Clutch Score vs. Consensus: Week 1's Boldest Calls
Where our Clutch Score ranks players most differently than the experts do for Week 1: who we are starting above consensus, and who we are sitting.
The Clutch Score is our own projection of how a player scores this week, built from matchup, Vegas odds, usage and season projections rather than a poll of analysts. Most weeks it lands near expert consensus. Where it doesn't is the interesting part: a gap between our ranking and the field's is where a start/sit edge hides. These are our boldest calls for Week 1.
We line up each player's positional rank in our model against the experts' positional rank for the same week. A back we slot at RB12 whom the consensus has at RB20 is a +8 gap; the wider it is, the bolder the call. Both sides are weekly, so this is a disagreement about Sunday rather than about the season. Our biggest value is Josh Jacobs (RB45 to us, RB89 by consensus, +44), and our widest fade is Wan'Dale Robinson (WR56 vs WR36, -20).
These calls were locked in on Sep 9, 2026, 5:49 PM ET and do not change afterwards, so they can be checked against what actually happened.
Starts: where we’re higher than consensus
Players our model ranks meaningfully above the experts this week. If we’re right, these are the lineup calls the field is slower to make.
| Player | Our rank | Consensus | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
 RBJosh JacobsGB | RB45 | RB89 | +44 |
 RBKyle MonangaiQCHI | RB22 | RB43 | +21 |
 WRDeebo SamuelSF | WR39 | WR57 | +18 |
 WRJordan AddisonMIN | WR26 | WR44 | +18 |
 WRJalen CokerCAR | WR27 | WR45 | +18 |
 WRQuentin JohnstonLAC | WR23 | WR40 | +17 |
 WRAlec PierceIND | WR37 | WR52 | +15 |
 RBChris RodriguezJAX | RB29 | RB42 | +13 |
 WRMike EvansSF | WR15 | WR28 | +13 |
 WRBrian ThomasJAX | WR29 | WR41 | +12 |
 RBBlake CorumLAR | RB28 | RB39 | +11 |
 RBKenny GainwellTB | RB21 | RB31 | +10 |
 WRLadd McConkeyLAC | WR6 | WR16 | +10 |
 WRRomeo DoubsNE | WR40 | WR50 | +10 |
 TEMark AndrewsBAL | TE4 | TE14 | +10 |
Sits: where we’re lower than consensus
Players our model ranks below the experts this week. Not bad players, just ones whose matchup this week reads worse to us than to the field.
| Player | Our rank | Consensus | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
 WRWan'Dale RobinsonQTEN | WR56 | WR36 | -20 |
 TEKyle PittsATL | TE20 | TE5 | -15 |
 WRMarvin HarrisonARI | WR47 | WR33 | -14 |
 TETucker KraftQGB | TE22 | TE8 | -14 |
 WRMichael WilsonARI | WR50 | WR37 | -13 |
 WRChris GodwinTB | WR42 | WR29 | -13 |
 WRNico CollinsHOU | WR20 | WR8 | -12 |
 WRChris OlaveNO | WR18 | WR7 | -11 |
 WRStefon DiggsWAS | WR57 | WR46 | -11 |
 TETyler WarrenQIND | TE15 | TE4 | -11 |
 TEJuwan JohnsonNO | TE21 | TE10 | -11 |
 RBRhamondre StevensonNE | RB32 | RB21 | -11 |
 WRTerry McLaurinWAS | WR38 | WR27 | -11 |
 RBTyler AllgeierARI | RB50 | RB40 | -10 |
 RBTravis EtienneNO | RB24 | RB15 | -9 |
Rankings reflect FantasyPros expert consensus (PPR); projections via Sleeper. Generated live, so the names update as consensus moves.