Fantasy football is supposed to be fun, right? Nevertheless, you can feel the heightened sense of anxiety in the air.
It doesn’t matter how you feel about your draft or how you feel about the players on your roster, no one wants to open their season with a loss, and many are already freaking out, suffering from “paralysis by analysis,” which puts the potential for mistakes is at an all-time high.
People often roll their eyes when a fantasy analyst tells them to stop overthinking the situation and to “start your studs.”
Further into the season, some of that disgust may be warranted, but here in Week 1, you need to trust in your research and your draft.
If you picked a player in the first five rounds of your draft, are you really sure you want to put him on the bench in favor of a 12th-rounder with a supposedly softer matchup?
Do you really know it is actually a softer matchup?
Kyler Murray heads to Buffalo for Week 1, and those who drafted him are already looking to put him on the bench.
Maybe it’s the fact that he’s coming off two injury-riddled seasons, or maybe it’s the cross-country travel, or maybe even it’s the belief that the Bills defense is really scary or something.
Countless questions have come in asking to start the likes of Jared Goff or Caleb Williams ahead of him.
Playing the matchups is fine when you have the data and a better understanding of a team’s strengths and weaknesses, but at this point, why wouldn’t you play Murray?
The Bills defense has gone through some recent transformations and isn’t as intimidating as it once was.
The secondary doesn’t have the same personnel, and the loss of linebacker Matt Milano is going to have an impact most don’t realize.
Arizona has a potent offense with a strong ground game, and Murray has some very exciting weapons. His rushing upside is also huge in the fantasy game.
And if you think the Bills are a strong team and are going to take a big lead, well, then that just has Murray throwing even more.
Don’t be scared. Trust in your draft.
We are seeing a number of these situations.
Some fantasy managers are now afraid to start third-rounder DK Metcalf because of the Broncos secondary.
They also want to bench Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel against the Jets.
Sure, we’re always going to have a situation arise like we saw Thursday night, when it was Isaiah Likely who dominated over Mark Andrews, but you can’t let that shake you.
Trust in your research and trust the process. You drafted these players for a reason, so give them a chance to show you why.
Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy: and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football news and advice.