It’s Sunday and that means you have to make some decisions with your fantasy football teams. Some are easy, some are tough. To help with some tough decisions, I’ve put together an advice column which spells out who I would start and sit for this week’s games. This is for a basic 10-team league and if there are PPR implications, I spell that out. I know circumstances like match-ups and injuries paint a better picture and each team is different. Hopefully this helps you for this week and ultimately your road to the championship. Good luck!
Start
Desean Jackson, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jackson is WR3 so far and will look to continue his big plays against a struggling Steelers secondary who is 23rd against wide receivers.
Kenny Golladay, WR, Detroit Lions – Golladay has been extremely solid thus far and will look to continue that success against the Patriots. The Lions are a pass-first offense and should be passing a ton coming from behind. Golladay will have a great match-up against the Pats who are 22nd in fantasy against wide receivers.
Corey Clement, RB, Philadelphia Eagles – Clement will play and start against the Indianapolis Colts with Jay Ajayi out. Clement scored 17 points (PPR) last week and should continue to perform well against a Colts defense who is 23rd against opposing running backs.
Latavius Murray, RB, Minnesota Vikings – Dalvin Cook is out with a hamstring injury which catapults Murray into action. Last year, Murray was an excellent fantasy football pickup and performed very well for his owners. Going up against a Buffalo defense who is 31st in fantasy against opposing running backs.
Giovanni Bernard, RB, Cincinnati Bengals – Bernard will start for the injured Joe Mixon and for me, is only a PPR start. The Panthers are pretty good against the run, but Bernard should get targets out of the backfield to make up for his potential lack of rushing success.
Sit
Royce Freeman/Phillip Lindsay, RBs, Denver Broncos – I would sit both running backs this week against a stout run defense in the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are 2nd in fantasy against running backs. If you need to start one, Lindsay is the back to start.
Phillip Rivers, QB, Los Angeles Chargers – The Rams are outstanding against opposing quarterbacks. Through two weeks, they’ve allowed just 7.8 TOTAL points to opposing quarterbacks.
Adrian Peterson, RB, Washington Redskins – Peterson started the year strong but struggled in week two. He is conceding some of his carries to Chris Thompson and going up against a Green Bay Packers defense giving up the 8th least points to running backs.
Corey Davis, WR, Tennessee Titans – Davis is usually a good start option, but going against the Jaguars is never good if you’re a quarterback or wide receiver. I would definitely sit Davis this week.
Sleepers
Eric Ebron, TE, Indianapolis Colts – The touchdown dependent tight end who should get more volume this week due to Jack Doyle’s absence.
Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Godwin is the third wide receiving option for Ryan Fitzpatrick, but with such a high volume of throws, Godwin should continue his success against a questionable Steelers secondary.
Geronimo Allison, WR, Green Bay Packers – Allison is averaging 12.4 points per game thus far and is a sneaky good start this week.
Concerns
David Johnson, RB, Arizona Cardinals – The Chicago Bears are 1st in fantasy against running backs and Johnson hasn’t been able to do much thus far. Head Coach Steve Wilks said he is going to give Johnson the ball more, but it still remains to be seen.
Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers – Going against the NFL’s best secondary is going to be rough for Allen and the entire pass offense.
LeSean McCoy, RB, Buffalo Bills – McCoy hasn’t been good at all so far and I expect that to continue against the 5th best defense against opposing running backs.
Injury Report
OUT
Dalvin Cook
Joe Mixon
Jay Ajayi
Marlon Mack
Devonta Freeman
Doug Baldwin
Greg Zuerlein
Le’Veon Bell (non-injury)
Jack Doyle
Leonard Fournette
Lesean McCoy
