Nerds! The Dynasty Nerds writers are here to provide you with weekly starts and sits all season long. We will be making our recommendations based on weekly consensus PPR rankings. Here are the wide receiver starts and sits from senior writer Tristan Cook.
One thing to keep in mind when making start/sit decisions; it will ALWAYS depend on who your other options are. Don’t take the players below out of (or put them into) your lineups unless the alternates are worth it. NOTE: Rankings are sourced from FantasyPros expert consensus rankings (ECR) and our terminology is for a 12-team PPR league.
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Week 1 Wide Receiver Start/Sit Results
| Player | FPts | Tgts | Recs | Yds | TDs | Rank | Call | Result | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amari Cooper | 3.6 | 9 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 24 | Start | 78 | -54 |
| Courtland Sutton | 7.8 | 12 | 4 | 38 | 0 | 39 | Start | 54 | -15 |
| Christian Kirk | 4.0 | 4 | 1 | 30 | 0 | 33 | Start | 73 | -40 |
| Diontae Johnson | 3.9 | 6 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 34 | Start | 75 | -41 |
| Marvin Harrison Jr. | 1.4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 12 | Sit | 103 | -91 |
| Malik Nabers | 11.6 | 7 | 5 | 66 | 0 | 27 | Sit | 32 | -5 |
WIDE RECEIVER STARTS
Stefon Diggs | Houston Texans | WR 24
Week 1 Stats | WR 9 | 21.9 FPPG | 6 Tgts | 6 Rec | 33 Yds | 2 TDs | Confidence: 90%
Entering the 2024 season, there was a bit of uncertainty as to what you could expect out of Stefon Diggs as he began his Texans era. Through one week, it looks like it’s business as usual for the former Maryland Terrapins’ star receiver. Diggs hauled in all 6 of his targets last week, including this early 2nd quarter pass for his first TD in Houston:
This week he’s ranked at WR24, which is surprisingly low considering his performance last week. His 6 targets from Stroud was good enough for an 18.75% target share. I normally wouldn’t be overly confident with that kind of involvement, but in his first game with a new team, I am encouraged. The Texans face off with the Bears this week who shut down the Titans through the air last week. However, I think that is more a function of the Titans having a woeful pass offense than the Bears having a dominant pass defense. I’m firing up Diggs with confidence this week.
Chris Godwin | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | WR 20
Week 1 Stats | WR 8 | 22.3 FPPG | 8 Tgts | 8 Rec | 83 Yds | 1 TD | Confidence: 100%
My next start had a big game in Week 1 but comes into Week 2 with a surprisingly low ranking. Mike Evans may have had the upper hand in the TD column, but Chris Godwin was Baker Mayfield’s favorite target in Opening Week.
His 8 targets equated to a 26.67% target share and this week the Bucs play the Lions, who gave up the 2nd-most passing yards in the league last week. They also were the 2nd-worst pass defense in 2023, so I don’t believe that this was a Week 1 anomaly. I am expecting Godwin to put up WR1 numbers this week.
Courtland Sutton | Denver Broncos | WR 40
Week 1 Stats | WR 54 | 7.8 FPPG | 12 Tgts | 4 Rec | 38 Yds | 0 TDs | Confidence: 90%
I know that if you took my advice to play Courtland Sutton last week, his performance didn’t do much for help your team. However, I stand behind the process and am back in for Week 2. Sutton’s 12 targets last week trailed only Cooper Kupp’s ridiculous 21 targets for tops in the entire NFL. Those 12 targets led the team and equated to a 28.57% target share.
Denver (mostly Bo Nix) struggled offensively, but it was evident that Sutton was the top option when the Broncos threw the ball. He is ranked as WR40 for the week, which is criminally low. Even if Nix isn’t able to put up a ton of yards and points, if he dials in on Sutton again like he did, I’ll always advocate for getting Courtland Sutton into your lineup.
Brandin Cooks | Dallas Cowboys | WR 44
Week 1 Stats | WR 21 | 14.5 FPPG | 7 Tgts | 4 Rec | 40 Yds | 1 TD | Confidence: 80%
We know that CeeDee Lamb is the focal point of the Dallas passing offense, however, Brandin Cooks quietly put up a WR2 performance in the opener. The Cowboys did not put up big numbers offensively last week, but Cooks had a 21.88% target share and was able to turn one of those targets into a nice scoring play.
This week the Cowboys face off against the team that drafted Brandin Cooks back in 2014, the New Orleans Saints. I don’t often buy-into the “revenge game” narrative, but this week I’m putting Brandin Cooks in my lineup against a below-average pass defense. His WR44 ranking is far too low for his apparent role in this offense.
WIDE RECEIVER SITS
Justin Jefferson | Minnesota Vikings | WR 6
Week 1 Stats | WR 17 | 15.9 FPPG | 6 Tgts | 4 Rec | 59 Yds | 1 TD | Confidence: 75%
What’s this? Am I really suggesting that you sit Justin Jefferson? Well, yes and no. If you have other viable options, I’m strongly considering it. If you play in DFS, I’m staying far away from Jefferson this week. The primary reasoning behind this is the matchup against San Francisco.
The 49ers may be without Christian McCaffrey, but their defense looked incredibly strong on Monday night against the Jets. They held Aaron Rodgers to a 61.9% completion percentage and fewer than 175 passing yards. With all due respect to Sam Darnold, if the 49ers held Rodgers down, I’m looking to pivot away from Jefferson this week.
Brian Thomas Jr. | Jacksonville Jaguars | WR 34
Week 1 Stats | WR 20 | 14.7 FPPG | 4 Tgts | 4 Rec | 47 Yds | 1 TD | Confidence: 30%
My next ‘sit‘ is rookie Brian Thomas Jr. of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Thomas had a nice debut last week after catching all 4 of his targets for 47 yards and an impressive touchdown in back of the end zone.
My two main concerns with playing Thomas this week are the matchup against the Cleveland Browns and the distribution of Trevor Lawrence’s passes. Cleveland is not one to be taken lightly. Despite losing their game, the Browns only allowed 179 passing yards to Dak Prescott last week. Additionally, while it’s true that Thomas was tied for the team lead in targets in Week 1, he was only targeted 4 times. I’m going to look elsewhere (Cooks and Sutton) for starting WRs in Week 2.
Jayden Reed | Green Bay Packers | WR 36
Week 1 Stats | WR 1 | 33.1 FPPG | 6 Tgts | 4 Rec | 138 Yds | 1 TD | Start Confidence: 5% (Only if Nec.)
Finally, if there’s one piece of advice you need to follow from this article: get Jayden Reed out of your starting lineup. Don’t get me wrong, he looked fantastic in Week 1 against the Eagles. However, with the expected absence of Jordan Love, (he was listed as questionable on the Friday injury report) playing Jayden Reed is a risk not worth taking.
Reed comes in ranked as WR36 for the week, but I would comfortably start either Brandin Cooks or Courtland Sutton over him. In fact, I would probably start most receivers over Jayden Reed and the entire Packers’ receiving corps. The reason? Malik Willis. In his 3 starts to date, Willis has yet to eclipse the 100-yard passing mark in a single game.
That’s it for Week 2, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter (x) (@THEtristancook) if you have any specific questions about who I would start.
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