You have lineup questions. We have answers. At least we hope. Start 'Em & Sit 'Em has helped fantasy managers for years make those pressing lineup decisions. And you know what is a good decision? Starting Patrick Mahomes. But that's too obvious, so you won't see that here. Instead here are some of the most-pressing questions. And, if you can't find a player you are looking for, please check out latest NFL Fantasy lineup rankings right here.
Start 'em
Look who was back in double-digits last week against the Titans! Rodrigo had been the highest-scoring kicker through the first six games, but he had struggled after his bye. And I told you that we weren’t going to be giving up on him and it worked out. His next five games are in a dome. I’ll still mention him here because it’s good to have traditions. And I don’t want to look too far ahead here. But Rodrigo will be outdoors in Pittsburgh in Week 16, but we’ll worry about that in a few weeks. But I know a lot of us are just worried about getting into the playoffs, so let’s go.
Listen, Younghoe is the Brad Pitt to Rodrigo’s George Clooney. Every meaningful fantasy team of mine has one of these two guys (or the next guy on this list who will then be the Matt Damon). Younghoe has been brilliant this year, save a two-point game against the Lions in Week 7. He’s consistently in or near double-digits and he’s a must start every week. He plays in a dome. His quarterback is good. You can’t ask for much more out of a kicker.
Take a gander on your waiver wire to see if he was dropped during the bye week. He’s good, but I’m not sure if he was going to be “hold through the bye week” good. I did that with Younghoe and ended up trouncing Jake Ciely in a league despite it. But get Butker back into your lineups. The Chiefs have scored 40 points in each game coming off the bye the last two seasons. The Raiders being the opponent both times.
I expect the Raiders to match points with the Chiefs this week. Hell, they are the only team who have beaten the Chiefs in a long time. Daniel was perfect on all three of his field goals last week, including a 52-yarder. That’s how he ended up with 15 points.
A lot of people have been asking me about Lutz this week because of the uncertainty at quarterback. Just kidding, nobody cares about kickers and nobody asks. But I guess you should if you’re still in a league with them. But as you can tell if you’ve looked through this piece, I’m still high on the Saints, no matter who the quarterback is.
Hey people, Dan Bailey REVENGE GAME. He hasn’t been great this year. But he has some of the elements I love in a kicker. Plays in a dome. He’s got a conservative coach who isn’t going for two points all that often. And would probably rather play for field goals instead of blowing a game wide open (which I feel like Zimmer should have done on Monday night when he had the Bears on the ropes early).
Hey, Hopkins did match his season high with nine points against the Giants last week. I thought about that because I like Hopkins as a kicker. But the FT offense doesn’t move the ball enough. I have him just outside of my top 12 kickers this week. But I do have him as a viable streamer. Washington should get plenty of scoring opportunities this week and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in double-digits. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see this game end, 12-7, so there is a wide range of emotions here.
Sit 'em
The Titans have decided to stick with Gostkowski this week. Which makes sense because the punting has been so bad, it does make the rest of the special team blunders seem good by comparison. But just because Mike Vrabel is sticking by his friend doesn’t mean you need to do that, too. I mean, it feels like we should have an intervention. Let Mike know that his relationship is killing his team.
You always want dome kickers. Or guys in warm weather. But with the Dolphins going up to play in the cold in Denver this week, this is a tough one. Dude doesn’t miss, which you love. But I’d just advise you to keep an eye on the weather. Not totally fair because Sanders has been good this year. But the weather concerns me. Now watch Sanders go out and boot three 50-yarders this week.
Elliott is always one of those guys who seems like a good idea. Like Fireball. But then you instantly regret it. Elliott has scored five points or less in every game he has played since he had 13 points against the Bengals in Week 3. The Eagles also go for two way too much. Elliott has only had six tries over the last six weeks. He’s missed half of them.
