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Who Should I Start for Week 1? Fantasy Football outlooks for Jordan Love, Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Patrick Mahomes II, C.J. Stroud, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Daniel Jones, Cam Ward, Jacoby Brissett.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 1 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Jordan Love, Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Patrick Mahomes II, C.J. Stroud, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Daniel Jones, Cam Ward, and Jacoby Brissett. 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 Love, Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is looking to kick off his 2026 season in style as the Packers travel to Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Vikings in their season opener. Love's 2025 season was a lot like his 2024, with very efficient play, but ultimately saddled by low pass volume that doesn't make his play pop in fantasy football. Yet again, the Packers leaned on Josh Jacobs and the running game, turning Love into a game manager.
The receiving room has condensed in 2026, as Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks are in new locales, so the hope is that Christian Watson, Tucker Kraft, Jayden Reed, and Matthew Golden can condense targets in this offense with some added pass volume. For Week 1, Love is a QB2 option, best suited to start in 2QB leagues rather than single-quarterback leagues.
Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
Washington Commanders third-year quarterback Jayden Daniels, out of LSU, had a down season in 2025 after his rookie campaign, in which he finished as the QB5 while rushing for 891 yards and throwing for 3,568 yards, and led the Commanders to the NFC title game. His 2025 season was derailed by multiple injuries, and he played in only seven games. Daniels is healthy entering the 2026 season with an improved receiving group.
The Commanders brought in Stefon Diggs over the Patriots, Chig Okonkwo from the Titans, and Terry McLaurin is healthy entering the season. Diggs remained efficient on a per-route basis with the Patriots last season, and McLaurin had a career year with Daniels in 2024, when he had 1,096 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns on 117 targets.
Daniels still has elite rushing upside and should bounce back in a big way this season. Despite having a tougher matchup against the Eagles, Daniels profiles as a reliable, mid-end QB1 worth starting in all leagues.
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is poised to begin his MVP campaign against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday in Week 1. The Bengals superstar had an injury-plagued 2025 season, missing nine games with a severe turf toe injury. Burrow was productive upon his return, scoring 19+ fantasy points in five of the final six games of the season.
Now Burrow enters the 2026 season fully healthy and armed with a trio of elite offensive weapons in Ja'Marr Chase, Chase Brown, and Tee Higgins. The 29-year-old will get an opportunity to run up the score against the Buccaneers in a game with the highest game total of the week set at 50.5 points. Both the Bengals and Buccaneers had down years by their standards in 2025, but both teams were top-six in scoring in 2024.
With Burrow fully healthy and opposing quarterback Baker Mayfield fresh off signing his new contract extension, both teams should be ready for a high-scoring affair. Burrow is currently ranked as the overall QB1 in our RotoBaller Week 1 rankings, so fantasy managers should be very excited about starting him this week.
Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett is coming off a fantastic season in 2025, so he remains on the fantasy radar as a deep-league streamer for Week 1 of the 2026 season. From Weeks 6-18 last year, Brissett was the overall QB6 in fantasy football and averaged 19.6 fantasy points per game. He ranked as a top-14 fantasy quarterback in 11 of his 12 starts, as well as a top-12 fantasy quarterback in nine of those starts.
It's too early to tell whether Brissett will be able to replicate that level of performance this year. He's not a flashy name by any means, but he should have a high passing volume with the Cardinals projected to be trailing in games often. He also has a very talented supporting cast around him, headlined by Marvin Harrison Jr., Trey McBride, and Michael Wilson.
The biggest obstacle in Brissett's way is his Week 1 matchup against the Chargers, who allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks last year. While Brissett may not be worth starting in single-quarterback leagues with 12 or fewer teams, he's a solid superflex option or deep-league streamer given the state of the Cardinals' offense.
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 - Jordan Love, Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Patrick Mahomes II, C.J. Stroud, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Daniel Jones, Cam Ward, Jacoby Brissett. 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 Jordan Love, Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Patrick Mahomes II, C.J. Stroud, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Daniel Jones, Cam Ward, Jacoby Brissett:
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