Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 2: Last-Minute Fantasy Football Advice for Sunday

Anybody can tell you to start Peyton Manning or to sit whichever player the St. Louis Rams pick up off of the street to play quarterback. That's boring. 

Here, we're more focused on those players that intrigue you but scare you, who tantalize you with upside but concern you with obvious warts. We want to look at those players who either have the talent or the role to produce, but are not guarantee to do so. We want to ask the tough questions, folks.

That's what "Start 'Em, Sit 'Em" is all about. Let's do this.

All stats for standard-scoring leagues. Point totals and points-against statistics via ESPN.com.

Start 'Em: Nick Foles, QB, Philadelphia Eagles

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In one game, Nick Foles proved everything his detractors had feared coming into the season. He also proved everything his biggest supporters had been saying all offseason long. 

In the first half, Foles showed the regression many folks thought was coming. He turned the ball over three times. He looked shaky and nervous in the pocket. He missed open receivers down the field. He looked like a system quarterback who forgot how to run the system. 

The Eagles went into the half without a point against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was shocking, to say the least, and the Foles haters were wearing smug grins and typing, "See, I told you so!" over and over again on their Twitter feeds.

But in the second half, everything changed.

He suddenly looked confident and calm and started making smart decisions. He threw touchdown passes to Jeremy Maclin and Zach Ertz. He helped lead the Eagles to 34 unanswered points, throwing for 314 yards along the way while executing the team's fast-paced offense that slowly and surely wore out the Jags. For as awful as he was in the first half, he finished with 14 fantasy points. His supporters quickly sent tweets exclaiming, "If this is his floor just wait for his ceiling!"

I tend to side with the Foles enthusiasts. In the Eagles offense, with the number of weapons he has—even if he'll undoubtedly miss a weapon like DeSean Jackson completely able to take the top off of a defense—it seems the second half in Week 1 will be the more accurate indicator for his season, not the first half.

That makes him a great start against the Indianapolis Colts, a team that just allowed Peyton Manning to throw for 269 yards and three touchdowns (22 fantasy points).

The Colts were pretty middle-of-the-road in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks last season, giving up 15.1 per week (16th in the NFL), but they were also torched by Andy Dalton (30 fantasy points in Week 14), Carson Palmer (20 points in Week 12), Case Keenum, of all people (28 points in Week 9), Manning (25 points in Week 7) and Russell Wilson (22 points in Week 5). That's six performances of 20 or more fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks in their last 13 games, and they've given up at least 15 points in nine of their last 13.

In other words, Foles is a pretty safe bet to be a reliable QB1 this week. Ignore that first half against the Jaguars and enjoy the many points Foles showers upon your team this week.

Sit 'Em: Jay Cutler, QB, Chicago Bears

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Marc Trestman may be the quarterback whisperer, but sometimes you get the impression that Jay Cutler is wearing headphones.

The big-armed, inconsistent quarterback had a decent start to the season, throwing for 349 passing yards and two touchdowns against the Buffalo Bills, but he also turned a potentially great performance into a decent one with two interceptions. His 17 fantasy points made him a QB1 for the week, but things are going to get dramatically more difficult against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2.

The Niners defense tricked Tony Romo into thinking the entire game was being played in the fourth quarter, picking him off three times and allowing him to toss just one touchdown pass. Despite Romo's 281 passing yards, he finished with just nine fantasy points. 

That's nothing new for the San Francisco defense—last season, they held opposing quarterbacks to 12.6 fantasy points per week, third-best in the NFL. They might give up a decent chunk of yards to Cutler, but you can also bet that they'll be pressuring him all game long and, thus, should force a few turnovers. 

And that, as always, is Cutler's Achilles heel. For all of his talent and the amazing weapons at his disposal, he's scored 17 or more fantasy points in just five of the 12 games he's played. Until he cuts down on the turnovers, you'd be wise to consider him a QB2.

Start 'Em: Shane Vereen, RB, New England Patriots

In his last nine games dating back to an injury-riddled 2013 season, Shane Vereen has scored nine or more fantasy points in six of them, including the 12 points he scored in the Patriots' Week 1 loss to the Miami Dolphins this year. 

What's even better news for his fantasy owners is that despite getting fewer carries (seven) than Stevan Ridley (eight), he was on the field for almost three times as many plays (61 snaps to 22 for Ridley, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston), had more touches (12 to 10) and was targeted eight times in the passing game (Ridley was targeted twice).

Suffice to say, the Patriots seem keen on making Vereen an important part of their offense. Keen on Vereen—that has a nice ring to it.

And you should be keen on him this week, too. This week's opponent for the Patriots, the Minnesota Vikings, may have held the inept St. Louis offense to 72 total rushing yards, but they were far more friendly to opposing backs in fantasy football a year ago, giving up 18.3 total points per week, 25th in the NFL.

With Vereen an established part of the passing game and the back who appears likely to see the most snaps in New England's offense, you should plug him into your flex spot—or RB2 slot in deeper leagues—with confidence this week.

Sit 'Em: Darren McFadden, RB, Oakland Raiders

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I don't care if he gets the start due to a Maurice Jones-Drew injury. I don't care that he still has home run hitter potential and is one big play away from taking it to the house. I just don't trust Darren McFadden from a fantasy perspective. 

For starters, we don't even know if he'll get a full workload. Consider the following from Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday:

"

Offensive coordinator Greg Olson said that both McFadden and [Latavius] Murray will get a crack at getting the running game going, a week after Oakland had 25 yards on 12 carries in a loss to the Jets.

'Last week we wanted to see Maurice Jones-Drew in a full-time role,' Olson said. 'This week, I don't know if we'll see that. We'll start with Darren, and it probably will be more series-wise with Latavius and Darren.'

"

So there you go. Another running back who finds himself in a committee-system this week. Ugh.

Maybe that wouldn't be a very big deal if the Raiders were playing a team with a shoddy run defense—or if the Raiders had shown any promise in the running game in Week 1—but the Houston Texans have a pretty solid front seven.

Yes, Alfred Morris rushed 14 times for 91 yards against them, but McFadden sharing time with Murray does not equate to Morris-like production. Unless you are in a deep league and are desperate at running back, I'd keep McFadden on your bench this week.

Start 'Em: T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts

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Why is T.Y. Hilton a great start against the Eagles? Let us list the ways.

For starters, the Eagles just gave up four catches for 110 yards and two scores to Allen Hurns, an undrafted rookie you probably hadn't heard of before this preseason unless you're a Miami fan. Oh, and Chad Henne just threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns against them.

I repeat, Chad Henne did that. Imagine what Andrew Luck will do.

Plus, there's the little fact that last season the Eagles gave up 27.9 fantasy points to opposing wide receivers per week, worst in the NFL.

And then there's perhaps the most compelling reason of all. While Reggie Wayne may be Luck's favorite target, that might play perfectly into Hilton's hands. The Eagles seemed to struggle with No. 2 receivers or slot receivers a year ago. Consider the following:

• In Week 1, Washington's Leonard Hankerson had five catches for 80 yards and two scores against them.
• In Week 2, San Diego's Eddie Royal caught seven passes for 90 yards and three touchdowns.
• In Week 3, Kansas City's Donnie Avery caught seven passes for 141 yards.
• In Week 5, the New York Giants' Rueben Randle caught six passes for 96 yards and two scores.
• In Week 7, Dallas' Terrance Williams caught six passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.
• Green Bay's Jarrett Boykin caught eight passes for 112 yards against them in Week 10.
• In Week 11, Washington's Aldrick Robinson caught two passes for 60 yards and a score.
• In Week 12, Arizona's Michael Floyd caught five passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.
• Minnesota's Jarius Wright caught four passes for 95 yards in Week 15.

See the trend?

None of those guys were their team's top option in the passing game last year, and each torched the Birds. Hurns seemed to continue that trend in Week 1. Hilton owners should be absolutely giddy right now, in other words.

Sit 'Em: Sammy Watkins, WR, Buffalo Bills

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

The hype train rolled in pretty heavily for Sammy Watkins this summer, as owners scrambled to add him way too early in fantasy drafts, but it would appear that Watkins himself was left at the station in Week 1.

The exciting rookie caught just three passes for 31 yards on four targets in Week 1. He didn't receive a carry in the backfield. The one positive might have been that, despite dealing with bruised ribs, Watkins still played on 54 of the 57 snaps, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN, leading all Bills receivers.

My worry with Watkins coming into the year was that EJ Manuel wasn't a good enough quarterback to regularly get the most out of Watkins and that the Bills wouldn't find unique ways to use him, much in the same way they've often tried to fit the square peg of C.J. Spiller into their round hole of a running game. Add in those bruised ribs and, well, Week 1's quiet performance wasn't shocking. 

Maybe he'll bounce back against Miami, but it's doubtful. The Dolphins held New England's receivers to a total of 15 fantasy points, and last year opposing wideouts averaged a total of 15.9 fantasy points against them, fourth-best in the NFL. 

Sammy Watkins is an explosive talent, and at some point he'll start producing for fantasy owners. It might not necessarily be in his rookie year, however, and it certainly doesn't appear likely to be this week.

Hit me up on Twitter—I'll answer your fantasy questions and make some corny jokes too. It's more fun than karate class with Antonio Brown.