This is arguably the toughest part of the fantasy football season. This week, there are four teams on bye and, next week, there are SIX. After that, it’s Thanksgiving when everyone plays, and there are only six total bye weeks left. But injuries and questions about availability following trades have us scrambling a bit until we reach that beautiful oasis.
So, with this article, you might just be starting all these guys anyway because you have no other choice. But if you do have a choice, we want to highlight some guys we like on the fringe vs. ones we are trying to avoid. As always, make sure you consult the Weekly Fantasy Football Rankings because not every league is created equal. A start for someone might be a sit for someone else depending on format and league depth.
Who Should You Start in Fantasy Football This Week?
One thing that will always remain true with this article or any of our content is that it is more satisfying when you go with your heart or your gut or whatever body part wills you to make the most fun decisions. Fantasy football is SUPPOSED to be fun. And it’s more fun when YOU make the decisions. That said, I’ve been using my pesky brain over here to come up with some reasons why you should or shouldn’t start some of the guys sitting on the fringe of lineups. So here is my fantasy football lineup advice for those guys.
Week 10 Quarterback Start 'Em, Sit 'Em
Start: Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Last week, we were not super interested in starting Bryce Young against the Broncos after he struggled against the Buccaneers and Packers. Logically, it was hard to expect him to go out and have a big game against a tough defense after bad games against tough defenses. But he went out and threw for 276 yards and three touchdowns. This week, against a Saints defense that is bottom five in the league in pass yards allowed per game, we are more interested in Young. Logic suggests he should do well, but logic doesn’t always win out in fantasy football.
Sit: Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Not having Davante Adams is one thing. But not having Puka Nacua either? They didn’t make a trade, so they are just rolling with the tight ends and what they have. That is asking Matthew Stafford to do quite a lot here. It’s also a matchup against the Cardinals where he might not need to do a whole lot, as they should be able to manage things on the ground. I was very close to ranking Geno Smith ahead of Stafford this week - that’s how bad it is. Depending on how the week proceeds here, I might make the switch. Geno has a worse floor, but the upside is oddly higher.
Week 10 Running Back Start 'Em, Sit 'Em
Start: Blake Corum, Los Angeles Chargers
This is a combination of two things here. The first we already mentioned in the Stafford section above. The Rams should be able to run all over the Cardinals. And there should be enough work for both backs. The other is that, due to bye weeks and injuries, there simply aren’t enough high-quality options out there. So, despite being a second-string running back, Blake Corum actually ranks pretty high for us this week.
Start: Corey Kiner, New England Patriots
As always with these situations, there is some uncertainty here. But with Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson both out, the Patriots really did not make any moves here at the deadline or via free agency. They currently have Corey Kiner slated to start, with Lan Larison helping on pass downs. I’m sure they will call Terrrell Jennings up from the practice squad for the game this week, and he has some experience with the team last year, but Kiner is on the streaming radar in this environment.
Sit: Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns
You may need to start Quinshon Judkins anyway given the lack of depth at the running back position this week. But a troubling trend has emerged lately for Judkins. The split we are seeing is the same one deployed by the Tennessee Titans when both Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears are healthy. When the Titans are winning, Pollard gets a lot of carries. When they are losing, Spears gets a lot of pass-work. In this case, Judkins is Pollard, and Dylan Sampson is Spears. The Browns are underdogs against a tough Texans defense, meaning we could once again see more Sampson than Judkins.
Sit: Kaleb Johnson, Green Bay Packers
This one really goes out to all of the Green Bay running backs. But Kaleb Johnson is the one we have ranked the highest. We really don’t want to be involved in any sort of guessing game here with Josh Jacobs out. The truth is, even Jacobs wasn’t running the ball well behind this brutal offensive line. I mean, he was averaging only 2.2 yards per carry. The pass work was really masking how bad it was, but no one is going to get the workload that Jacobs was getting. And they are playing the Vikings. So I’ll stash Johnson in deep leagues but can’t really start him.
Week 10 Wide Receiver Start 'Em, Sit 'Em
Start: Demario Douglas, New England Patriots
If you have tuned into the Sunday morning Fantasy Alarm start/sit show on YouTube, you’ll know that I have been the one who generally doesn’t like starting Demario Douglas. He’s fairly consistently been a part-time player for New England throughout his career. And that hasn’t completely changed as he comes off the field for one- and two-WR sets. But, at this stage, he’s pretty clearly their most effective pass-catcher. They didn’t make a move before the deadline, so Douglas is your best bet right now from New England, especially in full PPR.
Start: Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers
I know folks are excited about the Keenan Allen trade. Trades are exciting. But Allen is still going to need to get up to speed with the playbook. He’s also been a part-time player pretty much everywhere he’s been the last few years, from Chicago to L.A. to Indianapolis. Deebo Samuel is the one who has been with the team for most of the year here, and he’s returning this week. So we trust Deebo Samuel over Allen - for now.
Sit: Caleb Douglas, Miami Dolphins
This one is a bit of a shame, as we were starting to get excited about Caleb Douglas. He already established himself as a full-time guy with the Dolphins. And he just got eight targets last week, the most he’s seen. So we liked this matchup with the Colts. But Malik Willis was just put on IR, and Kyle McCord is going to start this week. So we are back to playing “wait and see” with a new quarterback and his ability to deliver the football. We have one Douglas to start, one Douglas to sit.
Sit: Jordyn Tyson, New Orleans Saints
There will come a time when Jordyn Tyson is a star in this league. We had him ranked as our WR1 in this class. But in his first game, he only ran 24% of the routes. We don’t mind taking risks, but that is DANGEROUSLY low. So we love getting aggressive with getting Tyson onto our teams. But we aren’t 100% ready to throw him into our lineups just yet. I need to see him run at least 50% of the routes in a game before we go there in typical leagues. In deeper leagues, do whatever you want to do. Just check the weekly rankings first.
Week 10 Tight End Start 'Em, Sit 'Em
Start: Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
If Kerby Joseph was going to return this week for the Lions, we might be off this play. But it’s already been stated that he will not. Still, Brian Branch being back makes it so this matchup isn’t the slam dunk that we normally think it would be. Plus, Hunter Henry is working his way through his own foot injury. But the Patriots have so few WRs, and they will absolutely have to pass the football here, so I can’t imagine Henry not offering a decent floor with Joseph and Jack Campbell both out.
Start: Chig Okonkwo, Washington Commanders
Chig Okonkwo is a player we like. We had him as a “sit” last week because of the bad matchup. But he actually did pretty well against the Rams. His next four matchups are all better than that one, so Chig could be on the table for us for a few weeks here. In two straight games since Terry McLaurin has been out, Chig has been second on the team in routes run behind only Antonio Williams. With his 96th-percentile speed, he doesn’t even need a lot of targets to pop off, but they are now available.
Sit: T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
We don’t know for sure whether Kirk Cousins is the “best” quarterback for T.J. Hockenson. He is better than Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer; we know that. But Kyler Murray actually was pretty good for Hock, getting the ball out quickly. Cousins could be better at getting through his reads and pushing the ball downfield, which is better for Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. If it were a better matchup, we’d be more inclined to just throw Hock in there. But the Packers have been a terrible matchup for tight ends, so we would rather sit him.
SIT: Greg Dulcich, Miami Dolphins
Greg Dulcich. My sweet, sweet prince. You let us down in what should have been a good matchup with the Lions. Yes, I know, Malik Willis was hurt, so maybe not all your fault. But now Willis has moved to IR, and Kyle McCord is set to start. Dare we buy into the idea of McCord feeding the tight end in what was supposed to be a tight matchup with the Colts? We should not dare. Though I probably still will in one league.
Week 10 D/ST Start 'Em, Sit 'Em
Start: Pittsburgh Steelers
The harsh reality of DST in fantasy football is that most people do not have room to roster two. So you often run into the question of whether to hold defenses through the bye or tough matchups or drop them. We really don’t want to start defenses against a white-hot Joe Burrow, but T.J. Watt’s ability to get his hands on the football alone is worth holding the Steelers. In most cases, there isn’t even a better streaming option available on the wire, so we are probably just starting the Steelers in a tough matchup. Their schedule is pretty friendly come fantasy playoff,s so you’ll want to have them.
SIT: San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers DST is the classic “start them in good matchups but sit them in bad matchups” defense. Unfortunately, the Dallas Cowboys are pretty hot on offense right now, and this game has the highest over/under of any on the week. So they are a sit this week.
How To Handle The Toughest Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Decisions?
This is actually simpler than you’d think. Because Fantasy Alarm has three different ways for you to handle your tough start/sit decisions:
- Weekly Rankings - I do these rankings personally every week and keep them updated based on the news and rumors
- League Sync - Sync up your actual league to our systems so you can receive custom advice for your own settings.
- Start/Sit Tool - Plug in the two players and see what our projections and matchup analysis have to say.