Start or Sit Faceoff: Week 2
The 2021 NFL season is in full swing as we head into Week 2. @FFRabbitDad and @obryanbren are back with more players to take a look at when setting your fantasy football lineups. Check it all out here in Start or Sit Faceoff: Week 2.
We are basing many of our decisions on these picks from Defensive Points Against Consistency Score (D-PAC). This metric shows you how many points each defense allowed to each position group. If you have any questions in your lineup each week, this would be a good metric to use to figure out who to start based upon their weekly matchup. Keep in mind, this is all based upon the 2020 season data right now, so each defense might (and probably is) better or worse and these numbers will change as we start playing games. Take these with a grain of salt, but without further ado, here are our starts and sits for Week 2.
Quarterbacks
Start: Baker Mayfield – Joe Burrow
Brendan: Baker Mayfield had a strong outing against the Chiefs in Week 1 throwing for 321 yards, but no touchdowns. Add just one touchdown into that stat line (rushing or passing) and that’s a solid week for the quarterback in your lineup. Enter the Houston Texans who just happened to allow rookie Trevor Lawrence to throw for 332 yards and two touchdowns. The Texans defense also allowed 20.2 points on average to quarterbacks last season. Mayfield has to be a start in every league with a great matchup this week.
Benjamin: Last week against an improved Vikings defense, Joe Burrow turned out a respectable 261 passing yards and two touchdowns. He could’ve thrown for more if it wasn’t for Joe Mixon grinding the ball 29 times for 127 yards on the ground. Cleveland could have that problem times two with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt going up against a juicy matchup in the Houston defense. The Bengals will tango with the Bears in Week 2. While they aren’t the most stubborn against the pass, either, they did hold the Rams to 3.9 YPC after you take away the three kneel-downs at the end of the game. That will force the Bengals to be more active through the air.
Sit: Tua Tagovailoa – Ben Roethlisberger
Brendan: Going to stick with my ride-or-die quarterback sit this week with Tua Tagovailoa. He had a decent game against the Patriots last week throwing for 202 yards one touchdown passing and one rushing with one interception. Once again he was highly dependent on the rushing touchdown to make him worth anything as a starting fantasy quarterback. This week he’s going up against another solid pass defense in the Buffalo Bills that he’s never really played well against and recently held Ben Roethlisberger to 188 yards and one touchdown. This is another week that Tagovailoa needs to be on the bench, or not even on your roster.
Benjamin: If anyone was still in on Ben Roethlisberger, they probably jumped off the bandwagon after his Week 1 performance. Managing a mere 188 passing yards and one score, you would’ve needed a lot of production from the rest of your fantasy team to pull out a win. Tagovailoa at least kept you in the game, even with his tiny running numbers. With the Dolphins leading the Patriots for nearly the entire second half, there was little need to throw the ball. Against a more potent offense, Tagovailoa will have to work more with his arm against Buffalo. Neither of these signal-callers is an ideal start, but, in a pinch, I’m leaving Roethlisberger on the bench.
Running Backs
Start: David Montgomery – Damien Harris
Brendan: David Montgomery looked very impressive in Week 1. He was running with authority and purpose against a strong Rams defense. Over the past few years, the Rams have been one of the top units against the run, but Montgomery was able to put up 108 yards and a touchdown. The Bengals looked pretty strong against the run last week, but I would take Montgomery over any Patriot running back this week. The Patriot offense last week, once again, showed why you can’t really trust any of the running backs. Damien Harris had a decent 100 yards, but all of the receptions out of the backfield were sniped by a James White appearance. White had six receptions on seven targets for 49 yards. Until I see Harris getting some of those targets, I can’t put my trust in 100 yards and no touchdowns. Montgomery is a very strong start as an RB2 and should be in your lineup if you have him.
Benjamin: It’s worth mentioning that Montgomery faces a Bengals defense that just held Dalvin Cook to 3 YPC. Cook’s fantasy day was saved with six catches for 43 yards, but that doesn’t matter when Damien Williams is on the field taking the majority of running back targets. There is no real competition for carries in New England as Bill Belichick doesn’t use rookie running backs. The last time he did was Lawrence Maroney in 2006, who was a first-round draft pick who got 175 carries. Harris ran for 100 yards with his 23 handoffs and he’ll get at least that many against the Jets. 15 years of history tells me that Harris is the play here, bar none.
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Sit: Mike Davis – James Robinson
Brendan: Let’s face it, Mike Davis has some serious thigh muscles. However, they are not going to save him in this matchup against the Buccaneers. Against the Eagles defense last week, which was allowing 23.3 points per game to running backs last year, he was only able to put up 15 carries for 49 yards and three receptions with zero touchdowns. The Bucs defense is much better against the run, only allowing 17.22 points per game to running backs and only allowed 60 yards total rushing yards to the Cowboys last week. With only 18 total touches last week and facing a much tougher defense, Davis is not a strong start this week.
Benjamin: I’m going back to opportunities on this one. Davis will be the leader in running back touches for the foreseeable future. At some point, Wayne Gallman will get his share and it may eventually eclipse Davis, but I doubt it. Robinson, on the other hand, is clearly in a committee backfield with Carlos Hyde who had more touches and yards than his counterpart in Week 1. As long as the Jaguars have multiple running backs that they trust, Robinson is going to be a ‘no’ for me against anyone with a strong grip on their workload.
Consistency Score: Running Backs
Consistency Score: Wide Receivers
Consistency Score: Tight Ends
Consistency Score: DST
Wide Receivers
Start: Antonio Brown – Allen Robinson
Brendan: I was a little hesitant to list Antonio Brown here, just because at this point he is close to being a must-start every week. Last week he hauled in five receptions off of seven targets for 121 yards and one touchdown. There were at times last week that he looked uncoverable, regaining his form from a few seasons ago, before all the meltdowns. This week the Bucs are going up against the Falcons, who didn’t appear to be overly strong against the pass last week giving up 264 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Brown also had a very strong showing last year against the Falcons, going for 11 receptions 138 yards, and 2 touchdowns. This all points to a huge fantasy showing this week for Brown.
Benjamin: Antonio Brown did look like his self of old in Week 1 while Robinson just disappointed us. Again, and I can’t stress this enough, opportunity beats talent every day in fantasy football. Brown still has to compete with a bevy of dangerous weapons for targets. Robinson has proven many times that he can excel without an elite quarterback. Over his 89 career games (44 at home) Robinson has scored 23 touchdowns in home games as opposed to 17 on the road. As the alpha receiver for the Bears, Robinson will be consistently fed the ball game after game if Chicago is going to compete this year. Following a down week, I see Robinson return on his value and be the receiver I’d pick this week.
Sit: Russell Gage – Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Brendan: Maybe picking Russell Gage this week is a little unfair. He was only targeted twice last week and didn’t haul in a single reception. Gage had some value last year and looked to be a potential WR3 this season with Atlanta bringing in Kyle Pitts to take most of the volume that would be going to a WR2. However, that did not materialize at all in Week 1. The Bucs have a much stronger defense and Gage is going to be in for a rough day. Sorry, Benjamin, I had to try to get an easy W after last week and this seemed like a no-brainer!
Benjamin: Having to side with choosing Gage over anyone feels like something I’d have to do if I just lost a bet, but here we go. This one isn’t even about Gage and a less-than-favorable matchup with Tampa Bay. It’s about Valdes-Scantling catching three of his eight targets for only 17 yards. This is a guy that has made his legacy as a deep-threat receiver and he only managed 17 yards through the air? On top of that, we have Aaron Rodgers who was benched during the game and might be just giving up on the Packers. Until the reigning MVP shows up as himself on the field, I won’t trust any pass-catcher out of Green Bay not named Davante Adams. Neither should you.
Tight Ends
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