Facing a tough Buffalo defense, Isaiah Crowell’s ranking may not justify having him in your lineup if you have other options

Happy day after Thanksgiving to all of our readers. Hopefully Thursday’s games brought most of you joy instead of agony, but if it was the latter, consider this a Black Friday gift from us to you. Week 13 will certainly have an impact for many of you and there may be some tough decisions to make before Sunday. If you were told to sit Matt Forte on Thursday, you would have probably hesitated deeply. But what if you had C.J. Anderson sitting on your bench and another quality starter? These are the kinds of predicaments some of you may be in (myself included).

Naturally, to best assist with these types of questions, we reached out to the experts to name one player inside our Top 45 Flex that they’d consider sitting this weekend. Obviously it’s tough to sit a big name player, but this may be your last chance to make the playoffs and sometimes that requires bold moves. Read on to view the expert’s sit candidates as well as a few alternative options for replacement.

Q. Name 1 player inside our Top 45 Flex that you would consider SITTING (assuming you have other options) and name a few lower ranked guys at the position you like better.

“Isaiah Crowell. He had a great Week 12, but did see three less touches than his backfield mate Terrance West. Neither Browns back is an attractive option this week against the Bills, who have allowed just four double-digit fantasy point days as well as just four rushing scores to the position this year. We have Jerick McKinnon and Lamar Miller ranked higher this week.”
– Sablich Brothers (The New York Times)

“I love Isaiah Crowell’s potential for the future, but this week against the Buffalo Defense in Buffalo, I will be sitting him. Buffalo’s D has been beastly against the run and has been causing turn overs each and every week. With West still heavily involved in the backfield rotation I doubt there will be enough solid touches to help Crowell be a top flex play.”
– Dennis Esser (Coach Esser)

“Assuming I have other options, I would sit Isaiah Crowell against the Bills this week. Buffalo is giving up the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs this season, and has only allowed rushing touchdowns in two games. In addition, the Bills have allowed over 100 yards rushing to opposing backs just three times. A few guys I like more at running back this week are: Latavius Murray, Denard Robinson, and even Charles Sims (Editor’s note: Latavius Murray has since been ruled inactive for Sunday’s game).”
– Josh Collacchi (eDraft)

“I’m steering clear of Mike Wallace this week, despite an attractive matchup against the Jets. Wallace, by all accounts, is good to go despite being limited with a chest injury this week, but that he is banged up is just another mark against him in Week 13. The Dolphins receiver hasn’t topped 60 yards since Week 6 in an offense that is playing to Ryan Tannehill’s strength (read: terrified of throwing deep). The Jets have allowed the 4th most pass plays of 40+ yards in the league, but I don’t think the Dolphins are well equipped to take advantage. Expect the recent trend toward Jarvis Landry to continue, at Wallace’s expense this week. He could still find the end zone, and I have him ranked as a worthy WR3, but owners with other options, or looking for upside, need to look elsewhere.”
– Jon Collins (Fantasy Sports LR)

“Roddy White is one player I would seriously consider sitting. He is facing an Arizona secondary that is on a roll lately only allowing an average of 7.75 standard points to opposing receivers the last four weeks. Keenan Allen, Brandon LaFell, Sammy Watkins, Vincent Jackson and DeAndre Hopkins are all players I would consider playing over White. All of them are just as capable of having good games and have much nicer matchups.”
– Joe Bond (Fantasy Six Pack)

“I feel like a cop-out taking #44 in a question that says Top 45, but I’d think twice about starting Lamar Miller if I had a running back like Latavius Murray or LeGarrette Blount on my roster. The Jets are a lot of things, but bad against the run isn’t one of them (they’ve only allowed five rushing touchdowns all season). Miller hasn’t topped 100 yards since Week 3 and he’s only scored one touchdown in his last five games. I wouldn’t say he’s a “must bench”, but I’d definitely give serious consideration to guys like Murray or Blount over him this week.”
– Nick Raducanu (ProjectRoto)

*Editor’s Note: The commentary below was written before Jerick McKinnon and Latavius Murray were declared out for week 13.
“One player currently ranked in the top 45 as per FantasyPros expert consensus rankings that I would consider sitting for week 13 is Vikings rookie running back Jerick McKinnon. The Panthers are ceding over 100 yards per game which makes this look like a tasty matchup on paper, but the uncertainty regarding how much Ben Tate will eat into Mckinnon’s touches leaves Mckinnon as as a lower floor player than we prefer in our top 45. Runners projected better this week include Latavius Murray who looked beastly before leaving the Raiders win over the Chiefs and whom could be in for a large role against the Rams. Another player we would consider over Mckinnon is Bills ageless wonder Fred Jackson who projects to have more touches if Tate is indeed involved in the Vikings game plan for week 13.”
– Raju Byfield (Win My Fantasy League)

—

A very big thanks to the experts for contributing their thoughts during the holiday. For more great info from them, you can follow them on Twitter.