I'm back to defend my finish in last year's Fantasy Index Blackout competition. Well, there's no defending it. I think one week along the line I came in 3rd or 5th or something. But I'm pretty sure my overall performance was mediocre. But it's a new season, we're all starting at zero. Anyone can win.
In this competition, each week's high score (standard scoring) will win a $25 Fantasy Index gift certificate, and the season champ will win an enviable prize package, which may be delivered to your door if you happen to live near me.
How to play: Sign into your Fantasy Index account and click the blue "Your stuff" button in the top right corner. Then look for the link to Fantasy Index Blackout on the right side of the page. Pretty simple.
Here's my Week 1 lineup.
Quarterback: Matthew Stafford and Deshaun Watson. Stafford, as discussed in the Weekly, is a fast starter. I think I first noticed this a couple of years ago, and he has kept on doing it. Home against the Jets in primetime? Sure. Watson lit up New England's defense a year ago. I can't be certain he will again, but I thought I'd aim for the stars with Watson this week.
Running back: Alvin Kamara and Saquon Barkley. Kamara had two big games against Tampa Bay last year, and Mark Ingram averaged 17 touches in those games. Mike Gillislee isn't Ingram and he's not getting that kind of workload, no way no how. I'm sure they don't want to overwork Kamara the next four weeks, but he'll get off to a nice start. With Barkley, I'm just figuring, if he's going to be a great one, recent history suggests he'll show it in his first start. I want a piece of that. (Though I'm tempted to use Adrian Peterson against Arizona, or perhaps James Conner against Cleveland.)
Wide receiver: A.J. Green, Michael Thomas, JuJu Smith-Schuster. Am I the only one who always has to look up whether it's Smith-Schuster or Schuster-Smith? Anyway, tricky part here is narrowing it down to just 3. Lot of great No. 1 wideouts, and of course our favorite No. 2. I considered a lot of other guys but can't pass up Green versus the Colts and Thomas versus the Bucs. Since Antonio Brown is blacked out, I'll take Smith-Schuster-Smith. I also thought about Marvin Jones versus the Jets, to try the Stafford-Jones stack, plus I love Marvin Jones. I have a few days to consider switching.
Tight end: Jimmy Graham and Jordan Reed. Nothing too fancy here. Graham, because I think Rodgers will try to make his new tight end feel at home early on. Reed, because it's the one week all season I can be sure he'll be healthy.
Kicker: Matt Prater and Greg Zuerlein. Prater to further cash in on Stafford and the Lions offense having a big game. Zuerlein to get a small piece of the ugly beating the Rams are going to put on the Raiders this week.
Defense/Special Teams: Chargers and Titans. Chargers are one of my favorite defenses this year, and home against a young quarterback making his first meaningful start is appealing. I considered the Bengals, Broncos and Rams for the second spot, but am opting for the Titans on the suspicion that the Dolphins have assembled a poor team that's going to have a really tough year.
Good luck to the rest of you.