Week 2 Start/Sit
Hopefully everyone reading this had a great first week of the fantasy football season, those that did not; hopefully this week will be better. The most important takeaway from this article should be to never sit your studs. Let me say that again, NEVER sit your STUDS. Your studs are the guys that will prevail no matter the matchup because they are one of the best in the world at doing what they do. Every week I will have a list of the major studs at each offensive position that should never be on your bench unless they are on bye or if they are injured, don’t outsmart yourself with their matchups.
This list is intended to help you decide between 1 or more players you may not be completely sold on, on a weekly basis. Just because I don’t particularly like a certain player does not mean they should be on your bench no matter what. Some people won’t have better options than the players I don’t like and, I am human, I will make mistakes. It is also important to note that the players listed here under Start should be considered for use in DFS leagues as they will likely be available at a cheaper price or I think they are ready for an amazing week.
Quarterbacks
Studs – Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady
Start:
Eli Manning – Last week I had Derek Carr on this list for 1 reason, the New Orleans Saint’s defense. This week Eli is up against them and should feast on this matchup, especially with Delvin – Breaux out for NO.
Matthew Stafford – Had a really strong showing last week against the poor Indy D but Tennessee’s isn’t much better. A solid showing this week and he may be looking at a career year in 2016.
Blake Bortles – We saw Alex Smith light up the San Diego defense like a Christmas tree last week, Bortles is much better than Smith, expect big numbers.
Joe Flacco – I had Flacco listed as a Sit last week and that game was pretty putrid for anyone who watched it. This week Flacco gets the Browns, need I say more?
Sit:
Phillip Rivers – Even though Jacksonville is a pretty decent matchup for Rivers, I just hate how his production fell off the table last year once Allen went down. The first thought in my head once I saw the Allen injury was that SD is now a bottom 3 team in the league. Rivers owners should look to find another QB for the rest of the season.
Andy Dalton – You’d think that going up against the Pittsburgh secondary would warrant a start since the Steeler’s are weak against the pass but that’s not the case. Dalton has struggled against Pittsburgh in the past; whether it be that these 2 teams always play a violent game or that it is divisional and divisional games tend to be lower scoring. Either way there are better options this week at QB.
Brock Osweiler – Osweiler looked pretty good against the lowly Bear’s defense last week but a matchup against the Chief’s stellar D has me looking elsewhere. The Texans will win this game on the back of Lamar Miller, not on the arm of Osweiler.
Matt Ryan – I know he had great numbers last week and Oakland’s defense won’t be able to contain Julio but I’ve had enough of Matt Ryan in the past. He may end up starting the first month of the season on a high note but eventually he is going to fall off the table, like always. Besides, why pass 40 times when you can run all over this Oakland defense and you have Freeman and Coleman?
Running Backs
Studs – Todd Gurley, Adrian Peterson, Ezekiel Elliott, David Johnson, Lamar Miller, Mark Ingram, LeSean McCoy, Le’Veon Bell
Start:
CJ Anderson – CJ may find himself in the Stud section very soon. Gashing the Panthers is not something many running backs can boast about. Going up against Indy’s horrible defense may yield CJ to do even more damage than he did week 1. I’m predicting him as the #1 RB this week in standard formats.
DeAngelo Williams – D Will was the #1 RB in standard scoring last week against a very beatable Washington defense. Steeler/Bengal are always smash-mouth football, Big Ben will look to stay upright and avoid injury against this nasty defense by getting rid of the ball early and handing off to Williams.
Rashad Jennings – I want every piece of this Giants/Saints game as I can get. There will be a million points scored in this game. After Jennings looked really good against a stout Cowboy’s defense there is no reason to think he will slow down this week.
Danny Woodhead – Woodhead finds a decent matchup against the Jags, but he is on here for 1 reason: once Allen went down last year the ONLY person who benefitted was Woodhead. Quote me on this one, Woodhead is a t10 RB in PPR by season’s end if he and Rivers can avoid injury.
TJ Yeldon – No Ivory again this week? Did you see what Spence Ware did last week against KC while only logging 48% of the team’s offensive snaps? Oh yes, ride Yeldon this week in all formats.
Sit:
Eddie Lacy – Lacy didn’t do much last week and he has an even tougher matchup this week. The Eddie Lacy comeback tour won’t begin this week, maybe next week will be better.
Jeremy Hill – I know this seems contradictory as I said above that the Steelers and Bengals always play a physical game but the Steelers are good at stopping the run. Gio will do some damage as the Steelers have difficulty against pass-catching backs, but I do think Hill will find the promise land once this week.
Jeremy Langford – Everyone that reads this will think I’m crazy, but I’m just not into Langford this week. Langford sees a ton of touches every week and he is definitely the bell cow here in Chicago, but his YPC is pretty bad and the Eagles have a great LB core. If he didn’t score, he’s not going to give you much.
Doug Martin – If you watched the Patriots/Cardinals game last week you saw Blount have some pretty decent runs against the Cardinals. What you also saw was a 22/70/1 stat line. That is a putrid YPC average. The damage done this week will be by the arm of one Jameis Winston, not off the back of Dougie Doug Martin.
Thomas Rawls – Rawls didn’t see much action last week as Pete Carrol wants to ease him back into action. This week he should see even more of the carries, but Christine Michael has seemingly worked his way into a RBBC mix. The Seahawks also play on the road against the Rams. Somehow the Rams have the answer when it comes to stymieing the Seahawks over the past few years.
Wide Receivers
Studs – Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr, Julio Jones, AJ Green, DeAndre Hopkins, Allen Robinson, Brandin Cooks, Brandon Marshall, Mike Evans, Alshon Jeffery, Amari Cooper
Start:
Kelvin Benjamin – Benjamin seems to have not lost a step with Cam after missing all of last season. He put up a decent stat line against the Bronco’s last week and gets the 49ers this week. Expect a big day for the big target.
Dez Bryant – Dez should be considered a Stud, but with no Romo I just can’t do it. However, the Steelers picked apart the Washington defense last week. Even though the offense should be run through Zeke this week in a divisional road game I think Dez catches one of those balls he dropped last week for a TD.
Jordan Matthews – J Matt surprised me last week, showing good chemistry with a young QB. I have always believed that when a rookie QB seems in over his head, he looks for his #1 target and starts forcing throws. That may not be good for Wentz, but you have to love it as a Matthews’ owner. Also, watch the film from Houston tearing apart Chicago through the air last week.
Vincent Jackson – The Cardinals are a tough matchup on paper, but if you look closely you will see that the slot WR for the Patriots had their way last week with the Cardinals secondary. V Jax had a good offseason and has a great, young gunslinger at QB. He’s in all of my DFS lineups this week. All of them.
Willie Snead – Meet the 2nd player in every one of my DFS lineups this week. As I said above with Rashad Jennings, I want as much stock into this Giants/Saints matchup as I can get.
Sit:
Colts Receivers – Going up against the Denver defense who all but shut down Cam Newton last week. Many of them got fined for vicious hits as well. They’re going to want to make that money back this week, not sure how Andrew Luck will be able to fair against that.
Jeremy Maclin – Alex Smith was the 3rd highest scoring QB last week and Maclin put up a 5/63/1 stat line. This week KC plays the Texans amazing defense. He will likely still be in many of your lineups, but don’t expect much here.
San Diego Receivers – See above what I put for Woodhead. It may seem counterintuitive that a star WR goes down and no other WRs pick it up but that’s how it was last year. Only Travis Benjamin may see a boost, but I’m expecting a season-long downward spiral here for the SD offense.
Stefon Diggs – Likely going to see a lot of James Shields this week and we don’t know what to expect from the QB situation, I’m not risking it.
Will Fuller – He had a great breakout week against the Bears last week, but temper expectations going forward. This is still Hopkin’s show, plus the game plan this week for the Texans will be to run, run, run all over the KC defense who gave up 2 TD to Melvin Gordon last week (he didn’t score in 2015).
Tight Ends
Studs – Rob Gronkowski, Jordan Reed, Greg Olsen, Travis Kelce
Start:
Julius Thomas – He looked good in week 1 and he’s going up against SD. What more do you need?
Delanie Walker – See Luck, Andrew and what he did week 1 against this Lion’s defense. Mariota is a good QB as well and Walker is his most reliable target for now. Start him if you got him.
Eric Ebron – Is this finally the breakout year for Eric Ebron that we have been waiting for? Week 1 made me think so, I want as many pieces of this offense as I can handle. They look like a very strong unit so far this year. They are also taking on the Titans so there’s that.
Sit:
Coby Fleener – Even though this may be a great matchup yet again, I need to see something from Fleener before I’m comfortable throwing him out there every week.
Dwayne Allen – Some TE I’ve never heard of caught 2 TD last week from Andrew Luck. Since Fleener was release I thought that Allen was finally getting his time to shine. Maybe I was wrong.
Kyle Rudolph – Just don’t like anyone on Minnesota going up against Green Bay this week.
