Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 2: Smart Matchup Plays, Sleepers and More

Nothing gets the overreacting juices flowing quite like Week 1 of the NFL season.

Fanbases are either planning their championship parades or abandoning ship. Fantasy football managers are no different, as an early triumph can lead them to entertain title thoughts while a defeat might send them to a dark place.

Still, we should all try to remember it was just one week—no matter how euphoric or deflating it felt.

No matter if you're out to sustain success or recover from a setback, your focus should already be onto Week 2. We'll help get it there with a few start-or-sit recommendations.

Start: Baker Mayfield, QB, Cleveland Browns (vs. Houston Texans)

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Baker Mayfield will be lost in the fantasy shuffle after Week 1. That's what happens when a quarterback goes 60 minutes without sniffing the end zone.

But don't count on that happening again. In 47 career games, the 26-year-old has 75 touchdown passes, plus four more rushing scores.

That shutout was a fluke. The plays he did make—and there were plenty—are the kind of foundation he can build on. It's hard to label any performance a disappointment when it features 321 yards on 75 percent passing.

Mayfield did this without the recovering Odell Beckham Jr., who has a chance to play in Week 2. With or without him, the Browns quarterback should be ready to roll against a Houston Texans defense that just allowed Trevor Lawrence to throw for 332 yards and three touchdowns in his first NFL game.

Sit: Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Miami Dolphins (vs. Buffalo Bills)

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The Dolphins might feel fine with Tua Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback after he led them past the New England Patriots in Week 1.

That doesn't mean fantasy managers should share the sentiment, though.

The 23-year-old completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes. He matched his lone touchdown pass with an interception, and he somehow managed to run for a score despite turning four carries into a single yard.

From a fantasy standpoint, that's about as far from remarkable as it gets at quarterback, and Tagovailoa could look much worse in Week 2. That's when he draws a Bills defense that just held the Pittsburgh Steelers to 252 yards of total offense and only 177 through the air on 32 attempts.

Start: Elijah Mitchell, RB, San Francisco 49ers (at Philadelphia Eagles)

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A lot of fantasy analysts will recommend you race to the waiver wire and get Elijah Mitchell on your roster this week.

We'll go a step further and say get him in your starting lineup ASAP.

Maybe you're tempted to call Shanahanigans about Mitchell's Week 1 eruption, but don't fall into that trap. He has legitimate talent with soft hands, good speed and enough short-area quickness to elude tacklers.

Oh, his opportunity might be spectacular, too. The leading rusher in a Kyle Shanahan-led offense can go bananas, and the 23-year-old might have just swiped that label with a monster Week 1 (19 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown). Starter Raheem Mostert landed on injured reserve with a knee injury, and rookie third-rounder Trey Sermon was apparently beaten out by Mitchell in camp.

The Louisiana product could make the most of this opportunity against a Philadelphia Eagles defense that allowed 124 yards on 26 carries to the Atlanta Falcons' underwhelming rushing attack.