• To start Geno Smith: THE Seattle Seahawks‘ the quarterback hasn’t been a fantastic starter most weeks, but he’s still playing well. This week is his best match of the season.
• Sit Gus Edwards: The Ravens’ primary running back doesn’t see enough volume to overcome the Detroit Lions‘ execute the defense.
• To start Kyle Pitts: Pitts has finished as a top-10 fantasy player in back-to-back weeks, making him worthy of being a fantasy starter again.
Estimated reading time: 14 minutes
Deciding who to start or sit in fantasy football can be as easy as watching PFF rankings and go with the highest ranked player. This “Start ’em, Sit ’em” column goes even further, looking at why someone you might typically start might not have a good week, or why someone overlooked might have a good week. In many cases, it’s the regular starters who should play, but we also want to explore the borderline players.
QUARTERBACKS
TO START
Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
- Smith is off to a slow start in 2023, averaging 13.9 points per game, which ranks 23rd among quarterbacks.
- Smith has generally performed well this season, earning an overall grade of 77.6, which is only a slight drop from his grade last season.
- His biggest problem from a fantasy standpoint is that he hasn’t thrown a touchdown, averaging one per game compared to nearly two per game last year.
- The Seahawks the timetable is not yet very favorable either. All five teams they’ve faced have been somewhere between average and good in limiting passing yards.
- The Seahawks have the second-best quarterback matchup this week against the Arizona Cardinals, according to the PFF strength of the planning tool.
- The Cardinals have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season and are giving up 8.0 yards per pass attempt, which is tied for third-most among defenses.
- Smith should gain a lot of yards in this favorable matchup, enough to make him a borderline fantastic starter. If he gets a touchdown or two, he’ll have one of the best games by a quarterback this week.
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
- Purdy was off to a great start until last week’s game against the Cleveland Browns.
- He posted a PFF passing grade of over 75.0 in Weeks 4 and 5, but had a career-low 41.4 grade last week.
- Purdy has a great chance to bounce back this week against the Minnesota Vikings.
- The Vikings allowed 75.2 percent of targets to be caught, the second-highest rate among defenses.
- The 49ers offensive line has the fourth-largest advantage over the Vikings defensive line, according to PFF. Offensive line/defensive line match chart.
- Purdy was under pressure on nearly half of his dropbacks last week, averaging 3.8 yards per attempt and was sacked twice while under pressure.
- During the season, he averaged 9.8 yards per attempt without pressure and 6.1 with pressure.
- Even if Purdy is missing a talented player or two, he should still take advantage of the Vikings’ weaknesses.
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