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In the Trenches - Week 1

Ryan Shazier, SteelersWeek 1 of the NFL season is finally upon us and, as with every season, fantasy gamers are eager to lock in their line ups. However, the first game week always poses some difficult questions as the preseason hype products and training camp studs have been garnering column inches which has their owners hankering to plug them in as starters. This week I’m going to take a look at how the PFF Staff rankings for Week 1 differ from the rest of the IDP experts over at FantasyPros.com and make sure you’re fielding an optimal line up rather than following the consensus.

Defensive Lineman:

Key:

RM = Ross Miles, JR = Jeff Ratcliffe, NH = Nate Hodges, PFF = Consensus PFF ranking, FPros = FantasyPros.com IDP experts

Player Opp RM JR NH PFF FPros DIFF
Cliff Avril vs GB 24 23 25 25 33 8
Gerald McCoy vs CAR 26 27 24 26 37 11
Brian Robison at STL 28 28 26 28 42 14
Michael Bennett vs SEA 40 36 36 42 25 -17

Two players in season opener, Seattle at Green Bay, need a second look if they are on your roster before you settle down with a cold one tonight. Cliff Avril gets the nod from the PFF panel who all have him around the bottom of the DL2 tier this week at CenturyLink Field, whereas the rest of the IDP experts believe Avril is firmly rooted as a low end DL3, which means on your bench in all but the deepest leagues. Avril is projected to see more time on the field this season, especially from the productive Leo role in the aggressive Seahawks defense, following the departure of Chris Clemons to Jacksonville, which will help his increase his snap total from 574 last year. It should also be noted that the Packers O-Line gave up 28 sacks last season, the 8th-most in the league, so it’s not a bad match-up either.

Michael Bennett is the second Seahawk on the list, but he’s a player who is being downgraded by the PFF crew, who have him 17 spots lower than the consensus as the No. 25 defensive lineman. That seems a little heavy handed for a player who recorded under 30 total tackles last season, and only more than two solo tackles in two games in 2013, and didn’t put up a single multi sack game.

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Ross Miles is a Lead Writer for Pro Football Focus Fantasy. Follow him on Twitter –@PFF_RossMiles

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