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Who Should I Start for Week 1? Fantasy Football outlooks for Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, James Cook, Trey Benson, Braelon Allen, Rhamondre Stevenson, Isaac Guerendo, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Rachaad White.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 1 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, James Cook, Trey Benson, Braelon Allen, Rhamondre Stevenson, Isaac Guerendo, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Rachaad White. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 1. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 1 of the 2025 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...
Fantasy Football Matchup 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:
Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (calf) is expected to play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, according to Ian Rapoport. After sitting out Friday's practice with a calf injury, McCaffrey expressed confidence in his media availability on Friday.
Rapoport reported that barring any setbacks, McCaffrey is likely to suit up. The five-time Pro Bowl running back missed significant time last season due to bilateral Achilles tendinitis before suffering a PCL injury in his knee late in the year, making this update a welcome relief for fantasy managers.
He faces a Seahawks defense that was middle-of-the-pack against RBs in 2024, but McCaffrey has historically dominated Seattle, averaging 158 yards per game in six career matchups. While the risk of reinjury is always present with McCaffrey, he remains a must-start fantasy option this week (if he's active) given his workload and track record against the Seahawks.
James Cook, RB, Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills running back James Cook is coming off a 2024 campaign in which he unexpectedly tied for the NFL lead with 16 rushing touchdowns after tallying just two in the previous season. He also surpassed 1,000 yards on the ground for the second year in a row, but fantasy managers may have to temper expectations in Week 1.
Cook is set to battle the Baltimore Ravens, who boasted the league's top-ranked run defense last season, when the teams kick off Sunday. The Ravens held opposing rushers to a paltry 3.6 yards per carry - a far cry from Cook's 4.9 YPC. Cook faced the Ravens twice in 2024 and combined for 106 yards on 26 carries, four catches for another 24 yards, and zero scores.
The explosive 25-year-old enters 2025 as a high-end RB2 in fantasy, but with the Ravens standing in his way, Cook may not storm out of the gates in the opener.
Braelon Allen, RB, New York Jets
New York Jets running back Braelon Allen is set to work behind incumbent starter Breece Hall in the team's opening matchup with the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers. The Wisconsin alum handled a modest workload during his rookie season, combining for 482 yards and three total touchdowns on 111 touches.
2025 will be a different story, though, as the second-year pro should see a sizable workload rotating in behind Hall. New York projects to funnel most of its offense through the rushing attack, though that will include quarterback Justin Fields, and potentially third-string rushing option Isaiah Davis. Allen doesn't figure to seize the starting role outright with Hall healthy, but head coach Aaron Glenn has made it clear that he plans to use multiple running backs in their offensive scheme.
We don't yet know if the 21-year-old will garner standalone fantasy value, but he's currently one of the upper-echelon options as far as handcuffs go. He comes in at RotoBaller's PPR RB40 for Week 1.
Rachaad White, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White is expected to take a backseat in the backfield in 2025. Last season, White began the season as the lead back, but ultimately lost the starting role to Bucky Irving. White saw his role in the offense decrease to the point where he only saw 20 touches over the final four games of the season.
He finished last season with 613 rushing yards and scored three touchdowns on the ground. White also hauled in 51 receptions for 393 additional yards and six touchdowns through the air. The expectation is that Irving will do a majority of the ground work while White is the primary receiving back.
That being said, White isn't going to offer a ton of fantasy value heading into the season opener versus the Atlanta Falcons. White should be viewed as a flex option in PPR leagues with Irving serving as the lead back now in Tampa Bay.
Isaac Guerendo, RB, San Francisco 49ers
Second-year running back Isaac Guerendo opens the season third on the 49ers' depth chart, though he may already see more action than originally anticipated.
Christian McCaffrey (calf) popped up on the team's injury report this week and is tagged as questionable for San Francisco's Week 1 matchup against the Seahawks. Guerendo's only route to fantasy relevance relies on CMC sitting. If that does happen, then he can be seen as a deep-league flex candidate.
Brian Robinson Jr. will likely draw the start, but Guerendo made his mark in 2024 in similar circumstances and is a potential RB4/5 pending McCaffrey's status.
De'Von Achane, RB, Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane has no injury designation and should be ready to go on Sunday when the Dolphins face the Colts. He was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday due to a calf injury, but was able to return to full practice on Friday.
He may share more work with exciting rookie Ollie Gordon with Jaylen Wright (knee) out, but Achane's speed and play-breaking ability on the outside make him the favorite to carry most of the work in Miami's backfield this season. Last year, Achane played all 17 games, totaling 907 rushing yards on 203 attempts, 592 receiving yards on 78 catches, and scoring a total of 12 touchdowns.
His dual-threat production has him ranked as the RB5 for Week 1 in RotoBaller's rankings, and he is an elite play who should be started in all season-long formats.
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 - Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, James Cook, Trey Benson, Braelon Allen, Rhamondre Stevenson, Isaac Guerendo, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Rachaad White. 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, 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 (2025)? 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 Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, James Cook, Trey Benson, Braelon Allen, Rhamondre Stevenson, Isaac Guerendo, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Rachaad White:
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