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Archive for the ‘Start Em/Sit Em’ Category

Note- At the bottom of this column you will find my point spread pick for the Thursday night game.

1.22 points.  That’s how much one of my teams lost by last week.  1.22 points.  I know what you are saying, “big deal, we all have those games”.  But in this case it was a big deal.  It was one of my teams in the Fantasy Football Open Championship.  That 1.22 points was the difference between finishing 2nd and 3rd in my league in which only the top 2 teams after week 9 advance towards the $1,000,000 prize.  1.22 points.  My other team did end up finishing in 2nd so I guess I can’t complain much.  1.22 points.  OK, time to move on.

I have identified 10 “bubble” players at each position. These player’s are the tough decisions whether to Start them of Sit them. UP means they should perform better than they normally do and feel free to Start them. DOWN means they should perform below average and you might want to Sit them if you can.

We then take it to another level and let you vote on which of the UP players will perform the best. That way you get everyone’s opinion and not just my own.

Quarterback

UP:

1. Brett Favre- home against Detroit is about as nice a match up as you can get.
2. Joe Flacco – Monday night game against Cleveland.  Is there anything better than a big game from one of your players on Monday night when you know your opponent is watching?  I don’t think there is.
3. Matt Hasselbeck- I suspect Seattle will be airing it out against Arizona.
4. Ben Roethlisberger- Are the Steelers a passing team or a running team?  Both.
5. Matt Ryan- He’s been struggling recently but he has talent.  Could this be a break out game?

DOWN:

1. Mark Sanchez- Enticing match up but this is going to be a ground game.
2. Carson Palmer – Steeler D looks good.
3. David Garrard – Terrible on the road.
4. Josh Freeman- Reality check.
5. Vince Young – You should have better options.

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Running Back

UP:

1. Ronnie Brown- Run. Catch. Pass.
2. Thomas Jones – ground game against Jacksonville.
3. Joseph Addai- has had success against New England.
4. Ryan Grant- Packers need to run more.
5. Tim Hightower- gets his touches.

DOWN:

1. LaDainian Tomlinson- regretting your 1st round pick?  I hate to say it but….we told you….I won’t do it.
2. Brian Westbrook- concussions are serious business.
3. Jamaal Charles – terrible O line.
4. Ladell Betts – Back up against the Denver D.
5. Cadillac Williams – low scoring game.

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Wide Receiver

UP:

1. Hines Ward- no signs of slowing down.
2. Brandon Marshall- must win for Denver.
3. Derrick Mason- Monday night against Cleveland.
4. Devery Henderson- I am going out on a limb with this pick but I like his chances in a blow out in St. Louis.
5. Chad Ochocinco- putting together a very nice season.

DOWN:

1. Torry Holt- Jax terrible on the road.
2. Donnie Avery – tough N.O. defense.
3. Santana Moss – Denver looks to eliminate Washington’s best weapon.
4. Chris Chambers – back to earth.
5. Robert Meachem- odd man out.

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Tight End

UP:

1. Todd Heap
2. Kellen Winslow
3. Heath Miller
4. John Carlson
5. Ben Watson

DOWN:

1. Fred Davis
2. Dustin Keller
3. Marcades Lewis
4. Donald Lee
5. Bo Scaife

Thursday Night Game

Chicago at San Francisco ( -3 )

An interesting game because both teams are coming off bad losses and need this game.  I look for both teams to try to establish the run early and often.  Frank Gore vs. Matt Forte.  Chicago will need to respect San Francisco’s speedy wide receivers and won’t be able to contain both the running and passing games.  I look for this to be close but San Francisco  to open it up late.  Take San Francisco.

If you are an owner of a team playing in one of the popular $1,000,000 fantasy football leagues then you know how important this week’s lineup decisions are. This is the last week of the regular season in these million dollar bracket leagues so the wrong decision could cost you well, a million dollars.

I play two teams in one of these leagues and both have a chance to finish in the top 2 of my league and survive to play another week towards a million bucks. I need to win this week and finish in the top half of my league in points. I am not alone. There are many out there that need to put up a great week. Let’s get to work.

I have identified 10 “bubble” players at each position. These player’s are the tough decisions whether to Start them of Sit them. UP means they should perform better than they normally do and feel free to Start them. DOWN means they should perform below average and you might want to Sit them if you can.

We then take it to another level and let you vote on which of the UP players will perform the best. That way you get everyone’s opinion and not just my own.

Quarterback

UP:

1. Matt Hasselbeck- Seattle at home against Detroit.  That’s what you call a good match up.
2. David Garrard- plays well at home and Kansas City defense gives up over 250 passing yards a game.
3. Matt Cassel- goes against Jacksonville which has no pass rush.
4. Joe Flacco – something tells me that this Ravens-Bengals game will be high scoring.
5. Alex Smith- goes against Tennessee.

DOWN:

1. Vince Young- will be running, not passing.
2. Ben Roethlisberger- I still believe in the Denver D.
3. Carson Palmer- Cincy will look to slow it down with the run.
4. Eli Manning- What’s wrong with Eli?  6 interceptions in last 3 games.
5. Kyle Orton- Pittsburgh will blitz often.

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Running Backs

UP:

1. Ryan Grant- Packers will run more to protect a banged up Aaron Rodgers.
2. Ronnie Brown- owns the Patriots.
3. Pierre Thomas- home vs. Carolina
4. Julius Jones – his best match up of the year.
5. Cedric Benson- runs well against Ravens.

DOWN:

1. Laurence Maroney- Just say NO to New England running backs.
2. Tim Hightower- starting to like Wells more.
3. Steve Slaton- who knows what’s going to happen with him.
4. Reggie Bush- limited touches.
5. Knowshon Moreno- Steelers D.

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Wide Receivers

UP:

1. Dwayne Bowe- great match up.
2. Michael Crabtree- continues to improve and impress.
3. Mike Sims-Walker- expecting a shoot out in Jacksonville.
4. Devin Hester – could get loose against Arizona.
5. Brandon Marshall- shows up for big games.

DOWN:

1. Nate Washington- Vince Young at QB.
2. Austin Collie- lots of option for Manning.
3. Santana Moss- Redskins will look to run.
4. Derrick Mason- Do officials hold a grudge?
5. Johnny Knox- limited touches.

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Tight End

UP:

1. John Carlson- Detroit brings out the best in everyone.
2. Vernon Davis – hot lately.
3. Todd Heap- nice red zone target.
4. Heath Miller- shows up in big games.
5. Kellen Winslow- most consistent of Tampa Bay’s offense.

DOWN:

1. Sean Ryan- hit or miss.
2. Bo Scaife – the Vince Young factor.
3. Kevin Boss- banged up.
4. Donald Lee- too many other options.
5. Daniel Graham- blocking tight end.

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Good luck in Week 9 putting together that million dollar lineup.

Who should I start as my # 2 running back?  What about my #2 wide receiver?  Which quarterback should I go with?  What tight end is going to score this weekend?  Which one of my flex players are going to do well?

These are the questions that fill up my email box each week.  These are the questions that I struggle with on my own fantasy teams as well.  In this new Thursday column, 5 Up and 5 Down, I identify 10 players that are “on the bubble” of being a Start or a Sit for the week. 

I pick 5 players that should perform better than average this week ( Up ) and 5 that should perform less than average ( Down ).  But then we take it to another level and let you vote for which of the UP players you think will have the best week.

In other words, we are all in this together.

Quarterbacks

UP:

1. David Garrard- Did you see what Tom Brady did to Tennessee? 
2. Tony Romo- Mr. Austin, just go deep.
3. Jay Cutler- going against Cleveland.
4. Marc Bulger- Detroit gives up 260 yards a game passing.
5. Matt Ryan- I have a hunch this game against New Orleans might be high scoring.

DOWN:

1. Brett Favre- Green Bay allows 174 passing yards a game.
2. Eli Manning- Giants are going to run.
3. Alex Smith – one half wonder?
4. Mark Sanchez- should hand off 40+ times
5. Chad Henne- Avoid wildcat QB.

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Running Backs

UP:

1. Kevin Smith- up against St. Louis
2. Joseph Addai- will see most of carries
3. Ray Rice- getting better each week
4. Pierre Thomas – ready to break out?
5. Ryan Grant- Vikings give up 4 yards per carry

DOWN:

1. Shonn Greene- how many carries?
2. Julius Jones- bad O line.
3. Jamal Lewis – Bears will dare Browns to pass.
4. Felix Jones- limited touches.
5. Knowshon Moreno- Ravens D.

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Wide Reciever

UP:

1. Lee Evans – the real #1 in Buffalo
2. Nate Burleson- Seattle will look to air it out.
3. Pierre Garcon- against San Francisco in a shoot out.
4. Steve Breaston- will get his looks.
5. Torry Holt- due for a TD.

DOWN:

1. Eddie Royal- only 1 good receiving game.
2. Michael Crabtree- Indy looking to shut down.
3. Mario Manningham-Eagles don’t give up long pass.
4. Mark Clayton- Denver D.
5. Johnny Knox- Bears look to run.

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Tight End

UP:

1. Vernon Davis- last week he was huuuuge.
2. Jeremy Shockey – N.O getting everyone involved.
3. John Carlson- due for a big game.
4. Marcedes Lewis- up against Tennessee.
5. Todd Heap- goal line looks against Denver.

DOWN:

1. Kevin Boss- Giants will be running.
2. Zach Miller- hit or miss.
3. Dante Rosario- Carolina passing struggles.
4. Bo Scaife- disappearing act.
5. Tony Scheffler – Baltimore D.

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Change is good. Seriously.

Each Thursday I have been doing a Start Em / Sit Em column in which I  list 5 players that should perform better than normal ( Starts ) and 5 that should perform worse than normal ( Sits ). I am still going to do that but we’re going to change it up a bit and make it interactive.

The new name for this column is 5 Up and 5 Down. At each position I am going to pick 5 players that should have an UP week and 5 that should have a DOWN week. I leave out the Studs and focus on the players that most are trying to decide whether to start them or not.

To make it interactive, I am including polls so you can see how everyone feels about these players chances for the week. Vote for who you think will have the best and worst weeks.  Lets dive in.

Quarterbacks

UP: Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, Jay Cutler, Matt Cassel, Shaun Hill
DOWN: Carson Palmer, Brett Favre, Chad Henne, Mark Sanchez, Jason Campbell

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Running Backs

UP: Thomas Jones, Cedric Benson, Ryan Grant, Joseph Addai, Laurence Maroney
DOWN: Cadillac Williams, Ahmad Bradshaw, Steve Slaton, Jamal Lewis, Marion Barber

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Wide Receivers

UP: Hines Ward, Donald Driver, Wes Welker, Dwayne Bowe, Chad Ochocinco
DOWN: Donnie Avery, Kevin Walter, Terrell Owens, Roy Williams, Michael Crabtree

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Tight Ends

UP: Heath Miller, Brent Celek, Vernon Davis, Ben Watson, Kellen Winslow
DOWN: Donald Lee, Dante Rosario, Kevin Boss, Zach Miller, Anthony Fasano

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I love reading about fantasy football.  All the websites I read on a daily basis are in the Links section to the right of the page.  However, one of my biggest pet peeves is when a writer does a “Mailbag” column.  That’s like the writer has given up and has nothing intelligent to write about so he just responds to questions from his emails. 

I picture the writer sitting there at his laptop trying to come up with an idea to base his column on.  Maybe he starts pacing the floor.  Sweat forms on his forehead as he knows the deadline to get something posted is approaching.  The pressure is intense and he finally gives in and does the “Mailbag” column.  Ugh.  How original. 

Does the writer really believe we all need to know who he thinks Bob from Boston should start as his Flex player for the week?  Do we really need to know who  the so called expert thinks Chris from Chicago should start at quarterback?

I could go on and on about how I really dislike these “Mailbag” columns but I need to get to the Week 6 Start Em / Sit Em’s.  But before I do, let’s open this weeks Mailbag.

Hello, I really like your site, no-nonsense information is always refreshing! – Tom. P

Thank You.

I just found your site this week and I tend to agree with your calls. – Gavin S.

Thank You.

Enjoy reading your stuff…Thanks.   -Andy

Thank You.

nice site…..I just found it tonight…..I’ll be back….keep up the nice work… Jason from Buffalo

Thank You.

Hey there,

Just found your site, and it rocks! Definitely a good source of info moving forward! – Jack

Thank You.

Upon further review, maybe Mailbag columns aren’t that bad after all.

Here are the  Week 6 Start Em / Sit Em’s.  For each position I pick 5 players that should perform better than expected ( STARTS ) and 5 players that should perform worse than expected ( SITS )

Quarterbacks

Start Em:  David Garrard, Matt Hasselbeck, Carson Palmer, Joe Flacco, Jason Campbell

Sit Em:  Matt Cassel, Brett Favre, Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford, Kerry Collins

Running Backs

Start Em:  Pierre Thomas, Ryan Grant, Brian Westbrook, Rashard Mendenhall, Ray Rice

Sit Em:  LaDainian Tomlinson, Kevin Smith, Steve Slaton, Larry Johnson, Jamal Lewis

Wide Receivers

Start Em:  Brandon Marshall, Chad Ochocinco, DeSean Jackson, Hines Ward, Donald Driver

Sit Em:  Dwayne Bowe, Calvin Johnson, Nate Washington, Terrell Owens, Derrick Mason

Tight End

Start Em:  Brent Celek, John Carlson, Jermichael Finley, Kellen Winslow, Marcedes Lewis

Sit Em:  Ben Watson, Zach Miller, Donald Lee, Dante Rosario, Sean Ryan

Good Luck in Week 6.

I read an article the other day that said 30 million people are participating in some sort of a fantasy football game this season. 30 million. We have come a long way from 12 years ago when I was sitting in a sports bar in Columbia, Maryland watching the games when someone saw me with a piece of paper with a bunch of names on it and called me “one of those Dungeons and Dragons football geeks”.

We have also come a long way from just a few years ago when CBS started introducing fantasy football talk into their pregame show. Unfortunately they didn’t understand it and gave us such vital information as ” you should definitely start Peyton Manning and LaDainian Tomlinson this week”. Gee thanks for telling me to start the # 1 ranked players.

But now it’s a fantasy world. You no longer have to watch the terrible pregame shows on CBS and FOX. You can watch the very informative Fantasy Football Now on ESPN2. There’s webcasts and podcasts and everything you could ever hope for. There’s no excuse for not being prepared.

What you see below are 5 Starts and 5 Sits at each position. I do not include the Studs in this list. If you need someone to tell you to start Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson, that’s what CBS is for.

Quarterback

Start Em: Ben Roethlisberger, David Garrard, Brett Favre, Matt Hasselbeck, Tony Romo
Sit Em: Carson Palmer, Mark Sanchez, Shaun Hill, Jake Delhomme, Trent Edwards

Running Back

Start Em: Rashard Mendenhall, Glen Coffee, Jerome Harrison, Knowshon Moreno, Tim Hightower
Sit Em: Larry Johnson, Laurence Maroney, Kevin Smith, Cedric Benson, Cadillac Williams

Wide Receiver

Start Em: DeSean Jackson, Hines Ward, Brandon Marshall, Kevin Walter, Mike Sims-Walker
Sit Em: Wes Welker, Antonio Bryant, Torry Holt, Kenny Britt, Eddie Royal

Tight End

Start Em: John Carlson, Vernon Davis, Brent Celek, Marcedes Lewis, Dustin Keller
Sit Em: Ben Watson, Tony Scheffler, Dante Rosario, Zach Miller, Randy McMichael

Two years ago, Tom Brady and Randy Moss set the fantasy world on fire. Having either one of them on your team probably meant you did very well but what if you had both? The “connection” as I call it of having both your quarterback and one of his wide receivers in your fantasy line up is an intriguing strategy.

One on hand, every time your wide receiver catches a pass or touchdown you are getting additional points by having the quarterback who threw it to them. On the other hand, if that teams offense gets shut down then you are looking at two under performing starters in your line up.

So is it a good strategy to have your starting quarterback and one of his wide receivers in your line up?

My philosophy on fantasy football is about minimizing risk and selecting players that are consistent. Having a QB and a WR from the same team is as risky as putting all your money in the stock market. You will have weeks of great returns but there will be some very poor weeks as well.

If you have Tom Brady / Randy Moss this year you are suffering. Same with Kurt Warner / Larry Fitzgerald. But if you Peyton Manning / Reggie Wayne, as I do, you are doing very well. For now. I’ll let you know how I feel about it in 12 weeks.  What do you think about having a “Connection” in your line up?  Send your answer to me via the Contact page above and I’ll post some answers in a future column. 

Here are this weeks Start Em / Sit Em. We don’t include the Studs on this list. You should know to play your Studs. These are the players on the bubble that are the toughest line up decisions.

Quarterback

Start Em: Jay Cutler, Joe Flacco, Jason Campbell, Mark Sanchez, Carson Palmer
Sit Em: Matthew Stafford, JaMarcus Russell, Matt Cassel, Brett Favre, Seneca Wallace

Running Back

Start Em: Cedric Benson, Joseph Addai, Julius Jones, Darren McFadden, Pierre Thomas
Sit Em: Larry Johnson, Fred Taylor, Cadillac Williams, Fred Jackson, Willie Parker

Wide Receiver

Start Em: Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Owens, Vincent Jackson, Hines Ward, Donald Driver
Sit Em: Eddie Royal, Wes Welker, Chris Chambers, Bernard Berrian, Chansi Stuckey

Tight End

Start Em: Greg Olsen, John Carlson, Todd Heap, Vernon Davis, Jeremy Shockey
Sit Em: Ben Watson, Randy McMichael, Heath Miller, Brandon Pettigrew, Zach Miller

I am a reality show / trash tv junkie. It makes for interesting dinner conversation with my wife. While she discusses what vegetables are growing in our garden, I change the subject to talk about how Russell is the most outrageous Survivor contestant ever and how I was happy that Jordan won on Big Brother. To use a sports cliche, we aren’t always on the “same page”.

Apparently being on the same page is important in sports. Watching the Patriots-Jets game last week the announcers informed us that Tom Brady and Randy Moss were not on the same page. Not good. We all saw Peyton Manning hit Dallas Clark with an 80 yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game Monday night. Afterwards, a reporter asked Manning about the play and  said that he and Clark were on the same page. Very good.

A big part of my research for this fantasy football web site, other than watching all the games, is reading information posted on the major corporate sports web sites that I would love to work for someday. It’s no secret what I read, the links are on the right. What amazes me is how many fantasy football experts are not on the same page. One has Chris Johnson as a Start this week, another has him as a Sit. One website that starts with the letter E has multiple experts and they don’t even agree with each other most of the time.

What’s a fantasy football owner to do with these tough lineup decisions?

Everyone has their own system or favorite trusted source. I read them all, form my own opinion, post them here for all to see.

My Start Em / Sit Em column consists of players that are on the bubble. These are your match up starters. You don’t need anyone to tell you to start your Studs. These are the tough calls of the week. 

Quarterback

Start Em: Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub, David Garrard, Jason Campbell, Kevin Kolb

Sit Em: Matt Cassel, Brett Favre, Carson Palmer, Mark Sanchez, Chad Pennington

Running Back

Start Em: Fred Jackson, Darren Sproles, Felix Jones, Ryan Grant, Steve Slaton

Sit Em: Larry Johnson, Cedric Benson, Brian Westbrook, Willie Parker, Marion Barber

Wide Reciever

Start Em: Santana Moss, Pierre Garcon, Mario Manningham, Mike Sims-Walker, Derrick Mason

Sit Em: Wes Welker, Nate Burleson, Justin Gage, Eddie Royal, Muhsin Muhammad

Tight End

Start Em: Chris Cooley, Jeremy Shockey, Owen Daniels, Vernon Davis, Kellen Winslow

Sit Em: Zach Miller, Heath Miller, Ben Watson, Bo Scaife, Greg Olsen

I do take lineup questions. If you want a 2nd opinion on a tough call you can email me on the CONTACT page above or on twitter at www.twitter.com/FantasyF.

You can listen to our Wednesday night podcast in which we discussed waiver wire picks, lineup decisions and a fantasy preview for each game this upcoming weekend by clicking on the RADIO page above. Our next podcast is Sunday morning at 10:30am for injury updates and point spread picks.

Each week every fantasy football website comes out with some version of the classic Start Em / Sit Em.   Who do I start?  Who do I bench?  Do I play a hurt player?  What does “limited in practice” mean anyway? 

Can you imagine if these daily status updates applied to us in the real world?  John was “limited in work”  Tuesday morning after staying up until 2:00am hoping that San Diego would cover the spread but we hope to have him at “full participation”  for jeans Friday and the Happy Hour. 

As a fantasy owner we agonize over who to start and who to sit.  We know to play our Studs unless something freakish happens ( and we do recommend sitting a couple stud running backs this week).  We know to play anyone going against Detroit.  We know to not play  anyone listed as Questionable.   Those are the rules.  We know them.  We live them.

What you see below are the fringe players.  Some weeks they Start.  Some weeks they Sit.  Correctly getting these “bubble” players in and out of your lineup is what separates the winners from losers.

Quarterback

Start Em :  Brett Favre, Jason Campbell, David Garrard, Joe Flacco, Matt Hasselbeck

Sit Em:  Matthew Stafford, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Matt Schaub, Jay Cutler

Running Back

Start Em:  Fred Jackson, Larry Johnson, Ryan Grant, Darren McFadden, Thomas Jones

Sit Em:  Cedric Benson, Willie Parker, LaDainian Tomlinson, Matt Forte, Laurence Maroney

Wide Receiver

Start Em:  Wes Welker, Brandon Marshall, Bernard Berrian, TJ Houshmanzadeh, Percy Harvin

Sit Em:  Hines Ward, Braylon Edwards, Eddie Royal, Patrick Crayton, Derrick Mason

Tight End

Start Em:   Visanthe Shiancoe, Chris Cooley, Zach Miller, Owen Daniels, Ben Watson

Sit Em:  Heath Miller, Marcedes Lewis, Brandon Pettigrew, Jermichael Finley, Randy McMichael

I do take lineup questions.  If you want a 2nd opinion on a tough call you can email me on the CONTACT page above or on twitter at www.twitter.com/FantasyF. 

You can listen to our Wednesday night podcast in which we discussed waiver wire picks, lineup decisions and a fantasy preview for each game this upcoming weekend by clicking on the RADIO page above.  Our next podcast is Sunday morning at 10:30am for injury updates and point spread picks.

Week 1 is finally upon us and we are faced with the tough decisions of who to start and who to sit. Certain players are a no brainer each week. Your studs start no matter what. But the tough decisions are usually that 2nd running back or wide receiver, the flex player and the injured player.

I generally shy away from the players listed as doubtful or questionable. Even if they do play, it seems that generally they perform below par. Below is my start em / sit em advice for players on the fringe of starting lineups. I don’t include the studs as you know you should start those players. You can see my complete player rankings for Week 1 above.

Quarterbacks

Start Em: Matt Hasselbeck, Matt Ryan, David Garrard, Tony Romo, Matthew Stafford
Sit Em: Eli Manning, Brett Favre, Jason Campbell, Marc Bulger, Matt Cassel

Running Backs

Start Em: Ray Rice, Kevin Smith, Fred Jackson,Willie Parker, Joseph Addai
Sit Em: Pierre Thomas, Chris Johnson, Jamal Lewis, Larry Johnson, Fred Taylor

Wide Receivers

Start Em: Chad Ochcinco, Vincent Jackson, Eddie Royal, Wes Welker, Donald Driver
Sit EM: Anquan Boldin, Dwayne Bowe, Donnie Avery, Nate Washington, Joey Galloway

Tight Ends

Start Em: John Carlson, Chris Cooley, Todd Heap, Dustin Keller, Chris Baker
Sit Em: Bo Scaife, Marcedes Lewis, Ben Watson, Jermichael Finley, Randy McMichael

Check back as we will update our Week 1 player rankings right up until kickoff. Other things to look forward to this week include our Point Spread Picks on Friday. Our podcast airs Wednesday nights at 10:30pm EST for start/sit advice and on Sunday Morning at 10:30am EST for last minute injury updates and point spread picks. You can link to our podcast on the left or on top of the page under the RADIO tab.

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JC