Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em: Devin Neal, Chris Rodriguez, Jaleel McLaughlin

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.

Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em Lineup Advice

Devin Neal (RB – NO)

Alvin Kamara left the Saints’ Week 12 game against the Falcons with a knee injury that has been diagnosed as an MCL sprain. Kamara is expected to miss multiple weeks, leaving Devin Neal as the next man up in the New Orleans backfield. The sixth-round rookie was projected to be a steady, well-rounded back entering the NFL. On Sunday, Neal did most of his damage in the receiving game, catching five passes for 43 yards. He had seven carries for 18 yards. Taysom Hill is going to help with the rushing duties, too. Hill had a team-high 10 carries for the Saints on Sunday. Still, with some positive matchups coming up, Neal becomes a flex option with Kamara out.

Chris Rodriguez Jr. (RB – WSH)

The good news is that Chris Rodriguez Jr. has seemingly taken over the Washington backfield. The bad news is that the Commanders face the Broncos and Vikings in the next two weeks. Before their Week 12 bye, Rodriguez had clearly surpassed Jacory Croskey-Merritt to become the Commanders’ lead running back. Over his last three games, Rodriguez recorded 33 carries for 160 yards and two touchdowns. He is a tough player to trust this week against the Broncos, who had allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points per game to running backs through the first 11 weeks. However, Rodriguez could have sneaky playoff appeal. In Weeks 15-17, he faces the Giants, Eagles and Cowboys. Respectively, they are allowing the second-most, 14th-most and eighth-most fantasy points to opposing running back.

Jaleel McLaughlin (RB – DEN)

With J.K. Dobbins out for the remainder of the season, rookie RJ Harvey and 2023 undrafted free agent Jaleel McLaughlin are now the top-ranking members of the Denver backfield. In the Broncos’ Week 11 win over the Chiefs, Harvey had 14 touches to McLaughlin’s seven, and Harvey out-snapped McLaughlin 38-8. Coming out of their Week 12 bye, the Broncos might try to work in McLaughlin more, making him a worthwhile speculative addition.

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.