Week 3: Play It Safe With Injured Stars - 3 comments

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Start & Sit! As you read through our rankings, you’ll see players with big talent appear much further down in the rankings than you’d normally imagine (i.e., Arian Foster, Steven Jackson). Take this as a sign that we don’t feel very positive about their chances to earn a full complement of touches or targets if they do wind up playing. With players like that, it’s usually best to sit them on your bench if at all possible.

Thanks to c0megets0me, phackney, 204BC, Calyxes and tclangham for joining me in submitting rankings this week.

Rank	Quarterbacks	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Tom Brady	NE	at BUF	94.00
2	Philip Rivers	SD	vs. KC	93.43
3	Aaron Rodgers	GB	at CHI	92.00
4	Drew Brees	NO	vs. HOU	89.29
5	Michael Vick	PHI	vs. NYG	88.43
6	Matthew Stafford	DET	at MIN	84.57
7	Matt Schaub	HOU	at NO	80.86
8	Tony Romo	DAL	vs. WAS	79.00
9	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	at IND	78.29
10	Matt Ryan	ATL	at TB	76.00
11	Ryan Fitzpatrick	BUF	vs. NE	75.10
12	Cam Newton	CAR	vs. JAC	74.71
13	Joe Flacco	BAL	at STL	72.86
14	Kevin Kolb	ARI	at SEA	68.43
15	Jay Cutler	CHI	vs. GB	67.71
16	Josh Freeman	TB	vs. ATL	66.00
17	Matt Hasselbeck	TEN	vs. DEN	65.43
18	Rex Grossman	WAS	at DAL	62.61
19	Sam Bradford	STL	vs. BAL	62.57
20	Mark Sanchez	NYJ	at OAK	61.43
21	Eli Manning	NYG	at PHI	59.71
22	Colt McCoy	CLE	vs. MIA	58.59
23	Chad Henne	MIA	at CLE	58.00
24	Kyle Orton	DEN	at TEN	57.29
25	Matt Cassel	KC	at SD	53.07
26	Jason Campbell	OAK	vs. NYJ	52.14
27	Andy Dalton	CIN	vs. SF	51.57
28	Alex Smith	SF	at CIN	50.86
29	Donovan McNabb	MIN	vs. DET	48.03
30	Tarvaris Jackson	SEA	vs. ARI	46.71
31	Blaine Gabbert	JAC	at CAR	46.43
32	Mike Kafka	PHI	vs. NYG	43.66
33	Kerry Collins	IND	vs. PIT	41.79

Start: Ryan Fitzpatrick. The New England defense was abused by Chad Henne in Week 1, leading one to believe that Fitzpatrick will be just fine in this matchup. He’s one of three QBs in the league (Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford) with seven TDs over the first two weeks of the season. His yardage total (472 yards) doesn’t measure up to either of those other QBs, but since New England has allowed almost 400 yards per game through the air, Fitzpatrick could vastly improve his per game average in that department.

Sit: Eli Manning. The Eagles have an elite group of cornerbacks and the Giants, unlike the Falcons before them, don’t have a tight end capable of exploiting a favorable matchup against other Eagles players in coverage. The Giants philosophy in this game should be to control things on the ground and “shorten” the game clock, giving Michael Vick less of a chance to do something amazing and back-breaking on a single play. With hurting WRs, Manning is a virtual stay-away in this matchup.

Rank	Running Backs	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Ray Rice	BAL	at STL	93.49
2	Adrian Peterson	MIN	vs. DET	89.51
3	Rashard Mendenhall	PIT	at IND	86.39
4	Chris Johnson	TEN	vs. DEN	85.91
5	LeSean McCoy	PHI	vs. NYG	84.86
6	Darren McFadden	OAK	vs. NYJ	81.77
7	Michael Turner	ATL	at TB	81.41
8	Frank Gore	SF	at CIN	81.17
9	Maurice Jones-Drew	JAC	at CAR	80.77
10	Jahvid Best	DET	at MIN	79.69
11	Ben Tate	HOU	at NO	79.03
12	Peyton Hillis	CLE	vs. MIA	78.31
13	Matt Forte	CHI	vs. GB	77.21
14	Fred Jackson	BUF	vs. NE	74.71
15	Ryan Mathews	SD	vs. KC	74.26
16	Beanie Wells	ARI	at SEA	73.20
17	Ahmad Bradshaw	NYG	at PHI	72.00
18	LeGarrette Blount	TB	vs. ATL	70.40
19	Felix Jones	DAL	vs. WAS	69.57
20	Shonn Greene	NYJ	at OAK	69.57
21	Tim Hightower	WAS	at DAL	69.29
22	Cedric Benson	CIN	vs. SF	68.17
23	Daniel Thomas	MIA	at CLE	66.31
24	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	NE	at BUF	66.20
25	Willis McGahee	DEN	at TEN	66.06
26	DeAngelo Williams	CAR	vs. JAC	65.71
27	James Starks	GB	at CHI	63.37
28	Mike Tolbert	SD	vs. KC	61.79
29	Danny Woodhead	NE	at BUF	61.51
30	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	vs. JAC	59.83
31	Brandon Jacobs	NYG	at PHI	58.20
32	LaDainian Tomlinson	NYJ	at OAK	57.66
33	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	vs. ARI	57.40
34	Mark Ingram	NO	vs. HOU	57.14
35	Joseph Addai	IND	vs. PIT	56.11
36	Reggie Bush	MIA	at CLE	55.57
37	Ryan Grant	GB	at CHI	55.49
38	Pierre Thomas	NO	vs. HOU	55.14
39	Darren Sproles	NO	vs. HOU	52.57
40	Knowshon Moreno	DEN	at TEN	52.00
41	Arian Foster	HOU	at NO	51.40
42	Thomas Jones	KC	at SD	50.60
43	Dexter McCluster	KC	at SD	49.34
44	Roy Helu	WAS	at DAL	47.43
45	Earnest Graham	TB	vs. ATL	45.77
46	Michael Bush	OAK	vs. NYJ	44.34
47	Jerome Harrison	DET	at MIN	41.51
48	C.J. Spiller	BUF	vs. NE	39.43
49	Jerious Norwood	STL	vs. BAL	38.54
50	Steven Jackson	STL	vs. BAL	33.79
51	Tashard Choice	DAL	vs. WAS	27.80
52	Delone Carter	IND	vs. PIT	26.66
53	DeMarco Murray	DAL	vs. WAS	26.66
54	Jason Snelling	ATL	at TB	26.43
55	Deji Karim	JAC	at CAR	26.26
56	Montario Hardesty	CLE	vs. MIA	26.26
57	Javon Ringer	TEN	vs. DEN	24.57
58	Ricky Williams	BAL	at STL	23.26
59	Marion Barber	CHI	vs. GB	22.79
60	Ronnie Brown	PHI	vs. NYG	21.74
61	Isaac Redman	PIT	at IND	21.11
62	Cadillac Williams	STL	vs. BAL	18.84
63	Toby Gerhart	MIN	vs. DET	17.20
64	John Kuhn	GB	at CHI	12.91
65	Marcel Reece	OAK	vs. NYJ	12.34

Start: Ben Tate. Tate has already been named the starter for Houston’s Week 3 game in New Orleans, and anyone with even a casual interest in fantasy football over the last year-plus knows how profitable it is to be a healthy starting running back for the Texans right now. Tate didn’t start either of the first two games yet managed to rank third in the league (behind Fred Jackson and Darren McFadden) with 109.5 yards per game in those contests. By the way, Fred Jackson? Yeah, make sure you start him too.

Sit: Thomas Jones and Dexter McCluster. Both guys were hot waiver wire commodities this week after the injury to Jamaal Charles, but you shouldn’t be relying on either guy right out of the gate. San Diego had a great rush defense last year, and the Chargers figure to have the Chiefs in the same place they’ve been in each of their first two games: falling behind early and passing a lot. Let’s give the KC running back committee a week or two to shake out in terms of touches before we think about starting anyone.

Rank	Wide Receivers	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Andre Johnson	HOU	at NO	94.40
2	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	at SEA	92.14
3	Calvin Johnson	DET	at MIN	92.14
4	Roddy White	ATL	at TB	87.57
5	Vincent Jackson	SD	vs. KC	85.86
6	Steve Smith	CAR	vs. JAC	82.14
7	Steve Johnson	BUF	vs. NE	82.11
8	Kenny Britt	TEN	vs. DEN	81.77
9	DeSean Jackson	PHI	vs. NYG	81.74
10	Greg Jennings	GB	at CHI	81.14
11	Mike Wallace	PIT	at IND	81.06
12	Wes Welker	NE	at BUF	80.84
13	Santonio Holmes	NYJ	at OAK	77.80
14	Brandon Marshall	MIA	at CLE	76.63
15	Hakeem Nicks	NYG	at PHI	76.14
16	Jeremy Maclin	PHI	vs. NYG	74.60
17	Anquan Boldin	BAL	at STL	74.29
18	Mike Williams	TB	vs. ATL	73.50
19	Santana Moss	WAS	at DAL	71.29
20	Dwayne Bowe	KC	at SD	70.31
21	A.J. Green	CIN	vs. SF	70.06
22	Percy Harvin	MIN	vs. DET	69.26
23	Mike Thomas	JAC	at CAR	66.23
24	Robert Meachem	NO	vs. HOU	65.94
25	Reggie Wayne	IND	vs. PIT	65.86
26	Nate Burleson	DET	at MIN	65.86
27	Brandon Lloyd	DEN	at TEN	64.86
28	Dez Bryant	DAL	vs. WAS	64.50
29	Devery Henderson	NO	vs. HOU	64.17
30	Lance Moore	NO	vs. HOU	64.06
31	Jordy Nelson	GB	at CHI	62.91
32	Mike Sims-Walker	STL	vs. BAL	62.71
33	David Nelson	BUF	vs. NE	62.11
34	Plaxico Burress	NYJ	at OAK	62.03
35	Deion Branch	NE	at BUF	61.50
36	Johnny Knox	CHI	vs. GB	61.49
37	Julio Jones	ATL	at TB	60.31
38	Devin Hester	CHI	vs. GB	59.89
39	Mohamed Massaquoi	CLE	vs. MIA	56.97
40	Early Doucet	ARI	at SEA	56.31
41	Sidney Rice	SEA	vs. ARI	56.17
42	Eric Decker	DEN	at TEN	52.86
43	Donald Driver	GB	at CHI	50.66
44	Nate Washington	TEN	vs. DEN	49.86
45	Michael Crabtree	SF	at CIN	48.89
46	Mike Williams	SEA	vs. ARI	48.43
47	Roy Williams	CHI	vs. GB	47.31
48	Denarius Moore	OAK	vs. NYJ	47.29
49	Hines Ward	PIT	at IND	47.26
50	Davone Bess	MIA	at CLE	47.17
51	James Jones	GB	at CHI	46.00
52	Kevin Ogletree	DAL	vs. WAS	45.34
53	Emmanuel Sanders	PIT	at IND	45.34
54	Derrick Mason	NYJ	at OAK	42.57
55	Brandon LaFell	CAR	vs. JAC	41.97
56	Andre Caldwell	CIN	vs. SF	40.23
57	Danario Alexander	STL	vs. BAL	39.57
58	Legedu Naanee	CAR	vs. JAC	38.43
59	Brian Hartline	MIA	at CLE	37.86
60	Arrelious Benn	TB	vs. ATL	36.96
61	Pierre Garcon	IND	vs. PIT	36.74
62	Jabar Gaffney	WAS	at DAL	36.43
63	Chad Ochocinco	NE	at BUF	33.76
64	Greg Little	CLE	vs. MIA	33.57
65	Brandon Gibson	STL	vs. BAL	33.00
66	Randall Cobb	GB	at CHI	32.57
67	Darrius Heyward-Bay	OAK	vs. NYJ	30.46
68	Jason Avant	PHI	vs. NYG	30.09
69	Kevin Walter	HOU	at NO	29.91
70	Austin Collie	IND	vs. PIT	29.11
71	Dane Sanzenbacher	CHI	vs. GB	28.94
72	Josh Cribbs	CLE	vs. MIA	27.14
73	Steve Breaston	KC	at SD	26.00
74	Jacoby Jones	HOU	at NO	25.71
75	Andre Roberts	ARI	at SEA	25.71
76	Bernard Berrian	MIN	vs. DET	25.49
77	Josh Morgan	SF	at CIN	25.00
78	Ben Obomanu	SEA	vs. ARI	24.71
79	Steve Smith	PHI	vs. NYG	24.17
80	Anthony Armstrong	WAS	at DAL	22.86

Start: Mike Thomas. Rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert is likely to spend most of his first start throwing the ball to his first read on a lot of plays, and that figures to be Thomas or Marcedes Lewis, who is still recovering from an injury. The Panthers haven’t done that good of a job at stopping the pass this year, allowing long TDs to Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Early Doucet and even backup TE Jeff King. Thomas should find himself in a position to score from far away at least once in this game, and he’s a darkhorse to have the best fantasy game of the week among wideouts.

Sit: Austin Collie. Kerry Collins has predictably sapped the fantasy value out of most of the Indy offense, and that’s reflected nowhere more than it is in Austin Collie. Despite being down in both their games this year and having to throw to try and catch up, Collie has just three catches for 24 yards over the first two games, with all of that production coming last week against the Browns. He’s clearly a non-factor in the offense right now and deserves to be nowhere near fantasy lineups until he proves himself.

Rank	Tight Ends	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Jermichael Finley	GB	at CHI	87.14
2	Jason Witten	DAL	vs. WAS	86.14
3	Rob Gronkowski	NE	at BUF	83.29
4	Vernon Davis	SF	at CIN	81.00
5	Antonio Gates	SD	vs. KC	76.80
6	Owen Daniels	HOU	at NO	76.71
7	Jimmy Graham	NO	vs. HOU	74.71
8	Fred Davis	WAS	at DAL	74.46
9	Dustin Keller	NYJ	at OAK	70.51
10	Tony Gonzalez	ATL	at TB	70.43
11	Kellen Winslow	TB	vs. ATL	70.14
12	Dallas Clark	IND	vs. PIT	65.54
13	Scott Chandler	BUF	vs. NE	65.00
14	Jermaine Gresham	CIN	vs. SF	64.71
15	Greg Olsen	CAR	vs. JAC	64.29
16	Marcedes Lewis	JAC	at CAR	58.14
17	Ed Dickson	BAL	at STL	58.00
18	Ben Watson	CLE	vs. MIA	57.14
19	Brandon Pettigrew	DET	at MIN	56.88
20	Jeremy Shockey	CAR	vs. JAC	55.49
21	Evan Moore	CLE	vs. MIA	55.29
22	Anthony Fasano	MIA	at CLE	53.43
23	Todd Heap	ARI	at SEA	53.03
24	Brent Celek	PHI	vs. NYG	52.00
25	Jared Cook	TEN	vs. DEN	46.57
26	Zach Miller	SEA	vs. ARI	45.97
27	Heath Miller	PIT	at IND	45.57
28	Lance Kendricks	STL	vs. BAL	44.57
29	Daniel Fells	DEN	at TEN	44.43
30	Visanthe Shiancoe	MIN	vs. DET	41.29
31	Chris Cooley	WAS	at DAL	40.54
32	Tony Scheffler	DET	at MIN	37.43
33	Leonard Pope	KC	at SD	30.14
34	Jeff King	ARI	at SEA	30.00
35	Kevin Boss	OAK	vs. NYJ	29.71

Start: Fred Davis. This seems like a “no-duh” pick at this point after Davis racked up 191 yards and a score over the first two games of the season, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see many owners slow to reacting to Davis’ new value. He’s a every-week TE1 until something proves otherwise.

Sit: Brandon Pettigrew. He’s a little banged up and didn’t practice early in the week, leaving his availability for Sunday in question. It seems likely the Lions will lean more on Tony Scheffler, who caught TDs on his only receptions in each of the first two contests.

Rank	Kickers	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Neil Rackers	HOU	at NO	78.51
2	Stephen Gostkowski	NE	at BUF	76.20
3	Sebastian Janikowski	OAK	vs. NYJ	75.17
4	Rob Bironas	TEN	vs. DEN	73.37
5	David Akers	SF	at CIN	71.69
6	Mason Crosby	GB	at CHI	71.14
7	Jason Hanson	DET	at MIN	69.86
8	Nick Folk	NYJ	at OAK	69.37
9	Jay Feely	ARI	at SEA	68.14
10	Billy Cundiff	BAL	at STL	67.46
11	Matt Bryant	ATL	at TB	66.86
12	John Kasay	NO	vs. HOU	66.66
13	Alex Henery	PHI	vs. NYG	66.46
14	Robbie Gould	CHI	vs. GB	66.11
15	Josh Brown	STL	vs. BAL	65.89
16	Shaun Suisham	PIT	at IND	65.17
17	Dan Carpenter	MIA	at CLE	65.17
18	Rian Lindell	BUF	vs. NE	64.00
19	Olindo Mare	CAR	vs. JAC	63.54
20	Matt Prater	DEN	at TEN	62.74
21	Adam Vinatieri	IND	vs. PIT	62.46
22	Nick Novak	SD	vs. KC	62.43
23	Lawrence Tynes	NYG	at PHI	59.97
24	Phil Dawson	CLE	vs. MIA	59.86
25	Ryan Longwell	MIN	vs. DET	59.71
26	Dan Bailey	DAL	vs. WAS	59.37
27	Mike Nugent	CIN	vs. SF	59.29
28	Graham Gano	WAS	at DAL	58.71
29	Josh Scobee	JAC	at CAR	56.97
30	Connor Barth	TB	vs. ATL	56.49
31	Steven Hauschka	SEA	vs. ARI	53.90
32	Ryan Succop	KC	at SD	52.77

Start: David Akers. He’s been one of the top kickers over the first two weeks, largely on the strength of his Week 1 performance. San Francisco figures to be competitive in their game in Cincinnati, providing Akers with plenty of scoring opportunities.

Sit: Adam Vinatieri. The Steelers shut the Seahawks out in Week 2, and the Colts don’t appear to be any better than the Seahawks right now. It feels like the kind of game where Vinatieri may be limited to a single extra point or one field goal attempt.

Rank	Team Defense	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT	at IND	88.86
2	San Diego Chargers	SD	vs. KC	75.86
3	Baltimore Ravens	BAL	at STL	75.00
4	Detroit Lions	DET	at MIN	74.41
5	Philadelphia Eagles	PHI	vs. NYG	74.29
6	New York Jets	NYJ	at OAK	73.93
7	Green Bay Packers	GB	at CHI	66.29
8	Dallas Cowboys	DAL	vs. WAS	66.29
9	Cleveland Browns	CLE	vs. MIA	64.74
10	Arizona Cardinals	ARI	at SEA	62.30
11	Tennessee Titans	TEN	vs. DEN	61.04
12	Atlanta Falcons	ATL	at TB	58.17
13	San Francisco 49ers	SF	at CIN	58.00
14	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN	vs. SF	57.47
15	New England Patriots	NE	at BUF	56.37
16	Oakland Raiders	OAK	vs. NYJ	56.04
17	Washington Redskins	WAS	at DAL	56.03
18	Carolina Panthers	CAR	vs. JAC	55.56
19	Houston Texans	HOU	at NO	54.11
20	New Orleans Saints	NO	vs. HOU	53.79
21	Denver Broncos	DEN	at TEN	53.29
22	Jacksonville Jaguars	JAC	at CAR	52.21
23	Minnesota Vikings	MIN	vs. DET	52.06
24	St. Louis Rams	STL	vs. BAL	51.81
25	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	TB	vs. ATL	51.73
26	Seattle Seahawks	SEA	vs. ARI	51.01
27	Chicago Bears	CHI	vs. GB	50.27
28	Miami Dolphins	MIA	at CLE	49.89
29	New York Giants	NYG	at PHI	48.50
30	Indianapolis Colts	IND	vs. PIT	45.63
31	Buffalo Bills	BUF	vs. NE	40.07
32	Kansas City Chiefs	KC	at SD	37.93

Start: Tennessee Titans. Despite having one game against a playoff contender, the Titans haven’t allowed more than 16 points yet this season. They’re coming off a three-turnover, three-sack performance against the Ravens and now get a much easier matchup with the Broncos.

Sit: Houston Texans. The Texans have been wonderful on defense so far this year, but they face a very difficult challenge in New Orleans against the Saints this week. Drew Brees should have no problem blowing Houston’s 10 PPG scoring defense out of the water, and with the Texans not getting many turnovers yet, it’s best to stay away.

R.J. White is the head editor at the Cafe, writes for FanDuel and Razzball and has previously written for FanHouse. Catch up with him in the forums under the name daullaz. Follow him on Twitter; don't follow him in real life.

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3 Responses to “Week 3: Play It Safe With Injured Stars”

joejlitz says:

September 23, 2011 at 5:07 pm

At QB, Dalton has been playing great and he’s got a hell of a matchup against SF and I’m thinking of starting him in lieu of Eli. Your 27th ranking leaves me wondering, though…I could also pick up Grossman, but I don’t think his matchup is nearly as sweet.
Reply
Navyseal says:

September 24, 2011 at 1:28 am

I was taken aback when I see Charger RB Mike Tolbert’s ranking this weekend! I would imagine that eventhough he is a bit banged up, Tolbert would be a bit higher on your list this week, yet he barely cracks the top 30 @ #28, the human bowling ball seems to have a nose for the endzone and is a darn good receiver in the redzone especially, not to mention that he faces an abysmal KC squad this weekend! To wit, Hightower is ranked @ #21 against an excellent run-stopping Dallas team who is playing in their home-opener (and rookie Helu is garnering more carries and the confidence of Skins HC Shanny)…

Food for thought, that’s all… keep up the great work gang!
Reply
david.gonzalez262 says:

September 29, 2011 at 7:07 pm

PLease checkout my rankings
advice4fantasy.blogspot.com/
Reply