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    Should You Start Jahan Dotson Week 1 in Fantasy Football Against the Cardinals?

    Commanders WR Jahan Dotson has an incredible matchup in Week 1, but will he see enough volume to be a trustworthy option in fantasy football lineups?

    Jahan Dotson showed last season that he has the talent to be a factor in fantasy football, but QB play prevented him from reaching his true ceiling.

    Heading into Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season, the Washington Commanders are hopeful that Sam Howell can take a massive step forward to captain this offense and put their playmakers in advantageous situations. With this in mind, plus the fact that Terry McLaurin will be back and active for this game against Arizona, can you confidently start Dotson?

    Jahan Dotson’s Fantasy Outlook Against the Cardinals

    Dotson is the interesting option here and profiles as a boom/bust Flex play. As a rookie, he proved to be a tough cover near the end zone, as he turned seven red-zone targets into five scores. That’s the good. The bad … Arizona wasn’t routinely beaten downfield (league-low 30 deep completions allowed and the second-lowest opponent passer rating on those throws).

    Dotson was a random number generator when held without a 30-yard catch last season — three games with over 15 points, and the other five instances saw him fail to clear 6 points.

    I’ll chase the upside if my matchup dictates I do so this week, but I’m leaning toward any running back that can reach 15 touches this week over Dotson as my Flex option in most cases. He’s just outside my top 30 at the position this week.

    Should You Start Dotson in Week 1?

    Our Start/Sit Optimizer here at Pro Football Network offers incredible insight into the projections for a player every single week. These projections are generated from our PFN Consensus Rankings, which are updated with the latest news and information to help you set the best lineup to dominate your league this season.

    At the time of writing, Dotson has a projected total of 11.2 half-PPR points from the Start/Sit Optimizer. This means that he is currently ranked ahead of players like Michael Pittman Jr., Christian Kirk, George Pickens, and Zay Flowers.

    If you’re interested in seeing whether or not you should start Dotson, make sure to go to the Start/Sit Optimizer, input the players that you need to choose from, and make the best lineup decisions possible!

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