I have really been pounding the keyboard this week, but it is a labor of love. Zach will be back next week for all of your start/sit needs, and I have you covered today. The two most disappointing quarterbacks are on a bye along with the season’s WR1, among others. The starts and sits are more crucial than ever as we head into the middle weeks of the fantasy football regular season. Let’s get those wins! We’ll start with quarterbacks.
Quarterback
Start
Jared Goff was awful last week against the 49ers, but don’t let it deter you from slotting him in your lineups against one of the worst secondaries that I can remember. In the two previous games before last Sunday, Goff threw for a combined 812 yards and three touchdowns while also running one in. I expect Goff to get his season total in touchdowns into the double digits when the game in Atlanta is all said and done.
Kyler is facing off against the New York Giants who have given up the 2nd most passing yards per game in 2019 and are currently ranked 23rd in defensive DVOA according to Football Outsiders. Kyler Murray has at least 16 fantasy points in all 6 of his rookie season starts and has 125 rushing yards combined in his last two starts. David Johnson will be a game-time decision, but Murray might be getting Christian Kirk back this week.
Deep League/Streamer Options – Ryan Tannehill and Gardner Minshew
Sit
Philip Rivers
If you drafted quarterbacks late and your starter is on a bye, you might want to find a better option than the struggling Philip Rivers. Rivers has thrown multiple touchdown passes in 4 out of 6 games this year, but Tennessee is pretty stingy against the pass. The Titans rank 6th in yards per game given up through the air this season. The Titans don’t score enough for there to be any value in garbage time. This is probably just going to be an ugly low-scoring game.
Running Backs
Start
Tevin Coleman
Tevin Coleman has 36 touches in his two games since returning from injury. He also has a touchdown in each of those two games. I expect the 49ers to take control of this one early and for Tevin Coleman to take this one home against Washington. The Redskins are giving up 134 rushing yards per game which is good for bottom 5 in the NFL.
Mixon was awful last week and probably has some people thinking about throwing him on the bench this week, but Jacksonville is not very good against the run. Jacksonville is giving up 131.2 yards per game on the ground this season. In the 3 previous games before last week, Mixon had at least 60 yards rushing in each game. I usually advise against Mixon, but I think this could be a break out week.
Sit
Latavius Murray
I know that people who have been stashing Murray are excited to slot in Murray while Kamara is out, but I would probably advise against it. The Bears are extremely stingy against the run only giving up 83 yards per game on the ground. This feels like a 16 carries for 50 yards type of game for Murray.
Wide Receivers
Start
Davante Adams is already ruled out for Sunday and Marques Valdez-Scantling and Geronimo Allison are long-shots to play on Sunday. That leaves Allen Lazard who Aaron Rodgers speaks really highly of. I expect Lazard to see plenty of targets and hopefully get into the endzone. On Monday, Lazard caught 4 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown.
Sit
Robby Anderson
Robby Anderson is coming off of his biggest game of the season with the return of Sam Darnold, but the Jets will be running into a buzz saw on Monday night. Stephon Gilmore has arguably been the best corner in football in 2019 and will look to shut down the Jets’ biggest downfield threat. We’ll have to wait one more week to get excited about Anderson again.
Tight End
Start
We will be stacking all of our Rams this week in the passing game. Everett was a disappointment last week following a career game against Seattle the Thursday before. Everett was still very much a part of the game plan and caught a couple of passes. I’m confident that you can slide Everett right back into your lineups against the limping Falcons.
Sit
Delanie Walker
Delanie Walker has a combined 57 yards receiving in the past 3 games. Walker also hasn’t scored a touchdown since week 1. Ryan Tannehill will be under center, but I think that will be better for a player like Adam Humphries coming out of the slot.
