Thursday, December 6th, 2018

Fantasy Focus: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em – Week 14

Graham Barfield

Fantasy Focus: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em – Week 14

Graham Barfield Fantasy Football, NFL

Courtesy of NFL Fantasy, the Gridiron Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is your weekly guide to how real-life match-ups influence your fantasy football squads.

Players like Antonio Brown, Todd Gurley, and Rob Gronkowski will never be featured in this article because they should be in your line-up every week, regardless of match-up. Instead, we’ll touch on some borderline fantasy start-sit decisions in this column.

(All fantasy data is based on point-per-reception (PPR) scoring)

Quarterback

Start: Dak Prescott (vs. Eagles)

Dallas has won four-straight games by eight points or less, largely by playing stingy defense and turnover-free offense. However, since acquiring Amari Cooper in Week 9, Dak Prescott has turned back into a stream-worthy option. In this span, Prescott is fantasy’s QB12 in points per game, he’s completed 73 percent of his passes, averaged 8.0 YPA, and also added three rushing scores. Further helping Prescott’s Week 14 outlook are his considerable home/road splits. This year, Prescott has recorded an impressive 24.5 points per game at home versus just 17.8 FPG on the road.

Running Back

Sit: Tevin Coleman (vs. Packers)

Coleman’s touch count (18 > 14 > 11 > 11 > 9) has been a downward trajectory since the Falcons Week 8 bye and now a reeling Atlanta side has to go to Lambeau to face the Mike McCarthy-less Packers. Green Bay has been gouged for the tenth-most PPR points per touch to opposing backs, but it’s hard to trust Coleman as anything more than a TD-dependent FLEX option right now.

Wide Receiver

Start: Courtland Sutton (vs. 49ers)

Emmanuel Sanders (Achilles) is sadly now on injured reserve, opening up a massive amount of opportunity behind him. In fact, Sanders has seen 23% of Broncos’ targets and nearly 30% of air yards over the entire season. Replacing him won’t be easy. Still, Courtland Sutton is an auto-WR3 start in Week 14 as San Francisco has allowed the 11th-most fantasy points per target and a total of 12 top-24 performances to the position.

Tight End

Start: David Njoku (vs. Panthers)

Njoku’s target count (6 > 0 > 5 > 1 > 5 > 6) has been about as predictable as a random number generator, but we have to stay on the boat in Week 14 for his glorious match-up against the Panthers. Over the full year, Carolina has allowed the most TDs and the ninth-most yards per game to opposing tight ends. The Panthers’ tight end defense is so porous, they’ve allowed 14/139/2 (on 18 targets) to the Steelers, Lions, Seahawks and Buccaneers over the last month.

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