With Week 1 in the books, and everyone in panic mode with their drafts “Is Adrian Peterson gonna be a bust once again?” “Did I miss on Keenan Allen?”, all I can say is this: R-E-L-A-X, it’s week one, just keep reading these posts and you’ll be alright.

The Starts

Drew Brees, Mark Ingram, and Brandin Cooks – If you have players on what should be a high caliber offense going against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, you should definitely start them, I see a nice bounce back from all 3 guys in the home opener for the Saints in the confines of the Superdome.

Carlos Hyde – This guy was electric on Monday Night Football, absolutely thrashing what should be a very good Vikings defense, and in going to Pittsburgh, the 49ers don’t face a nearly as difficult of a test in the trenches, look for San Francisco to run the ball frequently with their new bell-cow running back in Carlos Hyde, a few more performances like Monday night, we’ll be talking about a new face of the 49ers offense.

Ameer Abdullah – Man this guy has the potential to be something special with his short area quickness, even if he lacks the elite top-end speed, he can move like very few other players in the NFL. After watching the way Carlos Hyde tore the Vikings apart, I can’t help but think that Detroit is going to feed this guy carries going forward, I like him a lot this week to put up some points, if you got him, start him.

John Brown – His first 15 minutes of the season looked fantastic: 4 catches for 46 yards and a touchdown made all of us who didn’t start him immediately regret that decision, but as that was his final stat-line as well, it made all of us feel better. Brown should be in for a good game against an over-matched Bears defense, especially with Carson Palmer slinging the ball all over the field.

Steve Johnson – Keenan Allen caught all of the passes last week (seriously, the guy caught 15 passes, that’s a great 2-3 game stretch for some players), but lost in that was the day that Johnson put up: 6 catches for 82 yards and a touchdown while playing in Antonio Gates’ role in the slot. Johnson was sharp and appeared to have good rapport with Rivers in the first regular season game they’ve played together.

Bishop Sankey – Sankey had a good game last week against Tampa Bay, he set career highs in rushing yards and touchdowns, which is great, granted he had 74 yards, which doesn’t exactly inspire hope, but against the Browns defense, which had no answer for Chris Ivory last week, Sankey could be in for another good game. He had only 14 touches last week, but I would look for that to increase this week.

The Sits

Tre Mason – Mason had a great rookie year, however, as we’ve seen with other running backs from St. Louis (anyone remember Zac Stacy?), one great year doesn’t always translate, and starting a guy coming off of an injury who figures to be a 2-down running back in a running back by committee with Benny Cunningham, I don’t see Mason as a viable starter in this weeks matchup with the Redskins, who just held Lamar Miller to around 4 yards a carry.

Sammy Watkins – Bill Belichick knows how to shut down young quarterbacks, and I don’t expect that to change despite the personnel deficiencies the Patriots appear to have in their secondary, as this game will feature Tyrod Taylor in his second career start (I am a believer in Taylor, I just don’t like his chances of completing a lot of passes). The Pats will pay a lot of attention to Watkins as well as the Bills running game.

Patriot Running Backs – The Bills defensive line is among the best in the league, and no one really knows who the Patriots will use at running back until the game has already started, which is too late for fantasy leagues. We all remember what happened with Jonas Gray, 200 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Colts, everyone added him in their leagues, and there were people disappointed to not get Jonas, only to see him never touch the ball again. I’d stay away due to the matchup and the mystery of adding a player that may not see the field, let alone starting him.

Allen Robinson – I like Robinson as a player for this season, just not for this week as he and the Jaguars take on the Miami Dolphins, who happen to field a very good defense lead by Ndomukong Suh and Brent Grimes, who will be covering Robinson. This week will be rough on Blake Bortles and Allen Robinson, I’d leave these guys on the bench.

The Risks

Cam Newton – Cam is normally a very solid quarterback, as he is able to run with the football and throw it…. when he has receivers who can catch the ball. Philly Brown and Ted Ginn are not those receivers, Greg Olsen is a good tight-end, but he only hauled in 1 catch for 11 yards in the season opener for the Panthers against the Jaguars. A game in which Newton was only good for around 12.5 points in most leagues, that does not bode well when JJ Watt and the Houston Texans are coming to town. I expect Newton will be held in check for this game.

49er WRs – Will the real Colin Kaepernick please stand up? If the guy from 2012 returns, this group will be great, as they have dynamic speedsters in Torrey Smith and Vernon Davis at TE, as well as old reliable Anquan Boldin to haul in every pass on 3rd down. However, as long as Kaep is unable to be consistent, the same will be true of the WRs in the bay area, as Smith could connect on a long TD, or have 2 catches for 28 yards, you just never know.

Kyle Rudolph – The good news is that Rudolph was targeted 7 times, the bad news is that he only turned that into 5 catches for 53 yards. This week Rudolph has a chance to redeem himself with a matchup against the Lions, who’s defense just got shredded in the passing game, including Chargers TE Lardarius Green. Rudolph has a good matchup here, but it’s a matter of erasing the memories of an ugly debut at the hands of the 49ers that makes him a risk.

Arizona Running Backs – If you’re a gambling person, you can ride or die by the Johnson….. let me rephrase that, you can either start Chris or David Johnson, only to watch the one you didn’t start score a touchdown in the game against the Bears while the guy you start finishes with 33 yards on 7 carries. Start one of these guys at your own risk, rumor is that Chris Johnson will get a bulk of the carries, but can you take the risk only by rumors?