Welcome to our Week 16 edition of Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em. Benjamin @FFRabbitDad and Brendan @OBryanBren tag team this start or sit article, helping you make the best lineup decisions you can for fantasy football. They make use of our tools such as Consistency Score and D-PAC, two metrics that can help you find out just how well players are doing this year and how consistent they are.

It’s Week 16 and the semi-finals of the fantasy football playoffs. Here are some players you should consider starting this week, along with some players you may want to try and avoid if possible.

Quarterbacks

Start ‘Em

Sam Darnold, Carolina Panthers

For almost all of these start/sits this week, I’m hoping it’s not a hard decision. Especially with the quarterback, if you’re still playing for the money, you’re going to ride with your dude who got you here. Unfortunately, Jalen Hurts has been a league winner and might be out this week. So Hurts owners might be desperate. Sam Darnold might do better than Gardner Minshew in a pinch start because of his matchup. The Panthers are taking on the Lions who have a league-high D-PAC score of 10.85 and giving up 23 points per game to opposing quarterbacks. Darnold has played three games in a row and is averaging around 16 points per game, so you could do much worse.

Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks

Simply because we know it’ll be a high-scoring contest, the Chiefs are a good team to target for a quarterback matchup. Geno Smith will be coming to Kansas City this weekend to keep his Seahawks in the playoff picture. The Chiefs have allowed multiple touchdown passes to every starting quarterback this year not named Malik Willis. Seattle quarterbacks also averaged 2.5 touchdown passes in their last four games against Kansas City. If you’ve got Smith and you’re teetering on who to start, this is your nudge to go with Smith.

Sit ‘Em

Baker Mayfield, Los Angeles Rams

Once again, don’t get cute here. Baker Mayfield was all everyone could talk about two weeks ago, but came back down to earth last week completing 12 passes for 111 yards one touchdown, and one interception. He plays the Broncos this week who have been brutal against quarterbacks with a D-PAC score of 4 and only 11 points per game to quarterbacks, with only 7.8 over the last four games. Drop Baker and try someone else.

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

I know Trevor Lawrence got a lot of you to this point with his improved output in recent weeks, but let’s take a breath and think about it. The Jets are one of the dominant defenses in the NFL, especially against the pass. They have allowed six total passing touchdowns by quarterbacks since Week 3, a list that includes Kirk Cousins and Josh Allen (twice), and only two passers have thrown for more than 250 yards all season. Lawrence has been wonderful down the stretch, but you have to look elsewhere this week if you can.

Running Backs

Start ‘Em

Raheem Mostert, Miami Dolphins

If there was one big highlight for the Dolphins game in Buffalo last Saturday, it was Raheem Mostert averaging eight yards per touch. He couldn’t quite get into the endzone but had 136 yards on 17 carries and also one catch for 20 yards. He hasn’t been the most consistent running back in the league, with a ranking of 37 and a score of 2.88, but if Jeff Wilson can’t go this week against the Packers, Mostert will be a solid start. The Packers are giving up 24 points per game to running backs and Mostert would be the back to benefit from this.

Latavius Murray, Denver Broncos

With the most carries he’s had in a game since October 20th of 2019 (27), Latavius Murray churned up 130 rushing yards last week. This man will be playing with everything he’s got for the rest of 2022 to get himself one more big contract. Over the last four games, Murray has been running for 4.9 yards per carry. Now he’ll run through the Rams’ defense that allowed Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon to accumulate 126 yards on 28 attempts. Murray will take teams to the championship.

Sit ‘Em

Brian Robinson, Washington Commanders

It’s been a wild ride for Brian Robinson this season. He was named the starter, then was shot in the leg, came back, and regained the starter spot. He’s been decent all season, but inconsistent not even being rated in the top 30 in Consistency Score for running backs. While still claiming the starter spot, Antonio Gibson will be returning from injury this week and vulturing some carries and receptions from Robinson. Combine that with the Commanders facing the 49ers who are tops in the league against the running back only allowing 15 points per game and a D-PAC score of 6.99. Not a good situation or matchup for Robinson this week.

Cam Akers, Los Angeles Rams

We’ve seen a spark from Cam Akers in the last few games. He scored three times and averaged 4.1 yards per carry since Week 12. On the season, however, Akers is averaging just 3.5 yards on 125 carries with four running scores. Now he’ll face a stalwart Broncos’ defense that has allowed running backs to surpass 70 rushing yards twice since Week 8 with just one rushing touchdown. Akers has been a disappointment for much of 2022 and you can’t let him represent you in this week’s fantasy playoffs.

Wide Receivers

Start ‘Em

Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers

Last week showed how boom or bust Christian Watson can be. He’s highly touchdown-dependent, and last week he had about his average of around 50 yards receiving on four catches but didn’t get a touchdown. He’s ranked 44th in consistency with a 3.27 consistency score, which reflects this boom or bust. This week I think he booms against a Miami defense that gives up points to wide receivers to the amount of 34 points per game and a third-highest D-PAC score of 19.56. If you were thinking about benching Watson after last week, I’d reconsider.

Drake London, Atlanta Falcons

With 23 targets, 13 catches, and 165 yards in his last two games, Drake London seems to finally be getting the opportunity we all wanted to see. With fellow rookie Desmond Ridder under center, London saw 42 percent of the targets in Week 15. With the lack of highly talented pass catchers, we could see the biggest chunk of passes go London’s way for the rest of 2022. If you can, find a way to get the rookie into your lineups in Week 16.

Sit ‘Em

Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins

I don’t think I’m the only one in thinking something seems to be a bit off with the Dolphin offense as of late. They had a decent game against Buffalo last week, but they have been a shell of what they were earlier in the year. Might be they are just struggling, or defenses are figuring them out, or some combination of both. However, I do not like this matchup against a GreenBay defense that is good against the pass, only giving up 29 points per game to wide receivers and a D-PAC score of 11.18. 

Amari Cooper, Cleveland Browns

Since Deshaun Watson returned to NFL action, Amari Cooper has suffered on the scorecard. In the three games with Watson, Cooper has total of 10 catches and 46.7 receiving yards per game. To make things worse, the Saints aren’t forcing teams to throw the ball and they’re not making it easy either. Since Week 7, the only player to reach 70 receiving yards has been Drake London. Other players that failed to get to 70 yards include Chris Godwin, Deebo Samuel, and Davante Adams. Cooper gave us a good run, but that run has ended.

Tight Ends

Start ‘Em

Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers

Last week against the Panthers, Pat Freiermuth got blanked so I can completely understand any fantasy managers being very gun-shy. However this week he’s facing a Raiders defense giving up nearly 13 points per game to tight ends with a top-six D-PAC score of 5.78. Freierrmuth is also ranked 13th in Consistency Score at 2.53. So if you really need a spot start at tight end this week, Freiermuth might be your guy.

Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints

Juwan Johnson is like the Little Engine that could. He just keeps doing his job well despite not being an elite tight end. He has scored seven times in his last seven games played with 11.7 yards per catch, which is more than Mark Andrews (11.2) and T.J. Hockenson (8.6) in the same span. With the possibility of inclement weather this weekend, shorter passes to Johnson may be the flavor of the passing game with the high prospect of another touchdown. He is my top streaming option for Week 16.

Sit ‘Em

Greg Dulcich, Denver Broncos

Greg Dulcich has been a promising young rookie, albeit quite inconsistent, but still shows some promise. He’s ranked the 25th most consistent tight end with a 1.77 Consistency Score, but is that a product of this offense? This week he has a bad matchup against the Rams who are only giving up 10 points per game to tight ends and a D-PAC score of 2.74. If in a dynasty league, I’d hold onto Dulcich now, but not a starter this week.

Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans

Over the last three weeks, Chigoziem Okonkwo has been a beacon of light in the dark and gloomy position of tight ends in fantasy. If Ryan Tannehill was going to play this week, we could keep riding with Okonkwo. As it looks, Tannehill will not play in Week 16 and we’ll see Malik Willis in his third start. Willis combined for 11 completions in his first two starts, making all receiving options from the Titans unplayable for fantasy.

Don’t forget to hit us up on Twitter with any of your lineup questions. You can find Benjamin @FFRabbitDad and Brendan @OBryanBren. If you have a question, we are happy to give you some guidance. After all, we want you to win!

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