NFL Week 1 2017: Bengals vs Ravens fantasy football starts and sits

Like the Cincinnati Bengals, many of you fantasy owners are looking for a win to start the season. Let’s look at the Bengals vs Ravens Week 1 matchup and see which players you should be playing fro this game in your fantasy league.

Absolutely start

A.J. Green (Bengals WR): Green has had an amazing history against the Ravens, and where you drafted him, Green is probably your top option at receiver anyway. In Green’s last five games against the Ravens he has six touchdowns. Make sure he is in your line up. That’s going to be the case any time he’s healthy.

Favorable Match up

Danny Woodhead (Ravens RB): The Bengals will be without Vontaze Burfict, and will be relying on Vincent Rey quite a bit, which is great for a running back like Woodhead. Rey isn’t athletic enough to cover a back like Woodhead. If you are in a PPR league, Woodhead may turn into your flex choice each week. The Bengals will be putting quite a bit of pressure on Joe Flacco, so you should expect a lot of dump offs to Woodhead.

Good but not great start

Tyler Eifert (Bengals TE): You should be starting Eifert, but the matchup isn’t great. The Ravens have added Tony Jefferson to a secondary that already had Eric Weddle. Not to mention C.J. Mosley is pretty good in coverage as well. Eifert should still put up a good stat line in the opening game of the year.

Unfavorable match up

Any Bengals running back: The running back situation in Cincinnati is weird, and starting any of them is a huge risk. Jeremy Hill will get the start, and he will likely get most of the goal line touches. Giovani Bernard will probably get most of the third down duties, which is good for PPR leagues. Joe Mixon is the wild card; if he has a few good carries, he could steal touches from Hill and Bernard. I wouldn’t recommend starting any of them. The situation should clear up in a few weeks.

Mike Wallace or Breshad Perriman (Baltimore WR): The Bengals will start Darqueze Dennard on Sunday, and it shouldn’t be a surprise when Flacco takes a couple shots against him with one of the Ravens speedsters. It is a boom or bust play using one of these receivers. Unless you’re in a deep league I wouldn’t bother though.

Andy Dalton (Bengals QB): The Ravens have a revamped secondary, and Terrell Suggs is back to put pressure on Dalton. If Dalton doesn’t get some help from his run game he may have a long day trying to dissect that secondary.

Terrance West (Ravens RB): West is a sneaky play this season. He was pretty productive as the starting running back last season, but we still aren’t sure just how much of his touches will be given to Woodhead.

Sit

Joe Flacco (Ravens QB): Similar to Dalton, Flacco could be in for a long day if the the Bengals’ pass rush can get to him. If that’s the case, Flacco won’t be finding any of his weapons consistently. Not to mention, Flacco just isn’t a great option for fantasy anyway. He only had 15 touchdowns last season.

Tyler Boyd (Bengals WR): Boyd should have a productive season, but I’m not sure that translates to fantasy success. There are just too many receivers to whom Dalton will be spreading the ball between. In Week 1, Green is the only reliable Bengals receiver.