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 dive into our start/sit lineup advice and outlook for a few of the top fantasy football waiver wire pickups of the week.
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Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em Lineup Advice
Isaiah Bond, the former University of Texas speedster, has become a full-time player for the Browns with a 19.4% target share and 43.5 receiving yards per game over the last two weeks. I’m not cutting back flips in jubilation to buy into the Cleveland passing attack, but the Browns’ upcoming matchups could help elevate Isaiah Bond into fringe Flex relevance. The Steelers and Dolphins have allowed the 12th-most and ninth-most PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers, respectively, this season.
It appears Jaxson Dart is going to provide fantasy managers with consistent rushing value, but his passing output seems destined to be a mixed bag. In his NFL debut in Week 4, Dart completed 13-of-20 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown in the Giants’ upset of the Chargers, adding 10-54-1 rushing. In the Giants’ Week 5 loss to the Saints, Dart was 26-of-40 through the air for 202 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also had 7-55-0 rushing. So far, Dart is averaging just 5.2 yards per pass attempt, which isn’t pretty. Of course, Dart also lost his best receiver, Malik Nabers, to a season-ending knee injury during Dart’s first professional start. The schedule lays down a gauntlet for Dart these next three weeks, with two games against the Eagles and one against the Broncos. In Weeks 9 and 10, he’ll get easier matchups against the 49ers and Bears. Dart is worth rostering but perhaps not worth starting for a few weeks.
Unsatisfied with what they’ve been getting from Jake Browning, the Bengals traded for Joe Flacco on Tuesday in their continued quest to get competent quarterbacking in the absence of the injured Joe Burrow. In four starts for Cleveland, Flacco completed 58.1% of his throws, averaged 203.8 yards per game and 5.1 yards per attempt, had two touchdown passes and six interceptions, and was sacked nine times. The Browns benched Flacco before their Week 5 game against the Vikings in London and gave rookie Dillon Gabriel his first NFL start. The 40-year-old Flacco has been terrible when pressured this season, and that figures to be an issue in Cincinnati, too. The Browns have allowed a pressure rate of 22.7% this season, ninth-highest in the league. The Bengals have allowed a pressure rate of 24.3%, fourth-highest in the league. Maybe playing with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins will revive Flacco. If you invest, don’t invest much. Flacco has a tough matchup with the Packers this week and just a few days to learn a new playbook and get in sync with new teammates. Flacco faced the Packers in Week 3 and completed 21-of-26 passes for 142 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Matchups against the Steelers and Jets in Weeks 7-8 are more promising, but caution is warranted here.
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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.
