The first Sunday of the NFL season wraps up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys in primetime. There was plenty of offensive fireworks when these squads met a year ago, and there's similar expectations this go around.
If you need some help with your fantasy lineups, here's our start 'em, sit 'em advice for this Week 1 showdown.
Start Russell Gage, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Russell Gage has overcome the hamstring strain he picked up in training camp and will be active on Sunday. The former Atlanta Falcons wideout could be the Buccaneers' No. 2 option behind Mike Evans with Chris Godwin potentially limited and Rob Gronkowski now retired. Gage showcased his potential in a heightened role down the stretch for Atlanta last season, turning 8.4 targets into 6.4 receptions and 80.3 yards per game over the last seven contests. Tampa Bay averaged the most passing attempts per game in 2021, so Gage has sneaky FLEX appeal against a Cowboys defense prone to giving up big plays.
Start Dalton Schultz, TE, Dallas Cowboys: Dalton Schultz broke out as the TE3 in PPR scoring last season. Now Schultz is set to feature even more prominently in the Cowboys' passing attack with the departure of No. 2 wideout Amari Cooper and a cast of unproven wide receivers brought in to replace him. There's a great chance Schultz inherits at least some of the 104 targets Cooper leaves behind, especially at the start of the year, which could fuel another top fantasy finish. Schultz had no problems against the Buccaneers in Week 1 last season, hauling in all six of his targets for 45 yards. It'd be no surprise to see Schultz more involved as a safety net for Dak Prescott, who might need to get the ball out quick playing behind a banged-up offensive line.
Sit Julio Jones, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Just because Julio Jones is still playing doesn't mean he's still fantasy relevant. Jones managed to record just 3.1 receptions and 43.4 yards per game for the Tennessee Titans last year as their supposed No. 2 to AJ Brown. The future Hall-of-Famer recorded seven outings of single-digit fantasy points across nine full games played. He's still capable of making long contested grabs, but they're much rarer at this stage in his career. He fits the mold of a touchdown-dependent player who needs to find the end zone in order to be worth starting. Save yourself the headache of guessing when that week will be and avoid him.
Sit Tony Pollard, RB, Dallas Cowboys: It's hard to see one Dallas running back being viable in this contest, let alone two, facing this staunch Tampa Bay defense. The Bucs allowed the seventh-fewest rushing yards per game in 2021 and Tony Pollard had no success (3 attempts, 13 yards) cracking through this unit when they met last season. Even if the Cowboys do run the ball, all reports out of camp indicate Ezekiel Elliott is the clear No. 1 option. That could leave little work for Pollard, especially in a game where the Cowboys are slated to trail.
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Isaiah De Los Santos is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Isaiah De Los Santos also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zayyy05328. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
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