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Who Should I Start for Week 1? Fantasy Football outlooks for Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Emeka Egbuka, Michael Pittman Jr., Chuba Hubbard, Chris Godwin Jr., Bucky Irving, RJ Harvey, Jordan Mason, Garrett Wilson.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 1 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Emeka Egbuka, Michael Pittman Jr., Chuba Hubbard, Chris Godwin Jr., Bucky Irving, RJ Harvey, Jordan Mason, and Garrett Wilson. 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:
Jordan Mason, Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason has had a great training camp, so much so that he was reportedly listed as a co-starter with Aaron Jones at running back on the team's first unofficial depth chart, according to Rob Kleifield of the Vikings' official site. Mason had a productive season for the Vikings in 2025 with 159 carries for 758 yards and six touchdowns.
He averaged 4.8 yards per carry and also caught 14 passes for 51 yards. Mason played in 16 games last season, carving out a nice role even with Aaron Jones on the team. At 5-foot-11 and 230 pounds, Mason is a big-time presence in the backfield and looks like a nice between-the-tackles runner, while Jones could feature more on the passing downs. While he will likely continue to split carries, Mason still could be a good late-round draft pick.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders
Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt has made a stronger case for more work heading into Year 2. The rushing production was already there after he turned 175 carries into 805 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie, but the bigger development this summer has come without the ball. Washington senior writer Zach Selby called Croskey-Merritt's pass protection arguably the biggest thing that stood out during a good camp, and that matters after those struggles cost him snaps at times last season.
Dan Quinn has also praised the progress he's made as a receiver. A late-August groin injury interrupted things for a bit, but Croskey-Merritt was back on the practice field Sept. 1 and spoke with reporters after practice two days later. Rachaad White still gives Washington another option, especially on passing downs, so this is not suddenly a one-back setup.
Still, RotoBaller has moved Croskey-Merritt from RB43 earlier this offseason to RB37 in its Sept. 6 half-PPR rankings. He has done enough this summer to justify the bump.
Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneeers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving is primed to bounce back in fantasy football now that he's fully healthy for the 2026 season. Irving missed a whopping seven games in his second pro season last year, which resulted in him falling to RB34 with just 865 scrimmage yards and four total touchdowns. For context, he had been the RB13 the year prior.
Irving is now fully healthy again, giving him a good chance to push for a top-12 finish in fantasy football at the running back position. There are certainly some other mouths to feed here, but as far as the backfield goes, Irving has pretty clearly solidified himself over Kenny Gainwell and Sean Tucker. In fact, the presence of those two other backs could allow the Bucs to manage Irving's workload. Sure, that might lower his ceiling slightly, but it will also reduce injury risk and increase the chance of him playing all 17 games.
As it stands, Irving ranks as the RB19 in RotoBaller's latest redraft rankings. He has an ADP of 52.7, which corresponds to the fifth round of fantasy drafts and makes him the 22nd running back off the board.
Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers
On the Carolina Panthers' Week 1 unofficial 53-man depth chart, running back Chuba Hubbard is listed as the RB1 over Jonathon Brooks, according to Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer. As always, fantasy managers should not be reading too much into an unofficial depth chart before the start of the regular season.
The 27-year-old Hubbard is the more experienced, longer-tenured RB on the Panthers' roster after rushing for 3,686 yards and 23 touchdowns in his five seasons in the NFL with the Panthers. The former fourth-rounder in 2021 from Oklahoma State broke out with 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns on 250 carries in 15 games in 2024, adding 43 catches for 171 yards and another score as a receiver, but Rico Dowdle took over the team's backfield last year, leaving Hubbard as a disappointment with only 511 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground in 15 regular-season games.
Going into 2026, Hubbard's stock has fallen to that of an RB3/flex option, with Brooks having an opportunity to take over the backfield if he can finally stay healthy (he has already suffered two torn ACLs since being drafted in 2024). Behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league, Hubbard and Brooks may find running lanes hard to come by in 2026.
Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (toe) is practicing on Monday, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Pewter Report reports that Egbuka is "participating in warmups and running routes." It is a good sign to see Egbuka doing something on the field on Monday after he was limited to side work last week.
However, the 23-year-old could just be limited and may need to upgrade to a full practice before the end of the week before the Bucs clear him to play in the Week 1 season opener on Sunday, Sept. 13, against the Cincinnati Bengals. Jalen McMillan (knee) was also practicing on Monday, so Tampa could have all three of their top wideouts available against Cincy this weekend, in addition to veteran Chris Godwin Jr.
That would be good news for quarterback Baker Mayfield in a game in which the Bucs may need to open up the passing playbook in order to keep pace with the Bengals' explosive offense. If Egbuka is cleared to play later this week, fantasy managers should consider him a low-end WR2 option to kick off the season. The Bucs will release their first official practice report of 2026 on Wednesday.
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 - Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Emeka Egbuka, Michael Pittman Jr., Chuba Hubbard, Chris Godwin Jr., Bucky Irving, RJ Harvey, Jordan Mason, Garrett Wilson. 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 Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Emeka Egbuka, Michael Pittman Jr., Chuba Hubbard, Chris Godwin Jr., Bucky Irving, RJ Harvey, Jordan Mason, Garrett Wilson:
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