By Dave Moore (@davieremixed)
Without doubt, the biggest head scratcher of a fantasy football player is deciding who to start in their line-up each week. There is nothing worse than leaving a game on your bench and spending the entirety of the next week dwelling in hindsight.
Whether you’re in 1 league or 100 leagues, setting your line-ups is the most crucial part of your fantasy week and we’re here to let you know which players are in the best environments to boom and which are most likely destined to bust.
Don’t forget to keep your #EyesPeeled for tomorrow’s podcast where we dive into a full preview of the weekend games and make sure you head over to Twitter (@F10YFantasy) for “Start ‘em, sit ‘em, GIF ‘EM!”.
Spoiler alert: I don’t think Colt McCoy/Charles Boyle will be the undoing of Seattle.
Sunday Late Games
Matchup: Los Angeles Rams @ Arizona Cardinals
Start of the Game
Robert Woods – Wide Receiver – Los Angeles Rams
Bobby Trees on the road this year has been something of a revelation as he has yet to score in single digits when playing outside of Los Angeles. This bodes well against an Arizona team who aren’t shutting down WRs, they’ve given up more receptions to WRs than teams such as the Lions and Falcons. Fun Q, Woods is the WR4 across the entire league in PPR Fantasy, no peeking – who are the other four? Send us your guesses on Twitter.
Other Notable Starts
Los Angeles Rams – N/A
Arizona Cardinals – Chase Edmonds – Running Back
Sit of the Game
Christian Kirk – Wide Receiver – Arizona Cardinals
I’ve been rather up and down with my takes/opinions on Kirk this year and I’m not ashamed to say I’m down on this guy again. This is your last regular-season game in all likelihood and I’m not having a guy who’s not breached double-figure points in the last three weeks in my team when he faces off against a Rams D who rank #1 against WRs. No thank you.
Other Notable Sits
Los Angeles Rams – Cam Akers – Running Back
Arizona Cardinals – N/A
Matchup: New York Giants @ Seattle Seahawks
Start of the Game
Wayne Gallman – Running Back – New York Giants
T’is the season for that guy who you thought wouldn’t really be a factor in Fantasy playoffs actually becoming kind of a big deal. Likely no Danny Dimes for the G-Men so I’m expecting a big old dose of Wayne Gallman. Don’t be put off by Seattle’s improved D, with Colt McCoy taking the snaps, I can’t see anything other than a heavy run-game from New York.
Other Notable Starts
New York Giants- N/A
Seattle Seahawks – N/A
Sit of the Game
Colt McCoy – Quarterback – New York Giants
I know. You had Danny Dimes and TB12 in your team and you thought you were set up for a good old playoff run. But no! Tampa are on a bye the week Daniel Jones tweaks his hamstring! Disaster! In your darkest hour, do not turn to Colt McCoy who is going to be handing this ball off so many times we’ll see a sub-three hour game in Seattle. Please, look elsewhere. I implore you. Sidebar – Doesn’t he look like Boyle from Brooklyn Nine-Nine?
Other Notable Sits
New York Giants- Darius Slayton – Wide Receiver
Seattle Seahawks – Carlos Hyde – Running Back
Matchup: Philadelphia Eagles @ Green Bay Packers
Start of the Game
Robert Tonyan – Tight End – Green Bay Packers
Another guy I’ve been up and down with this year. I honestly thought that his hat-trick of TDs in Week 4 against a rubbish Atlanta D was a flash in the pan but the last two weeks have proved me wrong as he’s continued to produce. This week it’s Philly at home and Bobby Funion (yep) has earned that TE4 rank leaguewide.
Other Notable Starts
Philadelphia Eagles – Dallas Goedert – Tight End
Green Bay Packers – Allen Lazard – Wide Receiver
Sit of the Game
Zach Ertz – Tight End – Philadelphia Eagles
With his return from IR coming a week or two too late for the Eagles to be relevant in the NFC East, I also believe his return is too soon for your matchup this week. Yes, he’s an improvement but the Packers are good against TEs and I suspect a limited workload for Ertz in this contest.
Other Notable Sits
Philadelphia Eagles – Carson Wentz – Quarterback
Green Bay Packers – N/A
Matchup: New England Patriots @ Los Angeles Chargers
Start of the Game
Keenan Allen – Wide Receiver- Los Angeles Chargers
Another Patriots game, another ugly day for Fantasy matchups. Despite the inevitable attention he’ll receive from Stephon Gilmore I have to like Keenan Allen to continue his hot streak (five straight games with a score) and potentially extinguish New England’s playoff hopes.
Other Notable Starts
New England Patriots – Cam Newton – Quarterback
Los Angeles Chargers – Austin Ekeler – Running Back
Sit of the Game
Hunter Henry – Tight End – Los Angeles Chargers
I’m setting myself up to look like an absolute fool here but I cannot shake what Darth Bill did to Darren Waller in Week 3 when he just evaporated him a game after he eviscerated the Saints. The Pats are top five against TEs and I just sense a letdown game from a guy who’s been outstanding this year. I hope I’m wrong but I’ve just got a feeling.
Other Notable Starts
New England Patriots – Jakobi Meyers – Wide Receiver
Los Angeles Chargers – N/A
Sunday Night Football
Matchup: Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs
Start of the Game
Clyde Edwards-Helaire – Running Back – Kansas City Chiefs
Let’s face it. If you have a Chiefs QB1/WR1/RB/TE1 then you’re starting them right? The only ‘maybe’ there is Edwards-Helaire who was quiet against the Bucs because Tyreek Hill was so loud. That’s what so great about this Chiefs team but also awful for Fantasy, they can beat you in so many ways. In their four in-division games this year, CEH has cracked double digits, last time out recording two scores against the Raiders. That’s good enough for me.
Other Notable Starts
Denver Broncos – Melvin Gordon III – Running Back
Kansas City Chiefs – Demarcus Robinson – Wide Receiver
Sit of the Game
Jerry Jeudy – Wide Receiver – Denver Broncos
I seem to be discounting all good fantasy performances against the Falcons because…You know why. With that, Jerry Jeudy’s not had a fun second half of the season after opening with such promise. Back in Week 7 when the Broncos hosted Kansas he managed just 2/20. I expect more of the same when they travel to Arrowhead Sunday night.
Other Notable Sits
Denver Broncos – Drew Lock – Quarterback
Kansas City Chiefs – Sammy Watkins – Wide Receiver
Monday Night Football
Matchup: Washington Football Team @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Start of the Game
J.D McKissic – Running Back – Washington Football Team
Voting against the Steelers D is a crazy thing to do but Bud Dupree is a huge loss for them and I think this is a trap game for Pittsburgh. Over the last four weeks, McKissic is just outside the top 10 for RBs which is pretty good going for a team’s RB2. I like him especially in PPR match-ups this week.
Other Notable Starts
Washington Football Team – N/A
Pittsburgh Steelers – JuJu Smith-Schuster – Wide Receiver
Sit of the Game
Benny Snell Jr – Running Back – Pittsburgh Steelers
On the other hand, I’m not trusting the Steelers run game at the moment (or much at all throughout the season) and I love the way Washington’s front seven are playing at the moment. Snell was a letdown against the Ravens when you’d have expected a much bigger day from him and the Steelers in general. I don’t trust him to be ‘the guy’ for your RB2 spot this week.
Other Notable Sits
Washington Football Team – Alex Smith – Quarterback
Pittsburgh Steelers – Diontae Johnson – Wide Receiver
Matchup: Buffalo Bills @ San Francisco 49ers
Start of the Game
Deebo Samuel – Wide Receiver – San Francisco 49ers
What a return for Samuel against the Rams whose line was 11/133/1 and I like him again this week against a Bills team whose D has improved but still blows hot and cold. If you take the last three games he’s played, he’s totalled an average of over 17 PPG.
Other Notable Starts
Buffalo Bills – Cole Beasley – Wide Receiver
San Francisco 49ers – Jordan Reed – Tight End
Sit of the Game
Zack Moss – Running Back – Buffalo Bills
As I’ve been at pains to say throughout these previews, this is one of the more important weeks of your season. As such, do you want to put a Bills RB in who is basically a coin flip for carries/scores against a resurgent 49ers team? Don’t do it.
Other Notable Sits
Buffalo Bills – Dawson Knox – Tight End
San Francisco 49ers – N/A
Tuesday Night Football
Matchup: Dallas Cowboys @ Baltimore Ravens
Start of the Game
CeeDee Lamb – Wide Receiver – Dallas Cowboys
It feels weird that these two teams previous game are six days apart but there was no bye week involved. 2020, I guess. Either way, the Ravens played their hearts out against the Steelers but came up short, additionally they suffered yet more injuries on the defensive side of the ball which leaves the door open to CeeDee Lamb to bounce back after a poor showing against Washington.
Other Notable Starts
Dallas Cowboys – Michael Gallup – Wide Receiver
Baltimore Ravens – Marquise Brown – Wide Receiver, Gus Edwards – Running Back
Sit of the Game
Ezekiel Elliott – Running Back – Dallas Cowboys
Yup. I’ve had enough. I thought a fortnight ago that this was the return of the Zeke that’s been a top five RB in Fantasy. His fumbling issues are excusable if the play calls were sound but they’re not. You cannot go into a must-win game this week with Zeke as your RB1 unless you’re totally desperate.
Other Notable Sits
Dallas Cowboys – N/A
Baltimore Ravens – Robert Griffin III – Quarterback
For the latest on each player’s start and sit status, make sure you checkout @F10YFantasy on Twitter. Remember, keep those #EyesPeeled.