Fantasy Football Week 1 Start ‘Em & Sit ‘Em: Trey Lance ready to answer starting challenge in Chicago

The start of every NFL season is exciting. Fans feel like their team can win the Super Bowl — even the Jets. And Fantasy managers feel like they can win a championship following a great draft. There is optimism everywhere leading up until the opening kickoff for Week 1.

And then it happens.

The breakout player you were counting on struggles. Your star player — gasp — suffers a significant injury. The player everyone told you to avoid has a monster game, and of course he’s on your opponent’s roster.

Brace yourself, everyone, because this is going to happen. It might not be in Week 1, but not everything this season is going to be perfect. That’s just life.

The hope, for Fantasy managers, is that your team stays healthy, first and foremost. That’s the biggest key. Then you just have to believe that the roster you built can deliver, along with some luck and key waiver wire moves, and you can compete for a championship.

We’ll be with you, right here, for the entire season. You can count on us giving you winning lineup suggestions all year, including the players to start and the ones to avoid. It’s all about the matchups, and we’ll do the homework for you to make those decisions easier. At least that’s the theory.

It’s awesome that the start of the season is here. We’ve been waiting for this since the Rams beat the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI in February. You should be excited about everything that’s about to happen once the action is live. And even when things don’t go your way, please don’t panic. We’ll get you back on track so that the 2022 campaign is fun — and hopefully successful for your Fantasy teams.2022.

I always like to recommend a Start of the Week for Week 1 based on someone I’ve touted all offseason. And I expect Trey Lance to be a top-10 Fantasy quarterback this year — with top-five upside. He will be the breakout quarterback of 2022 based on his dual-threat ability.

Last year, Lance appeared in three games where he played the majority of the snaps. He averaged 53.7 rushing yards per game in those outings, and he scored at least 22 Fantasy points in two of those games.

He’s facing a Bears defense this week making the transition to a 4-3 scheme under new coach Matt Eberflus, so there could be some growing pains, and Chicago lost star pass rusher Khalil Mack this offseason in a trade with the Chargers. I expect Lance to make a splashy debut in this matchup.

The Bears were also among the league leaders last season in rushing touchdowns allowed to quarterbacks with five, and ironically two of those came from Jimmy Garoppolo when these team’s met in Week 8. It would be fantastic if Lance scored two rushing touchdowns as well in the rematch.

I’m excited to see how Lance does as the full-time starter for San Francisco. And he should start the season on a high note with a big game against the Bears in Week 1.

• More Week 1: QB Preview | RB Preview | WR Preview | TE Preview

Dolphins (vs. NE)

All we’ve heard for weeks in training camp is how the Patriots offense has struggled. The offensive line has been a mess, Mac Jones has been inconsistent and the receivers have struggled to make plays. It could be that the Patriots defense is just that tough in practice. Or, maybe, having Matt Patricia as the offensive coordinator is a bad idea. Either way, the Dolphins DST is a good play this week at home, and I consider this unit a top-10 Fantasy option in all leagues.

• Eagles (at DET)
• Titans (vs. NYG)
• Browns (at CAR)

Cowboys (vs. TB)

The Cowboys DST was amazing in 2021, but one of the worst games for this unit was Week 1 at Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers had two interceptions and two fumble recoveries in that game but also allowed 31 points and 431 total yards, with no sacks. We’ll see how Tampa Bay’s revamped offensive line holds up in this matchup, but I’m not trusting the Cowboys DST in a matchup against Tom Brady.