We’re two games into Week 1, and I’m ready to start calling to the masses to bring me your tired, your poor, your weary—etc. The fantasy football community has dealt with enough injury frustration, injury-reporting sketchiness, injury volume, and general personnel/roster mess-abouts that it already feels like setting a lineup is a vaudevillian event. Circus type stuff out there, right now, guys. A silly kind of bad.
So no pageantry this week, and even less so as we go throughout the season. It’s Friday, and Five Lists of Five is back like baggy jeans, man.
Soundbite-length blurbs with advanced analysis on my favorite plays of the week. We begin now with my Top five must-start RBs for fantasy football Week 1. Here are my other offerings for the week:
- Top five must-start wide receivers for fantasy football Week 1
- Top five FLEX plays for fantasy football Week 1
- Top five players to stash ahead of fantasy football Week 1 (TK)
- Top five fantasy defense matchups in fantasy football Week 1 (TK)
Fantasy football Week 1: Top five RBs to start
Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles (vs. Washington Commanders)
Washington has already seen plenty of Saquon Barkley in an Eagles uniform, and precious little of it has gone well. In his three regular-season appearances against the Commanders, he’s churned out 428 rushing yards and five touchdowns. It’s historically a plus-plus matchup for him, and he’s inside my top three this week, a little ahead of his RB4 consensus ranking. Even among the obvious marquee starters, there’s room to get more excited about Barkley in this matchup.
Washington, generally, stinks against the run. Opposing backfields ran for 20 more yards per game against Washington last season than they averaged overall (in other words, the Commanders allowed +20 team rushing yards over expectation). All to say: the Commanders made tepid rushing attacks look colorful and nuanced. They addressed it in the offseason, and Sonny Styles and Leo Chenal should help with clogging the middle. But Philadelphia gets to introduce that new linebacker pairing to Barkley immediately.
The Eagles’ healthier-than-2025 line helps considerably. So does having a season in between their record-breaking Super Bowl season. Not to mention, it helps having DeVonta Smith available to punish a safety who gets too interested in Barkley’s movements. Washington will have to commit their big bodies to stopping Barkley, and the cost of guessing wrong against this offense can be substantial. It should hurt even worse with Mannion calling plays at OC.
Hurts will still take touchdowns away from Barkley, obviously. This week and all season. Across their two seasons together, Barkley’s converted just 16.1% of his carries inside the five, compared with 54.8% for his Brotherly-Shoved quarterback. I’m willing to live with that here. Barkley announces he’s all the way back on Sunday.
De’Von Achane, Miami Dolphins (vs. Las Vegas Raiders)
I understand the hesitation about Miami’s offense. I have considerably less hesitation about giving De’Von Achane the ball against Las Vegas, particularly when a catch counts for a full point. He caught 67 passes last season after hauling in 78 the year before. Whatever discomfort comes with Malik Willis taking over at quarterback, Achane has done an awful lot to earn a prominent place in the passing game.
Those receptions accompanied 1,350 rushing yards in 2025. Altogether, he averaged just over six yards per touch, which is a ridiculous return across 305 opportunities. His speed gets the attention, understandably, but keeping that efficiency across a full workload is what makes me comfortable with him at RB5, one spot above the weekly consensus.
Las Vegas finished 25th against fantasy running backs last year. Miami’s rebuilt offense might take time to settle, yet this is a welcoming first opponent for a runner who can make a linebacker pay dearly for one slow step. Achane should be involved before Willis has to start improvising. Designed throws can get him moving with room to accelerate; I’d love to see Miami establish those early.
Willis will keep some plays for himself, and a team projected to score fewer than 20 points could make touchdowns scarce. Fair enough. I still want Achane’s receiving work and open-field ability on my side, even through a few ugly Miami possessions. The afternoon can turn quickly with him.
Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. Arizona Cardinals)
Four times in nine rookie appearances, Omarion Hampton caught at least five passes. That’s why we drafted him so high in PPR, especially with McDaniel calling plays. I keep coming back to him this week, too, as a premier matchup. The Chargers often spend their Sundays running downhill, falling behind schedule on offense, or asking Justin Herbert to get rid of the ball too quickly. Good thing Hampton has already shown he can stay productive through all that Chargering turbulence!
Consider his December game against Houston: 14 carries went for only 29 yards, but eight catches and a rushing touchdown got him to 20 PPR points. I like having that possibility available while waiting for the bigger rushing afternoons, especially knowing that McDaniel will utilize Hampton’s passing game chops. Hampton averaged 17.3 touches per game as a rookie, and caught 32 of his 35 targets. Herbert could depend on him to finish those plays, and McDaniel will scheme it so.
The Cardinals defense gives Hampton a good chance to put those opportunities together into a massive afternoon. Arizona was seventh-worst against fantasy backs last season, and Los Angeles enters as roughly a 10-point favorite, with an implied total near 29. One could see a fourth quarter in which Hampton is in their for grinder work, clock-management stuff. One catch for ten yards and six carries for 20 there could punctuate a huge score.
Mike McDaniel does intend to involve Keaton Mitchell and Kimani Vidal. Mitchell’s hamstring has limited him in practice, but I’m allowing for him to play, and losing center Tyler Biadasz complicates the blocking. Even with those qualifications, I have Hampton at RB6, slightly above his RB7 weekly consensus. Another afternoon with four or five catches would make the occasional series on the sideline much easier to tolerate.
Javonte Williams, Dallas Cowboys (vs. New York Giants)
Javonte Williams ran for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns last season in Dallas, and we’ve little reason to believe he’s aiming to do anything other than resume that productive work Sunday night against the Giants. His receiving production was another matter entirely: 35 catches and only 137 yards. That’s a difficult number to get overly enthusiastic about in PPR scoring. But after a resurgence this satisfying, I think Javonte can make his carries pay off in droves.
New York finished league-worst in EPA allowed per rushing attempt in 2025. John Harbaugh’s coaching should improve the defense marginally and intangibly. But losing Dexter Lawrence leaves an enormous void for the interior linemen who remain. Williams converted 56.3% of his carries into successful plays last season. That’s just flat-out efficiency versus lack there of, and the defense no longer has its best run-stuffer. Give me Javonte, here.
Tyler Smith’s thumb surgery makes things a bit more difficult, but I’m not too concerned, there. Replacement lineman T.J. Bass has 10 career starts, so Dallas is turning to someone who, at the very least, knows the assignments, and has worked with linemen alongside him. Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and George Pickens will still terrorize defenses enough in their own chaotic, air-raid way. That should free room for Javonte when the blocking assignments get blown.
I’ve moved Williams just inside my top 10, ahead of the RB11 weekly consensus and his RB14 draft price. I expect Dallas to reach scoring range often enough to give its lead back several useful chances. Let the receptions be a modest addition this week; I’m looking for Williams to finish drives.
D’Andre Swift, Chicago Bears (vs. Carolina Panthers)
D’Andre Swift ran better last season than the annual discussion about his utility as purely an RB2 would suggest. His rushing success rate climbed from 43.9% to 54.7%, and he gained 1,087 yards on 30 fewer carries than he’d received the year before. Ben Johnson helped make those touches count. I’m encouraged at the thought of what another season together may look like like, beginning with a trip to Carolina that puts Swift at RB13 for me, above his RB15 weekly consensus.
Kyle Monangai is off the injury report, so I’m expecting him to spell Swift as often as he did last year. Swift’s fantasy production should, has, and will survive that perfectly well. From Week 5 onward last season, he produced at an RB13 pace in half-PPR while sharing the backfield with Monangai. He also finished the year with nine rushing touchdowns, a welcome development for anyone who remembers how often Chicago’s offense used to go limp. Even more welcome for anyone who remembers how rare it was for Swift to hit paydirt in Detroit.
Carolina added Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd to strengthen its front seven. I expect that to lead to some TFLs, particularly if the Panthers can anticipate the run by personnel grouping. Johnson can make that harder on the Panthers with pre-snap motion, and formations which leave defenders confused in coverage.
With 34 receptions last season, he still supplies some receiving value, although I’d temper any hopes for an Achane-sized target total. We drafted Swift around RB20. He’s never finished below RB21 in his career. Efficient carries and scoring opportunities against Carolina are all we’re asking from him Sunday.
