Start em Sit em Week 14

Fantasy Football Start ’em Sit ’em Week 14

Another good week in the books from a start/sit perspective! Bad from the injury standpoint as we saw so many studs in the league go down with significant injuries. Our start of the week in week 13 in Rachaad White got off to a slow start on the ground but ended up carving out a really nice day for himself. White ran the ball 20 times for 84 yards, a rushing TD, and had 3 catches for 22 yards on 5 targets (19.6 points). Although he didn’t quite reach the 24.3 I projected for him as he finished a couple catches shy of reaching this mark he still finished as RB10 on the week and is now the RB5 overall in full PPR.

The sit of the week, Cooper Kupp, looked like a strong sit until his superior Rams WR counterpart, Puka Nacua got injured. When Puka got injured with 1:51 left in the first half Kupp had just 2 catches for 8 yards. Puka missed most of the third quarter and was a part time plaplayer upon return which led to Kupp reviving more looks as he finished with 6 catches for 39 yards and a touchdown (15.9 points). A miss on this one unfortunately but as you can see Kupp really wasn’t headed for much of anything if not for the Puka injury. I also did mention however that Kupp wasn’t an auto sit and that the context of viable options mattered. So for those of you who had to start Kupp be grateful for that touchdown that saved his day. Going forward though I don’t have much confidence in Kupp going forward as it isn’t expected that Puka will miss much time with his AC sprain. Heading into week 14 this is the last week for many of you before the playoffs so let’s get this dub and sail on into the playoffs!

Week 14 Start ’em Justin Fields – Bears QB

Okay, I know it’s been a lot of running backs lately as the featured starts so we’re gonna change it up and go to QB. I know what you might be thinking if you watched that Monday night Bears/Lions game – why should we trust Fields? The Bears ended up winning a gross 12-10 game where they ended up scoring 0 touchdowns and Justin Fields lost two fumbles. In fact, the game plan against the Vikings was so gross, there were so many screens and we didn’t see vintage Fields until DC Brian Floeres of the Vikings decided to stop blitzing and instead drop 8 where he ran all over them. I hope the Bears learned something from this game and go back to allowing Fields to play free. On the positive though, Fields has reached over 20 points in 3 of his last 4 games and the last time he played the Lions he looked awesome. He threw for 169 yards a passing TD and ran 18 times for 104 yards and a rushing score as well.

So not only has Fields had previous success against the Lions but they are also a defense that is looking far from championship caliber. Their defense allowed 28 to a bad Saints offense and nearly blew a 21-0 lead. In fact over their last 4 games they’re giving up 30.25points per game and they even allow the most rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks. I will be all over the Fields rushing total regardless of what it is in this one. I think with extra time to prepare off the bye that the Bears will open up the playbook and allow Fields to run free while taking his shots down the field to guys like DJ Moore. Also another angle to consider is that the Bears currently have the number one overall picks (thanks to their trade with the Panthers last year) and will have the opportunity to draft phenom Caleb Williams out of USC. This means that Fields is essentially playing for his job with the Bears and this is all an audition. Fields would have to be nothing short of phenomenal down the stretch to secure his job in Chicago moving forward. I think this extra motivation will benefit Fields and we will see the best version of him yet against the Lions this weekend.

Justin Fields Week14 Projection: 22/36 for 237 yards 1 passing TD, 15 rushes for 89 yards, 1 rushing td, and 1 turnover ( 26.38 points)

QBs to Start

Lamar Jackson
Dak Prescott
Justin Fields
Brock Purdy
Jared Goff

RBs to Start

Alivn Kamara
David Montgomery
Jahmyr Gibbs
Devon Achane
James Cook
Travis Etienne
Javonte Williams
Isaiah Pacheco
Zack Moss
Joe Mixon
Ezekiel Elliot
Keaton Mitchell

WRs to Start

Davante Adams
Nico Collins
Brandon Aiyuk
Deebo Samuel
Michael Pittman Jr.
Puka Nacua
Courtland Sutton
DK Metcalf
Drake London
Jordan Addison
Zay Flowers
Brandin Cooks
Jonathan Mingo
Jaylen Reed

TEs to Start

Evan Engram
Taysom Hill
Jake Ferguson
Cole Kmet
Gerald Everett

Week 14 Sit ’em Tyler Lockett – Seahawks WR

Tyler Lockett has been a great and highly under-appreciated receiver both in real life and seemingly every year in fantasy drafts. I feel like every year this guy goes somewhere rounds 6-9 and he just ends up churning out a top 15 year like clockwork. This year was yet again another year where fantasy managers doubted Lockett with the drafting of Ohio state star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. While Lockett hasn’t been awful he certainly hasn’t produced like he has in years passed. We’re not seeing those same boom weeks that we once did from him as he has yet to top 100 yards in a game yet this season and has topped 50 yards just once in his last three in which he went 5-51 against the Rams. Lockett is still seeing 6.6 targets a game over his last 3 (good not great) he has a few things going against him.

One of the big issues we had feared was JSN eating up a bunch of his targets and decreasing Lockett’s target share. While that hasn’t happened to the degree many had imagined JSN is coming off an 11 target game in which Geno Smith was constantly looking for him downfield against a great Dallas defense. The eye test tells you JSN just looks younger and more of a threat than Lockett does at this point in his career who’s 31. Another issue that many may not realize is the pace of play the Seahawks play with is one of the slowest in the league. Seattle runs just 60 plays per game and while that may not sound awful, it is, as it ranks 27th fewest in the league on a per game basis. This has to do much with their commitment to the run game and simply not using much tempo aside from in the two minute drill. Oh yeah they also play the San Fran 49ers who are an absolute wagon right now on defense- yeah no thanks. I don’t see Lockett being a horrific bust but he is not going to help you win this week nor get you into the fantasy playoffs. If I was in a win-and-in situation I would be thrilled if my opponent was starting Lockett because of how much I believe his ceiling is capped. Bench Lockett and go for more upside, even if it is a riskier play.

Tyler Lockett Week 14 Projection: 3 receptions on 7 targets for 39 yards (6.9 points)

QBs to Sit

Geno Smith
Matthew Stafford
CJ Stroud
Derek Carr
Desmond Ridder

RBs to Sit

DeAndre Swift
Ken Walker III
Aaron Jones
Breece Hall
Khalil Herbert
Miles Sanders
Latavius Murray
Kareem Hunt
Kenny Gainwell
Jerick McKinnon
Joshua Kelley
Rico Dowdle

WRs to Sit

Amari Cooper
Tyler Lockett
Diontae Johnson
George Pickens
Chris Godwin
Adam Thielen
Tyler Boyd
Jerry Jeudy
Rashid Shaheed
Quentin Johnston
Odell Beckham Jr.
Justin Watson
Davante Parker
KJ Osborn

TEs to Sit

Dalton Kincaid
Cade Otton
Pat Freiermuth
Tyler Higbee
Juwuan Johnson

If you have any questions about your starting lineup, you can find me on the Fantasy Couch Discord @sully

Make sure to watch the Week 14 waiver wire video in case there are any players on waivers or free agency that you might have missed.

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Source: https://www.fantasycouch.com/2023/12/start-em-sit-em-week-14-2023/