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Favorable Wide Receiver Matchups for Week 1 (2021)

Bill Mustafa

Each week I’ll be taking a look at the upcoming NFL games and giving you my take on which WRs have the most favourable matchups and who you should be considering starting in your fantasy football teams.

Let’s get started for week 1!

Brandon Aiyuk – San Francisco 49ers

The Niners kick off their campaign on the road as they visit Detroit to take on the Lions. The Lions are once again projected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season, and that’s in part due to a secondary that not only ranked dead last in 2020 according to PFF but was one of the worst secondaries we’ve seen during the PFF era. 2020 third overall pick, Jeffrey Okudah struggled mightily as a rookie, but without much veteran talent being added at the position in the offseason he’s likely going to be forced into CB1 duties in his Sophomore season, even after allowing 38 completions on 50 targets as a rookie! Brandon Aiyuk, unlike Okudah, did impress in year one as he broke a 49ers record for most receptions as a rookie WR with 60 in 12 games. Whilst George Kittle will remain the top pass catcher in this offense it’s easy to see how Aiyuk can find himself in favorable situations in this matchup and capitalize on what should be a cakewalk win for a talented Niners team. 

Marvin Jones Jr – Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville will start the Trevor Lawrence & Urban Meyer era in Houston as they take on their divisional rival Texans, who, as we all know, are an absolute mess of an organization right now. Marvin Jones Jr had a career-high 76 receptions for Detroit in 2020 and, is projected to be the number one receiver in Jacksonville this year in what could be an exciting offense under Urban Meyer. Houston’s defense wasn’t a strong unit last season and the loss of JJ Watt isn’t going to help. The secondary ranked bottom 5 according to PFF in 2020 and with Bradley Roby on his way to New Orleans, you have to seriously question who’s going to stop anyone on the backend for Houston this year. 

DeVonta Smith – Philadelphia Eagles

Our first and only rookie on this list and reigning Heisman Trophy winner, DeVonta Smith is projected to be the WR1 for an Eagles side in desperate need of a difference-maker at the position. Philly opens their campaign on the road in Atlanta to face a Falcons side whose secondary was torched to the tune of 293.6 yards passing per game in 2020, which unsurprisingly ranked dead last in the NFL, more surprising has been the apparent laissez-faire attitude the Falcons have shown in trying to improve their secondary this year. De’Vonta Smith had 23 TDs in his Heisman Trophy-winning season with Alabama in 2020, and the silky-smooth route-runner will look to feast in his NFL debut against a Falcon secondary that gave up more 15+ Passing yard receptions than anyone else in football last year. 

Sammy Watkins – Baltimore Ravens

It wouldn’t be a Week 1 WR article with a mention for Mr. Week 1 himself. Sammy Watkins has had superb back-to-back week 1 fantasy hauls and up against a Raiders secondary that ranked 31st in secondary play according to PFF in 2020 gives him a huge opportunity to make it three impressive week 1 outings in a row. Now obviously, those two big games came in the pass-happy Kansas City Chiefs offense but, there’s optimism that Sammy can produce something similar in this matchup. Baltimore will be without their first-round selection in the 2020 draft as Rashod Bateman underwent groin surgery, which leaves a need for an outside pass catcher. With JK Dobbins going down hurt for the year, I’m expecting to see a boost in passing volume from Lamar Jackson which should help our cause. Most importantly though, is the fact that the Raiders secondary is not good and hasn’t been for four years straight. The smart game plan for the Ravens is to take advantage of that weakness and, Sammy Watkins could be the beneficiary of that.

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