Fantasy Football Week 1 Start 'Em Sit 'Em: Cam Skattebo vs David Montgomery
Start 'Em, Sit 'Em decisions — they will make or break your week. It is a difficult skill to develop. After all, the NFL is an unpredictable league. You may think one thing happens, and in the blink of an eye, a team like the Cleveland Browns defeats a team like the Kansas City Chiefs. Who really knows? No one, but we can at least put our best foot forward. Numbers get crunched, and conclusions are made. I hope that at the year's end, the result is net positive.
Today, we will begin with a Start 'Em, Sit 'Em debate featuring two running backs. They fringe on RB2 status. They are initially labeled as majority backs on their respective depth charts. The names I speak of are Cam Skattebo and David Montgomery.
The Case for Cam Skattebo
Skattebo is the RB1 on the Giants' depth chart. He has a pack of wolves creeping behind as the Giants list a 3-way tie for RB2: Tyrone Tracy Jr., Najee Harris, and Devin Singletary.
The split projection is certainly one of the higher-variance projections early in the season. As for Week 1, it expects the following yard-shares:
- Cam Skattebo: 44%
- *Jaxson Dart: 20%
- Najee Harris: 18%
- Tyrone Tracy Jr: 8%
- Devin Singletary: 7.5%
The small balance remaining goes to wide receivers end-arounds and plays of such design.
As we have seen through the first two mid-week NFL games, expected roles versus reality have proven variable. The 50-50% split of Kaelon Black and Jordan James was lost as Black had 14 rushing attempts to James' goose egg. Jadarian Price then out-rushed George Holani 10-to-8.
Nonetheless, Skattebo's projection stands where it stands. He is my RB22 in the week after the latest injury and weather adjustments. My final projections update can be viewed upon its release on Saturday. Click on our rankings page to stay tuned.
The Giants will face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football in the Meadowlands. The Cowboys are a slightly above-average run stop on the heels of game-breaker, Quinnen Williams. In Weeks 11-14 of 2025, the Cowboys were allowing the 3rd-least yards per game on the ground. ESPN rates their interior defensive line as 11th-best in the NFL.
The Case for David Montgomery
The Houston Texans had signed Montgomery this offseason to a 2-year, $16.5 million contract. The aim was to get CJ Stroud a primary, early-down bruiser. However, Montgomery is not expected to command the most insane workload. Instead, he will own a majority of Woody Marks.
My latest snap-split projection has Montgomery owning approximately 49% of the Texans' rushing offense. Marks projects to have 30% to himself, more often seeing the field in third-down and extended-drive situations. Most drives will open up with Montgomery lined up in the backfield.
It is to be noted that Houston has no true RB3 listed behind Montgomery and Marks. The only other current option is British Brooks, who is really just a fullback. For this reason, there is less volatility. It is a clear 1-2 combination with a defined leader.
My current Week 1 projection finds Montgomery ranked as the RB27 against the Buffalo Bills. As you can see, if you scroll up to my projections, Montgomery is expected to have 12.1 rushing attempts, 52.2 rushing yards, and 0.5 touchdowns. He does not add much through the air, as is the case on the other end of today's debate, Skattebo.
The Bills come to town, which will help the Texans on offense. In 2025, Houston averaged 7.5 more points per game at home than on the road (27.3). The game is widely expected to be a close battle, with no expectation of any game script variance that would negatively affect Montgomery.
As far as Buffalo's run-stopping goes, they are the 17th-rated interior defensive line in the NFL. The Texans' offensive line has a few negative and positive tidbits.
ESPN rates the Texans' offensive line as the worst in the NFL. However, that does not necessarily mean that their run-block is the worst.
Starting guard Ed Ingram, rated 8th in run-blocking, was graded in 2025. Other starting guard, Keylan Rutledge, was the 21st-rated run-blocker in 2025 college football among 686 qualified players. I would not consider Montgomery to have a bad matchup, although it is not a great one.
Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Cam Skattebo vs. David Montgomery
In the early weeks of the NFL season, variance is as high as you will find in sports. Especially in the current age, where teams hardly play their starters in the preseason, the first few weeks can be warm-ups.
Being high variance, I prefer to side with safety. Montgomery might be projected to have less fantasy output than Skattebo, but he has a much higher floor. Personally, I suggest that fantasy managers start Montgomery for safekeeping. Survive and advance.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.