Fabiano’s Fantasy Focus: Week One, Volume I

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The 2014 fantasy football season is here! Whether you’re a first timer or an experienced fantasy football veteran, NFL.com has the league for you. Set up your FREE and customizable league on NFL.com today!

Each week during the season Tuesday at 10:50A PST NFL Network and NFL.com Senior Fantasy Analyst Michael Fabiano joins Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat to share his insight on building and developing your fantasy team for success.

Here are some hi-lights from our most recent conversation (September 3) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give fantasy owners heading into Week One? “A lot of people are asking me about quarterbacks to sit. You’re in Week One, Brad. You’ve got to roll with your studs this week. I mean, Aaron Rodgers has a horrendous matchup this week. I’m not sitting. I’d have to be really deep at quarterback to sit at quarterback. There’s some match ups out there that aren’t great but this is the week you’ve got to roll with those number one guys. I mean, I don’t like the matchup for [Philip] Rivers. I don’t like the matchup for [Andy] Dalton. I don’t like the matchup for Cam Newton and he’s been injured with the ankle and then with the rib…a lot of times you just have to roll with these guys because you don’t know what a lot these teams are going to be in Week One. We really don’t.” 

What is the tickle-down fantasy effect of Wes Welker’s four-game suspension in Denver? “If you’ve already drafted him, you sit on him. You wait for him for four weeks. Maybe this will be a good thing. You’ll have four weeks to get healthy because the concussion is a serious issue. In the meantime Emmanuel Sanders, his value goes through the roof. All of a sudden he’s a guy you’re looking at as a number two wide receiver in fantasy because Peyton Manning is throwing him the football. You’re also looking at Cody Latimer now, potentially as a late-round flier,  or a guy you pick up off the waiver wire. Peyton Manning can make average wide receivers good and good wide receivers great. Remember that.”

Who do I start this week? Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer or Cam Newton? “The matchup for Rodgers is terrible. You obviously won’t find a worse matchup for a quarterback than playing in Seattle but I can’t in good faith tell you to start Cam Newton who’s coming off of an ankle and has a rib injury and lacks a rapport with his wide receivers…or put Carson Palmer ahead of him. I wouldn’t expect much from Rodgers. Anything you get over 15 fantasy points I think is gravy.”

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