After a week full of injuries, there are lot of questions regarding whether to start their backups over current starters that aren’t studs. Hopefully some of the advice in this article can push you through what may be a couple tough weeks of replacements. Once again, if you have a decision with a player that isn’t covered in this article, you can tweet me @pacman453323. So let’s to the week 3 starts and sits.
Starts: (outside of top 10 players of that position):
QBs
Kirk Cousins – I’ve said since the preseason that Cousins is a better fit for this offense. Even with Jordan Reed out, this offense can still put up points. Eagles have shown a leaky defense at tie already this year. I expect this to be a very high scoring game overall.
Ryan Tannehill – I normally wouldn’t recommend a QB against the Chiefs pass rush, however, so far through 2 games, they have not been good. The KC defense is giving up over 250 yards per game and so far 5 TDs. If the Dolphins don’t win this game, it’s an early measure of their team.
RBs
Lamar Miller – FINALLY, I get what I’ve wanted for 2 years, the Dolphins are forced to give Lamar Miller consistent carries. He may not get 25 touches, but he should approach 20 with Moreno out for the next 4-8 weeks. He essentially has no viable backup so the show is his.
CJ Spiller – People are starting to get worried about Spiller because he doesn’t seem like he will every be a “workhorse” back and he didn’t even start last week. However, he is too explosive to bench and he showed that last week by scoring on a 102 yard kickoff return.
WRs
Sammy Watkins – Last week was the coming out party for Watkins. Even though he was clearly uncomfortable with the rib injury, he was still unguardable. He finished with 8 catches for 117 yards and a TD. If he’s more healthy this week, the Chargers are in trouble.
Brian Quick – There was a bunch of preseason hype for Kenny Britt, but Quick has been the one who has stole the action since. He has 14 catches for 173 yards through 2 games and he is going against a Cowboy defense that I still don’t believe is a good as it has played so far.
TEs
Niles Paul – Even with Reed playing in week 1, Paul was able to get 4 catches for 86 yards. With Reed out last week, Cousins came in and fed Paul to the tone of 8 catches for 99 yards and a TD. I expect more of the same this week with a less than 100% Desean Jackson.
Sits:
QBs
Andy Dalton – Usually I am very pessimistic when evaluating a player on my team, Titans, and I normally don’t recommend benching players against them. However, Titans have been good against the pass and the Bengals are with AJ Green, so it changes their entire offense.
Ben Roethlisberger – Last week I said to avoid the Seattle defense, but I forgot that they are not near the same team when playing on the road. However, the Panthers defense is the real deal and they proved that last week by shutting down Megatron and the Lions’ offense.
RBs
Frank Gore – There is a chance that the 49ers can go back to their old style and give Gore 20+ carries, but it’s not likely. They are now a passing offense and even though it doesn’t seems to be too smart for winning them games, it sure will make their WR owners happy.
Pierre Thomas – The new “guy” for the Saints seems to be Khiry Robinson. Thomas didn’t do much last week even after Ingram got hurt. Robinson is a good pass catcher and is their primary goalline RB, so he has loads of value being on the best offense in the league.
WRs
Cordarrelle Patterson – Last week while Adrian Peterson was out, the defense focused on Patterson and he didn’t respond well with only 4 catches for 56 yards. With Peterson out this week and probably for a while, Patteson has to get adjusted to the extra attention.
Torrey Smith – I was not high on Torrey before the year even started. I didn’t like the Ravens offense. Through 2 games he only has 4 catches and with them employing more of a slowed down 2 TE offense, I don’t see Smith having too many big games this year.
TEs
Larry Donnell – I can’t complain about what Donell has done so far. He has been the most consistent Giants WR and Eli is starting to trust him. I actually like the Giants to win this week, but I think they have to do it with their WRs. Cruz and Randle have to be the main guys.
Those are your starts and sits for week 3 in the NFL, enjoy the games.
