Week 13 Start/Sit Questions

By: Mike Johnson (@mjohnson86)

Some things in fantasy football are easy. We know we should start Ja’Marr Chase and Saquon Barkley. We know we should bench the backup running back who is only on our roster in case of injury. A lot of the decisions are made for us. However, there are a lot of things that are not so simple. All of the “in between” situations are what can make the difference between a few wins and losses, and therefore it can be the difference between a successful season or a failed season. Every Friday, we are here to help!!

I’ll take questions each week in our #fantasy-football channel in our Discord from people looking for Start/Sit advice and give my thoughts. This article on Fridays will feature a few of those questions and responses, so join our Discord to be a part of the conversation or ask questions of your own!!

Question 1:: Pick 2 of Malik Nabers, Jonathan Taylor, or Bucky Irving? (0.5 PPR) (Belks19)

Answer:: Malik Nabers and Jonathan Taylor for me. This is a good question, but a spot where I like to remember to “start my studs”, with Irving coming off a great game and being in a great matchup it would be easy to just want to ride with him. I love his outlook this week, but he’s still ceding carries to two other RBs on occasion and Nabers and Taylor are among the most talented players at their positions in the league.

Question 2:: Need to choose between Jaxon Smith-Njigba or DJ Moore in my PPR league this week…. I’m torn between the two. Projections say JSN, but matchup says Moore. (jcaljr88)

Answer:: This one is DJ Moore for me. The Bears are highly unlikely to have success running the ball and have a good chance of falling behind the Lions in this game. Moore’s role is dynamic and gives him easy catches near the line of scrimmage while still deploying him downfield, giving him a great floor and ceiling. The Seattle outlook is a little more clouded as we don’t really know what type of game environment to expect there, meaning it’s hard to project the targets or scoring opportunities that JSN will have and his projection could be a little more fragile. Start Moore and enjoy watching him on Thanksgiving!

Question 3:: Would you start Jayden Daniels or C.J. Stroud? Daniels has the tougher matchup, but I’m worried Mixon will take over and Stroud won't have to do much. (acim2887)

Answer:: It's really close. My initial lean was Stroud as I love his matchup, but with the rushing upside of Daniels and Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler both potentially missing this game (and raising the level of what he is asked to do) it’s hard to get away from him. Probably need to stick with Daniels.

Question 4:: Who to play at QB: Kyler Murray vs MIN, Bo Nix vs CLE, or make a waiver claim on either Russell Wilson vs CIN or Kirk Cousins vs LAC? (nyyankfan7)

Answer:: First of all, don’t pick up the waiver guys for either player on your roster. Wilson is playing fine but also giving away some playing time to Justin Fields in certain situations, while Cousins only has two really good games this season and both were against the Bucs. Now that it’s down to two, Nix has been playing great recently but my lean here is heavily towards Kyler. I expect him to add a good amount on the ground this week and that could be a high-scoring game in the dome in Minnesota.

Question 5:: Need 3 WRs this week: Justin Jefferson, DK Metcalf, Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, or DJ Moore? (jaguarpaw1977)

Answer:: Jefferson is always a lock. Always. Moore is basically in that tier as well with how Chicago is now using him (not in Jefferson’s tier, but I’m never benching him). Initially my answer for the third spot was DK Metcalf, but he has missed the last two practices and looks iffy at best for Sunday. That leaves Adams or Meyers. With Metcalf unlikely to play, that hurts the offensive outlook for the entire Seahawks/Jets game. Considering how the Jets’ offense has looked recently and the consistency of Meyers along with a likely trailing game script, I’d roll Meyers out on Black Friday.

Join us Saturday for Week 13 Rankings!