By Staff Writer Ryan Gerrity @RyanGerrity:

Week 1 of the NFL regular season is coming up on Thursday night where Peyton Manning, Wes Welker and the Broncos face off against the defending Super Bowl champions in the Ravens.  I have come up with four players to start this week and three players to sit for you fantasy football owners.  Start off the fantasy football season right this Thursday!

Start:

Isaac Redman, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers are facing the Tennessee Titans in week 1 of the regular season on September 8^th.  Redman was given the nod from Head Coach Mike Tomlin that he was going to start against the Titans.  Some speculation was that Felix Jones, who was recently picked up by the Steelers was going to start, but expect Redman to get most of the carries.  Against the Titans defense anything could happen.

Trent Richardson, RB, Cleveland Browns    

The Cleveland Browns are taking on the Miami Dolphins in week 1 and I would encourage everyone to start your first round pick Trent Richardson.  Today the Browns put Trent Richardson as the third down back on their depth chart.  During the preseason Richardson did not see a lot of touches on third down, but expect that to change against the Dolphins.  I would not be surprised if Richardson gets 25-35 touches week 1.

Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are taking on the New Orleans Saints defense, which was ranked one of the lowest in the NFL last year.  Rob Ryan is the new defensive coordinator for the Saints this year and he is bringing the 3-4 defense along with him, which is going to help stop the run, but will not help stop the “run and shoot” offense of the Atlanta Falcons.  This is going to be a great game in the NFL, but either way Matt Ryan looks like he could put up some big numbers against this defense with the help from Roddy White and Julio Jones.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defense

The Bucs’ are taking on the New York Jets in week 1 of the NFL season.  There has been a lot of headlines coming out of Jets camps including the quarterback battle, and of course everyone remembers the departure of Darrelle Revis.  If you listened to my show on Blog Talk Radio called “Fanspeak Fantasy Football” you heard me make a interesting statement.  “I would love to see Darrelle Revis intercept Geno Smith and bring it back for a touchdown to watch MetLife stadium erupt in boo’s.”  It is not that far fetched of an idea, start the Bucs’ week 1!

Sit:

Robert Griffin III, QB, Washington Redskins    

RGIII is cleared to play week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football September 9^th.  Everyone is excited and anticipating a huge return after such quick rehab after suffering an ACL tear.  RGIII was the Offensive Rookie of the Year last year, but I do not think he is going to be that caliber of player week 1.  He needs a couple of weeks to take reps with the first team in practice before he is back into game shape and speed.  I would be hesitant to start RGIII week 1 for fantasy owners.

Stevie Johnson, WR, Buffalo Bills

Johnson this week has actually talked some trash through the media about the Patriots secondary.  He thinks that he is going to “tear apart” the defense, but he does not even know who is going to be throwing him the ball yet.  Doug Marone the Head Coach for the Bills still has not decided if undrafted free agent Jeff Tuel, or first round draft pick E.J. Manuel is going to start week 1.  Whoever it is I am not convinced that they will be able to effectively get the ball into Johnson’s hands this week that is why you should sit him.

Josh Freeman, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Earlier I said you should start the Bucs’ defense against the Jets’ but if you have Josh Freeman (like myself) do not start him.  The Jets defense is going to be the best side of the ball for this team and during the preseason the Jets looked very good.  They notched 14 sacks during the preseason and Rex Ryan’s defense looked like they could put pressure on the quarterback consistently.  Freeman does not handle pressure well and we saw that last year where he threw 4 interceptions in a game, twice.

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