Week One Fantasy Football RB Sleepers
Look, fantasy football isn’t fair. Sometimes you miss out on every single bid you make in FAAB, or somehow every player you want is plucked off waivers before your priority comes around. That leaves free agency to fill the holes in your roster you wish a guy off the wire would have filled. That’s okay, every week players pop up and become the next guy you can lose out on in FAAB. These are the best of the rest, the guys available freely in every league. These running back sleepers for week one are available in at least 50% of leagues, with one guy available in at least 90% of leagues for you deep divers. For week one, you really shouldn’t be reading this, as you should play the guys you drafted. However, many marginal starters like Jimmy Garoppolo and Patrick Mahomes have terrible first-week matchups. These week one fantasy football RB sleepers should provide you with all the help you need. Ownership percentages are from Yahoo! and are as of Friday.
LeGarrette Blount vs. NYJ (40% owned)
I’m not a huge believer in LeGarrette Blount vis-à-vis Kerryon Johnson and Blount’s long-term role in the Detroit offense. However, he gets first crack at toting the ball this season, and he has a great matchup in which to do it, so he makes the list of week one fantasy football RB sleepers. The Jets were one of the worst defensive teams in the league, allowing the third most points to QBs, and ninth-most to running backs, wide receivers and tight ends. They didn’t get appreciably better in the offseason, which means it’s time to fire up your Lions this weekend. Blount isn’t the most talented back in the world, but he’s one season removed from averaging a touchdown a game. He still has some pep in his step, too; he averaged 73 yards per game when he had at least ten carries last season.
Jordan Wilkins vs. Cincinnati (33% owned)
The Colts Running Back situation is a mess. Wilkins, Christine Michael, Marlon Mack, Nyheim Hines, Robert Turbin, Joseph Addai, Donald Brown and Marshall Faulk will all compete for snaps this season. Okay, maybe not the last three, but that’s called dramatic effect. However, Turbin is currently eating a suspension, Mack is hurt and Hines is a change-of-pace back. That leaves Wilkins to absorb the carries in week one. He couldn’t ask for a better matchup (his own team excluded). The Bengals allowed fifteen double-digit fantasy days to running backs in standard scoring last year, and Devontae Booker came two yards short making that a double-digit RB day per game. All the ingredients of the recipe for week one fantasy football RB sleepers are here. Like Blount, Wilkins may not be Mr. Right, but he can be Mr. Right Now.
Jeremy Hill vs. Houston (4% owned)
He may only be the goal line back for the Patriots. Ho hum. Three words: 2016. LeGarrette. Blount.
This rounds out the list of week one fantasy football RB sleepers. For more fantasy football sleepers, check out these links:
Week One Fantasy Football QB Sleepers
