Fantasy Research: Five Players to Watch in Week 1 of Preseason

A quarterback battle in Tampa Bay and rookies trying to make a good first impression highlight the first weekend of preseason action.

Week 1 of the preseason kicks off Thursday evening and unlike last week’s Hall of Fame Game, you can expect to see starters on the field, at least for a few series.

Plenty of rookies -- No. 1 pick Bryce Young and No. 2 pick C.J. Stroud among them -- will take their first NFL snaps as position battles play out around the league. Performance in these games can potentially be informative as players jockey for an edge, so it’s important for fantasy managers to monitor these situations in the lead up to the start of the season.

Here are five players to keep an eye on this week:

Baker Mayfield, QB, Buccaneers

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Tampa Bay’s first depth chart listed Mayfield “or” Kyle Trask at QB1, an indication that neither player has pulled ahead in the fight to replace Tom Brady. Head coach Todd Bowles said Mayfield will start the team’s first preseason game against the Steelers on Friday and Trask will start Week 2 versus the Jets. Mayfield, the first overall pick in 2018, is onto his fourth team in three years while Trask, a 2021 second-round pick has only appeared in one game across two seasons.

Whoever wins the job will be a marked downgrade from Brady, but it’s still a hugely important battle for fantasy purposes given its obvious impact on Rachaad White (RB24), Chris Godwin (WR27) and Mike Evans (WR30).

Clayton Tune, QB, Cardinals

Colt McCoy will play Friday night against the Broncos, per coach Jonathan Gannon, but Tune is apparently making a case to be the team’s Week 1 starter. Tune, a fifth-round rookie, threw for over 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns in his final year at Houston and he's been dubbed one of the standouts in training camp. The winner of the McCoy-Tune battle will only hold the job until Kyler Murray returns from a torn ACL, though.

It’s unclear what the snap distribution will be between McCoy and Tune in the first preseason game and beyond but this battle certainly matters for James Conner (RB23) and Marquise Brown (WR34) as long as Murray is sidelined.

Tank Bigsby, RB, Jaguars

Bigsby’s stock has steadily risen as he’s impressed in training camp with highlight plays and preseason might provide Bigsby an even larger stage to shine on against the Cowboys on Saturday. However, Jacksonville’s coaching staff recently pumped the brakes on the idea of the rookie eating into Travis Etienne Jr.'s workload. “No, I think you’ve still got to be careful with how much you expand his role,” head coach Doug Pederson said earlier this week. “I think he’s done a nice job so far, there’s still some learning to do and some growing to do as a rookie."

Bigsby, who was selected in the third round out of Auburn, was listed ahead of JaMycal Hasty on the team’s first depth chart and behind Etienne. He’s currently coming off the board outside the top 150 (RB51) many rounds after Etienne (RB13).

Marvin Mims, WR, Broncos

Denver traded up in the second round to select Mims, an early indication Sean Payton had an affinity for the Oklahoma product. And after Tim Patrick was lost for the year to an Achilles tear, Mims’s role as a deep threat became even more important. Mims is currently the WR3 on the depth chart behind Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton and is also listed as the starting kick and punt returner. He should get his first game action Friday against the Cardinals.

Russell Wilson is going to play in Friday’s game — he did not appear in any preseason games in 2022, his first year with the Broncos — so fans will get a chance to see Wilson look for Mims downfield. Mims (WR81) is going at a steep discount compared to Jeudy (WR23) and Sutton (WR44).

Jonathan Mingo, WR, Panthers

At least some of the Mingo training camp hype was validated when the second-rounder out of Ole Miss was listed as a starter on Carolina’s depth chart earlier this week. He was notably ahead of Terrace Marshall Jr., a 2021 second-round pick. Mingo and Young have hooked up for some highlight-worthy plays and now they’ll test that connection against the Jets on Saturday.

All of the Panthers receivers are available late in drafts but veterans Adam Thielen (WR49) and DJ Chark (WR63) are both going earlier than Mingo (WR66). Rookie quarterbacks have historically had a tough time supporting fantasy-relevant pass-catchers but this connection is at least worth watching. Mingo was Carolina’s next pick after Young went first overall.