
Too often, fantasy football “analysts” brag about what they got correct but rarely take accountability for what they got wrong. I want to change that trend when it comes to the advice I offer. Here are my Must Start/Sit players for the previous week and my analysis of those picks and performances. Using graphics, I will also evaluate my advice. The legend is as follows:
✅ – I got it right, and you did well with my information.
❌ – I got it wrong, and my prognostication hurt you.
↔️ – My advice neither helped nor hurt you; the player performance was middle of the road for their position.
⭕️ – Out or Other Situation that makes evaluation moot.
QB Must Start
❌Ben Roethlisberger, PIT – Big Ben must’ve been color blind this past week and threw three interceptions to the Titans. Otherwise, he had decent numbers with 32 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, the INTs knocked the Steelers QB out of the Top 15 for the week.
QB Must Sit
✅Drew Lock, DEN – On the plus side, Lock did better than his on-field opponent in Patrick Mahomes (46.7 DSE fantasy points to Mahomes’ 41.0) and outperformed my prediction of a sub-200-yard day (he had 245 yards, threw two picks, and ran for a touchdown). However, those numbers were only good enough for the Bronco signal-caller to finish QB22 for the week.
RB Must Start
↔️Ronald Jones II, TBB – I thought three straight 100-yard rushing performances coming into Week 7 was enough to keep Leonard Fournette on the bench. I was wrong. Jones had an abysmal stat line of 13-34-1. The touchdown made his day respectable (still worthy of a RB2 start for the week), but far from a must start.
↔️David Johnson, HOU – With 84 combined yards, 4 receptions, and a touchdown, Johnson also was worth a RB2 start for the week. Not the “Must Start” label I offered. Thought Houston was finding their run identity. I was wrong.
RB Must Sit
✅Frank Gore, NYJ – The Adam Gase running back curse continues as Gore rushed 11 times for 60 yards. Although this performance was Gore’s second-best of the season, it was not even worthy of a flex start in any format.
✅Damien Harris, NEP – I predicted Harris would have 68 yards on 20 carries. He ended up with 10 rushes for 58 yards and 1 reception for 12 yards. His 8.0 fantasy points were not worth a start.
WR Must Start
❌Robby Anderson, CAR – If you remember, I said the Saints were best in the league at stopping a team’s WR1 and worst at defending that team’s WR2. I made Anderson a must start based on his depth chart position. The New Orleans coaching staff saw Anderson as a more dangerous threat than D.J. Moore. Anderson did well enough with 6 receptions for 74 yards, but Moore shined brightest (4-93-2). Anderson was barely worthy of a flex-start.
✅Terry McLaurin, WAS – The Washington receiver maintained his mainstay status and caught 7 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets. Just imagine if McLaurin had a quality quarterback throwing to him.
❌Darius Slayton, NYG – I suggested the return of Sterling Sheppard would help lighten the focus on Slayton and give the Giants deep threat more opportunities. Sheppard would become the focus of the offense garnering 8 targets. Slayton ended the game with 2 catches for 23 yards.
WR Must Sit
✅Anthony Miller, CHI – Rams secondary was relentless versus wide receivers, as I had suggested. Miller finished the game with 20 yards on 3 receptions.
✅Breshad Perriman, NYJ – The Jets wideout caught 2 passes for 27 yards. I had predicted 53 yards on three catches. Perriman managed to do worse than I suggested.
✅Jerry Jeudy, DEN – The Broncos standout rookie had the challenging day I thought he would, catching only 2 passes for 20 yards.
TE Must Start
✅T.J. Hockenson, DET – The Lions tight end was finished TE3 for the week as he caught a touchdown on one of his 5 receptions for 59 yards.
TE Must Sit
✅Houston Texans Tight Ends – I said the Houston situation was a mess, and the Packers were tough on the tight end position. The result was that Texans tight ends ended up with zero catches on the day. Pretty sure I got this one right.
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