Matchups Start/Sit

Everything is still chugging along on the Najee Harris bandwagon. Harris ranks first among all running backs in Snap Share (85.9-percent), Opportunity Share (87.9-percent), and Weighted Opportunities (260). He’s No. 3 in carries with 237 of them, and second in targets with 75 on the season. When looking up workhorse in the dictionary, a picture of Harris shows up. You’ve ridden him this far; why stop now?

He isn’t Derrick Henry, but D’Onta Foreman has passed the test of filling his shoes. For the second consecutive game, Foreman led the way for the run-heaviest team in the NFL. Not only is he getting the majority of the work, but he’s been heavily utilized in the red zone as well, which is what every fantasy gamer yearns for from their running back. Everything is set up for Foreman to smash this week.

Remember when the Chiefs stunk? It seems like forever ago, but now the re-juiced Kansas City defense is scorching hot. Patrick Mahomes is still struggling to put up fantasy points, but Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce have been revived. Finally, Clyde Edwards-Helaire looks to stay hot with his 4th straight top-24 RB performance.

The Chargers are surging and only one game back from the AFC West lead. Justin Herbert and Austin Ekeler are red hot and have become one of the league’s best QB-RB combos. Keenan Allen has been having a phenomenal year, and returns to action this week coming off of the COVID-list. Finally, Mike Williams continues to try to work back to his elite early season production level.

In three games since returning from injury, Clyde Edwards-Helaire has 44 touches and 3 rushing touchdowns. While he is still splitting snaps with Darrell Williams, CEH has double-digit fantasy points and top-24 RB finishes each of his games back from injury return. The Chargers have allowed at least 100 yards rushing to opposing backfields in seven of their last nine games and allowed at least 4 receptions to opposing backfields in four of their last five.

So far this season, Miles Sanders has been an underwhelming fantasy player. The Football Team has allowed opposing backfields to rush for 100 yards in just two of their last seven games and ranks top-5 in the league in yards per carry allowed. While Washington is susceptible to RB receptions, Sanders entered week 14 with a 9.7-percent (No. 26 among qualifying RBs before Week 14) Target Share.

The Rams have had an up and down season and look to turn the tides in the NFC West. Matthew Stafford has been elite and has pushed Cooper Kupp to WR1 heights. Odell Beckham has fit right in and has even let Van Jefferson to maintain his role. The biggest surprise of this team has been Sony Michel, who is a top-15 play yet again with Darrell Henderson sidelined.

The Arizona Cardinals have the best record in the NFL. The defense is rolling, Kyler Murray looked electric in his return, and James Conner has been dominant in Chase Edmonds’s absence. DeAndre Hopkins, the only consistently reliable fantasy option at receiver, was eased in last week as he recovers from a groin injury. He looks to get back to normal usage this week.

The rumors of Antonio Gibson’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. In the first eight weeks of the season, Gibson had two games with over 95 total yards. In the last four games, he has had three games with 95 yards or more. Since coming out of the Week 9 bye with reports of a stress fracture in his shin, Washington has gone with a conservative offense and heavy, hearty doses of the running game. We all can expect a strong performance from Gibson while they continue to use this conservative attack.

Michael Gallup, CeeDee Lamb, and Amari Cooper are all must starts, and will very likely produce in one way or another in this game. While he’s been out for most of the year, Gallup recently returned and produced at a consistent level each game he has been a part of. He leads all Cowboys receivers, and is No. 7 in the NFL in Contested Catch Conversion Rate. Lamb and Cooper are incredible talents, and Gallup is emerging now that he has healed up.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a win, but are a struggling team. Ben Roethlisberger can’t push the ball downfield and Najee Harris has been productive but inefficient. Big Ben’s play continues to drag the offense down, and only Diontae Johnson and Najee Harris are reliable assets.

The Minnesota Vikings are led by an under-appreciated quarterback, Kirk Cousins. Cousins has been pinpoint accurate and incredibly productive, propelling Justin Jefferson to another mind melting season. Without Adam Thielen, big boosts in opportunity will go to K.J. Osborn and Tyler Conklin. They’ll rely more on their stable running game to get the job done tonight.

Austin Ekeler did not play his best game last week, coughing the rock twice in what could have cost the Chargers the game. However, he still crushed for fantasy off the heels of another touchdown and five more receptions. Remember when Ekeler couldn’t score touchdowns? Me either. He’s already up to 15 (!!!) on the season. He has 45 red zone touches, which is No. 3 among running backs. This drastic change in usage around the goal line has transformed him into a league winner.

After registering three targets in his first two games of the season, Saquon Barkley has seen at least five in every other game. He just hauled in nine targets this last week after running 30 routes. The nine targets were the most he’s seen all season, and the 30 routes were tied for second on the team. His usage is elite, and he is set up to smash this week. The ride has been bumpy, but the payoff will come this week.

Jerry Jeudy draws a Lions team that just allowed 340 passing yards and yielded plenty of separation to Vikings receivers. The only Lions corner in the top-40 of PlayerProfiler’s CB Rankings, Amani Oruwariye, just allowed a monster day to Justin Jefferson. Detroit has allowed over 300 yards through the air in each of its last two games. Expect Jeudy to get the opportunity for a massive fantasy day this week.

Before an A+ matchup against the Jaguars, Matthew Stafford threw 5 interceptions with a completion rate below 64-percent in the three games prior combined. Stafford has shown signs of struggle against good defenses, especially in the second half of the season. The Cardinals, meanwhile, have limited opposing QBs to less than 250 passing yards in six of their last seven games. Be wary of a tough matchup this week for Stafford.

The New England Patriots are looking to plant their flag as the best team in the AFC. Mac Jones continues to improve and has established connections with Jakobi Meyers and Kendrick Bourne. Against the Bills, they’ll look to rely on Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson to propel the offense through the run game.

The Bills have been inconsistent, and have dropped some bad games. Recently, Josh Allen and the offense have been rolling. Stefon Diggs has gotten back on track, and Cole Beasley has jumped back into the mix of production. The surprise of this team has been the resurgence of running back Matt Breida, who has quickly earned a significant role.

The Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals last played in the season opener of 2020. it was a lackluster 16-13 game. This was Joe Burrow’s debut. Meanwhile Justin Herbert hadn’t yet gotten the opportunity to lead the Chargers onto the field. Both teams have clearly improved since this game. We also get two of the top fantasy running backs in the league this year with Joe Mixon (No. 3) and Austin Ekeler (No. 2) in fantasy points.

I lean the Bengals here in what should be a closely contested game. In a close game, an advantage the Bengals have is special teams. The Chargers rank dead last in PFF Special Teams Grade, while the Bengals have a 91.2 (No. 2) Grade. I like Joe Mixon to get going early and often and continue his ascent into the elite tier of fantasy running backs. A strong running game can put a bit of a damper on a shootout, but I still think a decent amount of points are scored in this one.