College Fantasy Football Week 1 Start/Sit Advice: What to do with Cam Cook, Tre Richardson, more

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It's important to remember that the strength of non-conference schedules can differ wildly from team-to-team. However, don't be fooled by thinking that an SEC team playing a lowly FCS program translates to piles of fantasy points for your respective players. Oftentimes the marquee players are on ice by the time the second half rolls around in these lopsided matchups.

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Accordingly, I prefer to target players on respectable P4 offenses that have something to prove and are facing reasonably competent G6 opponents who can hang around long enough for the starters to stay in the game for three quarters. With that in mind, here are my starts and sits for college fantasy football Week 1. 

In last year's Apple Cup, Williams eviscerated the Cougs, completing 16-of-19 passes for 298 yards with four passing touchdowns, while rushing for 88 yards and another rushing score. This prodigious production came against a credible Wazzu defense that allowed 20 PPG and 174 passing yards per game with 31 sacks. This year, Wazzu loses all 11 starters and bring in from Missouri new HC Kirby Moore, who is an offensive-minded coach. I expect the Huskies to do anything they want and give Wazzu a little extra since they're rivals and they want to score some style points in Game 1, meaning Williams should have another huge fantasy game in this year's Apple Cup. 

West Virginia is going to run the ball with aplomb in Year 2 of the Rich Rodriguez resurgence in Morgantown. WVU went 4-8 last year as Rich Rod reorganized the roster in his visage, but this year the Mountaineers boast 120 line starts after portaling in four FBS starting offensive linemen and hiring OL guru Rick Trickett, which should greatly increase their middling 161 rushing yards per game average last year. For their part, CCU and new HC Ryan Beard are just serviceable enough to keep WVU's starters in the game until Q4. That is important since CCU was gorged for 5.1 YPC and 208 rushing yards per game in 2025. Cook should clear 100-yards and punch in at least one TD against the soft underbelly of the Chanticleers defensive front. 

Get more start/sit advice with Eric’s Week 1 Rankings

Head coach Kalen DeBoer enters Year 3 of his Alabama tenure and has the pleasure of breaking in five-star phenom QB Keelon Russell against a retooling ECU defense that loses all but two starters from a year ago. ECU brings in new OC Jordan Davis, who orchestrated North Texas' potent offense the last three years and could conceivably score a touchdown or two to keep Alabama engaged for the first three quarters of play before bringing in the backups. We've been hearing rave reviews about Coleman-Williams all summer after his 10-drop sophomore slump last year. I think DeBoer force-feeds RCW in order to get him and Keelon on the same page right out of the gate before Bama travels to Kentucky next week in their SEC opener. 

I like that Oregon's powerful offense faces a good G6 program in the opener, as the Ducks should need to score 40+ points to distance themselves from the Broncos before pulling the starters. For his part, Johnson was lethal as a downfield weapon despite being lightly used early in the season behind NFL first-round draft choice Kenyon Sadiq. Johnson created at least one explosive pass play in each of his final nine games, and now has the primary TE role all to himself. I expect Johnson to log a full snap load and receive 6+ targets with a touchdown for good measure, making him a must-start for CFF purposes.

I am very bullish on Leavitt from a season-long perspective, as I think he bears all the hallmarks of a successful Lane Kiffin quarterback, i.e. Matt Corral and Jaxson Dart. However, early in the year there are simply too many other quarterbacks facing lower-level G6 opponents to start Leavitt against a top-25 opponent with a solid defense. Be safe and sit Leavitt while starting a less-heralded QB like Malik Washington (FCS Hampton) or Steve Angeli (FCS UNH), players who should gas it up against inferior competition. 

Ford played only nine games in each of the last two years due to multiple nagging injuries that cut short two more games in both 2024 and 2025. In last year's opener he received 26 carries for 113 yards at Hawaii. In his next game (two Weeks later following Bye) he only saw 12 carries for 21 yards vs. an excellent BYU defense. 

Last week, Ford rushed 25 times for 99 yards vs. Hawaii. Stanford now has the displeasure of playing on a short week vs. a vicious Miami Hurricanes defense that is going to be living in its backfield. Stanford ranked second to last in yards per successful rush and dead last with an almost impossible .01 yards before contact last year. That is a recipe for disaster for Stanford and Ford. Don't get swayed by his three-touchdown performance against Hawaii, the sugar high wears off Friday night against the U.

Richardson is one of my favorite CFF wideouts this year, as he has an unnatural ability to create separation out of his breaks and now has the pleasure of playing for the Brohm brothers at Louisville. While his 38% deep target rate at Vanderbilt last year is enticing, the prospect of starting Richardson on the road at The Grove vs. Pete Golding's upper-tier SEC defense is a dangerous proposition. Best leave him on the bench in Week 1 and deploy Richardson next week against Villanova if he gets a steady stream of targets versus the Rebels. 

At Florida State, 65% of Pittman's snaps came from the slot and another 5% out wide, creating a 70% flex rate. An 8.2-yard average target depth and 18.5% deep-target rate supplied intermediate and vertical access. However he's now at SMU and has to compete for snaps with inline viking Theo Melin Ohrstrom. Throw in a somewhat compromised QB Kevin Jennings, who suffered a broken finger in camp, and there's too much conjecture to trust Pittman in Week 1 before we have a better idea of his snap count and usage rate.

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