running Backs

Doug Martin
I just profiled Josh Freeman and now I’ll profile Doug Martin. A star back such as Martin is not going to have a breakout game every week. When he does though he’ll more than make up for his dud performances. That’s why he was drafted where he was. New York is going to be a solid defense once again this year. Heading to New York week one is not easy, even though the Bucs made it look so last year early in the season against the Giants. The Jets are new every where. At wide receiver, tight end, running back, and quarterback. That rings a bell to a defense that hasn’t been awful but can play much better. New attitude meets better results Sunday. The Jets defense will stymie Martin.

Ronnie Hillman
Hillman needs consecutive games of garnering proper fantasy value before he has the right to be submitted in a lineup. Ignore the fact that he is on an elite offensive team. Denver has a plethora of backs and they’ll use them all until one steps forth. I think Hillman fits the mold of Felix Jones of a few years ago. The talent is there but will never make it onto the football field consistently. If you’re not expecting ten plus points from your back then he is not worth starting. Hillman will not get that amount of points.

Isaac Redman
It was a surprise to me that the Steelers parted ways with Jonathan Dwyer. He seemed to have a few decent preseason games. Fantasy owners love to look for the sleeper by default. Redman is that back as the Steelers will have to lean on him for likely two to three games. Redman may get you some yards but the Steelers have not been a red zone running team since Jerome Bettis. I could see Redman getting around seventy to eighty yards rushing without any impact out of the backfield or with touchdowns.

Wide Receivers

Anquan Boldin
Was the money worth it to the Arizona Cardinals and now Baltimore Ravens? It appears no. Boldin has tracked a lot of mileage over the years and I’m afraid he may have peaked out during the Ravens playoff run last year. Separation was not there from defenders. It was evident that he had lost a step and was relying more on his route running and physical presence than anything. A lot of Joe Flacco’s throws had to be precise for Boldin to snare it. San Francisco to me has a little bit of an aging problem at wide receiver and running back. Boldin fit well with the Cardinals and Ravens because he had another presence on the field with him in Torrey Smith and Larry Fitzgerald. Without Michael Crabtree the 49ers have to depend on Jon Baldwin or Kyle Williams. I’m sorry but Boldin is no longer a WR1 in fantasy and will hurt fantasy owners big time that think he can cut it as a WR3 for fantasy purposes.

Hakeem Nicks
If there is any secondary that is being challenged heavily going into Sunday it is the Cowboys. Eli Manning and the rest of the NFC East have torched this secondary for years. Whether the Cowboys can stop Victor Cruz is a different question, but they’ll contain one of the Giants receivers, and that will be Nicks. You hardly ever see a receiver that had as many nagging injuries as Nicks bounce back and have a big season the following year. The regression has started for Nicks and while he may have three to four big games, he is not going to come close to the production he had two years ago. New York has held him back all preseason. Only the greats can turn it on and off when battling injuries. Nicks is a solid receiver when healthy but that doesn’t appear to be the case heading into 2013.

TY Hilton
Though I believe the Raiders have a long ways to go, I’m high on their head coach Dennis Allen and his coaching staff overall. They’ll stay in games and likely win a game or two this season that no one would think they could. Indianapolis’s TY Hilton was a big factor last year and one of Andrew Luck’s favorite targets. The Colts though want to tone down Luck’s throws and get more of a running game established weekly with Ballard and Bradshaw. That’ll be a big difference fantasy owners need to watch out for now that Bruce Arians is gone. The Colts are expected to use more two tight end packages with Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener. Reduction of snaps for Hilton will be expected with those formations as he is their third receiver. Teams are great at taking away a strength after seeing it multiple times. Hilton deep ball strengths are known and teams will adjust coverage on him more this season.