Fantasy Football Start em, Sit em: Aaron Rodgers, Tank Dell, C.J. Stroud (Week 9)

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

C.J. Stroud (QB)

Stroud is playing lights-out football, but it hasn’t exactly transferred to fantasy success. He is the QB21 in fantasy points per game with only two QB1 weeks this season. Among 41 qualifying quarterbacks, he ranks tenth in passing touchdowns, ninth in passing yards per game, 13th in CPOE, and tenth in highly accurate throw rate. Since Week 5, the Jets haven’t been a frightening pass defense, allowing the 14th-highest yards per attempt while ranking 17th in passer rating and 20th in CPOE. The biggest issue for Stroud in this game isn’t the Jets’ secondary but their pass rush. The Jets are third in pressure rate, and Stroud’s offensive line has allowed him to face the seventh-highest pressure rate. Stroud has been good versus pressure, ranking third in passing grade and sixth in yards per attempt when facing pressure. Stroud is not a must-start this week. It depends upon the quarterback options on your team.

Aaron Rodgers (QB)

Rodgers has looked like a shell of his former self for most of this season as the QB20 in fantasy points per game. Father Time comes calling for everyone, and it looks like he and Rodgers have been having long late-night chats. Among 41 qualifying quarterbacks, Rodgers is 28th in yards per attempt and fantasy points per dropback while also ranking 37th in CPOE. Rodgers at least showed a pulse last week against New England with his third outing of the season with more than 17 fantasy points. This week won’t be any easier for Rodgers. Houston has kept quarterbacks in check with the fourth-lowest success rate per dropback, the second-lowest yards per attempt, and the lowest CPOE allowed.

Tank Dell (WR)

In the three games Dell has played without Nico Collins, he has finished as a top 30 wide receiver in weekly scoring twice (WR16, WR29). Since Week 6, he has had an 18.9% target share, a 26.3% air-yard share, 1.10 YPRR, and a 28% first-read share. The explosive plays just haven’t been there for Dell so far. Since Week 7, the Jets have ranked seventh in single-high rate (60.5%). Over the last three games, against single high, Dell has seen his numbers increase with a 22.6% target share, 1.56 YPRR, and a 31.3% first-read share. This will help Dell in a tough matchup this week. The Jets have allowed the third-fewest fantasy points per game and the seventh-fewest receiving yards per game to perimeter wide receivers.

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.