Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 1: Top Matchup Plays and Sleepers for Opening Games

Everyone wants to start the NFL season with a fantasy football victory. 

In the buildup to the 2020 campaign, fantasy managers will have dissected reports from training camps to try to find the early advantage before teams hit the gridiron in Week 1. 

Some of the best sleepers for the NFL's opening weekend are players who are not projected to have high season totals but can be good fill-ins for the top producers with tricky matchups. 

Indianapolis, Miami and Las Vegas are not the first places you would typically turn to for those reinforcements, but those offenses could reward you with the right performances to come out on top in daily fantasy contests and head-to-head showdowns.

Quarterback

Start 'Em

Matt Ryan (Atlanta) vs. Seattle

Josh Allen (Buffalo) vs. New York Jets

Cam Newton (New England) vs. Miami

Sit 'Em

Kyler Murray (Arizona) at San Francisco

Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) at Minnesota

Jared Goff (Los Angeles Rams) vs. Dallas

Sleeper: Derek Carr (Las Vegas) at Carolina

John Locher/Associated Press

Carr had some of his best individual performances against NFC sides in 2019. 

The Las Vegas quarterback recorded a pair of passing touchdowns against Green Bay, Minnesota and Detroit. He was picked off twice in four games outside the AFC. 

Carr also has a penchant for beginning the season well on the road. In 2016, he threw for 319 yards and a score in New Orleans. A year later, he wracked up 262 yards and a touchdown at Tennessee. 

With a handful of new weapons at wide receiver, Carr may be in a good position to torch the Carolina defense in Matt Rhule's first game as head coach. 

The Panthers upgraded their defensive talent in the offseason, but they are weak in the secondary. Safety Tre Boston is the most experienced defensive back. 

Carolina's lack of experience and cohesion in the defensive backfield may lead to Henry Ruggs III, Zay Jones and Hunter Renfrow breaking free on the outside for a few big plays. 

Carr has the luxury of hitting Darren Waller across the middle, and if he gets more receiving production out of Josh Jacobs, he could attack the Panthers with a well-rounded approach. 

Carr could be a better Week 1 option than some more notable quarterbacks, since Kyler Murray and Aaron Rodgers face tough defensive matchups at San Francisco and Minnesota, respectively. 

Murray put up 150 yards and two passing scores in his trip to Levi's Stadium in 2019, while Rodgers threw a touchdown pass at U.S. Bank Stadium a year ago. 

Rodgers could also be plagued by the lack of a reliable No. 2 receiver behind Davante Adams in a difficult defensive matchup. 

Carr does not have the stronger receiving corps, but he has potential to work well with what he has at his disposal because of the matchup against Carolina. 

Running Back

Start 'Em

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Kansas City) vs. Houston

Raheem Mostert (San Francisco) vs. Arizona

Devin Singletary (Buffalo) vs. New York Jets

Sit 'Em 

Kenyan Drake (Arizona) at San Francisco

Nick Chubb (Cleveland) at Baltimore

Le'Veon Bell (New York Jets) at Buffalo

Sleepers: Marlon Mack and Jonathan Taylor (Indianapolis) at Jacksonville

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Jacksonville could be the dream matchup for most offenses this season. 

The Jaguars have traded away the majority of their key defensive pieces and are projected to be among the worst teams in football.

Conversely, Indianapolis could be an ideal team to produce some of the top fantasy point earners in the first few weeks before everyone catches on to their talent. 

Marlon Mack and Jonathan Taylor could develop into one of the best running backs duos in the league, but how they will be specifically used is not yet known.

Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni discussed the luxury of having both tailbacks available, per ESPN.com's Mike Wells.

"You have a guy like Marlon who has really good speed and vision and able to make you miss," Sirianni said. "That’s complemented well with Jonathan, who is bigger and still really fast. He has good vision.”

Typically, you would wait a week or two to get a better feel for the distribution in carries and red-zone touches, but Sunday presents the perfect situation for both players to thrive. 

Jacksonville conceded 23 rushing touchdowns and let up the fifth-most rushing yards in 2019, and that was with Yannick Ngakoue occupying one end of the defensive line. 

In 2019, Mack ran all over the Jacksonville defense for 186 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The performances in Weeks 10 and 17 were two of his three-best outings in the second half of the campaign.

If Mack replicates that form and Taylor chips in with a few decent runs and possible red-zone touches, they could be the best one-two punch of the opening weekend. 

Since Mack has the most experience of the two, he would be worth the play over Kenyan Drake, Le'Veon Bell and others with tougher road matchups. Taylor should be considered if you need a player with lesser value to plug into a lineup. 

Wide Receiver

Start 'Em

Tyler Lockett (Seattle) at Atlanta

Marquise Brown (Baltimore) vs. Cleveland

A.J. Green (Cincinnati) vs. Los Angeles Chargers

Sit 'Em

Robert Woods (Los Angeles Rams) vs. Dallas

D.J. Chark (Jacksonville) vs. Indianapolis

Brandin Cooks (Houston) at Kansas City

Sleeper: Diontae Johnson (Pittsburgh) at New York Giants

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

The return of Ben Roethlisberger should be a welcome sight to any wide receiver on the Pittsburgh depth chart. 

The Steelers became a popular fade option at wide receiver for most of 2019 with Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges splitting time under center. 

Like every other offense, Pittsburgh will not be a well-oiled machine just because Roethlisberger is back in the fold, but his presence should lead to better numbers. 

Diontae Johnson managed to record 680 receiving yards and five end-zone trips in his rookie season, and with a more seasoned signal-caller in tow, he could increase those totals. 

He will have to fight with Chase Claypool and others for time beneath JuJu Smith-Schuster, but Johnson could hold the preference for touches in Week 1. 

If James Bradberry is occupied by Smith-Schuster, Johnson could take advantage of the weaker parts of the New York Giants secondary Monday night. 

Roethlisberger's history on the road in Week 1 suggests he will throw at a high volume. Since 2015, the Pittsburgh quarterback averaged 39.6 pass attempts in openers, all of which were on the road, and he threw the ball on 88 occasions in the last two years. 

If history repeats itself, Johnson could be in for a large chunk of targets that may rival the production of No. 1 receivers. 

Tight End

Start 'Em 

Noah Fant (Denver) vs. Tennessee

Dallas Goedert (Philadelphia) at Washington

Hayden Hurst (Atlanta) vs. Seattle

Sit 'Em

Evan Engram (New York Giants) vs. Pittsburgh

Chris Herndon (New York Jets) at Buffalo

Austin Hooper (Cleveland) at Baltimore

Sleeper: Mike Gesicki (Miami) at New England

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Mike Gesicki was a reliable target of the Miami quarterbacks for most of the 2019 campaign, and he became a red-zone favorite in the final few weeks. 

The Penn State product hauled in all five of his touchdown catches after Week 12 and received at least six targets in all but one game post-Week 9.

Gesicki was not listed as the starting tight end on Miami's initial depth chart. That honor was bestowed upon Durham Smythe.

Despite that positioning, Gesicki could still be called upon in long-yardage situations against New England, and he may be one of the better options for Ryan Fitzpatrick to target.

Preston Williams will be playing in his first game after an ACL tear ended his 2019 season, and DeVante Parker was listed on the injury report in the last week. 

There is a chance Miami will be forced to throw the ball a decent amount in the second half while down, which is one of the situations in which Gesicki could receive additional targets. 

Given his status on the depth chart, Gesicki should not be considered a top-tier tight end, but he could carry value across the middle in long-yardage situations and if the Dolphins pass in the red zone. 

If anything, Gesicki may be a worth a play over other tight ends with more difficult matchups.

Evan Engram, Chris Herndon and Austin Hooper are all going against defenses that ranked in the top five in yards conceded to tight ends in 2019.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.