Fantasy Football Week 13: Start' Em Sit 'Em

Start Em

Vince Young QB – Coming off a performance where he threw for 400 yards, it’s hard not to like Young as he heads to Seattle. Yes, 100 of those yards were thrown down by 25 but that means he aired it out for 300 yards while the Eagles were still in contention. Young was robbed by his receivers dropped passes, so his stat line could have been better. It’s obvious from his last two performances that Young is having no problem connecting with Riley Cooper as well as DeSean Jackson, someone Michael Vick was not getting the ball to before he went down with an injury. Young has his flaws but against a secondary that has given up the 20^th most passing yards in the league I see Young going for 200-225 with 2TD’s with a banged up LeSean McCoy in the backfield.

C.J. Spiller RB – For the last two seasons I have focused way too much of my attention to Spiller. Like many fantasy owners, you were enamored with what he did at Clemson and are sitting patiently waiting for him to demonstrate that skill set in the NFL. Last week in his first career start he was average at best getting 19 carries for 55 yards. To be fair to Spiller the Jets do have a good run defense, and it was obvious in their game plan that they thought the way to win this game was to make Ryan Fitzpatrick win through the air. That plan almost backfired and I don’t think the Titans will be as focused on stopping Spiller since he has yet to prove he is a feature back. While he has yet to earn our trust, Head Coach Chan Gailey continues to rave about Spiller so we can expect a heavy dose of the Bills first round draft pick from 2010. The Titans give up 4.3 YPC on the ground so look for the Buffalo to exploit that weak run defense.

The rest of Evan's Start/Sit selections after the jump:

Damian Williams WR – I’m pretty positive before the season started Williams wouldn’t have been listed as a top 60 receiver. The times have changed and Williams has become Tennessee’s top red zone target. With five TD’s in his last eight games and a match up against a Bills defense that just gave up four TD’s to Mark Sanchez you would think Williams will make his presence felt in Buffalo. While he doesn’t receive the targets of a true number one receiver, owners should be encouraged that he led the team with 61 snaps. The Bills defense is a defeated bunch, so Williams should be in for a huge day.

Kellen Winslow TE – The word to define Winslow throughout his stint as the Buccaneers TE has been reliable. This season just like any other, Winslow is a guarantee for three to five catches to go along with 30-60 receiving yards. While Winslow will always be safe, as of late Josh Freeman has been targeting Winslow more than usual leading to 14 receptions over the last two games. Any game against Carolina will be high scoring because of their pedestrian defense, so expect a big game for all of Tampa Bay’s offensive weapons.

New England Patriots D/ST – The names on the back of the jersey don’t read Law, Samuel, Bruschi and Vrabel anymore, but the Patriots are getting it done defensively. New England has forced seven turnovers in their last three games as they have forced teams to pass often since their dynamic offense gets a big lead early. This weekend should be no different as the Colts come to New England in a game where they are 21 point dogs. Indianapolis doesn’t have an offense, so expect the Patriots to post double digit fantasy numbers for the third time in four weeks.

Sit Em

Mark Sanchez QB – After throwing four TD’s against the Bills people are jumping on the Sanchez bandwagon once again. While those TD’s were impressive, he threw for fewer than 50% in that game and was bailed out by an amazing Plaxico Buress catch on third down as well as the worst pass rush in the NFL. The Redskins have a deceivingly good defense that has been brought down by an offense that can’t stay on the field. Lately the Redskins offense looks better, meaning the defense can get rest, which leads me to believe Brian Orakpo and crew should get to the Sanchize. In what should be a low scoring game, expect Sanchez to struggle against a defense that has recorded 33 sacks on the season.

Roy Helu RB – Last week Helu got his big break rushing for 108 yards on 23 carries. It was the first time Helu looked like a feature back and while the Cornhusker has promise, I wouldn’t rely on him against an improving Jets run defense. Take away that last minute drive by Tim Tebow and the Jets run defense is getting back to that elite status that it has been in previous seasons. And going off recent history Mike Shanahan hasn’t been consistent with the running game so it’s hard to figure out if Helu will really see 20 touches. Stay away from the rookie who you weren’t starting him before last week’s breakout game.

Santana Moss WR – In his first game back from injury, Moss looked good running routes as he took a lot of the attention away from Jabar Gaffney. This weekend Moss will likely put up similar stats as Darelle Revis will be glued to him. You can look at last week and see what Steve Johnson did to Revis, but that was the best game a receiver has had against Revis in two seasons. Washington has far from an explosive offense and at the moment Gaffney and Fred Davis will see the most targets. Moss should help you in the fantasy playoffs, but week 13 isn’t where he will be relevant.

Dustin Keller TE – I will continue with my hatred of Jets and Redskins offensive players and plead with you not to start Keller. Keller contributed to the Jets win over Buffalo with two TD’s but that was his first time scoring since week 2. In the red zone Sanchez looks for Burress and Santonio Holmes, so Keller won’t be a focus of the offense when they are trying to put points on the board. Kellers scored more than seven fantasy points four times this season and three of those games were in the first three games of the season.

Houston Texans D/ST – The Texans defense has been terrific this season posting double digit fantasy points seven times. The problem with those numbers is that they are skewed by the quality of their opponent. Houston the last five weeks has played Tennessee, Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville twice. Those aren’t offenses that make you quiver at night, so I am not sure what to expect against a Falcons offense that is rolling and is use to playing a dome. Roddy White over the last two weeks has become the elite receiver from a season ago so it will be interesting to see if Jonathan Joseph is up to the task. This is the Texans first real challenge since the beginning of the year so I would keep them on the bench and have them ready for games against the rest of the AFC South.