Getty Jalen Hurts #2 of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Quarterbacks edition for Week 16 of the NFL season.
* Reminder: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is intended to present you with the non-obvious choices for your fantasy lineup. We dig deep into player matchups, scoring trends, and other factors to best help you with your fantasy decisions. Superstars such as Patrick Mahomes will not be found in this column. If you’re looking for players of his caliber check out our weekly fantasy football quarterback rankings.
Start-Sit [QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]
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QB: Start ‘Em
Baker Mayfield at NYJ
Mayfield is on fire. The former No. 1 overall pick has accounted for 10 total TDs and averaged more than 324 passing ypg over his last three contests. Over that period, Mayfield is the fourth-highest scoring QB in fantasy, checking in with 26.82 ppg. Over the past month, the Jets have allowed a league-high 25.51 ppg to the position.
Jalen Hurts at DAL
Since taking over the helm in Philly two weeks ago, only Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry have averaged more points than Hurts’ 28.55 ppg. Dual-threat abilities reign supreme in fantasy, as is the case with Hurts, who has totaled 166 yards on the ground since Week 14. This sentiment holds especially true against a Dallas defense who allowed an average of 84 yards and two total TDs on the ground against the likes of Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray this season.
Tua Tagovailoa at LV
Aside from a Week 11 stinker against Denver in which he was pulled, Tua has averaged 19.99 ppg since Week 9. That output would rank him ahead of both Kyler Murray (19.8 ppg) and Justin Herbert (19.1 ppg) over that span. He’s now scored 12 total TDs this season, while turning the football over just three times. The Raiders have allowed an average of 22.25 ppg to the QB position over their last three games and at least two total TDs in five consecutive outings.
Sleeper: Mitchell Trubisky at JAC
Will Trubisky ever get his respect? Likely not. The former No. 2 overall pick is 5-2 as a starter this season and ranks as QB11 in fantasy since being reinserted into Chicago’s starting lineup back in Week 12. Still, he’s owned in just 12% of Yahoo leagues. Are you willing to hedge your bets on Trubisky in the championship round? It would certainly be ballsy, but Jacksonville has allowed an average of 24.29 ppg to QBs over their last eight games.
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QB: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Teddy Bridgewater at WAS
Bridgewater has been quietly solid this season, averaging 18.23 ppg. However, Washington’s defense is legit. The fourth-ranked unit in all of football, the WFT’s defense has held seven of their last nine opponents at the position to 14.88 points or fewer. Of those seven opponents, none accounted for more than one TD.
Philip Rivers at PIT
Rivers has tossed two-plus TDs in five consecutive games. Combine that with the fact that the Steelers were just humiliated on national TV by the Cincinnati Bengals and you may be able to talk yourself into Rivers as a viable play. Don’t risk it. Let’s not forget they still managed to hold Ryan Finley to sub-100 yards passing in that game and have allowed an average of just 182.83 ypg through the air over their last six games.
Marcus Mariota vs. MIA
Much like we mentioned above in regards to Jalen Hurts, Mariota’s abilities on his feet elevate his floor, making him an intriguing option. However, the matchup is simply not there to warrant the risk in the championship round. The Dolphins have held all but one of their last five opponents (Patrick Mahomes) to fewer than 12.17 points.
Buyers Beware: Ryan Tannehill at GB
Fresh off a five TD performance, Tannehill has clearly lived up to his $62M guaranteed deal from this past offseason. Fantasy’s QB7 this year has topped 19.14 points in three of his last four games. With that said, the Packers allow the ninth-fewest points to QBs in 2020 and have surrendered just 15.49 ppg to the position over their last three games.
Start-Sit [QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]
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