Picking your first NFL survivor team in your knockout pool presents plenty of challenges.
Going with too obvious a fantasy football game pick can leave you vulnerable to an upset, as we've seen happen in recent years with swaths of teams eliminated out of the gate.
Matchups of NFL teams in the same division often prove tricky as picks, as their familiarity with each other could, in many cases, tip the scales in either direction.
Keep tabs with us all season for the latest NFL news and analysis that show you how to win your survivor pools.
As the 2025 knockout pool season starts, target this NFC West squad who's on the road but should control the game on defense.
Best Week 1 NFL Survivor Pick
Arizona Cardinals (@ New Orleans Saints)
The Cardinals are coming into 2025 with one of the more improved defensive units in the NFL. They used free agency and the NFL Draft to bring in assets on that end.
The offense is still a question mark, but it has the talent to be productive. As far as the Saints go, their offense is going to be atrocious; there is no other way to put it.
Even if the Cardinals have a bad day on offense, their defense should have little problem facing Spencer Rattler as the Saints starter.
FANTASY WEEK 1 RANKINGS: QB | RB | WR | TE | DST | PK | Non-PPR Flex