Really want to school your leaguemates and take home the trophy in all of your leagues? Check out the Upper Hand Fantasy Start/Sit tool! Compare players every week to get INSTANT answers to start sit questions!

Really want to school your leaguemates and take home the trophy in all of your leagues? Check out the Upper Hand Fantasy Start/Sit tool! Compare players every week to get INSTANT answers to start sit questions!

Panthers WR Jalen Coker lands on IR with ‘significant quad strain’, will miss at least the team’s first four games of the 2025 season

• Coker’s injury ironically came right on the heels of the Panthers trade of Adam Thielen to the Vikings – with the salt in the wound being the fact that GM Dan Morgan had expressed his excitement in seeing what Coker could do operating out of the slot this season prior to his quad strain. Now instead of hitting the ground running with QB Bryce Young and the rest of the Panthers offense to kick off the 2025 season, Coker will be missing at least the first four games – and potentially more. The silver lining is that all is not lost for Coker, who wasn’t being drafted highly this summer anyway; his ADP was well outside the top-14 rounds, making this missed time to begin the year less of a hit to those who selected him as a sleeper presumably with their final pick. It’s still a disappointment to start the season, though, as the Panthers seemed to have cleared the way for Coker to emerge as the big slot this season behind rookie WR Tetairoa McMillan. On the macro level, Bryce Young takes a bit of a hit in terms of his fantasy outlook, as he’s now down two of the three starters at WR he practiced with all offseason between the injury to Coker and the departure of Thielen via trade. One thing is for sure, though – without either of those two WRs in the fold, McMillan is likely to enjoy the target funnel treatment right out of the gate. He was an alpha WR during his time in Arizona, and with next to no target competition in Carolina, he should have no trouble racking up targets and receptions en route to plenty of valuable PPR production.

Chargers RB Najee Harris reportedly has a chance to play in Week 1 kickoff game on Friday vs the Chiefs

• The rubber is about to meet the road for the former Steelers RB who suffered what the team is calling a ‘superficial eye injury’ over the weekend of this past July 4th. Harris himself was cleared for contact over the weekend and is, in his own words, ‘ramping up to’ playing in the Chargers inaugural tilt against the division rival Chiefs in Brazil on Friday. A full practice on Tuesday according to the Chargers first practice report of the week has Najee trending in the right direction to play, albeit much to the dismay of Omarion Hampton managers. If Najee ultimately suits up, he shouldn’t be expected to handle a true 1B workload behind Hampton right away after missing the majority of training camp and the entirety of the preseason. As a result, Hampton managers shouldn’t be deterred from starting the first-round rookie out of UNC in Week 1, as he’ll presumably handle the lion’s share of the work – after all, he was available and practicing the entire time that Najee was sidelined this summer. There’s a chance that as Najee gets healthier and ramps up over the next few weeks, the workload could begin to look more like the split we expected to see at the beginning of minicamp earlier this year. However, it’s likely that the beginning of the season will be Omarion Hampton’s time to shine – and if he plays well, he could wind up ceding less and less work to Najee.

Titans rookie WR Elic Ayomanor listed as a starting WR on team’s most recently updated depth chart

• Of course, WR Calvin Ridley is still expected to earn the lion’s share of the targets from rookie QB Cam Ward. However, this is a promising development for the 4th-round Stanford product, who’s seemingly worked his way up the depth chart and into a potential fantasy-relevant role in a Tennessee offense that’s largely devoid of talent in the passing game behind Ridley. Ayomanor will also compete with veteran WR Tyler Lockett for looks early in the season, but after an impressive training camp and preseason, he’ll be a name to watch on the waiver wire if he can continue to establish himself in the Titans passing attack. It remains to be seen just how involved veterans like Lockett and TE Chig Okonkwo will be, so it’s important to remember that it could take Ayomanor a few weeks to ramp up to a role worth targeting off the waiver wire (where he currently resides in most leagues). His production will also be dependent on how quickly Cam Ward can acclimate to the NFL, but with little established target competition ahead of him, Ayomanor could assume the No. 2 role behind Ridley and be a strong flex/potential WR3 play on a weekly basis at some point this season.

WR Emeka Egbuka vs ATL

• The Falcons’ starting corners are - once again - Mike Hughes and A.J. Terrell, and you better believe Terrell is going to have his hands full with Mike Evans on his side all game. They are the same duo that allowed the 3rd-most fantasy points to wide receivers last year and the most points to WRs lined up on the outside. With Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan both out, Emeka Egbuka ran more than 70% of his routes on the perimeter this season and he could see legit volume right away in what should be a very high scoring offense once again in Tampa Bay.

WR Matthew Golden vs DET

• Green Bay has the sixth-highest implied team total this week against the Lions, and with Jayden Reed banged up, he could quickly become Jordan Love’s go-to guy in the passing game. The game also has one of the highest implied totals on the week according to Vegas, as well, and in Detroit’s first game with their new DC and coming off a 45-point flogging in the NFC Divisional Round last year, Golden could put up numbers in a high stakes rivalry game.

WR Stefon Diggs vs LV

• There might be some temptation to overthink this one with Diggs being on a new team in a new situation, but don’t get it twisted: Diggs is the clear top option in the Patriots WR room. The Raiders are starting a rookie at CB on one side and Eric Stokes on the other – not exactly a lockdown group – and with Diggs being cleared comfortably to return from his torn ACL, it’s wheels up for fantasy managers who were able to scoop him up as their team’s WR3.

WR Josh Downs vs MIA

• The Colts’ implied team total this week is right in line with some of the best offenses in the NFL in Week 1, including the Chiefs, Bucs, 49ers, Lions, and Rams, and they’re taking on a Dolphins secondary that’s both extremely banged up and lacking quality and experienced talent. He’s a proven target earner in a slot role that Daniel Jones targeted heavily the last time he was on the field in New York, and he can start hot in a great matchup.

WR Deebo Samuel vs the Giants

• Washington has the 4th-highest implied team total for the week and is taking on their divisional rival Giants, who struggled against the screen pass last year – they allowed the 5th-most fantasy points per dropback on screen plays, which is right in Deebo’s wheelhouse. With McLaurin having missed most of Commanders’ training camp this offseason, Deebo operating as the de facto WR1 until McLaurin is back all the way up to speed could make him a serious value in Week 1.

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