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Who Should I Start for Week 1? Fantasy Football outlooks for Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Jaxson Dart, Bo Nix, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Justin Herbert, Jayden Daniels, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 1 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Jaxson Dart, Bo Nix, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Justin Herbert, Jayden Daniels, Trevor Lawrence, and Joe Burrow. However, don't worry, we are here to help you make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 1. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
2026 Fantasy Football Outlooks
Below are some fantasy football outlooks written by our NFL team here at RotoBaller, bringing you their fantasy football analysis and advice on which players to consider starting in Week 1:
Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has given fantasy managers a few more reasons to buy into a bounce-back. His numbers slipped to 3,693 passing yards and 26 touchdowns last season after the 4,500-yard, 41-score campaign he put together in 2024, but he also played through several injuries and still ran for a career-high 382 yards.
Things have gone smoothly enough with new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson that Mayfield said in August the Bucs were in a good place with the new system. Chris Godwin Jr. has helped, too. Tampa Bay's camp coverage said Godwin had returned to peak form, and Mayfield called him the best version of himself after leaning on him throughout camp.
There are still questions with Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan banged up and Mike Evans gone, so this is not suddenly a top-end QB1 case. Still, RotoBaller's positional rankings moved Mayfield from QB17 in August to QB16 in the Sept. 3 update. It's a small bump, but the summer has gone well enough to justify it.
Jaxson Dart, New York Giants
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is reportedly gaining confidence in his second year in the Giants' offense, according to Darryl Slater of NJ.com. Dart even looks back to this spring and says he already notices a difference in camp this fall. "I feel so much better," Dart said of where he's at now, compared to the spring. "I feel in command. I feel confident. In this offense, there's a lot that's put on the quarterback's plate, but it's exactly how I want it.
It's exactly how I viewed this coming together." The Giants' new offense is led by offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and head coach John Harbaugh, and it already feels like a good fit for Dart. Last season, Dart was 216-for-339 passing for 2,272 yards and 15 touchdowns with five interceptions. He also rushed 86 times for 487 yards and nine touchdowns.
Dart looks like a nice risk at the quarterback position in drafts with league-winning upside because of his rushing ability.
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Speaking on teammate Ja'Marr Chase's new podcast, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said he is extremely optimistic about the 2026 season and has high hopes for the team, according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com. "I just want to win this year," Burrow said. "I just want to win. The rest will take care of itself. I think we'll break a bunch of records eventually, but I think we're going to have a really good team that has a chance to win every game that we step foot on the field for.
I don't know about you, but I could really feel it in my bones, in my soul in OTAs this year -- different from years past." Burrow has also compared this Cincy squad to his 2019 LSU squad that won the national championship and has said he is "trying to manifest" another Super Bowl run.
The 29-year-old three-time Pro Bowler is one of the few QBs who has top-five fantasy upside at the position strictly because of his arm and his elite pass-catching duo of Chase and Tee Higgins. As long as Burrow can stay healthy, he should bounce back as a high-end QB1 in fantasy football in 2026.
Kyler Murray, Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray has a much stronger group of pass-catchers around him after his final season in Arizona fell apart. A foot injury limited Murray to five games in 2025, but Minnesota named him the starter on Aug. 11 after his competition with J.J. McCarthy.
The job comes with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jauan Jennings at receiver, plus T.J. Hockenson at tight end. Jefferson was full-go throughout camp and started clicking with Murray late in the summer, while Jennings arrives after piling up 1,618 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns over the past two seasons. Murray has already shown what his rushing can add when healthy.
In 2024, he threw for 3,851 yards and 21 touchdowns while running for another 572 yards and five scores. He enters September at QB19 in RotoBaller's updated rankings, so fantasy managers aren't paying for a full rebound yet. Durability is still the concern, but this Minnesota group gives Murray plenty of room to beat that price.
Who Should I Start Tool
You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.
Week 1 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Jaxson Dart, Bo Nix, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Justin Herbert, Jayden Daniels, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 1.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 1 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 1 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 1 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 1 for Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Jaxson Dart, Bo Nix, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Justin Herbert, Jayden Daniels, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow:
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