Week 14 Starts, Sits and Sleepers
Last week of the fantasy football regular season! Always seems to come and go so quickly... Regardless of how you're doing, it's a big week ahead. Whether you're battling for playoff seeding, making that late push for a spot in the big dance, or simply trying to play spoiler for one of your buddies, there's plenty on the line for week 14. Hopefully we can be of some sound advice for y'all. Let's find out:
Starts
Kyler Murray vs. NE: New England's defense has been up and down all season, but they've really struggled against mobile quarterbacks. Justin Fields and Lamar Jackson each ran all over the Pats and Kyler should be able to do much of the same. Fresh off of a bye, the dynamic, underachieving quarterback has a prime opportunity to shine against a young defense in primetime. He's a safe start this week that should be able to score on the ground and by air.
Jared Goff vs. MIN: Goff's been a different quarterback since Amon-Ra St. Brown's return from injury, finding his WR1 as well as DJ Chark regularly. His running backs look healthy and this offense looks ready to go. Minnesota allows the most passing yards per game and is ripe for the picking for Goff. He's a solid start, especially with how many waiver wires you can find him on.
Dalvin Cook @ DET: Detroit's defense has been improving lately, but they still are very susceptible to in the ground game. Should be a reliable game script for Cook in a game I don't expect to escape either team to run away with. He'll easily break 100 total yards, majority of which will be rushing. Expect him to find pay dirt in the process.
Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott vs. HOU: The Texans are so bad at defending the run and have to respect Dallas' weapons at receiver. This'll prevent them from stacking the box and allow the Cowboys' two talented backs to punish them. It's not out of the realm of possibility for both of these guys to clear the century mark. Fire the boys up.
Christian Kirk @ TEN: The highest paid wideout from last year's free agency has really earned his contract so far in Jacksonville. I like Tennessee to win this game, but the Jags road to victory will come in the passing game. Kirk should get peppered with targets against an iffy Titans secondary as they try to keep up with King Henry. 7+ catches feels safe here, with some chunk yardage along the way.
Amon Ra St. Brown vs. MIN: Dude's been elite since his return from injury in volume and production. He now faces a banged up Minnesota pass defense in a game with huge playoff implications. Who's Detroit going to look to down the stretch in this one for the big play? St. Brown. He'll easily be in the triple digits receiving as the Lions and Vikings do battle at 1 PM today.
Hunter Henry @ ARI: Henry's reemerged as not only an on-field talent of late, but a viable fantasy starter as well. Arizona sports the worst defense against tight ends in the league and should be able to put up some points against the Pats. This should force New England to keep up, seeking their wide open TE along the way. 5 catches and a touchdown is a reasonable floor from HH out in Glendale.
Sits
Patrick Mahomes @ DEN: How many of y'all can realistically bench Mahomes the week before fantasy playoffs? It might not be a bad idea against this elite Denver secondary. As pathetic as the team's been this season, the Broncos' defense has done their part, and are probably the second best in the league, only San Fran overall. I think they get after the Chiefs' QB, shut down his wideouts and muck this game up. You heard it here first, steer clear of Patty this weekend.
Tom Brady @ SF: Speaking of the San Francisco defense...they're going to make life miserable for Tom Brady and the Bucs Sunday evening. Nick Bosa is unblockable and will make the loss of Tristan Wirfs apparent early and often. He won't be alone in the backfield either. Should be an ugly matchup out west with few points to go around. Run to the waiver wire for almost any other quarterback.
Najee Harris vs. BAL: The Ravens defense has been up and down all year, but they've defended the run pretty consistently throughout. I expect them to trust their highly paid corners against Kenny Pickett and the Steelers' talented receivers and load the box up against Najee. The Pittsburgh running back has been more efficient lately, but this ain't the front seven to do it on.
Travis Etienne @ TEN: As I reach my second running back to sit, I'm realizing that the odds of any of you benching Harris or Etienne with six teams on bye is incredibly unlikely. But hey, you've been warned. Tennessee got demolished by Philly last weekend, but still only allowed 2.4 yards per carry on the ground to Miles Sanders and Jalen Hurts. Probably the only impressive thing they did that game. They'll have much less trouble against a less dynamic Jaguars offense, shutting down the explosive running back in the process.
Juju Smith-Schuster @ DEN: Patrick Surtain II is going to own Juju this weekend...no need to dig deeper into it. I put his ceiling at four catches for 30 yards.
Gabriel Davis vs. NYJ: The volatile Bills WR2 will be getting a heavy dose of DJ Reed and Sauce Gardner while his QB's under pressure from a strong defensive front. Davis has been hard to trust regardless, but this one's an easy decision. Look elsewhere for your flex.
Tyler Conklin @ BUF: As mentioned before, with six teams on bye...it's hard to bench anyone, but especially a semi-reliable-ish tight end you've finally come to terms with starting most weeks.-- a description that seems fitting of the Jets' TE1 this year. Bills don't give up a ton of points to the position and Mike White has some fun receivers with better matchups to target then Conklin. Look long and hard, there's a better starter out there.
Sleepers
Brock Purdy vs. TB: Desperate times for QB if you're looking at Brock Purdy, but Mr. Irrelevant did play a sharp game last week in relief. Will it look better with a week of preparation under his belt or will the film assist Tampa in shutting him down? We'll find out, but we like Purdy's upside with San Fran's bevy of weapons against an average Bucs' secondary. Feels a bit safer then Daniel Jones or Tyler Huntley this week.
Travis Homer vs. CAR: Kenneth Walker went down last week to an injury and Tony Jones was really bad in his place. It's completely possible Jones gets the lions' share of looks again, but I think the veteran Homer is going to get plenty of burn in the Seattle backfield. His pass catching ability raises his floor, making a dozen touches very possible. Thin week, thin position, not a bad dart throw.
Corey Davis @ BUF: Buffalo's secondary is elite on paper, but they're banged up across the board right now. With Garrett Wilson likely to be their focal point, Corey Davis should get some opportune matchups deep. Mike White isn't afraid to throw it up to him, so a big day could be in store if they connect.
Brevin Jordan/Jordan Akins @ DAL: Dallas is the best in the league currently at defending the position, but this game script will be screaming pass for Houston. Brandin Cooks is also out, opening up some targets across the board. Desperate times if you're this deep into your tight end waivers...but we've all been there. Worse options (probably) then either of these two. We'd lean toward Jordan.
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@Choppinglines
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