It’s the opening week of the NFL season. This is one of the best weeks all year, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to be back. This was an article we started last season, and I loved writing about smash starts each week. This needs to be explained a bit because it would be easy to tell you that Christian McCaffrey, Justin Jefferson and Travis Kelce are smash starts every week. The goal is to find guys deeper down the list and paint a picture for some great Flex options when making fantasy start-sit decisions or potential DFS plays.

The premise behind this article is simple: Identify fantasy football smash plays on the fringe of your starting lineup. We will rarely recommend a top-10 player at any position, but we want to help you fill those critical Flex spots.

With that in mind, let’s dive into this week’s smash starts.

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Fantasy Football Smash Starts for Week 1

Quarterback

Tua Tagovailoa (QB – MIA) vs. JAX

Fantasy managers have forgotten how tremendous Tua Tagovailoa was last season, throwing for 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns. A second-half swoon is what killed his momentum heading into this offseason, but we’re talking about a guy who averaged 24 fantasy points per game through the opening 10 weeks. He also scored over 24 fantasy points in six of those while averaging 27 fantasy points per game at home. That should be beneficial against a team like Jacksonville, who allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. The last time he faced the Jags, Tagovailoa tallied 27 fantasy points.

Matthew Stafford (QB – LAR) at DET

Matthew Stafford was picked near the end of most fantasy drafts, but he should be another steal. This guy has been a top-12 quarterback in seven of the last 12 seasons and threw for nearly 5,000 years and 41 touchdowns just three years ago. An injury-riddled 2022 season had people forgetting about that. He only had a down year last season because Cooper Kupp missed most of the season. He now has Kupp and Puka Nacua in his arsenal, perhaps the best pair of receivers he’s ever had. That should bode well against his former team, with the Lions surrendering the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing signal-callers. The revenge game narrative is silly, but Stafford does have 26 and 28 fantasy points in his last two matchups against Detroit.

Running Back

Alvin Kamara (RB – NO) vs. CAR

Alvin Kamara fell to the fourth round or later in many fantasy drafts, according to average draft position (ADP). It’s hard to understand why. This former top-five player returned to that form at times last season, with Kamara averaging 15 fantasy points per game. That was in an offense that was not friendly to Kamara’s repertoire, but this new-look offense is supposed to be much more fantasy-friendly for this stud back. The best part about this is the matchup because Carolina allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing rushers last year. New Orleans also enters this home opener as a 4.5-point favorite, which is the perfect opportunity for Kamara to get 20-25 touches and some touchdown opportunities.

Zack Moss (RB – CIN) vs. NE

Our last sentence in the Kamara write-up is why we genuinely love Zack Moss. Cincinnati is the largest favorite of the week, entering their home opener as a 9.5-point favorite against a putrid Patriots team. That’s the perfect scenario for the Bengals’ lead back, which is, apparently, Zack Moss. Joe Mixon is out of the picture. Cincy brought in Moss as their two-down guy and goal-line back. That means he should get at least 15 carries and a handful of goal-line chances since they’re such a massive favorite at home. In the six games Moss had at least 13 carries filling in for Jonathan Taylor last season, he averaged nearly 100 yards rushing and 16 fantasy points per game.

Wide Receiver

Cooper Kupp (WR – LAR) at DET

You probably could’ve seen this coming when we mentioned Stafford earlier. The simple fact is that Cooper Kupp is one of the best receivers of this generation. The Rams receiver was overlooked in drafts because of Nacua, but this was the best pass-catcher in football between 2019 and 2021. Kupp averaged 110 receptions for 1,361 receiving yards on 150 targets in those three years. Shortened seasons over the last two years have people forgetting how special he can be. He still averaged 15 fantasy points per game in those two shortened seasons. That should be easy to reach against Detroit’s defense, who allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing wideouts last year.

Terry McLaurin (WR – WAS) at TB

The Bucs’ secondary was one of the worst in the NFL last season, surrendering the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing receivers. That sort of matchup should benefit Terry McLaurin in this new offense because there are rumors they will move him all over the field. That’s what they should do with a talented receiver such as McLaurin. Scary Terry caught at least 77 catches and recorded 1,000 yards in four straight seasons. This is the time for a rookie quarterback like Jayden Daniels to discover that McLaurin is his top target, especially since there’s no one else worth throwing to in this passing attack.

Tight End

Pat Freiermuth (TE – PIT) at ATL

Writing about back-end tight ends is difficult at this time of the season because most of them are rostered. That’s why we will go with a potential breakout in Pat Freiermuth as he might be the second option in the Steelers’ passing attack. Diontae Johnson has moved to Carolina and Brandon Aiyuk is staying in San Francisco. That should lead to Freiermuth getting a career-high in targets. He averaged 6.1 targets in his last full season. An injury-riddled 2023 season killed his fantasy value, but he should see a 20% target share, considering how weak the rest of this passing attack looks. If that happens, Freiermuth will be a must-start player by the end of the month.

D/ST

New Orleans Saints D/ST vs. CAR

There are two defenses we love this week, with New Orleans and Cincy coming into Week 1 as massive home favorites. We will go with the Saints over the Bengals because they’re the better unit. New Orleans finished last season ninth in fantasy points per game and ranked eighth in points allowed. That’s scary for what might be the worst offense in the NFL, with Carolina ranked last in total yardage and points scored. All of that has the Saints entering this game as a 4.5-point favorite in a game with a 41-point total. That means the Panthers will be lucky to score 20 points. The Saints D/ST scored 21 fantasy points in their Week 14 matchup last season.

Joel Bartilotta is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Joel, check out his archive and follow him @Bartilottajoel.