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.
- Waiver Wire Picks
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em Lineup Advice
Start ‘Em
Jaxson Dart led the Giants to a surprising win in Week 4 and finished as the QB10 in fantasy football. Dart finished with only 111 passing yards and 5.5 yards per attempt, but he should have had another passing touchdown (Wan’Dale Robinson dropped one in the end zone). The scintillating fantasy sauce for Dart is his rushing upside. He had ten carries for 54 yards and a score on the ground. Dart should have another wonderful fantasy day in Week 5. The Saints can’t stop anyone through the air, giving up the sixth-highest yards per attempt, the third-most passing touchdowns, and the seventh-highest CPOE. Dart should have all day in the pocket against a defense that has the second-lowest pressure rate in the NFL.
Dak Prescott has played quite well this season, and it has started to show up in his fantasy box scores with top-five scoring finishes in two of his last three games (QB5, QB1). Overall, he’s the QB13 in fantasy points per game. Among 37 qualifying quarterbacks, he ranks third in passing yards per game, ninth in CPOE, fourth in highly accurate throw rate, and second in catchable target rate. The Jets’ pass defense has been a shell of its former glory this season. They have allowed the ninth-highest yards per attempt, the eighth-most passing touchdowns (tied), and the fourth-highest passer rating. Prescott should have clean pockets to work from in Week 5 against a defense that has the eighth-lowest pressure rate.
Daniel Jones is the QB7 in fantasy points per game after cooling off some from his red hot start to the season. Over the last two games, he has finished as the QB11 and QB23 in weekly fantasy scoring. He is now averaging only 4.5 rushing attempts and 13.5 rushing yards per game. Jones hasn’t surpassed 30 rushing yards in any game and hasn’t scored on the ground since Week 2. Among 38 qualifying quarterbacks, he ranks third in yards per attempt, eighth in passer rating, tenth in highly accurate throw rate, and sixth in catchable target rate. He faces a Raiders’ pass defense that will offer him a strong bounceback opportunity. They have given up the 11th-highest yards per attempt, the 12th-most passing yards per game, and the third-highest CPOE.
Sam Darnold is the QB27 in fantasy points per game, but he’s playing MUCH better football than that ranking suggests. He has at least 16.1 fantasy points in each of his last three games. Darnold ranks second in yards per attempt, fifth in CPOE, eighth in highly accurate throw rate, and third in hero throw rate. Darnold should have a strong week against the Bucs’ pass defense. Tampa Bay has allowed the eighth-highest success rate per dropback and 13th-highest passer rating while ranking 15th in yards per attempt. The Bucs still love to blitz (fourth-highest rate). Darnold has destroyed the blitz with the third-best yards per attempt and the highest CPOE.
C.J. Stroud is having another difficult season as the QB28 in fantasy points per game. Among 38 qualifying quarterbacks, he ranks 19th in yards per attempt, 33rd in CPOE, 16th in highly accurate throw rate, and 18th in catchable target rate. Stroud is still waiting for his first QB1 finish. His best weekly showing so far has been QB15 (last week). Stroud might get his first top 12 finish this week. Baltimore’s pass defense has been horrible this season. They have given up the fourth-most passing yards per game, the second-most passing touchdowns (tied), the seventh-highest passer rating, and the fifth-highest CPOE.
Sit ‘Em
Bo Nix has been volatile this season as the QB20 in fantasy points per game. He has two QB1 finishes (QB11, QB5) and two weekly finishes outside the top 15 fantasy quarterbacks (QB27, QB19). His per-dropback metrics are ghastly. Among 38 qualifying quarterbacks, he ranks 26th in yards per attempt, 32nd in CPOE, 21st in highly accurate throw rate, 27th in catchable target rate, and he has the 11th-highest turnover-worthy throw rate. He’s likely headed toward another down week. Philly has allowed the eighth-fewest yards per attempt, the seventh-lowest passer rating, and the fifth-lowest CPOE and success rate per dropback.
Baker Mayfield continues to defy the regression demon as the QB8 in fantasy points per game. He has at least 17.7 fantasy points per game in every game this season. He is averaging a career high 32.3 rushing yards per game with at least 33 rushing yards in three of four games. Mayfield is sixth-best in scrambles per game. As a passer, he is living his best Jameis Winston life, ranking third best in passing touchdowns (tied) and second in hero throw rate, but he’s also 25th in highly accurate throw rate, 23rd in catchable throw rate, and tenth in off-target rate. He’ll have his hands full with the Seattle pass defense this week, which has allowed the seventh-fewest yards per attempt, the fourth-lowest passer rating, and the tenth-lowest CPOE. Seattle has given up the ninth-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.
Trevor Lawrence has been abysmal this season as the QB31 in fantasy points per game. He has one QB1 weekly finish and has finished QB23 or lower in every other game. Among 38 qualifying passers, he is 30th in yards per attempt, 21st in passing yards per game, 17th in highly accurate throw rate, and he doesn’t have a hero throw this season. Lawrence is headed for another down game against a pass defense that has held quarterbacks to the 13th-fewest yards per attempt, the tenth-lowest passer rating, and the fifth-fewest passing touchdowns.
Cam Ward is a sit weekly until he and this passing attack show some sign of life. Ward has only two passing scores all year. He hasn’t surpassed 220 passing yards or 6.0 yards per attempt in any game. He has only one game this season with double-digit fantasy points as the QB37 in fantasy points per game.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn
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.
