Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 16: Advice for Fringe Flex Fantasy Football Starters
The arrival of the 2023 NFL season's Week 16 will take the fantasy football world further into its playoffs.
So, if you're still seeking out fantasy content, congrats on what's surely been a successful season so far.
Let's snap out of celebration mode, though, as there's work yet to be done. Remember, your goal wasn't to make the playoffs, it was to win a league title. So, let's help make that happen by running through a couple of our top start and sit recommendations for the upcoming slate.
Start: Justin Fields, QB, Chicago Bears (vs. Arizona Cardinals)
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Week 15 wasn't kind to Justin Fields or the fantasy managers who played him, as Chicago's signal-caller threw for 166 yards, rushed for 30 yards and managed fewer touchdowns (one) than interceptions (two).
Guess what that means for his Week 16 outlook? Not a darn thing. Then, he was tussling with a stingy Cleveland Browns defense. Now, he's set to lock horns with an Arizona defense allowing the ninth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, per Yahoo.
Five different quarterbacks have cleared 21 fantasy points against this defense. One was Daniel Jones, who threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 59 yards and a score. A similar stat line is within the realm of possibilities for Fields here.
Sit: Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions (at Minnesota Vikings)
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Yes, Jared Goff is coming off his best performance of the season (a five-touchdown effort against the Denver Broncos), but no, you shouldn't expect a repeat.
Not when he's about to head out on the road, where he simply isn't the same quarterback as he is at Ford Field.
He has played the same number of home and road games in this season. At home, he has completed 69.9 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns and only six interceptions. On the road, his completion rate has dipped to 64.4 percent while he's managed only nine touchdowns and four interceptions. This matchup isn't great, and, for Goff's sake, neither is the venue.
Start: Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers (at Carolina Panthers)
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Aaron Jones missed nearly a month with an MCL sprain, creating some questions about his usage upon his return. However, Green Bay utilized him as a featured back in its Week 15 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as he handled 13 of the team's 17 carries and saw four of the six targets that went to Packers' running backs.
His numbers weren't enormous (69 scrimmage yards and no scores on 17 touches), but the Bucs have been stingy against opposing running backs.
The Carolina Panthers, though, have not. They've given up the third-most fantasy points to the position, and they allowed a running back to tally 50-plus rushing yards and a touchdown in five consecutive contests between Weeks 10 and 14.
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Sit: Jerome Ford, RB, Cleveland Browns (at Houston Texans)
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The Browns have surprisingly become extremely pass-happy since handing the offensive reins over to Joe Flacco, who's cleared 40 passing attempts in each of his three starts. That has effectively torpedoed Jerome Ford's value as a rusher, as he's managed a total of 90 rushing yards and zero scores in those contests.
He has at least become more involved in the passing game, collecting 12 of his 14 targets, but he isn't doing enough as a receiver to maintain fantasy-relevance. His next 40-yard receiving effort would be his first of the season, and he's caught a single touchdown pass since the month of September.
Throw in the fact this isn't a great matchup—the Texans have allowed the 14th-fewest fantasy points to running backs—and there are plenty of reasons to avoid Ford this week.
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