Week 5 Start/Sit Questions

By :: Mike Johnson (@mjohnson86)

Some things in fantasy football are easy. We know we should start Puka Nacua and Bijan Robinson. We know we should bench the backup running back who is only on our roster in case of injury and the guy who was ruled out early in the week. 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 will feature a few of those questions and responses each Friday, so join our Discord to be a part of the conversation or ask questions of your own!!

Question 1 :: Start three…Nico Collins, Ja’Marr Chase, Quinten Johnston, Garrett Wilson? (Hansgruberkane)

Answer :: Oh wow, what a good problem to have!! I started with Collins and Wilson as my definite starts considering their roles in their offenses and the situations they find themselves in – Wilson against the league’s most generous defense and Nico against a Ravens defense decimated by injuries. That leaves Chase and Johnston for one spot. As much as I love Johnston’s spot this week and as bad as the Bengals offense has looked the last two weeks, I would still start Chase in this spot. He is simply too good, have to at least give him another week to get right.

The bigger thing here, and the reason I included this question in this week’s column was to highlight this situation for readers. The thing to NOT do here is think “wow, I have all this depth I should trade one of these guys!” Bye weeks are starting now and injuries can creep up quickly. You have a position of strength, don’t give it away.

Question 2 :: Full PPR, need a Flex: Keenan Allen, J.K. Dobbins or Woody Marks? (Ptaszynski)

Answer :: I would roll with Marks in that spot, despite the tendency for people to think you are “chasing points”. Dobbins had a great game Monday night against the Bengals, but the matchup is completely different this week in Philly on a short week. Allen is a “fine” option, but Marks can be a game changer. Baltimore’s defense has been horrible and Marks had a performance last week that coaches won’t be able to ignore. Don’t go a second straight week missing out on a big game from Marks, we don’t know how many we will get!

Question 3 :: Josh Downs, Marvin Mims Jr., Kavontae Turpin or Isaiah Bond in PPR? (patriots122436)

Answer:: This is one we will have to wait for Sunday morning inactives to make a final decision on. Michael Pittman Jr. popped up on the Colts injury report Thursday, which puts his status in question. If Pittman were to miss this game, I would choose Downs out of this bunch. If Pittman plays, my choice would be Isaiah Bond as Cleveland seems to be intent on getting him involved. The problem is Bond plays the early game in Europe, so his game starts before we will get official word on Pittman. I would plan on starting Downs, then swap to Mims if Pittman ends up being active.

Question 4 :: Start two of Jordan Mason, Jaylen Waddle, and Xavier Worthy? (0.5 PPR) (emtebr44)

Answer :: We saw the Browns run defense slow the Lions running backs (especially David Montgomery) down last week and we also saw Jordan Mason lose snaps in passing situations. The floor is very low here for Mason and it seems highly unlikely he posts anything close to the game he had against the Bengals in Week 3. As such, I would start Waddle and Worthy in this spot as both are the clear focal points of their team’s passing games.

Question 5 :: Flex spot: Mason Taylor, Darius Slayton or Zach Charbonnet? PPR, I am already starting Kenneth Walker III. (BennyBlockchain)

Answer :: This is a great question and brings up the point of why context matters more than just following rankings when setting lineups. In a vacuum, I like Charbonnet the best out of this group. However, if you are already starting Kenneth Walker III in this spot against an elite Bucs run defense then I would choose to go with Slayton. There are weeks where starting both Seattle running backs will make sense, but this matchup with Tampa Bay isn’t a spot where I would take on that type of systemic risk.