Start 'Em & Sit 'Em is the ultimate weekly look at NFL matchups and how they'll affect your fantasy football team. Fantasy superstars such as Patrick Mahomes and Christian McCaffrey will not be featured in this column. All player matchups are based on a PPR scoring system. For your final starting lineup decisions, check my weekly fantasy football lineup rankings.
Byes:Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys
Start 'Em
Start of the Week
Golladay gave you a stinker last week, as Marvin Jones went off for four touchdowns. I'd stick with Kenny G this week, however, as he has a great matchup against the Giants. Their defense has surrendered an average of 140.1 yards and the seventh-most fantasy points to receivers who are lined out wide, so Golladay should rebound.
Sutton continues to produce good totals for fantasy fans, scoring at least 11.6 points in each of his last five games. He's also eighth among wideouts in routes run in the red zone. Pro Football Focus ranks Sutton's Week 8 matchup against Colts CB Pierre Desir as the third most advantageous among all wide receivers as well.
Brown has produced double-digit fantasy points in all but one of his first six games, and he's in a good spot to make it six of seven when he faces the Eagles. Their defense has allowed nine touchdowns and the most fantasy points to receivers lined out wide, which is where Brown has run over 75 percent of his routes so far this season.
Davis is coming off a 20-point performance in a win over the Chargers, and it's no coincidence that he did it in Ryan Tannehill's first start. I'd roll with Davis this week, as he faces a Buccaneers defense that's allowed nearly 28 fantasy points a game to receivers lined out wide. That's where Davis has run 69 percent of his routes.
Revenge! Tate has scored 14 or more fantasy points in two straight games, and now he gets to face his old team, the Lions, at Ford Field. Their defense has allowed an average of 92.2 yards per game to the slot, and the opposition has targeted Detroit's slot corners a league-high 15.2 times per contest this season. Tate should be golden.
Start 'Em:D.J. Chark vs. New York Jets, Marvin Jones vs. New York Giants
Sleepers:Kenny Stills vs. Oakland Raiders, D.K. Metcalf at Atlanta Falcons
Sit 'Em
Sit of the Week
Jeffery finds himself in the sit 'em portion of this column for another week, as a bad matchup in Buffalo awaits. Bills CB Tre'Davious White and his defense have allowed just two scores and fewer than 19 fantasy points per game to receivers lined out wide, which is where Jeffery has run 86 percent of his routes for the Eagles this season.
Boyd is a tough player to sit based on his volume and target share, but it's hard to trust him after he's posted two straight stinkers in the stat sheets. He's also likely to see a lot of Rams shutdown CB Jalen Ramsey, which makes Boyd even more of a risk for fantasy fans. If you have depth at wide receiver, I would fade him this week.
Moore is a tough receiver to sit just based on the volume of targets he receives, but this week's matchup against the Niners is brutal. Their defense has allowed just three touchdowns and the fourth-fewest fantasy points to receivers lined out wide, which is where Moore runs most of his routes. Beware this horrible matchup, fantasy fans.
Landry has a difficult draw this week, as he faces a Patriots defense that has been nearly impenetrable for opposing wideouts. In fact, their defense has allowed the fewest fantasy points to the position. What's more, slot receivers have scored one touchdown and averaged a mere 56 yards against them. Landry is a serious fade for me.
Anderson put up a stinker last week, and it'll be hard to trust him with Sam Darnold's struggles in a road matchup against the Jaguars. Their defense has allowed just four touchdowns to receivers lined out wide, which is where Anderson has run 81 percent of his routes. If you start a Jets wideout this week, it should be Jamison Crowder.
Sit 'Em:DeVante Parker at Pittsburgh Steelers (Mon.), Mecole Hardman vs. Green Bay Packers
Busts:Marquez Valdes-Scantling at Kansas City Chiefs, Curtis Samuel at San Francisco 49ers
Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on NFL.com and NFL Network and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. You can follow Michael on **Twitter**, **Facebook**, **YouTube** and **Instagram** for all of the latest fantasy football news, notes and in-depth analysis!
