As Nina Simone most famously sang, “It’s a new dawn. It’s a new day. It’s a new life for me and I’m feeling good.” Are you feeling good? It’s a new year and we are all tied for first place. While winning this first week’s game will not win you your league, losing could lose it for you. Week one is one of the hardest to figure out. Players change teams. Teams change formations. Players get older. New coaches come in. What you think you know you don’t really know if you really know that you know. You know? So, let’s get into this first weekend’s games and see who we should start and count on to get us off the ground and into the victory column.
QB:
Derek Carr – Tennessee was at the bottom of the league against the pass last year. You take that and add the fact this is Carr’s first game as a Saint, and it is at the Dome. I’ll take those odds.
Geno Smith – The team has added more weapons for him this year; he should keep it rolling. Plus, they are going up against a still depleted Rams offense.
RB:
Kenneth Walker – Will Charbonnet get some touches? Yes. Will Walker still get the majority? Yes. You either kept or drafted Walker for a reason. Your fear is not a reason to not start him against the Rams. He will get the touches, and he has the speed and skill to break it off to prove that that 2nd round draft pick belongs on the bench.
Travis Etienne – Indy will not sustain long drives. Jacksonville will be on offense a lot. Which means, you guessed it, high volume this week for Etienne.
WR:
Christian Kirk – Speaking of Jacksonville, unless Ridley and the coaching staff show me that Ridley is a number one and as good or better than he once was, I will count on Kirk and what he was able to do last year with Lawrence. For now, count on that.
Diontae Johnson – Not a single TD catch last year. I say he gets his first one in 2023 in week 1. In fact, the way the Steelers offense looked in pre-season, don’t be surprised he gets it on their first drive of the game.
TE:
Irv Smith – He is an upgrade at the position from last year. With plenty of double teams for the team’s wide-outs, he will have plenty of one on one match-ups down the middle that he can win.
Juwan Johnson – He is a touchdown scoring machine. Carr loves tight ends. Tennessee was weak against the pass last year. This all equals deliciousness.
Defenses:
Commanders – They have a better than average D in general and they get the Cardinals and their pitiful state of a team the first week. Can i hear a shutout?
Seahawks – As already mentioned, the Rams offense is not exactly stellar these days. Plus, this D got better as the year went on, and they brought back their boy Wagner. All signs say go.
BY Brooksie on September 9, 2023