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Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall-of-Fame member Bob Harris and Gary Davenport have well over 40 years of experience as fantasy football analysts and three Football Writer of the Year Awards between them. They know their stuff—or at least that's what they tell themselves.
Each week during the 2025 season, Harris and Davenport are going to come together here at Footballguys to discuss some of that week's most polarizing fantasy options.
Thursday's weather-delayed weirdness between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles got the regular season started with a bang, but there's still a lot of football to be played before the first slate of games is in the books.
Since being undefeated beats being winless, let's start the campaign off the right way.
Slow Starts and Surprise Stars
We'll start things off under center, where there is no shortage of intriguing showdowns in Week 1. Among the top-five fantasy quarterbacks, who is the most likely candidate to have a letdown debut? Which signal-caller ranked outside the top-15 has the best chance for a big Week 1?
Harris: Um, since none wasn't an option on the first one, I'll go with Footballguys' consensus QB4, Josh Allen. Is it because a tough Baltimore defense will best Allen? Yeah. A little bit of that. Is it because he doesn't have a true alpha-receiving asset? Kind of that -- especially against the Ravens' secondary. Is it because I'm more confident in the other four guys -- Jalen Hurts (QB1), Lamar Jackson (QB2), Jayden Daniels (QB3), and Joe Burrow (QB5) -- in the top 5? That, too.
In fact, it's a combination of all those ingredients, along with a dash of some quarterback outside the top 5 breaking into that group.
That said, I'm absolutely playing Allen if I drafted him this year.
My outlier this week? I'll go with QB22 on the Footballguys Rankings: Bryce Young.
Yes, I've been advocating for Young all offseason, so it might seem like I'm wishcasting a bit here. And perhaps I am. But after a slow start last season, Young averaged over 21 fantasy points per game across his final seven starts. He was QB6 over that stretch. This year, Carolina added a front-line threat at wideout in Tetairoa McMillan. And while they shipped another of my favorites, Adam Thielen, off to the Vikings, this week's matchup against a Jaguars defense that allowed a league-high 4,375 passing yards last season is sweet.
Davenport: As the esteemed Mr. Harris said, if you spent an early pick on a top-five quarterback, you are obviously starting them in Week 1. And for the love of God and all that's holy, don't have a panic attack if they have an average week. Most of them played little (if any) preseason football. There will be rust to shake off.
With that said, it wouldn't stun me if Joe Burrow's numbers leave something to be desired in Week 1. For reasons known only to the Elders of the Cosmos, Burrow has had his struggles against the Cleveland Clowns—"Joe Cool" is just 3-5 against his cross-state rivals, averaging less than 250 passing yards and under two touchdown passes per game.
Since Harris stole Young (gonna be a long season), I'll go with this week's QB20 in Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions. Yes, the Green Bay Packers have Micah Parsons now. But the NFC's leading passer in 2024 isn't playing behind five matadors, and he's got no shortage of weapons in the passing game. The last time Goff faced Green Bay, he threw for 283 yards and three scores and was that week's No. 7 scorer among quarterbacks—right about where he finished the 2025 campaign.
Muddied Backfields
The backfield situations in Jacksonville and Washington remain unsettled entering the regular season ahead of matchups with two of the six worst run defenses in the league from a year ago. If you had to start one back from each team this week, who would it be and why?
Harris: For the Commanders, this is an easy call. In the past years, Washington has had three running backs on their game-day roster. Austin Ekeler seems like a lock to be active, and Jeremy McNichols could make it based on special teams ability alone. If they stick with that three-man backfield, it would come down to a decision between Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Chris Rodriguez Jr. As much as I'd like to believe all the Croskey-Merritt hype, we might not know for sure who will be on the field until the team announces its inactives in the 90 minutes leading up to Sunday's early afternoon kickoff against the Giants.
If you're asking me right now, Ekeler, who I'll remind you scored double-digit PPR points in eight of his 12 appearances last year, is the only one I'd be comfortable playing this week.
In Jacksonville, I'll take my chances with Travis Etienne Jr. and his possible receiving upside this week. But make no mistake, this is a week-to-week selection with Tank Bigsby and Bhayshul Tuten also candidates. While I currently believe Bigsby will be the primary between-the-tackles component here, the coaching staff really likes Tuten.
Davenport: I'm in lockstep with Mr. Harris in Washington. I fully expect Ekeler to lead the Commanders in backfield touches. Wouldn't be blown away if the 30-year-old leads Washington in carries. And if McNichols' special teams prowess gets him a spot on the gameday roster, I think it will be Croskey-Merritt who is the odd man out.
It's blasphemy, I know. And yet it be.
In Jacksonville, however, my lean is toward Bigsby over Etienne. This is a game the Jaguars should win, if only because the Carolina defense was abjectly terrible a year ago and doesn't appear markedly better in 2025. The Panthers were particularly putrid against the run, surrendering a whopping 179.8 yards per game on the ground.
That ain't a typo, y'all.
Wideout Debuts
There are multiple first-year receivers with favorable fantasy matchups in Week 1. Which first-year wideout are you most excited about this week? Which veteran receiver gives you the most pause?