PATRIOTS GAME CHANGER: My impact player for the Pats week 1 is RB James White. Bill Belichick’s backfield is always a crapshoot and I’m not saying White will punch his ticket for significant playing time all season, but I think this is his week. LeGarrette Blount has to sit out, which leaves touches up for grabs. Yes, Brandon Bolden is the most tenured Patriots back, but we barely saw him in the preseason and I think his ceiling has already been exposed. Dion Lewis is just too small for me to think Belichick will utilize him outside of passing downs, and Travaris Cadet was brought in to be a third-down option but he’s another guy who has very little experience carrying the football. White showed some good vision and shiftiness against the Giants in the preseason finale, and he looked good between the tackles. While he was brought in to be an eventual Vereen replacement, I see a player who can be a very good combination in both the running game as well as the passing game. There isn’t a huge sample size from White, but let’s face it he was running behind Montee Ball and Melvin Gordon during his time at Wisconsin. I’m predicting between 15-20 total touches for White against Pittsburgh.

FANTASY FLOP OF THE WEEK: AJ Green. I really like AJ as a bounce back player in 2015, however I don’t think it’s going to happen week 1. The Bengals are heading to Oakland to take on the Raiders, and yes, the Raiders are far from a force to be reckoned with. However, there are some glaring matchup concerns for me in this one. First is Andy Dalton, I just don’t trust him. I’m sure he will get a pretty good rapport going with Green again as the season progresses, but there are two other targets in Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu. The Bengals also have a healthy Tyler Eifert returning to the lineup who can definitely steal some red zone looks from Green. More importantly, the running game is Cincinnati’s bread and butter. With a tandem as dangerous as Jeremy Hill and Gio Bernard, I think the offense will be looking to establish its identity on the ground early and often this season, especially since it is the best recipe for success for this team. On the other side of the ball, Oakland was the worst defense in allowing fantasy points to running backs last season, but amazingly allowed the 7th-fewest points to wide receivers. With that kind of discrepancy in the matchup, I can’t see the Bengals running any kind of game plan other than handing the ball off 30-40 times.

FANTASY SLEEPER OF THE WEEK: Leonard Hankerson. Hank has been making a lot of noise in the Falcons camp this summer, and he has the size/speed combo to legitimize the talk about him being a lethal slot WR this year. Again, I cannot ignore the matchups here. The Eagles defense was ranked dead last in points allowed to WRs in 2014, and it was also ranked 30th against QBs. Matt Ryan is sure to put up some huge numbers at home against such a porous defense, and with Julio Jones and Roddy White drawing most of the attention Hankerson should have plenty of opportunities, so long as he can stay on the field. Additionally, the Falcons have yet to establish a starting running back which could be more of a reason utilize the passing game, as if Matt Ryan wasn’t already enough.

LOCK OF THE WEEK: Seattle (-4) @ St. Louis. I am well aware that these are two of the top-5 defenses in the NFL, but I just don’t think the Rams have enough offense to keep up. Despite the teams splitting their games in 2014, Russell Wilson threw for 552 yards and 2 TDs, and ran for another 106 yards and a TD in 2 games (including a week 17 bout that brought abbreviated playing time for Seattle starters). Marshawn Lynch is healthy and ready to go, and the team has the big addition of Jimmy Graham, which can only mean good things for that offense. I think Seattle still has a sour taste in its mouth after a disappointing SuperBowl loss, and Pete Carroll & Co will certainly be sharp out of the gate. The Rams won in St. Louis last year because of some trickery on special teams- don’t count on that happening again. I see the Seahawks winning by at least 10 points, scoring TDs while the Rams are held to FGs.