Fantasy Football Saturday Mailbag for Week 1 (Fantasy Football)

Good Morning FootClan, and welcome back to The Fantasy Footballers’ Saturday Morning Mailbag!

If you were with us last year, it’s great to have you back, and if you are new, thank you for joining us! This is the column where each and every weekend here at Ballers’ HQ, we select a handful of your questions from The Fantasy Footballers’ Discord server and try to answer some of the questions that didn’t quite make it to that week’s edition of The Footcast. The Ballers’ Discord is home to the biggest and best online fantasy football community in the world, and is your go-to if you’re looking to talk about all things fantasy football. Head over today and get involved with thousands of members across dozens of dedicated channels for start/sit questions, trade advice, and waiver wire insights, as well as exclusive areas which are only available to members of the Footclan.

This is it FootClan, this is not, I repeat not a drill…it’s finally football time! We have already had two prime-time games as we head into the weekend, and with a full twelve-game slate on Sunday alone, we have never been more back! After an off-season that seemed to go on forever and months of endless draft preparation, we have reached the point where at last we get to see our champions take the field in our quest for fantasy glory and, of course, a #FootClanTitle. There were literally hundreds of Start/Sit questions on the thread this week, so I’ve skirted those for now and would advise any member of the FootClan looking for advice on specific players for Week 1 to head over to The Fantasy Footballers’ Start/Sit Tool (just one of the amazing tools you get access to when you join the FootClan). 

That said, we had some very interesting questions ahead of the big kickoff, including how to address player bye weeks, where to start with creating trades, and just what to do with poor old Joe Mixon. The answers to all these and more lie ahead, so for the first time this season…let’s dive in.

Question #1 – Season-long Strategy (Bye Week Blues)

Hey Ballers! I made a rookie mistake drafting Chase Brown, Tony Pollard, and Isiah Pacheco all with Week 10 byes…what are your suggestions? I’m in a 12-team Re-draft league, full PPR – CamNWat

Answer: First things first…congrats on being absolutely stacked at the RB position! That’s a very healthy set of rushing options you’ve got yourself for a 12-team league, and I can only assume that you must have used the UDK to end up leaving your draft in such a strong position…am I right?

Joking aside, while having three of your starters sharing a bye week may feel like a daunting prospect right now, try not to worry about it too much…especially with that particular trio being scheduled not to miss time until Week 10. In a perfect world, Messrs Brown, Pollard, and Pacheco are all top-15 guys at the position and have powered you to a 9-0 start in your league, giving you a little breathing room to absorb a potential loss. In reality, however, there’s a greater than zero percent chance that one or more of these guys – for whatever reason – may not even be on your roster. 

Take a little trip down memory lane and go have a peek at the team you drafted last season…then compare it to your line-up from Week 10 of that same year. Chances are that multiple players from your original roster were traded away, got hurt, or just flat out stunk and found their way to the waiver wire at some point along the way (I’m looking at you, Rachaad White!).

So much can happen between now and early November, focus on winning now and deal with potential bye week headaches closer to the time.

Question #2 – Dynasty Strategy (Joe Mixon Sadness Edition)

Good day Ballers, what are you doing with Joe Mixon in dynasty if you’re a contender? Is he worth trying to sell off for future picks/building positional depth, or are you holding onto him and praying to the Fantasy Gods? – Brumdiggity

Answer: As a fellow Joe Mixon dynasty owner, you have my condolences. 

After his move to Houston, there were several question marks hanging over the head of Joe Mixon and his future as a feature back in the NFL – after all, this was a 28-year old workhorse who had averaged over 315 opportunities in his final three seasons with the Bengals, and was now set to potentially split carries with Devin Singletary and Dameon Pierce in an offense dominated by one of the best young QBs and receiving corps in the league. Well, good ol’ Joe sure proved his doubters wrong, recording a league-leading spell in the middle of the season which saw the 8-year veteran record six straight finishes as an RB1, scoring 10 total TDs and averaging over 120 total yards per game, and then the wheels kind of fell off.

After posting half a dozen 100-yard rushing games in the Texans’ eight matchups prior to their Week 14 bye, Mixon never eclipsed the 60-yard mark or found the end zone for the remainder of the season. Yet despite the drop off in production, Mixon’s dynasty value emerged relatively unscathed after April’s NFL Draft, which saw Houston add only Woody Marks – a 4th round pick out of USC – to their backfield. That was until late June, and the whispers in the bushes about a potential foot injury started getting louder.

Turns out those whispers were actually full-on blood-curdling screams for fantasy managers, as the full extent of Mixon’s ailments slowly came to light, with the now 29-year-old set to miss at least four weeks due to a stint on the IR. The most optimistic reports have Mixon not seeing the field until late October, with some analysts, including our very own injury expert Matthew Betz, postulating the distinct possibility that Houston will be without Mixon’s services for the entirety of the 2025 campaign…ouch.

If you can sell him (and that’s a HUGE if) for any significant draft capital or even a couple of potential breakout back-up RBs, I’d be making that deal in a heartbeat. Unless we get some positive news soon, Mixon’s long-term value is only going to plummet further and further. Get out now while you can!

Question #3 – Trade Advice

Hello from Scotland Ballers! How do you decide where to start with trade offers? Thanks – 3-point safeties

Answer: From one Scotsman to another…Bonjour! (or should that be ‘fit like’ if we are both situated in Bonnie Scotland?). There’s a temptation here to advise you to simply low-ball your leaguemates at every opportunity and get the best deal possible in any trade, but that would be terrible advice and even worse – perpetuate the stereotype of the tight-fisted Scots.

No, the golden rule of trading is that any deal reached should be beneficial to all parties involved, and not be overly lopsided or unfair to one particular team. However, with that said, any trade you do propose has to make your team stronger…otherwise, what’s the point?

When formulating trades, I always start by examining where I feel I need to improve on my own roster: what are my weaknesses, which positions could I ‘level-up’, and what kind of player do I think could address this requirement? Once I’ve decided exactly what my team needs, I start scouring the rosters of my league-mates to see who has not only the player type I am looking for, but also has a clear and obvious gap in their squad that I could potentially fill. These are my ideal potential trade partners.

Sometimes deals almost make themselves, for example: if I have a surplus of great WRs but lack depth at the RB position, and another manager in my league is brimming with top-quality RBs but only has one or two startable WRs…it’s a no-brainer. However, when another team’s positional depth isn’t quite as shallow, it can be much harder to convince a potential trade partner that the deal on the table is as good for them as it is for you. In these scenarios, I like to deploy the 2-4-1 method, offering other managers two of my own players for one single player in return. Proposing a trade that will see a league mate receive two good players for their one great player is often too much of a temptation to resist, and even if the second player you are adding into the deal isn’t necessarily an every-week starter, the perception of value on the multi-player side often results in a deal getting done. The beauty of the 2-4-1 is that it frees up another roster spot on your team, allowing you to raid the waiver wire for high-upside rookies or valuable handcuffs and add them to your team in the process.

Engage in conversations with your league mates about trades, as more often than not, an offer received out of the blue will result in a swift rejection. Negotiate, barter, and convince your potential trade partner why this deal works for both of you…but remember, when proposing any trade, ask yourself “would I accept this deal if I were them?” – if the answer is no, then maybe rethink before you hit that send offer button.

Question #4 – Waiver Wire (Risky Rashee Rice)

Howdy Ballers! If Rashee Rice happened to be sitting on the waiver wire, how much FAAB would you spend to pick him up? Do you think he is worth an add in a league with only four bench spots? – LgBeEatin

Answer: We’ve barely kicked off Week 1, and already we’re starting to think about just how much of our FAAB budget to dump on potential league winners…we are so back, baby!

Let’s start by making something very clear: Regardless of his six-game suspension, Kansas City Chiefs WR Rashee Rice should be rostered in all formats…so if you see him sitting on your waiver wire and can add him without having to make a waiver claim, do so immediately. However, if you play in a league where Free Agency is locked until after Week 1 and you’re going to have to pay up to get him…just how much of your budget should you be blowing on a guy who won’t contribute a single fantasy point to your team until Week 7 at the very earliest?

Through the first three weeks of last season, Rashee Rice was the overall WR4 and led the league in receptions with 24. How could a man whose 17-game pace would have seen him record 136 catches for over 1,600 yards and a dozen TDs see him go undrafted in leagues the following year? Well, for starters, we had an ACL tear in Week 4 against the Chargers…that Grade 3 knee injury ruled Rice out for the rest of the 2024 season, leading to a long rehabilitation period, and subsequently significantly heightened his chance of re-injury in the future. Then, in mid-August, the news broke that Rice would face an NFL disciplinary hearing on September 30th in relation to his involvement in a motoring incident back in March of last year. We never even made it to that hearing before reports started to emerge on August 27th that Rice had accepted a six-game suspension from the NFL which was due to commence from Week 1 of the new season…queue fantasy managers tilting off the face of the planet.

Unlike a number of previously injured superstars such as Joe Mixon, Chris Godwin, or Tyjae Spears (ok, superstar may be a stretch for Spears), we know that Rice is 100% healthy and ready to go, and the only thing keeping him off the field is his suspension. I would personally be ready to spend up to 50% of my FAAB budget to acquire Rashee – maybe even 75% in a competitive league – purely due to his week-winning upside as Patrick Mahomes’ favourite target. With only four bench spots, chances are you’ve got some pretty high-value players stashed on there already – try to make a 2-4-1 trade with a leaguemate and upgrade at the RB or WR position, and then try to add Rice. Play to win…there’s no honor in second place.

Question #5 – Start/Sit (TE Flex Appeal)

At what point would you consider putting a TE in the FLEX spot? Is Tucker Kraft good enough to plug into my lineup, or should I pick up an RB like Rico Dowdle? – Krabchella

Answer: This is a really interesting question, and one that is totally dependent on the size and scoring format of your league. As a general rule of thumb, I try not to roster more than one TE in redraft due to the way I like to build my roster. When it comes to the TE position, I tend to subscribe to one of two philosophies: either I draft one early and land a Bowers, McBride, or Kittle – guys who I am playing them every week, no matter what, or I totally punted the position and am hoping to strike it lucky with Tyler Warren or Colston Loveland. If those guys turn out to be nothing more than fools’ gold, then I am happy streaming each week and looking for match-up-based TEs who could give me double-digit points. 

Kraft finished the 2024 season as the overall TE9…sounds impressive, right? Well, despite a top-10 outing at the position in his sophomore year, Kraft averaged just 8.1 FPPG, lower than fantasy studmuffins Allen Lazard, Rashod Bateman, Alec Pierce, and Michael Pittman Jr…woof. 

Don’t hear what I’m not saying, Kraft can put up some very useful numbers for fantasy, but the likelihood of him dropping 15+ fantasy points in any given week is pretty low…and that’s the kind of upside I am looking for in the Flex position if I’m at the stage where I am considering starting a TE. I was going to comment that if all you are looking for is a relatively safe floor play, Kraft isn’t a terrible option…but with so many mouths to feed in Green Bay this season and their ever-growing list of WR2s, it’s hard to tell just where Tucker is going to fit into the offense on any given week. Backup RBs like Dowdle aren’t going to give you the points you need from your Flex spot every week – go check your waiver wire for Marvin Mims or other high-ceiling WRs who could give you 20+ fantasy points on any given Sunday.

Question #6 – Season-long Strategy (Rookie Sleepers)

IT’S FOOTBALL TIME! Hi Ballers! Which rookies are you most excited about for the second half of the season? – Plant Man

Answer: There are several rookies that I am excited about for the entire season – Ashton Jeanty, Tetairoa McMillan and Omarion Hampton to name a few – but as the question specifically mentioned the latter part of the season, it’s only right we gloss over these guys and focus on some of the potential breakout debutants who may just emerge just in time to be league winners for your fantasy team.

Here’s a sentence I never thought I would ever write…I am pretty excited about a couple of players on the New York Football Giants. After sustaining a minor injury at the NFL Combine, former Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo saw his draft stock drop slightly, eventually landing in Gotham to compete with Tyrone Tracy Jr. for the starting RB role for the G-Men. Skattebo profiles as an all-rounder with a hard-running style and the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. There’s little doubt in my mind that he will easily surpass Tracy on the depth chart before Spooky Season and should be their undisputed number one guy heading into the fantasy playoffs. While Skattebo has a clear path to fantasy relevance, fellow rookie Jaxon Dart’s road to success may be a little bit trickier. Heading into Week 1, the Giants have listed Mr. Unlimited Russell Wilson as their starter, and although the 14-year veteran is still a serviceable option at the position, it probably won’t take too many defeats for the somewhat partisan New York fanbase to call for their 1st round selection to be given a shot under centre. The Giants have the second-lowest projected win total for the upcoming season at 5.5 games…it feels less a matter of if, and more a matter of when for Dart’s introduction to the professional game.

Other players I feel have a real shot at breaking out towards the back half of the season include Seattle Seahawks rookie WR Tory Horton, and the new WR2 (possibly WR1 depending on your take) in Las Vegas, Dont’e Thornton Jr. Despite both being day three selections in this year’s Draft, neither of these young WRs – in particular Thornton Jr – appear to have any stiff competition on their respective depth charts to ascend to fantasy relevance. Horton should be on the field in three-wide sets alongside Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp, with Thornton Jr. already anointed the clear WR2 after Amari Cooper’s sudden retirement, sitting behind only a wantaway Jakobi Meyers. Keep your eyes on all four of these players as the bye weeks start to creep in; any one of them could be a potential league winner come December.

*Bonus Question #7* – NFL Jerseys (Rivalries Special)

What’s upppppppppppp Ballers! What is your “top 3” ranking for the NFL’s new “Rivalries” uniforms? (Also, can I get a Christine “woke one” Michael sound drop?) – FantasyInsider17

Answer: Christine Michael…now there’s a blast from the past! If only he could have hung on for another *checks notes* ten more years, we may have seen The Woke One in a Seattle Seahawks Rivalries Jersey when they make their on-field debut against the Rams on the 18th of December. While some may see these new threads as a gimmick, I kind of like them and am looking forward to seeing the designs for the remaining 24 NFL teams over the next three seasons. But of the eight set to hit our screens this winter, which are the top three?

Let’s not shy away from the obvious, the Buffalo Bills’ Cold Front jerseys are a thing of beauty and by far the best looking of this year’s crop…and I say that as a Miami Dolphins fan! The all white look will be adorned by Josh Allen and co against the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium on October 5th…probably just as well for the Pats as a trip to upstate New York is hard enough at the best of times, can you imagine trying to play against that Bills team in a snowstorm wearing those!

Totally not a homer pick, but the Miami Dolphins’ Dark Waters look is one reminiscent of the early 2000s and brings back great memories of Ricky Williams rushing for over 1,800 yards and 16 TDs when I was a teenager. Ironically, that was the last time Miami looked like winning a playoff game – so fingers crossed these new uniforms inspire the current roster and bring the Dolphins their first post-season W of the millennium.

Receiving the bronze medal, I have to give a wink to Corporate and say the Arizona Cardinals. Their Built to Last variant may not have the best name, but the sandblasted look is keeping in line with the harsh, desert climate of Ballers’ HQ. We’ll see that one in just over two weeks when the Cardinals welcome Seattle to Glendale.

Love them or loathe them, the Rivalries editions are here for the foreseeable future, and if you are a fan of one of the remaining 24 franchises yet to get their bespoke design, take solace in the fact that it surely can’t be any worse than the Los Angeles Rams…yikes.

Good luck in Week 1, FootClan!