Fantasy Focus: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em – Week 8
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 lineup every week, regardless of matchup. 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: Mitch Trubisky (vs. Jets)
The on-field product has been uneven to say the least, but Mitchell Trubisky is on a mini-hot streak of high-end fantasy finishes. Over his last three games, Trubisky has piled on QB1, QB5, and QB2 overall weeks. In this span, he has thrown for over 315 yards in each contest and compiled 3/53, 8/47, and 6/81/1 on the ground. Trubisky has also missed multiple throws this season, as evidenced by his third-worst adjusted completion percentage per PFF, but his receivers have only dropped three passes too — the fewest in the NFL. He’s far from a polished passer at this early juncture of his career, but Trubisky has another excellent chance to continue his QB1 (top-12) output in Week 8 against a Jets side that is allowing 285.0 Pass YPG (tenth-most) and coughed up decent days on the ground to fellow mobile quarterbacks (8/44 to Ryan Tannehill; 4/22 to Tyrod Taylor; 3/28 to Blake Bortles).
Running Back
Sit: Carlos Hyde (vs. Eagles)
Hyde is a new face in a new place that some fantasy managers may be willing to look to, but I’m fully fading him in Week 8. T.J. Yeldon will remain involved on passing downs while Hyde still hasn’t had a chance to pick up the playbook in just a few short days with the Jags. Plus, the Eagles are stuffing run plays at or behind the line of scrimmage on 30 percent of attempts, the second-best rate in the NFL. Derek Barnett’s loss for the season (shoulder) hurts, but make no mistake: the Philly front seven is still vicious. Hyde’s Week 8 value appears to be solely tied to touchdowns, which is a tough bet to make considering Blake Bortles is under centre.
Wide Receiver
Sit: Marquise Goodwin (vs. Cardinals)
Goodwin smashed the Packers for 4/126/2 in Week 6, then followed it up with only 2/24 against the Rams far-superior defense last week. For the Week 8 slate, Goodwin will be taxed with running 75 percent of his routes at all-pro Patrick Peterson and unsung stud this season, Bene Benwikere. Per PFF, Peterson is allowing the fewest fantasy points per route run while Benwikere is 28th-best (out of 80). Goodwin has just ten targets over the last two weeks, too. Pass.
Tight End
Start: C.J. Uzomah (vs. Buccaneers)
If nothing else, C.J. Uzomah is playing a ton without Tyler Eifert (ankle) and Tyler Kroft (foot) healthy. Now, third-stringer Mason Schreck (knee) is also on IR. The Bengals have no other choice but to feature Uzomah at this point. Over the last two weeks, Uzomah has been on the field for 91 and 98 percent of Bengals’ snaps and parlayed his playing time into useful 6/54 and 2/13/1 receiving lines. Uzomah is far from a week-winner, but tight end is the thinnest position in fantasy this season, turning usual back-end streamers like Uzomah into weekly starters. And no team is allowing more fantasy points per target to TEs than the Bucs…