Every week, I will highlight a few players to start and a few players to sit at each position. I’m a firm believer in starting your studs, so I won’t tell you about how Drew Brees or Adrian Peterson has a tough matchup – just go ahead and keep them in your lineup. Instead, I’ll focus on the borderline guys – players you’ll only start under the right circumstances. It’s important to note that depending on your roster and situation, you may not be able to follow these recommendations. For example, if I suggest you bench a solid starter like Tony Romo, only do so if you have a clearly better option on your bench.
The “love ‘em” players are listed in the order that I’d start them this week.
This week, Jay Cutler faces the Browns, who are 24th against the pass and were torched last week by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers…David Garrard has a great matchup this week against the Titans, who have given up an average of 311 yards and 3.2 pass TD per game…Matt Hasselbeck faces the Cowboys, who have yielded 239 yards and 1.7 pass TD per game. Dallas will probably put up some points, so Hasselbeck may post nice numbers in garbage time…For the desperate, Marc Bulger (@ DET), Vince Young (vs. JAX) and Derek Anderson (@ CHI) actually have good matchups this week. Proceed with extreme caution.
Get Steve Slaton in your starting lineup. The Bills are last in the league against the rush…Kevin Smith is a great start this week against the Rams, who have given up an average of 136 yards and 1.6 TD on the ground this season…With Donald Brown sidelined, Joseph Addai is looking like a nice start against the 49ers, who had a tough time stopping Michael Turner and Steve Slaton in recent weeks…Matt Forte has struggled this year, but with a matchup against the Browns’ 31st-ranked rush defense this week, he should be productive…LaDainian Tomlinson didn’t exactly tear it up against the Chiefs, but he toted the ball 23 yards and proved he was relatively healthy. He has another nice matchup this week against a bad Raiders rush defense…Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower are still sharing duties in the Arizona backfield, but with the porous Panthers’ rush defense coming to town, they’re both worth consideration as starters this week…Justin Fargas ran hard last week and has a great matchup with the Chargers this week. The main worry here is that the Raiders fall behind and don’t stick with the running game.
Mike Sims-Walker has a great matchup against the Titans, who have been absolutely torched through the air this season…Miles Austin is on fire (16-421-4) over the last two weeks and has a pretty nice matchup against a mediocre Seahawks pass defense…The Cardinals are playing better pass defense of late, but there’s a good chance that Steve Smith 1.0 has a nice game after his 6-99 performance in Week 7…T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Nate Burleson should both have nice games against the Cowboys’ suspect secondary…Donnie Avery is definitely startable this week against the Lions, especially since he’s shown signs of life in recent weeks.
Joe Flacco has a rough matchup with a Denver defense that has only given up three pass TD in six games…Alex Smith played well against the Texans, but don’t go crazy and try to start him against the Colts. Indy has the 6th-ranked pass defense and has only allowed two pass TDs all season…They’re still startable, but be warned that Matt Schaub (@ BUF) and Matt Ryan (@ NO) don’t have the best matchups this week.
He’s still startable, but DeAngelo Williams has a tough matchup this week against Arizona’s top-ranked rush defense. I’d definitely bench Jonathan Stewart this week…Ryan Grant had a nice game last week, but that was against the Browns. This week, the Williams Wall comes to Green Bay, and the Packer running game doesn’t look up to the challenge…Pierre Thomas is being pulled at the goal line, so that makes a big game against the Falcons unlikely.
Don’t expect a good game out of Derrick Mason, who will have to deal with Champ Bailey and a Broncos defense that has been stellar against the pass this season…I’d still start Andre Johnson, because…well…he’s Andre Johnson, but the Bills have a stingy pass defense, and he’s dealing with a bruised lung (???), so if you have another strong option, you may want to use it…Michael Crabtree and Josh Morgan played pretty well last week, but they should be benched against the Colts secondary in Week 8.
