By Andrew Doherty
With the fantasy playoffs just around the corner, each start and sit decision becomes more critical. Nobody needs me to tell them to start Justin Jefferson or Travis Kelce, so it’ll be your regularly scheduled programming of less obvious starts and sits in this article. Between bye weeks and injuries, you may playing the matchups game this week like I am in several leagues. As always, I advise starting your studs, but each player mentioned in this column I’d have no hesitation to start personally. Here’s what I have for you this week:
Quarterback to start
Daniel Jones
There’s no need to overthink this one. Danny Dimes is facing a Lions defense allowing the most points per game in the league and as always offers a safe floor with his rushing prowess. This week should be a “ceiling” game for Jones.
Quarterback to sit
Kirk Cousins
It’s a brutal matchup this week for Cousins against a Cowboys defense that’s allowing only 181.7 passing yards per game. As anyone who’s watched Dallas play this year knows, they excel at getting pressure on the quarterback. That’s bad news for anyone starting Cousins this week, as Cousins ranks outside the top 20 quarterbacks in passing rating when under pressure.
Running backs to start
David Montgomery
With Khalil Herbert unavailable, Montgomery is in line for a potentially huge workload. While his upside may be capped due to Justin Fields rushing ability and the threat to see rushing touchdowns vultured, he does have the benefit of going up against a Falcons defense that ranks 27th in adjusted rush defense.
Antonio Gibson
You can start either of the backs in Washington’s backfield in this matchup, but Gibson gets the nod here because of his pass catching ability. The Texans run defense has been abysmal all season long, allowing the leagues most rushing yards per game.
Running backs to sit
James Conner
Conner’s matchup this week is about as bad as it gets for a running back. San Francisco allows only 63 rush yards per game this year, along with allowing the fewest fantasy points per game to opposing running backs.
James Robinson
As a general rule, I tend to stay away from split backfields in games that are projected to be low scoring. This weeks matchup has an over/under of 38, and the Patriots are allowing only 84 rushing yards per game this season.
Wide receivers to start
Kadarius Toney
With Mecole Hardman headed to IR and Juju Smith-Schuster out with a concussion, it’s officially #ToneySZN. Toney totaled 90 yards and scored a touchdown last week, and he should feast again this week against a vulnerable Chargers squad.
Darius Slayton
Just about every teams top option at receiver is a start when facing the Lions secondary and you probably don’t need my analysis to tell you that. Some might think that means Wan’Dale Robinson, but as of right now Slayton is the guy after logging at least 65 yards or a touchdown in each of his last 3 games.
Parris Campbell
What a difference a week can make. Campbell was droppable in most leagues before new Head Coach Jeff Saturday named Matt Ryan the starting quarterback for last weeks matchup. In his last 3 games with Matt Ryan, Campbell has commanded a 25.8% target share.
Wide receivers to sit
Adam Thielen
It’s a tough matchup for everyone on the Vikings offense against Dallas, but Thielen is the riskiest play out of them all. He’s only 75% of his pre-Hockenson trade targets and the Dallas defense has been particularly stingy against number 2 receivers.
Diontae Johnson
It’s been a rough year for Diontae Johnson, who has hit the 65 yard mark just once this season. It doesn’t project to be much better for him this week against a Bengals defense that allows the 3rd fewest receptions and 7th fewest yards to wide receivers.
Tight end to start
Greg Dulcich
Despite a statistical dud last week, Dulcich still saw elite usage. With teammate Jerry Jeudy banged up and questionable to play, Dulcich could see an expanded role in the passing game against a Raiders defense that allows 12.2 fantasy points per game to tight ends, good for 5th worst in the league.
Tight ends to sit
Kyle Pitts
You can count me amongst those who were “All-in” on Kyle Pitts before the season and while I still believe in his talent, I simply can’t put my faith in his quarterback or the system the Falcons are running on offense. With shaky QB play and inconsistent volume, Pitts is better left on your bench this week against a Bears defense giving up 6th fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends.
Dawson Knox
It’s been a disappointing season for Knox after his breakout 2021 campaign and he’s been mostly touchdown dependent. His fortunes aren’t likely to improve this week against a Browns defense that is giving up only 44.2 passing yards per game to tight ends.
