• Start Geno Smith: The Seahawks quarterback should continue his hot streak with several big-time plays against the Raiders.

• Start Jeff Wilson Jr.: Wilson has back-to-back top-10 finishes and will aim to make it a third against the Texans' run defense.

• Sit Adam Thielen: The once-consistent fantasy starter is in a slump, and it’s unlikely he returns to form against the Patriots' defense.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Deciding who to start or sit can be as easy as looking at the PFF rankings and starting the player ranked higher. This start’em, sit’em column digs a step deeper, looking into why someone you might typically start might not have a good week, or why someone overlooked might have a good week. In many cases, it’s the usual starters who should star, but we want to explore the borderline players too.

QUARTERBACKS

START

Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks

• Smith has finished as a top-10 fantasy quarterback in six of his past 10 games.
• He has scored 11 touchdowns by throwing to a receiver in the end zone, which is tied for the most among quarterbacks.
• The Seahawks play the Raiders, who have allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season.
• Smith has a 13.8% big-time throw rate against man coverage this season, compared to 3.6% against zone.
• The Raiders use man at the sixth-highest rate in the NFL.

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

• Prescott has finished as a top-10 fantasy quarterback in each of his past three games.
• He is tied for 10th in fantasy points per dropback, at 0.53.
• The Cowboys have the best matchup for quarterbacks this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
• Prescott has thrown a touchdown on 8.8% of his dropbacks against man defenses and 2.0% of his dropbacks against zone over the past two seasons.
• The Giants are the only team to run more man defense than zone so far this season.

SIT

Daniel Jones, New York Giants

• Jones has three games as a top-10 fantasy quarterback but has seven games at QB14 or worse.
• His 6.9-yard average depth of target is the third-lowest among quarterbacks.
• He just lost his favorite target, Wan’Dale Robinson, and backup slot receiver Richie James Jr. hasn’t been practicing.
• The Giants have the third-worst matchup for quarterbacks this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
• They play the Cowboys, who have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.
• The Giants' offensive line has the worst disadvantage compared to the Cowboys’ defensive line in the passing game for all of the matchups this week, according to PFF's offensive line/defensive line matchup chart.

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

• Rodgers has put together only one game as a top-10 fantasy quarterback this season.
• The Packers have the fourth-worst matchup for quarterbacks this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
• They play the Eagles, who have allowed the fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.
• Philadelphia has a top-four defense in terms of both team PFF pass-rush grade and team PFF coverage grade.

RUNNING BACKS

START

Jeff Wilson Jr., Miami Dolphins

• Wilson has finished as a top-10 fantasy running back in each of his past two games.
• The Dolphins have the sixth-best matchup for running backs this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
• They play the Texans, who have allowed the most fantasy points to running backs this season.
• The Dolphins' offensive line has the fifth-largest edge over the Texans' defensive line in the run game, according to PFF's offensive line/defensive line matchup chart.
• Miami is a heavy favorite, which should allow the offense to spend most of the second half running with the ball.

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