Fantasy Football Week 1 Projections: Wide Receivers (2010)

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The 2010 fantasy football season has arrived and it is time to make our fantasy football picks. Here are your Fantasy Football Week 1 projections for wide receivers.

Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers at New York Giants

Steve Smith Panthers may not have the best of quarterbacks on his side during the 2010 NFL season, but in Fantasy Football Week 1, he shouldn’t need one. With this being the opening week of the season, one should fully expect the Panthers to have a myriad of ways to get Steve Smith the ball. Whether it’s through screens, trick plays, isolations, reads, positioning, there’s no way the Panthers are going to fail to get to the ball to their best player in Week 1. Of course, it helps when they are going up against one of the NFL’s worst secondaries from 2009, as the Giants didn’t put up much of a fight against the passing game last season. With Aaron Ross and Corey Webster representing the best the Giants have to offer at the cornerback position, Smith has the clear advantage in the passing game. So you can have your doubts about Carolina Panthers quarterback Matt Moore if you want to, but for just one week, our Fantasy Football Week 1 projections have Steve Smith coming through for your fantasy team.

Steve Smith, New York Giants vs. Carolina Panthers

Of course, Steve Smith Giants might have something to say about all of that. Last year, it was the New York Giants wide receiver that was the best Steve Smith in the NFL, and if all things go as planned, that will be the case during the 2010 fantasy football season. Steve Smith certainly has the quarterback position on his side. With Eli Manning throwing him passes, we know that the Panthers Steve Smith has a more consistent pass-throwing giving him the ball. More importantly, the Giants offense is very much in favor of Smith, as they love to throw short passes on the sideline and to the slot position, which Smith does very well. The Panthers were pretty good at defending the pass last year, which would make the ordinary fantasy football owner hesitate to start him in Week 1. However, because Smith plays out of the slot so much and has a lot of Wes Welker in him, I find it hard to believe that any team can slow down the number of catches he gets without seriously jeopardizing their defensive integrity.

Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

You will have to forgive me for having so much faith in Roddy White and so little faith in the Steelers secondary, but I just don’t see how any of the Steelers cornerbacks can cover White in Fantasy Football Week 1. Last year, the Steelers showed some real weakness at the cornerback position, ultimately finishing 16th against the pass with Troy Polamalu in and out of the lineup. The expectation with Polamalu in the lineup is that the Steelers will go back to normal, but with their cornerbacks having been so exposed, expect the Atlanta Falcons and Matt Ryan to manipulate the whereabouts of the Steelers safety. When Polamalu is forced to defend Michael Turner and the Falcons rushing game, Ryan will immediately go to White, who has a tremendous mismatch against either of Pittsburgh’s cornerbacks. Knowing that, Roddy White very well could be on his way to a dominant fantasy football outing in Week 1 of the 2010 NFL season.

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