- Quarterbacks
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- Wide receivers
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- Kickers
- Defenses
You have lineup questions, we have lineup answers — at least we hope so. Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is here to help fantasy managers make difficult roster decisions. And you know what is a good move? Starting Christian McCaffrey. But that’s too obvious, so you won’t see such simple analysis here. Instead, we’re exploring more debatable situations. And if you can’t find a player you are looking for, please check out the latest NFL Fantasy lineup rankings.
Start ‘Em
We like to feature kickers who are running hot, and no one’s been hotter than Lutz. With 17 points against the Vikings, he was the top-performing kicker last week. He has scored 12 or more points in three of his last four games. This week, the Broncos face the Browns at home in the thin Denver air. If the Broncos are able to move the ball against Cleveland’s elite defense, don’t expect many of those possessions to finish in the end zone. So in what has the potential be a low-scoring affair, figure Sean Payton to give Lutz the nod whenever those drives stall in Browns territory.
A down game (in terms of fantasy points) followed by a bye week may have led some people to drop Koo. If he’s available, pounce immediately. In the three games prior to Week 10, Koo had scored 12, 11 and 18 fantasy points, respectively. Those are kicker performances capable of propelling your team to a victory. Week 12 brings an indoor game against a divisional opponent that could become a field-goal battle. I would fire up Koo this week.
Like Lutz, Santos has been on a hot streak lately. He has scored 12 or more fantasy points in two straight, including 16 last week. Now he gets an indoor game against the Vikings. The Bears offense should be able to move the ball with Justin Fields back in the lineup, but the Vikings’ surging defense could prevent Chicago from scoring touchdowns. It’s a solid recipe for field-goal attempts.
I’m not quite sure if nine-plus fantasy points in two straight games qualifies as running hot, but if so, add Moody to the list. These divisional games tend to be unpredictable, so there could be a whole lot of points or it could be a field-goal battle. Either way, you’ll be watching on Thanksgiving night, so might as well start Moody and add a little more intrigue to your viewing experience.
Sit ‘Em
The Kansas City defense is very, very good. The unit was able to make life very tough on Jalen Hurts and the Eagles last week, holding Jake Elliott to three fantasy points. This Raiders offense will struggle to move the ball against them. Carlson has been better as of late, but he still has just three games this season in double digits. The floor is too low here — I’d stay away.
If this article hasn’t made it clear yet, the Steelers offense is struggling mightily to move the ball this season. It’s the reason they just fired their offensive coordinator, and while we can hope for improvement, it might be slow to arrive. Meanwhile, both teams in this one will be relying on the rushing attack in what figures to be a low-scoring, slow-paced game. That’s a recipe for disaster in fantasy. Avoid Boswell.
Hopkins has been very reliable this season. The issue is that his offense struggles to move the ball consistently — regardless of who’s under center. This is another game with the potential to be low-scoring and slow-paced. I’ve been starting Hopkins in a few leagues this season, but will be going in another direction for this week.
The theme in the sit portion of this week’s kicker section is to avoid the matchups that figure to be, you guessed it … low-scoring and slow-paced. We’ve already established this AFC North slugfest is likely to be just that. The Jake Browning-led Bengals could certainly struggle to get into field-goal range against this defense. I would play it safe and start a different kicker this week.
