Fantasy football managers know that every lineup decision can make or break a week, and choosing the right players to start or sit is where championships are won. With the 2026 NFL season underway, matchups, stats, and trends are more important than ever. From favorable matchups and scoring trends to players you should avoid in tough spots, my weekly positional start and sit guide is built to give you an edge.
Want your start/sit questions answered within minutes? Join the Blitz Community for free fantasy football advice all season long.
Running Backs to Start
Aaron Jones Sr. MIN
Aaron Jones wasn’t somebody I was particularly excited about after Week 1, but his situation changed dramatically with Jordan Mason heading to injured reserve following surgery for a fractured thumb. Jones rushed 12 times for 40 yards and a touchdown against Green Bay while Mason handled 15 carries for 59 yards and a score, with the two backs essentially splitting the workload. Jones played 42.6% of Minnesota’s offensive snaps and handled half of the running back red-zone carries, but he wasn’t particularly efficient, averaging just 1.92 yards after contact per attempt without forcing a missed tackle. Normally that type of performance wouldn’t have me moving Jones into my starting lineup, but Mason’s absence eliminates the biggest obstacle standing between him and a significantly larger workload.
The matchup makes the timing even better. Chicago’s defense was just shredded for 37 points by Carolina and struggled badly against the run, allowing the second-highest rushing success rate and eighth-highest explosive run rate in Week 1. Jones should now operate as Minnesota’s clear lead back without another established runner currently positioned to absorb Mason’s 15 Week 1 carries. The Vikings have promoted DeeJay Dallas and added Jerome Ford to the practice squad, so I’m not going to pretend we know exactly how the touches behind Jones will be distributed. I’m also not expecting Minnesota to suddenly give a 31-year-old Jones 25 touches. He doesn’t need that type of workload to return RB2 value in this matchup. Give me 15-plus carries, receiving involvement, and the red-zone role we already saw in Week 1 against a defense that couldn’t stop the run, and Jones becomes one of my favorite running back starts of Week 2.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt WAS
Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s Week 1 fantasy performance wasn’t anything crazy, but the underlying usage gave me exactly what I needed to see. He handled 16 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown against Philadelphia while adding one reception, finishing with 17 touches despite Washington playing from behind for much of the game. More importantly, Croskey-Merritt played 49.3% of the offensive snaps and handled 55.2% of Washington’s designed rushing attempts. Rachaad White finished with only seven carries, while Croskey-Merritt ran 13 routes compared with White’s 14. The one concern was red-zone usage, where Croskey-Merritt received only one of Washington’s five running back carries, but I’m much more interested in the fact that he already looks like the clear lead runner after one game.
Now the matchup gets considerably easier. Philadelphia has one of the toughest defensive fronts in football, yet Croskey-Merritt still managed 63 yards and a touchdown. Dallas allowed 111 rushing yards and a touchdown to Giants running backs in Week 1 while also struggling to consistently prevent runners from getting clean opportunities before contact. That’s exactly the type of matchup where Croskey-Merritt’s rushing volume can turn into a much bigger fantasy performance. The receiving ceiling remains somewhat limited, and I want to see him earn more opportunities near the goal line, but 16 carries against Philadelphia is a very encouraging starting point. If Washington stays competitive against Dallas, I’m expecting another 15-plus touch workload with much better efficiency. I’m comfortable starting Croskey-Merritt as an RB2/flex in Week 2.
Bhayshul Tuten JAX
Bhayshul Tuten’s Week 1 usage wasn’t perfect, but there was considerably more to like than the final fantasy score suggests. Tuten rushed 15 times for 66 yards and caught his only target for another 22 yards, giving him 88 total yards on 16 touches against Cleveland. He played 49.1% of Jacksonville’s offensive snaps and accounted for nearly 60% of the backfield opportunities despite the Jaguars running only 55 offensive plays. PFF also graded Tuten as one of the better runners from the opening week. The concern is that Chris Rodriguez Jr. Tuten didn’t control the early-down work as completely as I would like, while Rodriguez handled Jacksonville’s only goal-line snap and received most of the short-yardage opportunities. That keeps Tuten from being a completely safe play, but the overall workload was better than I expected from this committee.
Denver is a considerably tougher matchup than Cleveland, and that’s why I’m keeping Tuten in the lower-end RB2/flex range rather than treating him as a must-start. Four of his Week 1 carries came late with Nick Mullens at quarterback after the game was already decided, so I’m not blindly projecting his 16 touches forward. Tuten did show enough explosiveness to earn opportunities when the game was competitive, though, and his 22-yard reception was particularly encouraging because receiving work gives him another path to fantasy production if Rodriguez continues stealing short-yardage carries. There is definitely risk here, but after seeing Tuten lead Jacksonville in rushing, handle nearly half the snaps, and produce 88 yards on his opportunities, I’m willing to trust the talent and overall role as an RB2/flex in Week 2.
Running Backs to Sit
Jeremiyah Love ARI
Jeremiyah Love found the end zone in his NFL debut, but the touchdown covered up a backfield split that I’m not particularly excited about for Week 2. Love handled 11 carries and four targets against the Chargers, but Tyler Allgeier received 17 carries and out-snapped him 41-32. Allgeier ultimately finished with 19 touches compared with Love’s 15 opportunities, and Arizona consistently leaned on the veteran when it wanted to grind out the game late. My initial thought was that Love’s workload might have been intentionally limited after he spent much of the preseason dealing with a high-ankle sprain, but Mike LaFleur said afterward that Love wasn’t on a snap count. In other words, this wasn’t necessarily a temporary workload restriction. This might simply be how Arizona wants to use its two running backs right now.
That becomes much harder to trust against Seattle. Love is explosive enough to turn 12 or 13 touches into a strong fantasy performance, and the four targets were encouraging, but that’s asking for a lot of efficiency from a player who isn’t currently controlling his own backfield. The touchdown in Week 1 makes the final result look better than the underlying volume, and I’m not willing to assume Arizona suddenly flips the workload heavily toward Love one week later. His talent still gives him significant season-long upside, and I expect his role to grow as the year progresses, but right now we’re dealing with a rookie coming off an ankle injury, splitting work with Allgeier and facing a difficult Seattle defense. Unless I’m thin at running back, I’d rather leave Love on the bench and wait for his workload to expand.
Travis Etienne Jr. NO
Travis Etienne actually had some encouraging usage in his Saints debut, which makes this more of a role-based sit than a reaction to his fantasy score. Etienne finished with 16 touches and 78 total yards against Detroit, including seven receptions for 32 yards. That receiving involvement was excellent and gives him a much better PPR floor than I expected. The problem was the rushing workload. Etienne and Kendre Miller both handled nine carries, with Etienne playing 59.3% of the offensive snaps and accounting for only 39.1% of New Orleans’ designed rushing attempts. CJ Donaldson was also involved situationally. Making matters worse for Week 2, Kellen Moore said Alvin Kamara is expected to return against Baltimore, adding another established option to a backfield that was already more crowded than I expected.
Baltimore’s Week 1 rushing numbers weren’t particularly impressive, so I’m not sitting Etienne because I think the matchup is impossible. My concern is whether he gets enough valuable touches to take advantage of it. The Saints are going on the road against a Baltimore team that just scored 41 points, creating a legitimate risk of another pass-heavy game script. That could help Etienne’s receiving production, but now we’re trying to project how those passing-down opportunities will be divided with Kamara back in the offense. Seven receptions rescued Etienne’s Week 1 workload in PPR leagues, but I’m not comfortable depending on that again when Miller is taking early-down carries, and Kamara is returning. Etienne’s receiving role was encouraging; his control of the backfield wasn’t. With another mouth being added to the rotation this week, I’m leaving him on my bench.
Quinshon Judkins CLE
Quinshon Judkins’ Week 1 workload was better than his fantasy production, but almost everything else was concerning. He rushed 12 times for just 33 yards and caught both of his targets for 17 yards in Cleveland’s 34-10 loss to Jacksonville. According to PFF, Judkins averaged only 2.0 yards after contact per attempt, forced one missed tackle, and finished with a 54.0 rushing grade. He also failed to produce an explosive run. The positive is that Cleveland should continue treating him as its primary early-down runner, especially with Dylan Sampson now on injured reserve. The problem is that increased opportunity doesn’t necessarily equal increased fantasy value when the offense consistently finds itself in negative game scripts, and Judkins isn’t controlling the passing-down work.
Tampa Bay gives me another reason to wait. The Buccaneers held Chase Brown to 3.5 yards per carry in Week 1, and Cleveland now has to go on the road after falling behind Jacksonville 24-0 by halftime in the opener. That’s exactly the game script I’m worried about with Judkins because Raheim Sanders handled Cleveland’s third-down and two-minute work in Week 1. Judkins could easily see 15-plus carries if the Browns keep this game competitive, but his fantasy floor becomes extremely fragile if Tampa Bay jumps ahead and forces Cleveland into another pass-heavy script. He doesn’t have enough receiving involvement to consistently bail us out if the rushing efficiency remains poor. Sampson’s injury may give Judkins more early-down opportunities, but until those opportunities become more efficient or Cleveland proves it can keep him involved regardless of game script, he’s staying on my bench in Week 2.
