Sit Em, Start Em – Week Ten
Start Em
Jeremy Hill – This start should be a no-brainer with Gio Bernard slated to miss Thursday Night Football but it is worth mentioning since the majority of you did not draft Hill to be a starter. Hill looks like a top ten back this week and with another impressive performance he will likely be given a larger workload than he had previously when Gio returns to action. Hill is one of the most talented backs in the league and absolutely needs to be in all lineups week ten against the Browns.
Ronnie Hillman – Another no-brainer type of start suggestion, Hillman warrants inclusion in this column due to the fact that Montee Ball looks like he will return to the field for week ten. Hillman will remain the starter for the time being as despite his slightly above average skill set he has been able to get what is blocked and use his plus vision to be much more effective than Ball was when healthy. Hillman remains an RB2 play for now but we will be monitoring his workload closely with an eye of his value for future weeks.
Odell Beckham – Those in deeper leagues will still want to trot out this impressive young rookie despite the horrible matchup against the Seahawks. A garbage time hero on Monday Night Football, Eli Manning now understands who his team’s best offensive weapon is and you have to think that Tom Coughlin does too. While we don’t expect Beckham to explode like he did in week nine we still project him to post WR3 value at a minimum. Beckham will be ranked as a WR2 most weeks and possesses that upside this week despite being ranked 27th.
Justin Hunter – With strong armed Zach Mettenberger under center Hunter seems to be trending towards becoming the Titans number one receiver thus boosting his fantasy value. In Mettenberger’s first start Hunter saw a season high ten targets which also led the team finding the end zone once off four receptions. Hunter looks like he may be finally able to deliver on his upside and projects as a WR3 this week against the Ravens. Start Hunter where needed as this may be the week he finally goes off for his fantasy owners.
Charles Clay – Clay is a strong start this week after finding the end zone last week and being inches away from another score. Clay was drafted as a TE1 in most leagues and may finally be ready to deliver on some of that value. With names like Gronkowski, Cameron, Gates, Allen and Reed not available this week Clay should be a popular TE streamer at the very least. Start Clay where needed.
Mark Sanchez – Some are still skeptical of Mark Sanchez but we would all do well to remember the success he had in his first two season en route to setting an NFL record for the most playoff wins for a QB in his first two seasons in the NFL. Sanchez has never had weapons like he now has at his disposal in Philly and quite frankly he is and always has been a better QB than Nick Foles 2013 aberration notwithstanding. Sanchez has QB1 until at least the fantasy playoffs and by than he may well have seized control of the starting gig in Philly. Start Sanchez this week and for the foreseeable future until he gives you a reason not to.
Sit Em
Montee Ball – Even with a plus matchup on the schedule your (likely) first round pick does not warrant starting in any but the deepest of leagues. Montee Ball himself admitted that Hillman deserves to keep the starting job and that should tell you all you need to know here. Ball has lost some weight in an effort to be more agile but at 6-10 touches per game he may not provide enough fantasy value for his owners this week. Keep Ball on fantasy benches until he starts to show signs of life.
Bobby Rainey – Charles Sims is expected to be active this week against the Falcons and he should be getting most of the all important third down work in a game where the Bucs are expected to be playing from behind limiting Rainey’s potential fantasy value. Add to that the fact that Sims holds a significant talent edge on Rainey on early downs as well and Rainey shapes up as a low floor start and as an FA pickup you should have better options this week.
Rueben Randle – Randle is not a strong start this week with the Giants facing off against the defending champion Seattle Seahawks. Randle should see a fair amount of targets but should not have much room to operate against the legion of boom and when you couple that with the fact that Odell Beckham is now the apple of Eli Manning’s eye it makes sense to look elsewhere for WR3/4 help this week. Sit Randle in all but the most desperate of circumstances.
Wes Welker – Welker has been an afterthought in the Broncos offense and there has been no indication that this will change any time soon. With the Broncos squaring off against the Raiders we may see an early blow-out leading the Broncos to rest their starters further clouding Welker’s week ten fantasy potential. Those in deep leagues with small benches may want to check the wire hard before deciding to plug in Welker and those in shallower formats will have better options.
Eli Manning – If it feels like I am picking on the Giants, I am. The Giants have an unenviable match-up against a top tier Seahawks defense and outside of Odell Beckham most Giants should be on their owners fantasy benches this week. Now while cannot imagine anyone would look to start Manning against the Seahawks to begin with the fact that you may have lost Foles and missed out Sanchez may lead some owners to scrape the bottom of the barrel if Michael Vick has already been rostered by a rival GM. We prefer upside plays like Mettenberger and the seeming inevitable garbage time stat-padding against a Jimmy Smith-less Ravens than hoping Eli throws more TD’s than picks and can get his passing yards to a respectable level.
