Start/Sit Hub Week 14

Congrats on making it to Friday fantasy followers and welcome back to my weekly Start/Sit HUB! Mike Hubbard Jr here, providing you with information that can help you win your fantasy league week in and week out. For all things fantasy football, follow me on Twitter (@FantasyHubbard). You can tweet me or message me with any questions you might have regarding the fantasy football season.

Week 14 is underway and fantasy playoffs are so close. I hope you’ve been having fun this season and are already anticipating next season but let’s focus on this weekend first. Always keep grinding and play smart. Stay informed and be strategic.

Last night we got the TNF matchup between the Rams and the Raiders. Raiders were the favorite in LA and played like it… for a half or so. Raiders led 16-3 through almost the entire game until the final 4 minutes. Of all people Baker Mayfield led the Rams to a comeback 17-16 win by scoring 2 TDs late in the 4^th quarter. I don’t know what bewilders me more, the fact that Baker Mayfield took a team he literally just joined and fought back from a 13-point deficit to win, or the fact that the Raiders had won 3 consecutive games and appeared to play as if they didn’t want to lose rather than play to win. That most likely hinders chances of Raiders sneaking into the playoffs and what a way to do so. A devastated Raiders team will host the Patriots next Sunday while the Rams travel to Green Bay for a MNF showdown. Next week’s TNF game is between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers. Looks like a good game on paper so fingers crossed it’s entertaining.

The week 14 games I’m most interested in and will follow most closely are the Jets/Bills, the Buccaneers/49ers, and the Dolphins/Chargers.

THIS WEEKS BYES GO TO THE FALCONS, BEARS, PACKERS, COLTS, SAINTS, COMMANDERS.

I’m here every week during the fantasy football season with start and sit suggestions that can impact your team each week. My decisions as always include obvious and not so obvious picks. I would also like to clarify that my sit suggestions are based on the assumption you have or can add a player that has a better chance at success. Good luck this week and continue to check out my weekly articles.

START OF THE WEEK

Start – Amon-Ra St. Brown – Fire up St. Brown and sit back and relax. Amon-Ra is a beast and gets a juicy matchup with the Vikings. Vikings are bad at defending WRs this season and it shows in the statistics. Minnesota gives up NFL most 203 receiving yards per game to WRs. Amon-Ra has been on a tear since late last season and hasn’t regressed whatsoever. The 2^nd year WR out of USC has 4 games with over 110 receiving yards including 3 of his last 4 games. He is also hot scoring 3 TDs in his last 2 games. In their first meeting this season Amon-Ra caught 6 of 9 targets for 73 receiving yards. This time he has home field advantage and momentum.

Eagles @ Giants

Start – Boston Scott – I know this play feels completely out of left field on a team with a lot of star power, but it’s the Giants and there is a reason they call Boston the Giant killer. He has played the Giants 6 times in his career and has scored at least 1 TD in every game. He has rushed for 7 TDs and caught another for a total of 8 TDs in his 6 games facing the NYG. Scott has over 40 yards rushing in every meeting, and I think Philly would be wrong to not give this man a few red zone carries to keep his dominance going over their NFC East rival. Yes, Scott is RB3 on the depth chart behind Sanders and Gainwell, but that doesn’t deter me from taking a shot at him. If you are in a tight race and can’t risk a possible dud play this might not be for you. I’m rolling the dice with Scott because the history doesn’t lie. Now it’s up to Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen to get him involved.

Sit – Daniel Jones – Jones has been a top 15 fantasy QB this season, which is good for him, but this week he runs into the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles have allowed the fewest fantasy points to opposing QBs this season. Jones will certainly need to use his rushing abilities if he wants to win and get fantasy value. Problem there is that the Eagles haven’t allowed a QB to score a rushing TD and the most rushing yards given up by the Eagles to a QB is 42 to Kyler Murray. Jones will have his hands full this weekend so I’m expecting a high volume for Saquon Barkley on the ground and through the air. Jones is easily outside my top 15 fantasy QBs this week.

Jets @ Bills

Start – Garrett Wilson – The rookie out of Ohio State had a great week 13. He set season highs in targets and receiving yards. His final stat line was 8 receptions for 162 receiving yards on 15 targets. He now has 3 games with 100+ receiving yards this season and 5+ games with 90+ receiving yards. He also has 2 games with 2 TDs. When Wilson played the Jets earlier this season, he caught 8 of his 9 targets for 92 receiving yards. Mike White has taken over at QB for the Jets the past 2 weeks and in those 2 games Wilson has a total of 23 targets, 13 receptions, 257 receiving yads, and 2 TDs. White and Wilson are a duo with chemistry building and if the Jets want to beat Buffalo twice in a season, they are going to need the Buckeye Wilson to play well.

Sit – Michael Carter – As of now Michael Carter is questionable to play so keep an eye on his status. Even if he is able to go, I am leaning on the side of sitting him due to matchup and the emergence of Zonovan Knight. Bills have allowed just 1 RB score in the last 3 games and the highest rushing yards in those 3 games was Jamaal Williams with 66. It will be interesting to see how the game flow goes making it more likely or less likely that Carter and/or Knight will get a good number of touches. If I have to choose 1 of the 2, I’m leaning towards Knight just because of momentum and the health of Carter.

Browns @ Bengals

Start – Joe Burrow – Burrow and the Bengals have won 4 consecutive games with their last loss coming at the hands of this week’s opponent the Browns. This time Burrow is at home, and he has Ja’Marr Chase back on the field. The Browns defense has given up 2+ passing TDs to opposing QBs in 3 of their last 5 games. Since Burrow lost to the Browns, he has thrown 8 TD passes, rushed for 2 TDs, and only thrown 2 INTs. Also, worth mentioning that Burrow has only been sacked 5 total times in his last 4 games meaning he is getting support from his offensive line and has time to deliver strikes. Burrow might be a top 3 QB this week with Mahomes and Hurts.

Sit – Donovan Peoples-Jones – DPJ certainty gets an upgrade now that Deshaun Watson is QB1 for the Browns. DPJ caught all 4 of his targets for 81 yards the last time these teams met in week 8. The Bengals got embarrassed in that game, so I think they won’t let that happen again. Cincinnati’s defense has been great against opposing WRs this season. They have only allowed 6 WR TDs all season and just 1 since their week 10 BYE. The Bengals should be ready to play and get their revenge in Cleveland. If you can start Amari Cooper, go for it because he had 9 targets in Watsons first game and no one else had more than 3.

Texans @ Cowboys

Start – Pollard & Zeke – Both Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliot are great starts this week. The Cowboys get to take on Houston who have given up the most fantasy points to opposing RBs this season. The Texans have allowed 5 RBs to surpass 100 rushing yards and are tied with the Bears for most allowed rushing TDs to RBs with 14. Pollard and Zeke should both eat up the Houston defense and run away with the victory literally. Zeke has 7 TDs in his last 5 games played and Pollard has 8 total TDs in his last 5 games. Both RBs are playing well making Dallas a scary team on the ground.

Sit – Houston D/ST – Goes without saying that you are not going to be starting the Houston defense against the Cowboys or against any team really, but I’ll say it anyway. Cowboys should run all over the Texans poor rush defense. The Cowboys have scored 24+ points in each of their last 6 games including 40+ in 3 of those games. Enough said.

Vikings @ Lions

Start – Amon-Ra St. Brown – SEE START OF THE WEEK TOP OF PAGE

Sit – Jameson Williams – Jameson Williams is the only player in this matchup that is somewhat heavily owned that I would bench. I think both offenses should be able to put up big stats and a lot of points. Williams has yet to get involved much after his debut last game. He could get more work against Minnesota, but I wouldn’t risk it because he could end the game with 0 fantasy points. Not worth the risk unless very desperate.

Jaguars @ Titans

Start – Christian Kirk – Kirk has a great matchup with Tennessee this week. They give up the most fantasy points to opposing WRs and Kirk is having a great season for the Jags. Kirk has 7+ targets in each of his last 6 games including 2 100+ receiving yards games. He has also scored 7 times this season including 2 games with 2 TDs each. The Titans struggle immensely to defend opposing WRs. Tennessee has given up 100+ receiving yards to 3 separate WRs in just the last 2 games as well as 4 WR TDs. I’m all in on Kirk this week.

Sit – Robert Woods – The fact that Treylon Burks is injured and is currently questionable to play Sunday makes this sit spot a little more unappealing knowing Woods is probably the best pass catcher available for Ryan Tannehill. Jaguars aren’t the greatest defense; however, the Titans are a rushing team and Henry will be getting a lot of carries to get out of his 2-game slump. Woods has only 2 games this season with over 40 receiving yards and those 2 games he totaled 69 yards and 85 yards. He also only has 1 TD on the season.

Ravens @ Steelers

Start – Tyler Huntley – Huntley became QB1 for the Ravens after Lamar Jackson left last week’s game due to injury and is most likely going to miss this week (not confiemed). Huntley came in and beat Denver by 1 point. It was an ugly game, but the bright spots are that Huntley completed 27 of his 32 passes and also rushed 10 times for 41 yards and a rushing TD. If Huntley is established as the starter this week, he is in for a good game against the Pittsburgh defense that has given up 23 passing TDs including 3 QBs that threw for 4 TDs against them this season.

Sit – Kenny Pickett – I don’t think you were going to start Pickett, but you never know depending on your league’s settings. If you were going to this is my warning for you to reconsider. Pickett is a rookie QB that has now played in 9 games this season. In those 9 games Pickett has only 4 passing TDs and 3 rushing TDs while throwing 8 INTs. Ravens/Steelers games usually are low scoring and tight ball games. Pickett is outside my top 25 QBs this week.

Chiefs @ Broncos

Start – Isiah Pacheco – Pacheco has really gotten his game going in his last 4 games. He has gotten a huge bump in playing time and has established a clear RB1 status for the Chiefs. Pacheco has 14+ carries in his last 4 games and is averaging 81 rushing yards per game in the same timeframe. He is looking to score a TD in his 3^rd consecutive game for the Chiefs when he takes on Denver on Sunday. The Bronco’s defense is clearly their strong suit as a whole team (offense is terrible), but the Chiefs have the highest scoring offense in the league and are currently favored by 9.5 points. Depending on game flow I’m expecting plenty of chances for Pacheco in a close game or in a big lead game. McKinnon is an option here too as he is the receiving RB out of the 2 of them. Broncos have given up 100+ rushing yards to a RB in 3 of their last 5 games (Etienne, Jacobs, Foreman).

Sit – JuJu Smith-Schuster – JuJu might be the best WR on the Chiefs but this week they play the Broncos defense that excels at defending WRs. Broncos have given up just 6 TDs to opposing WRs this season. Not saying JuJu can’t have a great game, just being cautious. The Chiefs have many ways of scoring TDs, and you can’t know who is going to be the guy each week. Mahomes is insanely talented, and his obvious 1^st choice will always be Kelce. JuJu has struggled in his last 3 games played accounting for 3 or less receptions in each game and has not hit 40 receiving yards since week 9. Give me Kelce and Pacheco this week.

Buccaneers @ 49ers

Start – Chris Godwin – I think Tom Brady might like Chris Godwin more than anyone else possibly could. Brady speaks highly of Godwin and has referenced to him as the best WR on the team which is huge praise given he’s teammates with Mike Evans. Godwin has been targeted 99 times so far this season and has converted over two thirds of them into receptions. Godwin is a PPR beast and has double digit targets in all but 2 games this season. He has 13 in each of his last 2 games alone. 49ers are going to be a tough task to score on, but if Brady could go to anyone at any time my money is on Godwin. If the Bucs can stop their low scoring slump the ceiling for Godwin would increase significantly.

Sit – Tom Brady – This is another time where I would start a pass catcher but sit the QB throwing the football. The GOAT himself has won 3 of his last 4 games and has 3 consecutive games with 2 passing TDs. Sounds good but the offense is not clicking. Well at least not until the final minute of the 4^th quarter apparently. The Bucs have not scored more than 22 points since week 4 which happens to be the only game they have scored over 22 points all season. Was not expecting that from an offense of experience and youth combined. Regardless, The Bucs low scoring offense is about to play the 49ers who are arguably the best defense in the NFL.

Panthers @ Seahawks

Start – Geno Smith – Geno Smith is going to be in my start spot until he does me wrong and he simply has not. He is tied for 4^th in passing TDs with 22, top 6 in passing yards with 3169, and is top 5 in QBR. Geno has 2+ passing TDs in 10 of 12 games he has played this season. He also has thrown for 275+ passing yards in each of his last 4 games. Carolina’s defense is average, and they are playing in Seattle with the 12^th man. DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett have been shredding defenses accounting for 8 TDs between them since week 8. Geno should have a good fantasy performance like he has been doing all season.

Sit – Panthers DST – Panthers are in a tough position this week playing the Seahawks in Seattle. The Seattle offense is top 5 in scoring this season averaging 26.5 point per game while the Carolina defense has been middle of the pack allowing 22.2 points per game. The Panthers haven’t allowed over 15 points in their last 3 games, but I don’t think that will happen for a 4^th consecutive week.

Dolphins @ Chargers

Start – Keenan Allen – Allen is back with the Chargers and back into his normal groove of steady production. Herbert and Allen have chemistry that has been on display for now a 3^rd season.  Allen’s stats from his last 3 games since he returned from injury are a combination of 29 targets, 16 receptions, 231 receiving yards, and 2 receiving TDs. I’m expecting the Dolphins to come out and attack early after a frustrating loss last week to the 49ers. If that is the case then Herbert will be playing catch up and when he is in that mode Allen will get fed.   

Sit – Jeff Wilson Jr – Jeff Wilson Jr participated in just 17 of the 46 snaps in his last game. Raheem Mostert had 28. Wilson did get targeted twice, but he only carried the ball 1 time compared to Mostert’s 7. It seems like Mostert will be the main RB if that game had an indication on the future. If I am starting a RB from Miami this week it would be Mostert.