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: There’s no TNF! Curses!
Sunday Early Games
Matchup: Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans
Start of the Game
Will Fuller – Wide Receiver – Houston Texans
Fun fact. In the four games Will Fuller has played this year (we’ll discount that one quarter against the Ravens), he’s scored 19.20, 15.40, 22.80 and 15.80 points. The Titans are coming off the shortest week you can have and despite dominating the Bills, still allowed Stefon Diggs to catch for over 100 yards.
Other Notable Starts
Houston Texans – Brandin Cooks – Wide Receiver
Tennessee Titans – AJ Brown – Wide Receiver, Jonnu Smith – Tight End
Sit of the Game
Darren Fells – Tight End – Houston Texans
His performance against the Jags is not a sign of things to come, you can’t rely on a Tight End to catch a 40+ yard score every game (see also, Jared Cook). If Fells doesn’t find the endzone then his fantasy production looks poor. The Titans D is decent enough against TEs to make me swerve Fells this week.
Other Notable Sits
Houston Texans – David Johnson – Running Back
Tennessee Titans – N/A
Matchup: Cincinnati Bengals @ Indianapolis Colts
Start of the Game
Jonathan Taylor – Running Back – Indianapolis Colts
This game is an exciting matchup, kinda, sorta. Except for Fantasy purposes. On one side you’ve got an exciting rookie quarterback who has no offensive line and on the other you’ve got a team who has an offensive line but is lacking a quarterback. Ergo, defer to the offensive line and the team’s lead back. Step forward Jonathan Taylor, putting up similar production to Edwards-Helaire on the Chiefs.
Other Notable Starts
Cincinnati Bengals – Tyler Boyd – Wide Receiver
Indianapolis Colts – N/A
Sit of the Game
T.Y Hilton – Wide Receiver – Indianapolis Colts
As a man who is invested in Eugene this year, I’m very disappointed with what the Colts offense has served up in the air. With a QB in Phillip Rivers who I can’t trust at the moment, Hilton has to be a sit going forward. He should be a WR1 but is performing at a WR2/3 right now.
Other Notable Sits
Cincinnati Bengals – AJ Green – Wide Receiver
Indianapolis Colts – Phillip Rivers – Quarterback
Matchup: Atlanta Falcons @ Minnesota Vikings
Start of the Game
Justin Jefferson – Wide Receiver – Minnesota Vikings
A change in Head Coach was a much needed action taken by the Falcons but it doesn’t instantly resolve this horrific defense which I predict will be torn apart by Adam ‘More Than A’ Thielen and a future Fantasy WR1 in Justin Jefferson.
Other Notable Starts
Atlanta Falcons – Calvin Ridley – Wide Receiver
Minnesota Vikings – Alexander Mattison – Running Back
Sit of the Game
Hayden Hurst – Tight End – Atlanta Falcons
It’s with great sadness that for one week – and I hope it stays at one week – that I disembark the Good Ship Hayden Hurst and say that whilst Matt Ryan isn’t subpar and the Falcons are playing catch-up from the start of the second quarter, Hayden Hurst will not be as successful as this scribe would like.
Other Notable Sits
Atlanta Falcons – Matt Ryan – Quarterback
Minnesota Vikings – N/A
Matchup: Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots
Start of the Game
Phillip Lindsay – Running Back – Denver Broncos
This game is a total mystery, will Cam be healthy? Will MGIII play after his DUI arrest this week? Will they even play the game?! Let’s assume they are and let’s also assume MGIII doesn’t play…Welcome back Phillip Lindsay! I especially like him for PPR leagues.
Other Notable Starts
Denver Broncos – Jerry Jeudy – Wide Receiver
New England Patriots – Damien Harris – Running Back
Sit of the Game
Tim Patrick – Wide Receiver – Denver Broncos
Patrick looked good against the Jets in Week 4 but come on…It’s the Jets. For any of you thinking that he’ll be the go-to-guy against the Patriots, I’m here to temper your expectations. Yes, he may see a few targets but I don’t think he’ll be your Seahawks/Saints bye-week solution.
Other Notable Sits
Denver Broncos – Drew Lock – Quarterback
New England Patriots – N/A
Matchup: Washington Football Team @ New York Giants
Start of the Game
Terry McLaurin – Wide Receiver – Washington Football Team
The Kyle Allen/Alex Smith-Scary Terry connection wasn’t there against the Rams, but let’s not panic. The Rams are legit on the defensive side of the ball and I am backing McLaurin to get back on track against the porous Giants. He gets a minimum of 7 targets a game and whilst he only has one score, there’s enough there to keep me interested.
Other Notable Starts
Washington Football Team – Antonio Gibson – Running Back
New York Giants – Evan Engram – Tight End, Daniel Jones – Quarterback
Sit of the Game
Darius Slayton – Wide Receiver – New York Giants
Nothing personal, Darius. Just that Washington defend the Wide Receiver pretty darned well and whilst I think Danny Dimes will go well, it could be a day for the the third/fourth option on his reads. Find an alternative to Slayton if you can.
Other Notable Sits
Washington Football Team – N/A
New York Giants – Devonta Freeman – Running Back
Matchup: Baltimore Ravens @ Philadelphia Eagles
Start of the Game
Marquise Brown – Wide Receiver – Baltimore Ravens
This guy is on the verge of being a WR1 but the Ravens offense just hasn’t felt 100% yet. Hollywood Brown going up against a leaky Eagles secondary sounds like the kind of matchup that builds confidence in your passing game. The artificial boos could be back this Sunday.
Other Notable Starts
Baltimore Ravens – Mark Andrews – Tight End
Philadelphia Eagles – Travis Fulgham – Wide Receiver
Sit of the Game
Carson Wentz – Quarterback – Philadelphia Eagles
Wentz has thrown 2+ INTs in four out of five games so far this season, has yet to break 300 passing yards and has thrown for 2+ TDs just twice in those five games. Going up against this Ravens team concerns me. Wentz is currently toxic to your Fantasy team.
Other Notable Sits
Baltimore Ravens – N/A
Philadelphia Eagles – N/A
Matchup: Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Start of the Game
Ben Roethlisberger – Quarterback – Pittsburgh Steelers
I know, I’m as shocked as you are. I wasn’t exactly up on Big Ben this off-season but he’s hovering at 20 fantasy points a week and now has JuJu, Claypool, Diontae, Ebron to target against a Cleveland secondary that likes to give up points to QBs and WRs. It’s difficult to nail down a specific WR so if you’re a QB streamer, why not go with the guy throwing them the balls?
Other Notable Starts
Cleveland Browns – Odell Beckham Jr – Wide Receiver
Pittsburgh Steelers – Chase Claypool – Wide Receiver, Eric Ebron – Tight End
Sit of the Game
Austin Hooper – Tight End – Cleveland Browns
A solid performance from Hooper last week with five catches for 57 yards but I don’t envisage him replicating that this Sunday. The Steelers are stingy when it comes to Tight Ends and I frankly don’t see Hooper being an exception to this rule.
Other Notable Sits
Cleveland Browns – D’Ernest Johnson – Running Back
Pittsburgh Steelers – James Connor – Running Back
Matchup: Chicago Bears @ Carolina Panthers
Start of the Game
David Montgomery – Running Back – Chicago Bears
I’ve not been that high on Montgomery but this is a good matchup for him against the Panthers. They rank 32nd in Fantasy against Running Backs and I expect to see Montgomery have better production against a weaker D-Line than the ones he faced in Tampa and the Colts this last fortnight.
Other Notable Starts
Chicago Bears – N/A
Carolina Panthers – Mike Davis – Running Back
Sit of the Game
D.J Moore – Wide Receiver – Carolina Panthers
I hate to go against a surname-sake here but the Bears rank second against Wide Receivers and Moore struggled a fortnight ago against the number five ranked Cardinals D. Interesting note: Moore hasn’t been targeted in the redzone since Week 1.
Other Notable Sits
Chicago Bears – N/A
Carolina Panthers – N/A
Matchup: Detroit Lions @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Start of the Game
James Robinson – Running Back – Jacksonville Jaguars
This is the last time I’ll tell you, this kid is an RB1 for the rest of the year. The Lions are leaky against the run and I’m backing J-Rob to have a big day after a quiet outing against the Texans.
Other Notable Starts
Detroit Lions – T.J Hockenson – Tight End , Kenny Golladay – Wide Receiver
Jacksonville Jaguars – Laviska Shenault – Wide Receiver
Sit of the Game
Kerryon Johnson – Running Back – Detroit Lions
Things aren’t looking great for Johnson in Detroit. 21 carries across four games? A total of 88 scrimmage yards and one score? Yuck. Yes, the Jags are weak against the run but he’s now looking like being the RB3 in Detroit. Avoid.
Other Notable Sits
Detroit Lions – N/A
Jacksonville Jaguars – N/A
For the latest on each player’s start and sit status, make sure you checkout @F10YFantasy on Twitter. Remember, keep those #EyesPeeled.