Fantasy Football Landmines to Avoid for Week 1 - Tyler Warren, Drake London, Jordan Love, More

September 12, 2026

Aidin looks at fantasy football landmines, busts, and avoids for Week 1 of 2026. Given these Week 1 fantasy situations, consider benching these players.

Football is back. Finally, the long wait is over, and we were treated to two games before the main Week 1 slate. The Patriots failed to get their revenge on the Seahawks, while the 49ers shocked everyone by handing the juggernaut Rams a convincing defeat in Australia. But now, it's time for the rest of the league to give us a show, and hopefully, a bunch of high-scoring games!

Of course, we all want our fantasy starters to do well. However, fantasy football is not linear. Not everyone will meet or exceed their expectations every week. In this weekly series, I'll highlight five players who could disappoint due to several factors, such as their matchup, team situation, or whether their current run of form is unsustainable. Benching these star names will be tough, but you have to take risks to win.

Without further ado, let's look at five fantasy football landmines you should bench ahead of Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season.

Tyler Warren, TE, vs. Baltimore Ravens

Tyler Warren took the NFL by storm as a rookie last year. Warren caught 50 passes for 617 yards and three touchdowns in the Colts' 8-2 start to the season and was the PPR TE2 behind Trey McBride. Unfortunately, Daniel Jones' Achilles tear derailed the team's season.

One day closer to Tyler Warren playing football. pic.twitter.com/V1bFRkvJN7

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 8, 2026

The team had to turn to Philip Rivers and eventually Riley Leonard to save their season, but it didn't end well. Warren only averaged 29.5 yards per game without Jones in 2025, so his fantasy managers are relieved Jones is ready to start Week 1. However, their first game of the season is far from ideal.

The Ravens, much like the Colts, barely missed the playoffs last year, and injuries played a big part, which caused their defense to fall apart. But regardless of their hampered defense, they still managed to hold opposing TEs in check.

They allowed just 794 yards, four touchdowns, and 11.4 PPR points (ninth-best fantasy TE defense) to tight ends in 2025. Also, new HC Jesse Minter has proven himself to be a defensive savant.

The Ravens had a top-10 passing defense in each of Minter's four seasons during his previous stint with the team, and they fell to dead last once he left in 2021. Minter also led the Chargers to the seventh- and fifth-best passing defense in 2024 and 2025.

Also, we must not forget that Jones is coming off an Achilles tear, one of the hardest injuries to return from. Warren will likely have a standout season, but this is far from the easiest start for him.

Jeremiyah Love, RB, at Los Angeles Chargers

Speaking of the Chargers, they also had the eighth-best run defense last year. Indeed, Jim Harbaugh has led a top-8 run defense in five of his six seasons as an NFL head coach.

Standout rookie Akheem Mesidor was a great run defender at the University of Miami and can level up his game even more by learning from Khalil Mack.

This defense, which allowed the second-fewest PPR points to running backs last year (18.7), is an absolute nightmare for opposing RBs. The Cardinals know this, which is why they might not give Jeremiyah Love many touches and could reaggravate his ankle injury.

Love is listed as a game-time decision, and with offseason addition Tyler Allgeier waiting in the wings, it would be foolish to give Love a heavy workload so soon after his injury against one of the best run defenses in the league.

Drake London, WR, at Pittsburgh Steelers

Two years after signing a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension with the Miami Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoa finds himself on the Falcons, playing on a one-year "prove-it" deal.

He was supposed to start until Michael Penix Jr. healed from his ACL tear, but in a twist of fate, Tagovailoa would get injured himself.

He suffered an oblique injury during practice and has been ruled out for Week 1. This means career backup Cooper Rush will start against the Steelers, which is the worst-case scenario for Falcons fans and their receivers.

.@Officia1dae to the 🏡!

📺: 9NEWS pic.twitter.com/2r6HDk2HDZ

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 15, 2026

Drake London had an impressive, albeit injury-plagued season in 2025, and overcame poor QB play. However, the difference between a below-average starting QB (such as Tagovailoa or Penix) and a backup is vast.

Just ask Ravens fans, who had to endure watching Rush throw zero touchdowns to four interceptions in two starts last season.

Rush also looked subpar in the preseason, especially in his first game as a Falcon on August 14. He completed seven of 19 passes (his most attempts in a game throughout the preseason) for 62 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions with a brutal 6.8 passer rating.

The Steelers' defense underperformed relative to their individual talent last season. New defensive coordinator Patrick Graham earned rave reviews during his time in Las Vegas and has been widely praised by Steelers players.

"I love his defense," Jaquan Brisker told Steelers beat writer Chris Halicke. "He's so smart, and the coaches, they complement him. It's a great coaching staff."

If the Steelers can finally play like their true selves, things will not end well for Rush, London, and the rest of the Falcons' offense.

Jordan Love, QB, at Minnesota Vikings

Jordan Love had arguably his most efficient season in 2025, posting career-highs in completion percentage (66.3), passer rating (101.2), adjusted yards per attempt (8.1), and a career-low interception percentage (1.4).

However, he only threw 29.3 times per game, and his low volume prevented him from becoming a top fantasy QB. This has been one of the biggest critiques of HC Matt LaFleur, as the Packers have ranked in the bottom six of pass attempts in each of the last two seasons.

Plenty expect Love to finally be "unleashed" and throw more now that Josh Jacobs is on the Commissioner's Exempt List, but the Packers will still respect the run game with MarShawn Lloyd, Kaleb Johnson, and Chris Brooks.

The Vikings had the 21st-ranked run defense and the second-ranked pass defense in 2025, so running the ball and seeing which one of these three RBs is worth developing is the better game plan for the Packers in this matchup.

Love has thrown for just 324 yards and one touchdown in his last two games against the Vikings.

Rashee Rice, WR, vs. Denver Broncos

Rashee Rice has had yet another wild offseason. He violated his probation in May and was ordered to serve 30 days in jail while also rehabbing a knee injury.

Rashee Rice on Eric Bieniemy’s impact on his development:

“He's showed me a lot of ways I can get better every day... When a coach is on you at all times, you kinda see that he cares and he loves the game, so he makes us love the game as much as he does.” pic.twitter.com/1SPWJWfAf0

— Chiefs on KCSN (@chiefs_kcsn) September 10, 2026

The Chiefs' WR1 is set to make his return to the field alongside Patrick Mahomes II against the Broncos, who had the seventh-ranked passing defense in 2025.

Rice has failed to score a touchdown against Denver in their three meetings, and it's not hard to see why. The Broncos have had the Chiefs' number recently, as they were just one blocked field goal away from winning each of their last five encounters against their bitter rivals.

Kansas City's offense is set to improve tremendously following Mahomes' return and the re-hiring of Eric Bieniemy. However, they are more likely to hit their stride in the next three weeks against the Colts, Dolphins, and Raiders.

It's also worth mentioning that LT Josh Simmons will likely miss the game, which will limit Mahomes' passing ability and hurt Rice's production.

You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.

Week 1 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Rashee Rice, Tyler Warren, Jordan Love, Drake London, Jeremiyah Love. 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 Rashee Rice, Tyler Warren, Jordan Love, Drake London, Jeremiyah Love: