Setting Up Your Fantasy Football Lineup

 Making sure you have your best options ready for week one

 You got yourself into a fantasy league for the 2013 season. You set up your pre-draft rankings, and (hopefully) you dominated your draft, drafting a top-five quarterback, running back and receiver. Now it’s time to get ready for the regular season.

This week I will be going over some strategy going into the first week of the season as to which players look like good plays and which players look like bad plays.

Week one, can be the start to a great season, or the first week in what will be a dismal season if you don’t play your cards right.

Let’s look at the matchups starting with the Thursday night season opener between the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens on September 5. The Ravens have been known for having a tremendous defense since their inception. It should be noted though that the team lost two of its more touted players in Ray Lewis (retirement) and Ed Reed (free agency). They still are a strong team, and shouldn’t be counted out even against a strong offense like the Broncos.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Joe Flacco, Peyton Manning, Ray Rice, Wes Welker, Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker and Torrey Smith. As far as defenses go, this game features two of the premier defenses, but they are facing off against solid offenses. Either defense is worth a start since they are in the top 10 in my opinion.

Bad plays for this game include any Denver running back, and any Baltimore receiver not named Smith.

The next games on the schedule come on Sunday, Sept. 8; starting with the 10 a.m. games. The first game is the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills. The Patriots have been dealing with a media circus as of late, but don’t let that fool you. Head Coach Bill Belichick has owned the Bills in his tenure with New England. As far as the Bills, they were the blunder of the NFL Draft taking E.J. Manuel as the first quarterback taken, and now he is injured.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Tom Brady, Danny Amendola, Stevan Ridley, C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson. The Patriots defense is worth a look too if your defensive matchup this week is poor.

Bad plays for this game include Stevie Johnson, and whoever suits up for the Bills at quarterback.

Next up are the Carolina Panthers and the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks are coming off a tremendous season, which saw them make the playoffs as a Wild Card team. The Panthers are coming off another disappointing season in not making the playoffs with Cam Newton as the quarterback.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Marshawn Lynch, Steve Smith, Golden Tate, Greg Olson and the Seahawks defense.

Bad plays in this game include DeAngelo Williams, Sydney Rice and Zach Miller.

The next game is the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions. The Lions are coming off another disappointing season while the Vikings are coming off a great season that was led by an impressive comeback season from Adrian Peterson.

The good plays in this game are Matthew Stafford, Adrian Peterson, Reggie Bush, Calvin Johnson and Greg Jennings.

Bad plays in this game include the Detroit and Minnesota defenses, as this will most likely be a shoot out, as well Mikel Leshoure, and Jerome Simpson.

Next up are the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars. This is a battle between two teams with stellar running backs that haven’t had much else to offer around them as of late. Head Coach Andy Reid and Alex Smith though now lead the Chiefs at quarterback, so their offense is still something of an unknown.

The good plays in this game include Jamaal Charles, Maurice Jones Drew and Dwayne Bowe.

Bad plays include Alex Smith, Justin Blackmon, Anthony Fasano and Mercedes Lewis.

The next game is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets. Just like the Patriots the Jets have been in the middle of a media circus surrounding the play or lack there of the starting and backup quarterbacks.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Doug Martin, Bilal Powell, Mike Williams and Vincent Jackson.

I am hesitant to name another Jets players as a good play since the starting quarterback controversy between Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith has not been solved. Hence the bad plays in this game are the Jets quarterbacks.

Next up are the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. The Dolphins and Browns have done more bad than good in the recent past, and this game is a lack luster one for week one.

The good plays in this game come in the form of a single player Trent Richardson and if you are a card counter, either defense should perform decently well in what I expect will be a very low scoring game.

Bad plays include any quarterback, receiver or tight end on either team.

The next game is the Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears. The Bears lost Brian Urlacher, but their defense is still one of the best in the league and I look for that to be a big factor in this game.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Andy Dalton, Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, A.J. Green, Brandon Marshall and the Bears defense.

The bad plays include “The Law Firm” BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Giovani Bernard and Jermaine Gresham.

Next up is the matchup between the Oakland Raiders and Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are coming off a great season in which Andrew Luck led the team to the playoffs. The Raiders are still in rebuilding mode, and not certain of anything except Darren McFadden will continue to be injury prone.

The good plays in the game come in the form of Andrew Luck, Darren McFadden, Reggie Wayne, Darius Heyward-Bey and Sebastian Janikowski.

The bad plays include Matt Flynn, Jacoby Ford, Denarius Moore, Rod Streater and the Raiders defense. Yes all bad plays come on the Oakland side. Why is this? Because the Raiders offensive and defensive lines are weak, which likely will turn into a blowout by the Colts.

The next game is the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. This is going to be one of the more exciting games for week one. Two playoff teams with two very high-powered offenses.

The good plays comes in the form of Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Steven Jackson, Roddy White, Julio Jones, Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Tony Gonzalez and Jimmy Graham.

The bad plays include either defensive unit, or any New Orleans running back. With this game projected to reach 60 plus combined points, it will be a lot of throwing for each quarterback. For the Saints, that’s nothing new as they have been using a backfield by committee for a few seasons now as the main focus is on the passing game of Brees.

Next up are the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers. This game features two teams dealing with issues in their backfield, so my assumption is a game filled with passes, stay away from the defenses of either team.

The good plays in this game include Ben Rothelisberger, Chris Johnson, Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown, Nate Washington, Kenny Britt and Delanie Walker.

The bad plays include Shonn Green, Isaac Redman and both teams defensive units.

The next game is the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers in the afternoon game, 1:25 p.m. This is going to be the best game of the day in my opinion, and by far the better of the two afternoon games. This matchup features two perennial playoff teams, and the reigning NFC Championship team the 49ers.

The good plays come in the form of Aaron Rodgers, Colin Kaepernick, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Jermichael Finley, Anquan Bouldin, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and the 49ers defense.

Bad plays include any Green Bay running back, Green Bay defensive unit and any 49ers receiver or tight end not named Bouldin or Davis.

The other afternoon game is between the St. Louis Rams and the Arizona Cardinals. This game will feature two quarterbacks who have not lived up to their potential thus far in the NFL in Sam Bradford and Carson Palmer.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Darryl Richardson, Rashard Mendenhall and Larry Fitzgerald.

The bad plays include Sam Bradford, Carson Palmer, Chris Givens, Michael Floyd and Andre Roberts.

The Sunday night game comes as the New York Giants take on the Dallas Cowboys with a 5:30 p.m. kickoff. This game features two NFC East teams who missed the playoffs last year.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Eli Manning, Tony Romo, DeMarco Murray, Brandon Myers, Jason Witten, Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Miles Austin and Dez Bryant.

The bad plays include any New York Giants running back as they are going to do a backfield by committee, as well either defensive unit.

The next set of games come on Monday, Sept. 9. The first of the two Monday night games features the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins, with running quarterbacks in Michael Vick and Robert Griffin III.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Michael Vick, Robert Griffin III, LeSean McCoy, Alfred Morris, DeSean Jackson, Joshua Morgan, Pierre Garcon, Brent Celek and Fred Davis.

The bad plays include any other Eagles or Redskins receivers or running backs as well both teams defensive units.

The final game of the week comes as the San Diego Chargers host the Houston Texans. This game features two high-powered offenses, one coming off a playoff appearance, the other, coming off a terrible season.

The good plays in the game come in the form of Phillip Rivers, Matt Schaub, Arian Foster, Malcom Floyd, Andre Johnson, Antonio Gates, Owen Daniels and the Texans defense.

The bad plays include Ryan Matthews, any Texans receiver not named Johnson, and the Chargers defense.

Hopefully you have quite a few players on the good play list and good luck in your first week of fantasy football.

Remember to check back in next week as I go over players that can help your team whether they slipped through the draft, or are backups to a stud that could potentially become your starters.