Start Em’

Austin Ekeler, Running Back, Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers staff from top to bottom seems wholly incapable of doing the obvious and returning Austin Ekeler to a three-down role. In three games back from his holdout, Melvin Gordon has 36 carries for 81 yards and nine catches for 34 yards. Austin Ekeler hasn’t been better as a rusher over that stretch nor has he gotten the same volume. 

That hasn’t mattered. Since Gordon’s return, Ekeler has 28 targets, 25 receptions, 118 yards, and a receiving touchdown. The Chargers are sliding downward as a team but that has allowed Ekeler to thrive even in a limited role. They’ll be road dogs again this week which sets up Ekeler to continue his streak as a dominant pass-catcher. 

Robby Anderson, Wide Receiver, New York Jets

Like every team that faces the Patriots, the Jets struggled mightily. Sam Darnold looked lost and the Jets did not score a point. Robby Anderson was still the featured weapon for New York in the passing game. He racked up 126 air yards on six targets but was only able to bring one down.

This week he and the Jets will face a much more forgiving opponent: Jacksonville. Without Jalen Ramsey in play, the Jags defense is no longer an elite unit. Fade the single bad game against the best defense in the NFL and go back to Anderson in a bounce-back spot. 

Noah Fant, Tight End, Denver Broncos

Noah Fant should only be considered for a starting role on your fantasy team if it’s been ravaged by injuries or bye weeks at the position, but that is the case for some teams. 

Fant has only been targeted 24 times this season but he is top-10 in the NFL in air yards among tight ends because of his 11.2 average depth of target. Only Hunter Henry has a higher aDOT with at least 15 targets. 

The rookie tight end and the Broncos gets to face the Colts this week as massive underdogs. That should lead to more throwing against a team that hasn’t defended the tight end position well this year. They have allowed 36 receptions (9th-most) for 378 yards (12-most) to tight ends. 

There are worse desperation plays than Fant in Week 8.

Daniel Jones, Quarterback, New York Giants

As a real-life NFL quarterback, Daniel Jones is probably no good at this point in his young career. As a fantasy quarterback, he’s still getting the volume on the ground and through the air that we like to see.

Jones carries the ball four times for 35 yards and attempted 35 passes in a losing effort against Arizona last week.

Jones is in the perfect get-right spot for a passer this week. He faces Detroit and their weak passing defense: Every quarterback they have faced has thrown for at least 250 yards and four of the six have scored multiple times. Jones may throw an interception or two but the floor facing Detroit offers makes him an easy start.

Sit Em’

Baker Mayfield, Quarterback, Cleveland Browns

The fantasy dream is dead for Baker Mayfield. He’s been utterly horrible in a number of passing metrics among 31 qualified passers:

• 53.2% completion rate - 30th
• 5.6% interception rate - 31st
• 4.6 adjusted yards per attempt - 27th

Mayfield is on par with the tandem of Miami passers in terms of efficiency. He has thrown at least one interception in every game but hasn’t scored multiple times yet.

Now he has to take that disaster of a season into New England to face a defense that is playing at a historical level. Don’t play Mayfield this week or anymore.

Calvin Ridley, Wide Receiver, Atlanta Falcons

Calvin Ridley is lucky to have produced the number of fantasy points he has through seven weeks. Ridley is 24th in PPR points this season.

He is lucky because Ridley isn’t seeing the market share of targets or air yards that other players around his point-range are seeing. Ridley’s weighted opportunity (WOPR via airyards.com), which combines his market share of air yards and targets, is .39. He is the only receiver in the top-36 with that low of a WOPR.

He has been entirely reliant on Matt Ryan’s insane volume and now Ryan is hobbled by an ankle injury. Even if he suits up in Week 8, he may not be full-go. With all of Ridley’s value tied to a hobbled Ryan and the team’s passing volume, he’s a risky play worth benching if you have other viable options.

Joe Mixon, Running Back, Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Mixon and all of the Bengals are just dust at this point. Tyler Boyd can’t reel in more than five of his 14 targets. No amount of passing volume can boost Andy Dalton to fantasy relevance. And the team has given up on the idea of a bellcow back. In the past two weeks, Giovani Bernard has 8 carries to Mixon’s 18 and has caught four balls to Mixon’s three. Bernard isn’t taking a ton of work from Mixon but he is certainly getting more run than the backup to any real workhorse back in the NFL.

Being on a pass-heavy Bengals offense that can’t score points was likely enough to consider benching Mixon. The reemergence of Bernard, even in his limited role, is more than enough to ship Mixon to the pines.

Kyle Rudolph, Tight End, Minnesota Vikings

In a game where the Vikings threw for over 300 yards and scored four times via the air, Kyle Rudolph finally got his with a 5-58-1 stat line. Kyle Rudolph is not back.

It took that type of performance from the Vikings to get Rudolph there and as long as they don't hit those marks again, Rudolph is still a bad start at tight end.

This was his first game with more than three catches, 36 yards, and zero scores all season. He is seeing less than 10% of the team’s targets and 5% of the team’s air yards.

Don’t let one game fool you. Rudolph’s days as a fantasy-relevant tight end are over.