Week 10 Start Em, Sit Em

Armando Marsal

Fantasy Writer

Teams on bye: Houston, Indianapolis, Minnesota, New England, San Diego, Washington

Quarterbacks

Start Em

Ben Roethlisberger, PIT at NYJ - Big Ben is coming off of back-to-back, six touchdown games and is playing against the worst pass defense in the NFL. I could end my analysis there and that would be enough to convince you to start him. Roethlisberger is having a phenomenal year. He's thrown for 2,720 yards, 22 touchdowns, and just three interceptions. Granted, he's had some poor performances, but has been on fire as of late. His opponents, the Jets, are allowing 20.7 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. They have allowed two or more passing touchdowns in every game this season. In fact, they have surrendered three or more passing touchdowns in four of their last five games. This is a great matchup for Big Ben, and while odds are he won't throw six touchdowns this week, he should still be active in all fantasy rosters this weekend.

Other Starts

Matt Ryan, ATL at TB

Carson Palmer, ARI vs. STL

Jay Cutler, CHI at GB

Cam Newton, CAR at PHI

Sleeper Alert: Colin Kaepernick, SF at NO

Sit Em

Eli Manning, NYG at SEA - Manning heads to Seattle to take on the Seahawks. He will travel to the West coast on a short week after playing on Monday night. That alone is already a red flag. In addition, the Seahawks have not allowed a quarterback to throw for 300 or more yards since Week 3 against the Broncos. In fact, Peyton Manning has been the only quarterback to throw for 300+ yards against the Seahawks. Their defense is giving up just 14.6 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. Eli Manning threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns in Week 9, but a lot of that came after the team was trailing the Colts by multiple touchdowns. He's been interception-free for the last four games, and has seven touchdowns in those games. However, he wasn't playing his best football on Monday night, and in Seattle, that won't cut it. This is a defense that has held the last three quarterbacks they have faced under 200 passing yards and under 15 fantasy points. I'd rather take my chances with another quarterback this week.

Other Sits

Kyle Orton, BUF vs. KC

Andy Dalton, CIN vs. CLE

Michael Vick, NYJ vs. PIT

Brian Hoyer, CLE at CIN

Bust Alert: Ryan Tannenhill, MIA at DET

Running Backs

Start Em

Ronnie Hillman, DEN at OAK - Hillman has done a great job filling in for Monte Ball. He's had a tremendous four game stretch and should be looking forward to this matchup against the second worst run defense. The Raiders are allowing 22.1 fantasy points per game and have allowed at least one rushing touchdown in all but one game. They have surrendered over 100 rushing yards in six of their eight games. This is music to fantasy owners' ears, at least those who own Hillman in a league. Hillman is coming off of his second two touchdown game in the last three weeks. Since becoming the starter in Week 6, he's rushed for 299 yards, has 17 receptions for 121 yards, and has for total touchdowns. There's no reason to believe that he will slow down this week against a poor run defensive team.

Other Starts

Jeremy Hill, CIN vs. CLE

Andre Ellington, ARI at STL

Bobby Rainey, TB vs. ATL

Eddie Lacy, GB vs. CHI

Sleeper alert: Terrence West, CLE at CIN

Sit Em

Ben Tate, CLE at CIN- The Browns decided to hand the keys over to Terrence West two weeks ago, but last week, the carries were split pretty evenly as West got 15 carries and Tate got 10. Tate did add four catches to his stat line, but didn't do much with his carries as he only rushed for three yards. Tate hasn't rushed for over 36 yards in the last three games and hasn't received more than 16 carries. His workload has dropped since his two touchdown game against the Steelers in Week 5.  Despite a favorable matchup coming up against the Bengals, he simply can't be trusted. It's very likely that the beneficiary of this great matchup will be West.

Other Sits

Darren McFadden, OAK vs. DEN

Chris Johnson, NYJ vs. PIT

Anthony Dixon, BUF at KC

Tre Mason, STL at ARI

Bust Alert:  Joique Bell, DET vs. MIA

Wide Receivers

Start Em

Kelvin Benjamin, CAR at PHI - Benjamin had a good matchup last week, but came up short. This week, he has another favorable matchup and should bounce back. In each game this season where he's failed to score over 10 points in PPR formats, he's bounced back with a big game and has scored a touchdown each time. He's having a solid rookie campaign. He has 40 catches for 589 yards and five touchdowns. The Eagles are allowing 25. 6 fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers and have allowed 30 or more fantasy points in four games this year. Benjamin leads the team in targets with 78, so we know that Newton will be looking at him often this week. Don't let last week's performance put a doubt in your mind. If history repeats itself, he should find the end zone against the Eagles.

Other Starts

Larry Fitzgerald, ARI vs. STL

Roddy White, ATL at TB

Michael Crabtree, SF at NO

Alshon Jeffery, CHI at GB

Sleeper Alert: Martavis Bryant, PIT at NYJ

Sit Em

Reuben Randle, NYG at SEA - Randle has been unable to capitalize on the opportunity to be the team's go-to receiver. He hasn't been impressive and has just one touchdown in the last six games. He has yet to reach 100 receiving yards in a single game this season. Randle has taken a back seat to rookie receiver Odell Beckham who has been very good over the last four weeks. In addition to his unimpressive play, Randle has a tough matchup ahead. He heads to Seattle and faces a defense that has not allowed a receiver to score a touchdown in the last four games. In fact, they have only allowed one receiver to score a touchdown at Seattle this season. Lastly, receivers are averaging just 10.5 fantasy points in the last four weeks against this defense. This is a tough matchup, and there's not much to be looking forward to if you're a Randle owner. Sit him!

Other Sits

Eric Decker, NYJ vs. PIT

Allen Robinson, JAC vs. DAL

Doug Baldwin, SEA vs. NYG

Andre Holmes, OAK vs. DEN

Bust Alert: Mike Wallace, MIA at DET

Tight Ends

Start Em

Greg Olsen, CAR at PHI

Travis Kelce, KC vs. BUF

Owen Daniels, BAL vs. TEN

Sit Em

Jace Amaro, NYJ vs. PIT

Scott Chandler, BUF at KC

Jared Cook, STL at ARI

Defense

Start Em

Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets

Sit Em

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints

Carolina Panthers at Philadelphia Eagles