The first quarter of the season is in the books, the bye weeks are upon us, and the injuries are piling up. Navigating your lineup because a little trickier during bye weeks, because now you are entertaining guys you might not have if your whole roster was available. So before you set your lineup make sure you check out my sit and starts to help make those crucial decisions before game time. Remember if you have any other sit start questions you can hit me up in my Facebook group Dynasty League Problems or on twitter @MikeKelleyDLP Good luck this week.
The LootCrate START of the Week:
QB Jameis Winston (TB)
The New England Patriots are 32nd in passing yards allowed, 31st in passing touchdowns surrendered, and 32nd in fantasy points to quarterbacks. To help those who struggle at math, that is last, second to last and last in the NFL respectively. If am the Buccaneers I would do what the Patriots would do in this situation. Pass on EVERY single play. Currently Winston is averaging 288 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, which he should easily pass those numbers on Thursday night. Winston is a must start and as long as your opponent does not have Tom Brady you should enjoy a nice early lead in your fantasy match up this week. Winston’s numbers could easily be over 300 yards with three touchdowns in what should be a pretty high scoring game.
The LootCrate SIT of the Week:
WR Amari Cooper (OAK)
I am typically a firm believer in never sit your studs, but soemtimes yours expected studs are not playing like studs. There are so many thing working against Cooper right now I am just not sure you can risk to start him until he turns things around. First lets look at his numbers, 12/110/1 are not that bad for one game, but that is over four. That is an average of 3/36/.25 and that is just awful, especailly for a late first round pick. Well maybe he is just not getting looks? Nope he has 31 which is good for 19th in the league at his position. To think those are not even the main reason why I am sitting him. This week the Raiders are hosting the Baltimore Ravens who have actaully done a very good job a shutting down wide receivers. They held A.J. Green to five receptions on 10 targets for 74 yards and Antonio Brown to four receptions on nine targets for 34 yards and neither player found the end zone thos weeks. Now lets throw in the E.J. Manuel is starting this week in place of Derek Carr who is out for the next few weeks. So I think the game plan this week will be a lot of running the ball with passes over the middle to the tight end, leaving very little opportunity for Cooper to right the ship this week. If you are forced to start Cooper your best hope is that Manuel just chucks a couple of passes his and he comes down with them. More likely though I think we are looking at three receptions for 35 yards and zero touchdowns.
Quarterback
STARTÂ DeShaun Watson (HOU)
Fresh off of AFC offensive player of the week, Watson is set to take on the Chiefs in a prime time match up Sunday night. The biggest reason why I am all for Watson here is because unlike all the other quarterbacks the Texans have started since last year, Watson has already figured out the DeAndre Hopkins is a pretty awesome wide receiver and sometimes you just need to send the ball his way and let him do his thing. As long as he continues to that he will continue to put up points. Add in that Will Fuller is back in the lineup and the offense is looking better and better. The only draw back to Watson is we need to remember he is still a rookie and will make some rookie mistakes, he does have four interceptions in less than four games played, but he should do enough good things to out weigh the bad most weeks. I can see Watson putting up around 275 yards and a couple of touchdowns with some rushing yards to cancel out his likely interception as well.
Other STARTS:
- Carson Palmer (ARI)
- Carson Wentz (PHI)
SITÂ Mitch Trubisky (CHI)
People have seen Watson come in and light it up or they have seen Kizer, who is on a very young and developing Browns team, start the year and hold his own, and they might be thinking hey here come Trubisky to save the Bears. Lets backup that train a little bit. Trubisky should be better than Glennon, but lets be fair to Mike Glennon here, currently the Bears best receiver is a 5’6″ tall running back. The Bears don’t all of the sudden have wide receivers now because Trubisky is playing quarterback. While Trubisky will likely be better than Glennon, but a little better than 208 yards and one touchdown a game is not worthy of starting, maybe not even in 2QB leagues. Don’t forget he is making his debut against a very tough Vikings defense as well. So before you get all jazzy and decide you want to throw Trubisky out there think for a second and answer this question. Is 225 yards one touchdown and two interceptions going to help me win my game this week?
Other SITS:
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- Dak Prescott (DAL)
- Tyrod Taylor (BUF)
Running Back
STARTÂ Duke Johnson (CLE)
Part of me is disappointed in Duke and part of me is pleased with him to start this season. I am disappointed because I feel like he had earned the right to get more than 10 carries through four games. The part that I am please with is the 20 receptions for 207 yards in the passing game he has managed to date. Maybe the lack of rushing has more to do with being behind most of the time, but I really thought he could get around eight to ten carries a game to go along with his four to five receptions. Another good is that his usage has gone up in every game and this week he should see another bump in usage as well. The Jets are giving up a lot of points to running backs this year. Last week Leonard Fournette rushed for 86 and caught four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown. Now I am not expecting Duke to get the same 28 touches Fournette got but if he can manage eight carries for 40 yards and six to eight receptions for 60 yards he could be in line for some pretty solid production for your flex spot or even RB2 if you are dealing with guys on bye this week.
Other STARTS:
- Carlos Hyde (SF)
- Leonard Fournette (JAC)
SITÂ Latavius Murray (MIN)
A popular pick up this week has been Murray, and for a pretty good reason, Dalvin Cook is out for the remainder of the year. I would like to point out that there is a reason why Cook was getting so much work and its because Murray is not a good running back. I know you are going to tell me last year he was borderline RB1, but I would like to point out that he was running behind one the leagues best offensive lines and could only manage four yards a carry and if not for his 12 touchdowns he would not have been nearly that high. So far this year in very limited work he has 14 carries for 38 yards for a 2.7 per carry average. While his volume should go up a lot I am not expecting his averages to go much, and a running back getting 18 carries for 60 yards is not worth starting in my opinion. Plus PPR work will likely go to Jerick McKinnon so its not even like Murray can get a few extra points there. So those of you that lost Cook and are hoping to repace him with Murray, sorry about your luck.
Other SITS:
- Chris Johnson (ARI)
- Isaiah Crowell (CLE)
Wide Receiver
STARTÂ Donte Moncrief (IND)
The Colts traded for Jacoby Brissett right before the start of the season just in case things went sideways before Luck came back. Well five minutes in their first game things went sideways and before the game ended, Brissett was in the game. As a result of the quarterback mess in Indy it has pretty much killed all of the skill position players most weeks. That said we are now heading into week five, which means Brissett has not had a good amount to time to get to know the system and after watching him against the Seahawks, which did not end well for him, he at least looked comfortable. This week the Colts face the 49ers who have not exactly done much to stop the passing game and we get an opportunity to see what Brissett can do, and the guy that benefits this week I think is Moncrief. Moncrief should be able to use his size and physical strength to help him put up some solid numbers. Six receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown is what I am expecting from Moncrief this week.
Other STARTS:
- Stefon Diggs (MIN)
- DeAndre Hopkins (HOU)
SITÂ Jeremy Maclin (BAL)
Maclin here is more because of Flacco than his own ability. Flacco to me looks like he is still dealing with back issues and they are trying their best to fight through them. For the record its not working. At some point I think they will have to shut Flacco down and let his back heal and until then the receivers will suffer in the Ravens offense. Sure one could take a short pass to the house, but that might be the only way a receiver puts up solid numbers. As a result any receiver including Maclin is not startable until further notice. Most weeks including this week will look like three receptions for 25 yards, and that is not going to cut it. So sit Maclin until Flacco looks healthy or someone else comes in to replace him.
Other SITS:
- Martavis Bryant (PIT)
- Golden Tate (DET)
Tight End
STARTÂ Jared Cook (OAK)
If the Ravens can make Mercedes Lewis look like an all pro tight end, Cook should at least be able to have a good game. I know we are looking at a back up quarterback for the Radiers, but what better safety blanket than a 6’5″ tight end going up against a team that has done thing to stop tight ends. This could easily be the best game of the year for Cook to date. seven or eight recpetions for 70 yards and a touchdown could easily be reached by Cook this weekend. The Raiders are desperate for a good game after to pretty bad flops the last two weeks and the easiest way to do it is by controlling the game with a solid rushing attack and safe passes to your tight end.
Other STARTS:
- Austin Saferian-Jenkins (NYJ)
- Hunter Henry (LAC)
- OJ Howard (TB)
SITÂ Eric Ebron (DET)
I really thought going into this year Ebron had a shot to pickup the all the work Aquan Boldin got in the red zone last year. So far that has not happened at all, and I am starting to think it might not either. If not for a seven yard touchdown in week two, Ebron’s line would be 10/80/0 in four games. Those kinds of numbers can’t even pass for TE2 ranks. I am just not sure at this point Ebron is in the top four in the pecking order for looks. Making him pretty much useless and dropable from most rosters.
Other SITS:
- Julius Thomas (MIA)
- Jack Doyle (IND)
Defense
STARTÂ New York Jets
This be becoming the whoever is playing the Browns. With Isaiah Crowell struggling and Corey Coleman out the Browns are struggling to find any offensive groove. So until they can get things going I will continue to stream defenses against the Browns.
Other STARTS:
- Oakland Raiders
SITÂ New England Patriots
I am completely expecting a shoot out for Thursday night football this week and as a result I would be avoiding both defenses in that game.
Other SITS:
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Michael Kelley is a member of the Going For 2 team. You can check out his website Dynasty League Problems for more writings or find him on Twitter @mikekelleydlp spreading fantasy knowledge for the masses.
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