Week 12 Startability Index (Start ‘Em/Sit ‘Em)
Whoa, this week really sneaked up on us, didn’t it? I know you are all here for start/sit advice but I’m wondering if you have a Thanksgiving conundrum similar to mine. Diehard football fan/writer (me) wants to watch all three games (duh!). Family is fabulous but not exactly stacked with those like-minded when it comes to football obsession. Must very slyly try to manipulate dinner start time to perfectly fit between end of second and third games without seeming purely selfish. There’s something quite difficult about explaining to a non-football crowd the mandatory nature of watching football during a day which they perceive for eating, movies and chitchatting. All fine activities in general, but again we’re talking three games here!
Thanks for listening. Onto the fantasy advice.
As always feel free to put in requests for players not listed below
Quarterbacks
Sam Bradford at Arizona (5): Bradford threw for two touchdowns in the Rams first meeting with the Cards, although put up 141 yards. The Cardinals just gave up 300 yards to Matt Ryan but Bradford is nowhere near Ryan’s stature when it comes to fantasy prowess.
Colin Kaepernick at New Orleans (9): The guy with the arm and the touch and the feet and the love of Jim Harbaugh has pretty much the best matchup possible this week against the 31st ranked Saints passing defense. Look for lots of play action and lots of fantasy points. Because Harbaugh says so.
Carson Palmer at Cincinnati (8): The Raiders are terrible, having lost three in a row. But in that time span Palmer has thrown for over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns. Sure, there have been a lot of turnovers in the mix but not enough to greatly diminish Palmer’s value.
Matthew Stafford vs. Houston (6): Stafford remains a relatively solid start. He has a tendency to be inaccurate but Calvin Johnson often masks that. Houston’s secondary got torched by Chad Henne last week.
Running Backs
Donald Brown vs. Buffalo (3): Brown appears to have lost his starting role, or at least a huge chunk of it to Vick Ballard. Perhaps that will change when Brown is fully healthy but after only four carries last week, he is no longer of great value.
Reggie Bush vs. Seattle (3): Bush has somewhat fallen out of favor in Miami. He had two less carries than Daniel Thomas last week and only rushed for 2 yards per carry. The Dolphins face a Seahawks front that other than Frank Gore and Adrian Peterson hasn’t allowed opposing backs to do much of anything.
Jonathan Dwyer at Cleveland (4): In a bit of a surprise Dwyer had one more carrythan Rashard Mendenhall. Mike Tomlin has indicated this will continue as a “hot hand” situation. Because of that Dwyer is a risky play
BenJarvus Green-Ellis vs. Oakland (7): BJGE is coming off a nice 100-yard, touchdown game against the Chiefs. Expect him to continue torching the AFC West as the raiders are allowing 122 rushing yard a game. The Bengals have an opportunity to put up a lot of points, which would obviously be to Green-Ellis’ advantage.
Ryan Mathews vs. Baltimore (6): Mathews has been the thorn for many a fantasy owner, but this week has the potential to change the tide. The Ravens are near the bottom of the league in rush defense. While Mathews has disappointed he’s still been somewhat ok for PPR owners so definitely consider him in that format.
Wide Receivers
Anquan Boldin at San Diego (5): Boldin hasn’t scored since Week 1 and is usually not good for more than 50-80 yards a week. But the Chargers are a soft opponent, having allowed 19 receiving touchdowns.
Justin Blackmon vs. Tennessee (7): With 236 receiving yards and a touchdown, Blackmon had his breakout game last week. And he finally looked like the real deal, a young Brandon Marshall really. With Chad Henne starting and a favorable matchup against the Titans, I’m a big fan of starting Blackmon this week.
Harry Douglas at Tampa Bay (5): Douglas is obviously tied to Julio Jones’ status, which is unknown as of this publishing. After Jones reaggravated his ankle last week, Doulas has 4 catches for 49 yards in his place. He could be considered for a WR3/Flex role if Jones is indeed out.
Stevie Johnson at Indianapolis (6): Johnson has 6 catches each of the past two weeks and an average of 80 yards. His production could creep higher in a game that has the making of a shootout. Whether Ryan Fitzpatrick is accurate in getting him the ball remains the question.
Lance Moore vs. San Francisco (6): Drew Brees loves finding Moore in the end zone, as evidenced last week when Moore hauled in two scores. San Francisco has one of the top secondaries in the league; however they have also had off weeks allowing opposing receivers more room than necessary.
Tight Ends
Owen Daniels at Detroit (6): Daniels was used more as a decoy/blocker last week, allowing fellow tight end Garrett Graham to benefit. But I think that was more a product of Daniels not being completely healthy. Look for him to be a much bigger part of the offense today.
Joel Dreessen at Kansas City (3): Dreessen splits time with Jacob Tamme, which makes it very difficult to ascertain his value. But he has not hauled in over 50 yards since Week 6 and only has one touchdown in that time period.
Jermichael Finley at New York Giants (4): Finley finally had a productive game last week but I attribute it more to the Packers receivers being well covered than anything else. The Giants are a nice matchup but Finley, who has admitted a lack of chemistry with Aaron Rodgers, remains a risky start at this point.
