Fantasy Football Week 1 Rankings: 5 Stars You Must Avoid Starting

The return of the NFL regular season also means the return of the regular NFL Fantasy football season.

The excitement for fantasy owners will be more than palpable but getting caught up in the hype and excitement could cause you to overlook some key matchups.

Here are five players you'll be expecting points from that could be duds because of the matchups in the first week of the season.

Mike Wallace

The Ravens secondary isn't extraordinary, while their front seven is beastly against the run. This should see the Steelers take advantage of their incredibly deep receiving corp on opening week to spread the field.

Wallace will have a few receptions but don't expect him to be putting up huge numbers. He hasn't been a major factor in the preseason and the return of Emmanuel Sanders gives the team five viable options to throw the ball to as well as Heath Miller.

Roethlisberger won't be forcing the deep ball as he makes a point of throwing away from Ed Reed. Instead, the Steelers will be looking to take advantage of Antonio Brown, Sanders and even Hines Ward with intermediate and short routes that could become big gains.

Matt Ryan

Ryan may have had 42 passes against the Pittsburgh Steelers in his last substantial outing, however, a trip to Chicago to play the Bears will see the Falcons return to running the football more often than not.

Lance Briggs may be causing a furrow in Chicago over his contract but the defense still has Julius Peppers and Israel Idonije to wreak havoc in the backfield while the addition of Brandon Meriweather gives the defense another talented piece on the back end.

The Falcons could struggle as a whole against the Bears, Ryan himself will definitely be in for a tough outing.

Aaron Hernandez

Hernandez may not be an elite tight end but he is an elite matchup option for deeper fantasy leagues. However, while many will look at the Patriots matchup with the Miami Dolphins and see a big day for the second-year tight end, that couldn't be further from the truth.

The Dolphins brought in Kevin Burnett this offseason from the San Diego Chargers. With Burnett and Karlos Dansby in the middle of their linebacking group, the Patriots have two athletic players that can deal with both Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski in coverage.

Hernandez should definitely be taking a seat this week while many of the Patriots position players could be in for a tough time on Monday night.

Dwayne Bowe

The question marks over Matt Cassel's health directly affect Dwayne Bowe's status as a fantasy star

Even if Cassel plays, he won't be 100 percent, while Ricky Stanzi or Tyler Palko won't be getting the job done. The Chiefs figure to run the ball a lot against the Buffalo Bills anyway as they should easily sweep passed them on the back of their talented trio of backs in Arrowhead stadium.

Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson may be back, but don't expect the Titans to throw him out for 20 carries from Week 1. Without a preseason of getting hit or practicing every day—no matter how good shape he is in—Johnson is very susceptible to injury early in the season.

With Matt Hasselbeck under center, the Titans passing game should feature prominently also as the Jaguars have very little in the ways of pass rush. Johnson is definitely a star for the season but Week 1 he won't be carrying your team as much as you want him to.