Start em or sit em? Fantasy football start or sit decisions can be excruciating. While it feels great to make the right call and cruise to fantasy glory, it hurts just as much when you have someone erupt while on your bench. You can use our Who Should I Start? tool to gauge advice from fantasy football experts as you make your lineup decisions. And you can also sync your fantasy football league for free using our My Playbook tool for custom advice, rankings and analysis.
Let’s take a look at a few polarizing players and what fantasy football expert Derek Brown advises. And you can find all of DBro’s fantasy football outlook in this week’s fantasy football primer.
Fantasy Football Start em, Sit em Lineup Advice
Mike Gesicki (CIN – TE)
Last week, Gesicki led the three-way Bengals tight end committee with a 53% route share with a 25% target share, a 22.6% air-yard share, 4.14 YPRR, and a 32% first-read share. Those per-route numbers are nearly impossible for Gesicki to replicate weekly, but it’s a good sign that he will be involved in the passing attack when on the field. Last year, Washington allowed the ninth-fewest receptions and the fifth-fewest receiving yards to tight ends.
Jalen Nailor (MIN – WR)
Nailor has been a pleasant surprise so far this season as the WR33 in fantasy. Last week he was a full-time player with an 81% route share, a 15.4% target share, a 33.2% air-yard share, and a 16.7% first-read share. Among 84 qualifying wide receivers, he ranks 30th in YPRR (2.03), fourth in separation, and seventh in route win rate. Those are impressive stats for a player who had consistent positive buzz coming out of training camp. Nailor has a tough task for Week 2 as he’ll run about 73% of his routes against Kamari Lassiter (30% catch rate and 0.0 passer rating) and Derek Stingley Jr. (61.5% catch rate and 45.7 passer rating). Houston has allowed the 14th-fewest PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers.
Jerry Jeudy (CLE – WR)
Jeudy should lead the way for the Browns aerial attack this week. Jeudy has a 17.7% target share, a 32.1% air-yard share, 1.29 YPRR, and a 19% first-read share as the WR30 in fantasy. On paper, this looks like a “Jerry Jeudy week.” The Giants have utilized two-high at the fifth-highest rate (53.1%) this season. Against two-high, Jeudy has been the go-to receiver through two games with a 20% target share, a 52.3% air-yard share, and a 25% first-read share. Among 54 qualifying receivers against two high, Jeudy ranks 23rd in route win rate and 24th in separation. Jeudy will run about 60% of his routes against Andru Phillips (77.8% catch rate and 79.6 passer rating) and Deonte Banks (63.6% catch rate and 127.1 passer rating). New York has allowed the sixth-highest PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers.
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If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant, which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.