Colts Fantasy: Start ‘Em and Sit ‘Em for Week 1

Hello all you fantasy football lovers (that is nearly everyone by now, right?).

As excited as you are for the Colts’ season to kickoff, you might be frantically scratching your head on which Colts to start on your fantasy team. Although I am not a professional expert, I hope I can give you solid advice that will help you dominate your league.

The “If-You-Don’t-Start-Me-You’re-Crazy” Guys:

Andrew Luck is the most sure thing the Colts have in the fantasy world (and probably the real world, too). Luck lit the Broncos up in their meeting last season to the tune of 257 yards, four touchdowns and no turnovers. Unlike last year’s game, the Colts will now have Dwayne Allen and Hakeem Nicks in this game. Not to mention an improved and more experienced Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Fleener and all the other young guys. I expect this to be a very high scoring affair with both team’s scoring over 30 points. On top of that, I think the Colts will be down for much of this game and will be forced to have Luck air it out all over the field. Not counting Luck’s rushing attempts against Denver last year, the team had 27 rushing attempts. I have a feeling that it will be more like 20 rushing attempts Sunday night. All things considered, Luck should finish as a top-five fantasy quarterback this week.

I think Adam Vinatieri will end up as the number one kicker for week one. I already mentioned how I think this will be a high scoring affair, and Vinatieri will be sure to get his foot into a lot of the action. In his last game against the Broncos, Vinatieri finished 3/3 on field goals (long of 52 yards) and 4/4 on extra points. His performance was good for 16 fantasy points (his second highest output all season).

The “I’m-Not-Your-First-Option-But-I-Could-Help-You” Guys:

Literally every pass-catcher for the Colts. For as many points the Colts are going to score, it’s hard to feel strong about any one receiving option. Hilton has definitely come into his own since the Colts and Broncos last met, but he wasn’t too special in their first matchup: just two catches for 27 yards. The good news, however, was that he got 11 targets. I do think Hilton will end up as the receiving leader against Broncos, but he might be too touchdown dependent to start in standard scoring leagues. IF you’re in a points-per-reception league, Hilton is a strong WR2 option this week.

Reggie Wayne, Hakeem Nicks, Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen would all be scary starts this week. Wayne would probably be the safest play, but like Hilton, if it’s a standard scoring league, you REALLY need him to get a touchdown. Nicks, Fleener and Allen are all toss-ups. If you can strongly predict where all of Luck’s passes will go, kudos to you. It just seems like too much of a risk to start any of these guys unless you have no other option.

The “You-Must-Be-Throwing-In-The-Towel” Guy:

Trent-freaking-Richardson. Look, I know a lot of people drafted Richardson because it seemed like good value for a starting running back, but this just isn’t a good week to start him (well, will there every be GOOD week?). Richardson led the Colts in rushing attempts last year against the Broncos – 14 rushes for 37 yards – and that was with the Colts have a decent lead for most of the game. Richardson not being able to do much when the Colts were ahead is not a good sign for what is about to come. I don’t expect the Colts to ever be up multiple scores on Sunday night, and playing from behind might take Richardson out of the game plan totally. If you are in a terrible situation where you are forced to start Richardson, just hope with all your might that he gets a shot yardage touchdown.

There you have it for week one. I apologize if it was a little broad, but it’s hard to put a finger on a lot of things before the team plays at least one game. I will do this post every week, and it should get more detailed and specific after we see players fit into their roles.