Start em or sit em? Fantasy football start or sit decisions can be excruciating. While it feels great to make the right call and cruise to fantasy glory, it hurts just as much when you have someone erupt while on your bench. You can use our Who Should I Start? tool to gauge advice from fantasy football experts as you make your lineup decisions. And you can also sync your fantasy football league for free using our My Playbook tool for custom advice, rankings and analysis.
Let’s take a look at a few polarizing players and what fantasy football expert Derek Brown advises. And you can find all of DBro’s fantasy football outlook in this week’s fantasy football primer.
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Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em Lineup Advice
With Tyrone Tracy sidelined, Cam Skattebo should be the Giants’ workhorse again in Week 4. I don’t see him letting go of this job when Tracy returns to the lineup. Last week, Skattebo played 59.1% of the snaps with 16 touches and 121 total yards. He had a 55.3% route share and a 25% target share as the RB5 for the week. He has been a top 24 back in each of the last two games (RB22, RB5). Skattebo is a tackle-breaking behemoth ranking second-best in missed tackles forced per attempt and fourth-best in yards after contact per attempt. He should have no problems imposing his will this week against a run defense that has allowed the seventh-highest explosive run rate, the highest missed tackle rate, and has the third-lowest stuff rate.
Chase Brown is the RB31 in fantasy points per game. Cincy pulled their starters in that game, so it throws off his usage numbers. In Weeks 1-2, he played 71-75% of the snaps, averaging 20.5 touches and 58 total yards. Unfortunately, Brown is running behind possibly the worst offensive line in the NFL. They have generated the fewest yards before contact per attempt (0.43) in the NFL. That’ll make it tough for any running back to succeed. Brown has zero explosive runs and 1.96 yards after contact per attempt, but he has a decent 15% missed tackle rate. I don’t see Brown having much luck against Denver. They have allowed the fifth-lowest explosive run rate, the 12th-lowest yards before contact per attempt, and the 14th-lowest rushing success rate.
Tony Pollard is the RB27 in fantasy points per game, averaging 19 touches and 80 total yards. He has been a volume hog for Tennessee, but their struggling offense has held him back. He ranks first among backs in snap share, second in opportunity share, and sixth in carries, but he’s only 28th in red zone touches (three). His tackle-breaking metrics have dipped as we’ve moved through the season with zero explosive runs, a 9% missed tackle rate, and only 2.24 yards after contact per attempt. Pollard has a good matchup this week against Houston, but I don’t know if he’ll be able to take advantage of it. Houston has allowed the second-highest missed tackle rate, the 11th-highest yards before contact per attempt, and ranks 16th in yards after contact per attempt. Pollard should flirt with 16-20 touches, so here’s to hoping that volume and talent can overcome.
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If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant, which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.
