Fantasy Football Week 1 WR Start Decision: Rashee Rice vs. Stefon Diggs vs. Malik Nabers and Several Others

It’s time for another start/sit article after taking a look at several quarterbacks in another story.

Here, we’ll cover wide receivers who are part of Thursday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens and are in trending decisions on the FantasySP Who Should I Start tool.

Let’s dive in!

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Wide Receiver Starting Options

Kansas City’s Rashee Rice is part of trending decisions with Baltimore’s Zay Flowers, New York Giants’ Malik Nabers and Houston Texans’ Stefon Diggs. Flowers is part of trending decisions with Pittsburgh Steelers’ George Pickens and Las Vegas Raiders’ Jakobi Meyers.

Kansas City’s Xavier Worthy is also part of a trending decision with Nabers and Pickens, along with San Francisco 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk.

Adding in receivers who are part of trending decisions with players we’ve already mentioned adds Tennessee Titans’ Calvin Ridley, Seattle Seahawks’ DK Metcalf, Cleveland Browns’ Amari Cooper to the mix.

Rice had a solid rookie season and has avoided a suspension after some off-the-field issues this offseason. In 16 games in 2023, Rice had 938 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 79 receptions and 102 targets.

He caught eight of his nine targets for 46 yards and no touchdowns in a playoff game against the Ravens last season. Baltimore was otherwise a better-than-average defense in slowing the pass. 

Flowers had 858 yards and five touchdowns on 77 catches and 108 targets during his 16-game rookie regular season. 

He had 115 yards and a touchdown on five grabs and eight targets against the Chiefs in the postseason. Flowers should be heavily involved again with not many other proven pass catchers on the team.

Worthy was a first-round pick of the Chiefs in the 2024 NFL Draft. He figured to have a starting role right away, but with Marquise Brown out with an injury, Worthy has a chance to shine right away.

Don’t forget that KC has tight end Travis Kelce, who should serve as the top receiving threat for Patrick Mahomes. Still, Worthy could factor in a bit in the opener.

Nabers was the sixth overall pick in the 2024 draft. He’s immediately the best receiver the Giants have, but without a good quarterback on the team, Nabers might still struggle to put up consistent numbers.

Nabers and the Giants face the Minnesota Vikings in week 1. Based on last year’s stats, this is a pretty favorable matchup for Nabers. Minnesota allowed the 10th-most passing yards in 2023.

Diggs will play in his first game with Houston this weekend. He had 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns on 107 catches and 160 targets across 17 games with the Bills in 2023.

The Texans have Nico Collins and Tank Dell, so Diggs is definitely no longer a clear No. 1 option, and he might not even be the team’s second option. The week 1 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts is a pretty average one based on last year’s numbers.

Pickens is really the only proven pass catcher still in Pittsburgh, but his value is hindered by the quarterback situation. He had 1,140 yards and five touchdowns across 63 receptions and 106 targets in 17 games last season.

A week 1 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons looks fairly tough on paper. Atlanta allowed the seventh-fewest passing yards in the league in 2023.

Meyers is the No. 2 option behind Davante Adams in Las Vegas. He had 807 yards and eight touchdowns on 71 catches and 106 targets across 16 games last season.

The Raiders face the Los Angeles Chargers in week 1. That’s a great matchup on paper, although the Chargers have undergone a bunch of changes since last season. LA allowed the second-most passing yards in 2023.

Aiyuk was a part of some big-time NFL news pretty much all offseason, but ended up back with the Niners. In 16 games in 2023, he had 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns on 75 catches and 105 targets.

He’ll face the New York Jets in week 1, which is a tough matchup based on last year’s numbers. New York allowed the third-fewest passing yards. Another thing to keep in mind is that Aiyuk missed a ton of training camp, and is still getting ramped up, so he might have his snaps monitored. 

Ridley will play in his first game with the Titans this weekend. In 17 games with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, Ridley had 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns across 76 catches and 136 targets.

Ridley will take on the Chicago Bears in week 1. Chicago was in the bottom half of the league last season when it came to defending the pass.

Metcalf has been a stud since he pretty much entered the NFL. He played in 16 games last season, catching 66 of his 119 targets for 1,114 yards and eight touchdowns.

He’ll take on the Denver Broncos in week 1. I was surprised to see Denver as a top-10 pass defense in 2023, so this is a tougher matchup for Metcalf.

Cooper is coming off a good 2023 season. In 15 games, he had 1,250 yards and five touchdowns on 72 catches and 128 targets.

He’s going up against the Dallas Cowboys in week 1. The Cowboys were one of the stingiest pass defenses in 2023, finishing with the fifth-fewest pass yards against them.

Final Numbers and the Recommended Start

With so many wide receivers mentioned, I’m not going to run through what the start/sit tool suggests to do for each guy. Instead, let’s look at the week 1 WR fantasy projections and then offer up my rankings of these quarterbacks.

Diggs is the first receiver in this discussion to appear on the projections list, at 15 points. Nabers and Rice are projected at 14 points in PPR formats.

Pickens, Metcalf, Aiyuk and Cooper are all projected at 13 points. Ridley and Worthy are at 12 points, while Flowers is at 11 points. Meyers is at 10 points.

Again, I’m not a fan of the week 1 projections, which is unusual based on last year.

I like Rice the best of the bunch. I expect a big game out of him, possibly even outperforming Kelce in the opener.

Give me Metcalf next. I know the matchup is tough, but he’ll get his numbers and I like him to score to finish with a big fantasy output.

I’d take a chance on Nabers here. The matchup is favorable, and he might be a great fantasy option on volume alone.

I’d go with Flowers next. He performed well against the Chiefs in the postseason, and should be in line for another big night with not many other proven pass catchers on the team.

I like Pickens next. It’s a tougher matchup on paper, but the Steelers need to pass to someone, and Pickens is likely going to be that guy most often.

I’d take Ridley here. The matchup is promising, and I think the Titans might need to pass a lot, so Ridley could rack up catches and maybe even score once.

I’d roll with Cooper next. The matchup is tough, but he’ll be the go-to guy in the passing game, which should lead to a bunch of catches and a decent chance to score.

Give me Aiyuk next. I just have a feeling he’s going to be pretty limited in week 1, and the matchup is also tough. He might bail fantasy owners out with a score, but I’d actually lean against starting Aiyuk if I could.

I’d finally take Diggs here. I think he’s going to really be overshadowed in the Houston offense, and the first signs of that begin in week 1. I’d also try to avoid playing Diggs until we see his output in his new offense.

Give me Meyers over Worthy for the final spot.

Meyers has a favorable matchup, but his quarterback situation scares me. Adams should be the target in the red zone, leaving Meyers’ fantasy output up to catches and yardage.

I like Worthy for the 2024 season, but in the opening game of the season, I see KC relying on Rice and Kelce in the passing game. Like in the case with these last several guys, I’m trying to avoid starting him if I can.