Fantasy Football Week 9: Start’em / Sit’em
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Last week: 24-12-2, Season: 171-84-30 (67%)
Fantasy Football Week 8 Picks Recap:
I didn’t quite match my career high of 82% accuracy last week, but it was still a solid batch of recommendations overall (67%). It was a pretty balanced week with similar percentages on my start’em (12-7-1) and sit’em (12-5-1) picks.
My notable start’em picks were Carson Palmer (+13), Alshon Jeffery (+12), Stefon Diggs (+12), Charcandrick West (+11), Philip Rivers (+9), and like every week Gary Barnidge (+8). I missed badly on Ryan Tannehill (-10) and that’s about it as my other misses were all within five points.
As for my sit’em picks, I’ve never been as wrong about anyone as I was Eli Manning (+20) this week. Where did that come from? Eli had under 10 fantasy points in the previous two weeks before his 5 TD game last Sunday. I also had significant misses on Andre Johnson (+8), who apparently is still alive, and Michael Crabtree (+8) who was part of that shocking Raiders performance vs the Jets and their elite defense.
As bad as my Eli pick was, I had way more hits than misses on my sit list with Matt Stafford (-10), Larry Donnell (-8), Colin Kaepernick (-8), Jordan Cameron (-6) and Terrance Williams (-6) all under performing significantly.
Fantasy Football Week 8 Picks:
Note: Only players started in less than 75% of Yahoo leagues will be eligible for the start’em category. The purpose of this column is advice on players that might not be every week starters. I’ll usually list at least one “Deep Sleeper” pick for players started in less than 10% of Yahoo leagues who I think are under-projected.
If you have questions about specific players, hit me up on Twitter or in the comment section and I will get back to you before this weekends games. Good luck in your fantasy match-ups this week and go Bears!
Start’em
Quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger, OAK (66%, 19) – Should be 100% healthy this week and is facing a Raiders secondary that is giving up the 7th most fantasy points to opposing QBs. The loss of Le’Veon Bell could cause a slight spike in pass attempts to an already pass-heavy scheme.
Eli Manning, TB (65%, 18) – Hard to bench a guy after he throws for 5 touchdowns the previous week. Eli has a favorable match-up against a Bucs D that has struggled to stop the pass this year.
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Peyton Manning, @IND (52%, 17) – Finally looked like Peyton Manning last week verse the Packers and is playing in Indy for only the 2nd time since leaving the Colts. I think Manning is going to put on a show for his old fans against a porous Colts secondary.
Jay Cutler, @SD (11%, 15) – I find his projection this week to be slightly insulting! Cutler has been playing some of the best football of his Bears career lately and the loss of Matt Forte could lead to an uptick in pass attempts. The Chargers secondary is unusually short with both starters under 5’10, which could be a problem against a trio of Bears receiving option 6’3 and above.
Next: Start'em: Running Backs