A new year of football is upon us, and on Sunday, September 9th we’ll see most of the league back in action. The first game of the year between the Atlanta Falcons and the Philadelphia Eagles was exciting, but Kickoff Sunday is the official start to the new season. With a brand new season about to commence, a new year of fantasy football will also be beginning. While it is assumed that the lineup you drafted should be slotted in during the Week One matchups, there are still plenty of sleepers who may end up having better games. Let’s take a look at some of the best sleeper picks for Week One.
Keelan Cole, Jacksonville Jaguars, WR:
It is never easy to trust the Jacksonville passing game because they possess arguably the best defense in the league to keep the games low scoring, as well as one of the best young running backs in Leonard Fournette, but Keelan Cole might be worth a look this week. I am personally pretty high on Cole’s season-long expectations with Marquise Lee out for the year, but he may be startable right away against the New York Giants. Last season, the Giants had the second worst passing defense in the league and there is no reason to think that it will improve by all that much. With Cole stepping in as the top option in the passing game it can be assumed that he will receive between 5-7 targets that could end up turning into a touchdown and around 50 yards. I wouldn’t expect a huge game from the young wide receiver in the first matchup of the year, but WR3 numbers are very possible, and he should be owned in every season long league.
Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals, TE:
Just like finding a four leaf clover, or winning the Powerball, it is very rare to see this guy healthy, but Tyler Eifert seems to be injury-free heading into the season and was not even featured on the Bengals injury report this week. It has been since September 14th of 2017 that we’ve seen the talented tight end play in an NFL game, but it shouldn’t take too much time for him to shake off the rust. Aside from AJ Green, Eifert represents the best red zone threat in Cincinnati and that could translate immediately in Week One against the Indianapolis Colts. Last season, the Colts allowed the fifth-most yards through the air making Andy Dalton, Green, and Eifert all solid plays this week. The veteran tight end has a great shot of finding the end-zone as he has scored in 20 of his 39 career games. As long as Eifert is healthy he is a weekly play, but durability is a major concern as he has missed 41 games over his first five seasons.
James Conner, Pittsburgh Steelers, RB:
As of this writing, it doesn’t look like Le’Veon Bell will be suiting up for the Steelers on Sunday. In Bell’s place, James Connor will be taking over the backfield in a matchup against the Cleveland Browns. While this is a great situation for Connor playing on a great offense, don’t expect the same production that you would be getting from Bell. The Browns come to play with a solid run defense that allowed only 3.4 yards per carry last season. Connor, a rookie last season, proved that he was more than a capable runner by averaging 4.5 yards per carry over his 32 attempts, but what has yet to be seen is how his receiving skills will look in the NFL (Zero receptions last season). During his last season at the University of Pittsburgh, the young running back caught 21 passes for 302 yards after only getting nine receptions over his first three seasons. So while Connor may not be as involved in the passing game as Bell, he can still be very effective on first and second downs for the Steelers. Slot in the second year player as a low-end RB2 for this game.
Alex Smith, Washington Redskins, QB:
As I have expressed greatly in the preseason, I am completely on the Alex Smith hype train and I think he can be a dependable fantasy starter right from Week One. We didn’t get to see too much of Smith in the preseason as he only played in two games going a combined 7-for-14 for 81 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. What we did not see in the preseason was the veteran quarterback playing with all of the weapons that the Redskins have such as Jordan Reed, Chris Thompson, and Jamison Crowder. Smith will get to face an Arizona Cardinals’ secondary that was middle of the pack last year in yards allowed and will be without Tyrann Mathieu who now sports a Texans uniform. With a run game being led by 33-year-old Adrian Peterson it can be assumed that the Redskins are going to have to throw the ball a decent amount to really move up and down the field. Smith should be in a for another nice season and Week One will be no exception.
