By MIKE HERNDON

Jacksonville should have been in a smash spot last week against Houston. It wasn’t. The Lions have an offense that seemed like it could score on anyone. They couldn’t.

The Jaguars and Lions got us excited with early-season fireworks, but sometimes the hot offenses of the moment hit a lull or revert to prior form. The Lions appear to have run into a buzzsaw in New England and now have a week to right the ship while on bye. The Jaguars may need to recalibrate after a miserable 13-6 loss to the Texans.

As with every fantasy season, we adjust our outlook week to week on teams and players alike. This is the first week of byes this season, which will force many of us to dig a little deeper on our benches.

Here are some starts and sits that may help you navigate these treacherous waters:

QB:

Starts:

Kyler Murray, Cardinals: Seattle has a bottom third pass defense and the Cardinals are among the league leaders in pass attempts. Sometimes it just makes sense.  

Sits:

Matthew Stafford, Rams: Yes, last week I said to play him against week defenses. But as Stafford racks up dud after dud, I’m no longer sure you should play him against anyone. And the Rams might win this game easily enough that they don’t have to throw a lot anyway.

RB:

Starts:

Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots: We recommended both Patriots running backs against Detroit’s putrid defense last week. Damien Harris got hurt and Stevenson feasted for 161 yards. Look for the Patriots to feed him again against the Browns this week.   

Kenneth Walker, Seahawks: With Rashaad Penny out for the year, the Seahawks’ backfield belongs to Walker now. Expect Seattle to feed him regularly to try to keep Arizona’s offense off the field.

Eno Benjamin, Cardinals: James Conner is expected to miss this week’s game with a ribs injury, leaving Benjamin as Arizona’s only healthy back. With plenty of points expected against Seattle, fire him up.

Sits:

Najee Harris, Steelers: You can write off last week as being game-scripted out of the game, but what you can’t ignore is that Najee doesn’t look like himself, the Steelers still don’t have a great run-blocking line and Jaylen Warren is starting to get more work.

J.K. Dobbins, Ravens: He hasn’t gotten much of a workload in the couple of games he’s been back. Now Gus Edwards is designated to return and the Ravens’ backfield will be clouded even further. We’d like to see Dobbins get consistent work before we can trust him.

WR:

Starts:

Marquise Brown, Cardinals: Brown has gotten 49 targets in the last four weeks. How much that’ll change with DeAndre Hopkins comes back next week remains to be seen, but Hopkins isn’t coming back until next week and Arizona is facing Seattle’s secondary this week. Giddy up.

Devin Duvernay, Ravens: As long as Rashod Bateman is out – and he’s expected to be out again this week — Duvernay is the Ravens’ top weapon at receiver. He’s also getting carries out of the backfield and is a weapon as a kick returner. Look for him to be Baltimore’s Swiss Army knife again this week against the Giants.

Sits:

Jaylen Waddle, Dolphins: He’s been getting fewer targets of late and the Dolphins will be playing a third-string rookie at quarterback again this week while Tua Tagovailoa recovers from a concussion. Find a better option if you can.

Michael Gallup, Cowboys: Cooper Rush has been steady and efficient while pressed into duty due to Dak Prescott’s injury, but it’s difficult to imagine him being able to support more than one pass-catcher against the Eagles’ tough defense. He may keep CeeDee Lamb afloat, but probably not Gallup.

TE:

Starts:

Taysom Hill, Saints: Reports out of New Orleans are that Hill is expected to remain heavily involved in the Saints’ run game. As long as that’s true, he needs to stay in your lineup if he still has tight end eligibility in your league. He’ll be volatile, but so is pretty much every tight end not named Kelce or Andrews.

Sits:

With tight end already a wasteland and with Darren Waller and T.J. Hockenson on a bye this week, you’ve got to start whoever you can find.

Categories: Fantasy Football

Tags: Fantasy Football, kyler murray, Marquise Brown, Rhamondre Stevenson, Taysom Hill