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.
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Tight Ends to Start
Michael Mayer LV
Michael Mayer’s Week 2 value comes down to Brock Bowers’ knee, but if Bowers misses another game, Mayer belongs in fantasy lineups. With Bowers sidelined against Miami, Mayer immediately stepped into the lead tight end role and caught six of seven targets for 32 yards. The yardage wasn’t exciting, but the underlying involvement absolutely was. Mayer ran 23 routes, the second-most of any Raiders player, and led the entire team with seven targets. He also played the clear majority of snaps across situations rather than simply replacing Bowers in certain packages. That’s exactly what I want when streaming tight ends. I’m chasing routes and targets first and worrying about efficiency afterward.
The Chargers also just gave us another reason to attack this matchup. Trey McBride saw 13 targets against them in Week 1 and finished with 24.5 fantasy points. I’m obviously not comparing Mayer’s talent or role in this offense to McBride, but the matchup combined with seven-target volume gives him a legitimate path to TE1 production. The obvious caveat is Bowers, who remains day-to-day after missing Wednesday’s practice. Mayer’s short-term fantasy value changes dramatically once Bowers returns, so this isn’t a recommendation I’m making regardless of Sunday’s injury report. If Bowers remains out, Mayer is one of my favorite tight end streamers of Week 2. If Bowers returns without significant restrictions, Mayer goes right back to my bench.
Dallas Goedert PHI
Dallas Goedert’s two touchdowns are going to grab most of the attention from Week 1, but the usage underneath them is why I’m willing to start him again. Goedert caught four of five targets for 77 yards and two touchdowns against Washington, finishing as the TE3. He tied for Philadelphia’s team lead with a 20% target share and also posted a 23.5% first-read share. According to FantasyPros, Goedert averaged 2.96 yards per route run and received two red-zone targets along with a deep target. The touchdowns obviously aren’t something I’m projecting every week, but this wasn’t a player catching two random scores on three routes. Philadelphia actually involved him throughout the passing game.
Now he gets Tennessee, and I see no reason to move away from him. The Eagles only asked Jalen Hurts to throw 25 times in Week 1, which makes Goedert’s five targets more meaningful than they initially appear. He accounted for 20% of the passing-game opportunities despite playing in an offense with plenty of competition for touches. That’s the type of role I’m willing to trust at a position where consistent volume is difficult to find. There will obviously be weeks when Philadelphia’s rushing offense takes over, and Goedert doesn’t see enough targets, but Week 1 showed us he’s still a meaningful part of the passing game and remains involved near the goal line. I’m keeping him in my lineup as a TE1 against Tennessee.
Juwan Johnson NO
Juwan Johnson might be my favorite combination of role and potential Week 2 game script from this group. Johnson caught only three passes against Detroit, but those receptions went for 54 yards and a touchdown, and the more important number was seven targets. He averaged 18 yards per reception and operated as Kellen Moore’s No. 1 tight end. That’s coming off a 2025 season in which Johnson quietly produced 77 receptions for 889 yards, so Week 1 wasn’t the first evidence that he can be a meaningful part of this passing offense.
Baltimore also creates the type of game environment where I want exposure to New Orleans’ pass catchers. The Ravens scored 41 points in Week 1, and there’s a very realistic chance the Saints are forced into another high-volume passing script on the road. That’s especially appealing for Johnson because I’m not asking him to survive on three or four opportunities and score a touchdown. He already commanded seven targets in the opener and showed the ability to create chunk plays with them. The three catches tell only part of the story. Seven opportunities, 54 yards, and a touchdown tell me New Orleans intends to use him as more than a blocking tight end. Assuming the illness that kept him out of Wednesday’s practice doesn’t linger, Johnson is somebody I’m comfortable starting in Week 2 if I’m outside the elite tier at tight end.
Tight Ends to Sit
Jake Ferguson DAL
Jake Ferguson’s Week 1 playing time wasn’t the problem. That’s actually what concerns me. Ferguson played roughly 75% of Dallas’ offensive snaps, ran a route on approximately 75% of the passing plays, and still managed only two targets on 27 routes. He caught both of them for six yards. Backup Brevyn Spann-Ford received the same number of targets despite running only eight routes. I’m not suggesting Spann-Ford is suddenly taking Ferguson’s job—the underlying playing time clearly says otherwise, but being on the field doesn’t automatically create fantasy value when CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, and the Cowboys’ running backs are commanding the more valuable opportunities.
Washington is the part that makes this recommendation uncomfortable. The Commanders just allowed Dallas Goedert to produce 77 yards and two touchdowns, so this is objectively a good tight end matchup, and that’s enough to keep Ferguson from being an automatic bench. But I don’t want to chase the opponent while ignoring what Dallas showed us about Ferguson’s role in Week 1. Two targets on 27 routes is a 7.4% targets-per-route-run rate, and I need to see evidence that Dak Prescott is going to intentionally involve him rather than use him primarily as a checkdown option. The matchup gives Ferguson a better chance to rebound, but until the targets follow the routes, I’m comfortable sitting him for one of the higher-volume tight ends available this week.
Kyle Pitts ATL
Kyle Pitts’ Week 1 zero wasn’t simply the result of him barely playing. That’s what makes it concerning. Pitts failed to catch his only official target against Pittsburgh despite playing 39 offensive snaps and running a route on 22 of Cooper Rush’s 29 dropbacks. PFF found that Atlanta reduced Pitts’ involvement in several personnel groupings compared with last season, including his snaps in 12 personnel, while Charlie Woerner remained heavily involved as a blocker. FantasyPros charted Pitts with an 80.8% route participation rate but only an 8.3% adjusted target share. Those numbers aren’t necessarily contradictory. Pitts was still running routes when Atlanta threw the football, but his overall deployment changed in other situations, and those routes weren’t translating into targets.
The quarterback situation makes it even harder to trust him against Carolina. Cooper Rush struggled to push the football downfield in Week 1, Atlanta leaned heavily on the running game, and Bijan Robinson commanded 10 targets while Pitts was essentially invisible. The Panthers also held Colston Loveland without a fantasy point in their opener. I’m not going to overreact to one defensive result, especially from a game in which Chicago scored 59 points, but there’s nothing about the matchup that forces me to ignore Pitts’ usage concerns. An 80% route rate gives him obvious rebound potential, but routes only help fantasy managers when they eventually produce opportunities. Until Atlanta shows us Pitts can turn those routes into consistent targets, I don’t want him in my lineup.
George Kittle SF
Sitting George Kittle would normally sound ridiculous, especially against Miami, but this recommendation has almost nothing to do with the matchup. Kittle is still working his way back from the Achilles tear that ended his 2025 season, and San Francisco clearly managed him in Week 1. He played only 30 of 65 offensive snaps, roughly 46%, and ran just 13 routes. Kittle still drew five targets on those limited opportunities, which is actually extremely encouraging for his long-term outlook, but he turned them into only two receptions for 12 yards. Five targets on 13 routes is an incredible target rate, but it’s also not something I want to rely on repeating if he’s going to remain around a 50% snap share.
That’s what makes Kittle a conditional sit rather than somebody I’m automatically benching. His limited Wednesday practice isn’t enough for me to assume San Francisco will restrict him again; that could simply be normal workload management for a veteran returning from a major injury. What matters is what we learn about his expected Sunday role. If San Francisco indicates Kittle will remain around the 45-to-50% snap range, I’m willing to sit him for another legitimate TE1 rather than betting on extreme efficiency with limited routes. If we get indications that his workload is expanding, he’s immediately back in my lineup. Miami is a good matchup, Kittle remains an elite player, and five targets on 13 Week 1 routes show Brock Purdy still wants to feature him. This sit is entirely about playing time. Once that restriction disappears, so does my concern.
