Welcome back to Cap’s Fantasy Corner, your go-to article series for all of your fantasy football needs! In this week’s edition, I’m breaking down 3 players I believe are sneaky starts who could win you a fantasy matchup Week 1 of the NFL Regular Season. If you want the best fantasy football tools, personalized fantasy coaching, and a team of experts at your disposal this season, then be sure to sign-up for our premium fantasy football season pass.

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1. DeVonta Smith vs. Atlanta Falcons

Let me start this one off with the fact that we do not have any kind of sample size to work off of when projecting a good fantasy week for Smith. He was limited through preseason and training camp action, making him much more of an uncertain play this week. However, in the short spurts, we did see Smith, he lived up to his billing of a high first-round talent. He seems to be the elite route runner and separator everyone said he was coming out of Alabama. In limited work with Jalen Hurts and the rest of the starting unit, Smith recorded 2 receptions for 19 yards on 4 targets. He was easily the most targeted wide receiver, which leads me to believe he is going to be a smash play against the porous Atlanta Falcons defense. The defense was one of the worst units in football last season and I don’t see that vastly changing week one. I’m comfortable playing Smith this week as an upside WR2 in full-PPR formats. 

2. Corey Davis vs. Carolina Panthers

Davis has absolutely shone during his preseason action with rookie New York Jets quarterback, Zach Wilson. In the Jets preseason matchup against the Green Bay Packers, Davis brought down 4 of 6 targets for 70 yards. The most important stat to note is Davis’ target share in the offense, which hovered around a whopping 60%, an insane figure in a modern NFL offense. Now, he obviously won’t maintain that high a target share, but it shows the Jets are committed to using their big-ticket free agent signing in a significant way. I love Davis this week as a high-upside, high-floor flex option against what still projects to be a bad defense in the Carolina Panthers. 

3. Marvin Jones vs. Houston

We should rename Marvin Jones “Mr. Value” because every fantasy season he seems to be a massive value for fantasy managers. Dubbed as the leader in the wide receiver room by rookie Trevor Lawrence (and Jones was declared a team captain today) Jones has done nothing but show he is Lawrence’s most trusted receiver in this offense. Jones was the most targeted receiver in this offense during the preseason and is reportedly healthy after suffering an AC joint sprain a few weeks ago. Not to mention the fact the Houston Texans’ defense allowed the 7th most fantasy points to wide receivers last season and just traded away starting corner Bradley Roby today, and it becomes easy to see why this is a matchup made in fantasy heaven. I am comfortable starting Jones as my WR2 this week, but wouldn’t be shocked if he produces low-end WR1 numbers in your lineup. 

I hope you enjoyed these starts and that they help you win some games! Give my most recent episode of No Cap by DFS Karma a listen if you do. I review more in-depth these sneaky starts and their potential fantasy impacts this week. You can find it on any podcast platform but click the image below to listen now.