Each week in the Pregame, I’ll provide a few players to start and a few to bench. These recommendations are based on that player’s strength of schedule (SOS) for that particular week or that player’s specific situation.
I’m a strong advocate of always starting your studs, so I won’t be telling you about LaDainian Tomlinson’s tough matchup or how Peyton Manning and company will light it up against a bad defense. Anyone can make those calls. I’ll be discussing marginal fantasy starters – guys that can start for you, but only under certain circumstances.
START
BRAD JOHNSON, JAKE DELHOMME, ALEX SMITH, CHARLIE FRYE, and JON KITNA all have excellent matchups this week. Don’t bench a stud for them, but if you are choosing among a group of so-so starters, these guys should score well this week…ANTHONY THOMAS, FRANK GORE and MAURICE MORRIS are reasonable starts this week, given their matchups. Don’t expect miracles from the A-Train or Morris, but they should be good for 80-100 yards with a possible score…BRAYLON EDWARDS and REGGIE BROWN have great matchups this week and are decent starts in a pinch.
BENCH
MARK BRUNELL, CHAD PENNINGTON, MATT LEINART and JAKE PLUMMER have tough matchups this week and should be avoided if at all possible…TRAVIS HENRY, AHMAN GREEN, REGGIE BUSH and DEUCE MCALLISTER should find the going tough with their matchups against Baltimore, Minnesota and Pittsburgh, respectively…Bench TERRY GLENN and ERIC PARKER, if possible. Both players have tough matchups and it was recently revealed that Glenn has a “bone on bone” condition in the back of one of his knees. He’s listed as probable, but I’m officially worried.
Check back on Saturday for a complete injury update. Until then, feel free to post your roster questions on our Q & A.
