NFL Week 1 Must Sit Players | Blitz Sports Media

It is week one! And we are all excited to get started this season on the right foot. Every player we drafted has some hope and upside, and no one has made our “list” if you catch my drift. There are a lot of divisional matchups this week as the NFC East and North face off against each other, which is usually where we get a chance to look at the tougher matchups. We also have big games like the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills, as well as the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. It should be a good week to start us off.

Jauan Jennings

Jauan Jennings has been largely a week-to-week player for the last season and will continue that way headed into the early part of this year. There is a lot of uncertainty within the San Francisco receiving room, and whether it will feature a main option. Deebo Samuel departed for Washington, and Brandon Aiyuk departed for the IR and will be out til midseason. With a tough matchup for Jennings, likely that he will get Riq Woolen matched up against him, and the uncertainty about his role. I would sit him in Week 1. I am very confident in the sit this week (9/10 Confidence). Even if Jennings has a decent week, the process is correct.

Michael Pittman Jr./Josh Downs

I hate to do this to the Indianapolis Colts, but believing in their pass catchers has been a mistake over the past few years. Ever since the departure of Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan, the revolving cast of Anthony Richardson, Joe Flacco, Gardner Minshew, Carson Wentz, and others has been extremely disappointing. Michael Pittman Jr. has burned many managers over the past few years, with his high draft stock, but this year, he went later. I need to see that Daniel Jones is not just another name on the list I mentioned above before I give Pittman another shot.

Josh Downs is a player who has finally moved up the draft board. After years of being a waiver wire spot starter, he was ranked similarly to the falling Pittman. The Miami Cornerback room is lighter than usual. They saw the departure of Jalen Ramsey, while also bringing in Minkah Fitzpatrick at the safety position. I think that it is a safe benching this week. The lack of ceiling gives cause for an easy sit in week one. (7/10 Confidence)

Kaleb Johnson

Kaleb Johnson is an easy sit for me this week. The Pittsburgh Steelers just gave Jaylen Warren a two-year contract extension worth over $17 million. While I like Johnson this season and think he will play a big role for the Steelers this season, he just has week one bust written all over him. He was drafted inside the top-100 for the majority of draft season, and there is always one rookie cornerback to fall early in the year due to a role issue – he could be that guy this season. The extension to Warren posed the question for me about his usage early in the year. The New York Jets are very good up front as well. This is a tough decision, but one I’d be willing to make if you can. (5/10 confidence)

D’Andre Swift

D’Andre Swift had a disappointing first year last season with the Chicago Bears. He was up and down all season. The overall numbers look solid, but I do not trust that Ben Johnson sees Swift in the future. He was a part of the decision to trade him away to Philadelphia a few years back, and I do not expect him to be in love with Swift as a feature back. The week one decision to bench Swift comes with that in mind, but it also comes with the fact that the Minnesota Vikings defense and Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores are a nasty bunch. They are an extremely difficult matchup for Swift to put anything together consistently. It will be tough for him to get going early on and maintain. Bench Swift in Week 1. (7/10 Confidence)

Travis Hunter

I feel like if you drafted Travis Hunter this season, that probably means you’re a big Travis Hunter fan, but the reality of his fantasy value is we just do not know. The one thing that excites me about his potential value is Liam Coen. Hunter is not the Shohei Ohtani of his sport, at least yet. We cannot expect his fantasy value to replicate that of Ohtani’s in baseball. For starters, defensive stats do not count unless you are in an IDP league. Another thing is, we have never seen it before. I would sit him in week one and just see what happens. If you have no other option, then so be it, but let’s just see.

I could be wrong about Travis Hunter, and why would I not want to be wrong? This could be a very exciting player, but don’t lose your week one fantasy matchup because he played 85% of his snaps on defense, locking down Michael Pittman Jr. (5/10 Confidence)