Okay, take a deep breath. The bye weeks are done, and you can play all of your studs at one time again. But wait, now you’re in a new situation: the playoffs are next week, and you need to win to get in. But who do you start? Don’t worry, I have you covered.
Start ’Em
T.J. Yeldon, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
With the news of Leonard Fournette‘s suspension this week, Yeldon is next in line to be the starting running back. He is faster, knows the playbook, and is a better pass-catching back than Carlos Hyde. Yeldon’s stats the past three weeks vs. Hyde’s are better, much better. Yeldon has 51 rushing yards, 9 catches, and 77 receiving yards, while Hyde put up 82 yards rushing and zero catches. Both whilst backing up Fournette.
Give Yeldon the whole game this week against the Indianapolis Colts, and his stats above should double. If you have Fournette on the bench this week, make sure you replace him with Yeldon.
Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Melvin Gordon is out for the next few weeks with a sprained MCL. Time to fire up Ekeler if you are a Gordon owner. He had 35 rushing yards, one touchdown, 10 catches, and 68 receiving yards last week against the Arizona Cardinals.
Those numbers should roll over to this week against the Pittsburgh Steelers and their average defense. If you need to play him because you have Melvin Gordon, fire him up.
D.J Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have not been good against wide receivers so far this year and find themselves giving away 27.3 fantasy points per game, 5th worst in the league. This game could potentially end up being one of the shootouts of the week, with Cam Newton and Jameis Winston trading blows frequently.
D.J Moore has progressively worked his way into being the WR1 in Carolina over the last couple of weeks with 15 total targets for an impressive 248 yards (16.5 yards per reception) and 1 touchdown. I expect this trend to continue for the remainder of the season, but especially this week.
Eric Ebron, TE, Indianapolis Colts
Fellow tight end Jack Doyle is out for the year, and Ebron has finally learned to catch the ball, something he struggled with in Detroit. This week he will bring his A game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He may not be the sexiest pick each week, but his numbers are 44 catches, 508 receiving yards, and 11 touchdowns. 11 TOUCHDOWNS!!!
Play him this week, and hope he and his tight end-loving quarterback Andrew Luck add to that touchdown total.
Sit ’Em
QB
Any quarterback you may have picked up during the bye weeks to stream. That time is over. Get Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, DeShaun Watson, and the other top 12 quarterbacks in your starting lineups.
Forget about Chase Daniel, Josh Rosen, Jameis Winston, and those non-point scoring quarterbacks out of your lineups. However, if you can keep them on your bench do so – you never know an injury may happen.
Golden Tate, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
He just isn’t getting it done in Philly, and you should have seen it coming as wide receivers who join a new team mid-season have trouble adapting to the new offense schemes (Amari Cooper, and Demaryius Thomas notwithstanding). In the last three games, Tate’s numbers are 11 catches, 97 receiving yards, and 0 touchdowns.
He used to do that in one game with the Detroit Lions. He is going up against a great secondary in the Washington Redskins. If you can avoid playing him this week, do so.
That’s all the sit’ ems for the week. As I said at the top, it’s all studs from here on out. Make the playoffs and ball out with your main guys. Good luck this week and I hope you make the playoffs. If not, you can always play the spoiler.
by Tyler Belawske @TylerBelawske
