Stick with your starters for now
After last weekend, some people may be questioning my rule to play your starters for the first few weeks. If you didn't win or some of your starters underperformed, it can be tempting to start messing around with your lineup, but you have to stick to the plan if you want to win later on. Why? Offenses don't really kick in until the second or third week, so you've got to give your guys a chance to perform and you've got to see if they can do it consistently. Anyone can be shut down if the defense pays enough attention to him, but if your studs can play through that and deliver a few weeks in a row, you know you've got a player you can ride for the season. If not, then you know you have to start looking around. So for the most part, stick with your high picks for now.
Of course, if one of your studs got injured, you have to do something. It looks like Kevin Kolb and Matthew Stafford will be out, and it could be a while for each. If I had one of those guys, I'd be doing whatever I could to get one of three replacements. I still think Detroit is going to throw it all over the lot, so I'd go after Sean Hill. Michael Vick looked like he was back to his old form, and I think that once Derek Anderson gets a few weeks working with the Cardinals receivers, that rhythm passing game they run will start to click and he'll put up great numbers.
As far as who looks good this week among running backs, I like both of the Panthers carriers, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. I think the 49ers' Frank Gore will bounce back after a slow start, and Arian Foster will show that Week 1 wasn't a fluke. Ray Rice should have a good day against the Bengals and of course I like myself. In PPR leagues, I like Matt Forte to catch a lot of balls out of the backfield again. A lot of people with Chris Johnson seem to be shying away from playing him against a tough Steelers D, but he has a good history against them and I think he'll live up to his past. He really seems to be on a mission with this quest for 2,500 yards.
With all the hype out there, I expect Randy Moss to come out strong. I hope Darrelle Revis's hamstring is okay, but that little tightness he's been dealing with this week could give Moss just enough of an advantage to have a big game. The other receivers I like are Anquan Boldin and Mike Sims-Walker. I also like Demaryius Thomas in Denver as a long-term pick-up. The rookie his getting over a foot injury, and it looks like he'll play this week. Denver loves that vertical passing game and they like guys who can run after the catch. If Thomas is healthy, he can excel at both of those things.
