Start em or sit em? Fantasy football start or sit decisions can be excruciating. While it feels great to make the right call and cruise to fantasy glory, it hurts just as much when you have someone erupt while on your bench. You can use our Who Should I Start? tool to gauge advice from fantasy football experts as you make your lineup decisions. And you can also sync your fantasy football league for free using our My Playbook tool for custom advice, rankings and analysis.
Let’s take a look at a few polarizing players and what fantasy football expert Derek Brown advises. And you can find all of DBro’s fantasy football outlook in this week’s fantasy football primer.
Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em Lineup Advice
Troy Franklin (DEN)
Is Troy Franklin‘s usage for real? I don’t know, but we’re going to find out this week. I know we have seen this before, only for Sean Payton to snatch it away from us last year. Last season, Franklin looked to be gaining steam in Weeks 6-7 with 65.5 and 50.8% of the snaps, but after that, he didn’t play more than 46% of the snaps in any other game in 2024. The last two weeks have been different, though. To open the season, Franklin had a 59.2% snapshare, which increased to 82.8% last week. Franklin has been quite good through two games with a 21.4% target share, 2.61 yards per route run, a 41.8% air-yard share, and a 24.4% first-read share. The Bolts utilize two high at the eighth-highest rate (61.1%). Against two high, Franklin has been the receiver Denver has leaned on so far with a 22.9% target share, 1.83 yards per route run, and a 30.4% first-read share. The matchup is tough this week for Franklin, but he should see plenty of volume if this role holds. The Chargers have allowed the fewest PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers.
Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG)
After a monster game in Week 2, Wan’Dale Robinson is the WR9 in fantasy points per game. He is tied for second on the team with two red zone targets. Robinson has a respectable aDOT (11.0) now while seeing a 23.1% target share, a 27.6% air-yard share, and a 32% first-read share. He has averaged 98.5 receiving yards per game with 2.77 yards per route run. Robinson is a VERY strong play this week. The Chiefs have the sixth-highest rate of two high (62.1%). Against two high, Robinson has seen his first-read share increase to 37% and his yards per route run climb to 3.45. The Chiefs have been torched by slot receivers, allowing the seventh-highest PPR points per target. Start Robinson this week.
Quentin Johnston (LAC)
The Quentin Johnston breakout season still looks VERY REAL. After two games, he is the WR7 in fantasy points per game, drawing a 23% target share with 2.27 yards per route run (75 receiving yards per game) and a 26.7% first-read share. He is tied for the team lead with two red zone targets. This week, he’ll face his toughest test of the season. Johnston might get shadow coverage from Patrick Surtain. Surtain followed Calvin Ridley on 87.1% of his routes in Week 1, limiting him to one target and zero receiving yards. In Week 2, he followed Michael Pittman Jr. on 56.7% of his routes, with Pittman Jr. securing all three of his targets in his coverage for only 28 scoreless receiving yards. Johnston could get wiped off the board by Surtain, which would alter the Bolts’ approach to single high and man coverage this week. This week, the Bolts face a Denver secondary that has utilized single high at the fifth-highest rate (62.5%) and man coverage at the second-highest rate (45.8%). Quentin Johnston has been the team’s go-to receiver against single high and man coverage. Against single high, he leads the team in target per route run rate (26%), yards per route run (3.0), and first-read share (34.6%). Against man coverage, it’s a similar story with him leading the team in target per route run rate (42%), yards per route run (3.42), and first-read share (41.7%). If Surtain follows Johnston, I expect him to have a tough week, but I’m hoping he proves me wrong. We shall see. Denver has allowed the fifth-fewest PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers.
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