Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 6: Debating Difficult Fantasy Football Lineup Decisions

The best start 'em, sit 'em fantasy football decisions can happen right at the deadline.

After hours of legwork to hunt down quality matchups, streaking and slumping players and more, it all comes down to the click of a button. When faced with a tough decision, a combination of gut feeling and factual evidence typically wins the day.

That is especially the case at this point of the season. The gloves are off—trends have been established, exposing sleepers and busts.

Quarterbacks

Start 'Em: Eli Manning, New York Giants (at PHI)

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Fans cannot spell "elite" without El—alright enough of that. But the fact of the matter is that Eli Manning is a top-flight fantasy option in all leagues thanks to a new-look offense that has just begun to fire on all cylinders.

The younger Manning is the eighth-highest scorer at his position this season and has rattled off some alarming consistency as of late, scoring 15 or more points in each of his last four games.

Now, Manning has a surefire easy matchup on his hands against a Philadelphia defense that allows the second-most points to quarterbacks. We are talking about a defense that allowed Jacksonville's Chad Henne to throw for 266 yards and two scores, Washington's Kirk Cousins for 427 and three and St. Louis' Austin Davis for 375 and three.

Manning is just the latest to take advantage. Owners should, too.

Sit 'Em: Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (at CIN)

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Like Manning, Newton has four consecutive games with double-digit production under his belt. Unlike Manning, he has a brutal encounter with a strong defense that should entice owners to throw him on the shelf for a week.

Newton has done his damage through the air this season, as injuries have forced him to stay in the pocket rather than rush, which he has done all of 14 times so far.

That lack of versatility is going to hurt Newton and his owners against a Cincinnati defense that gives up the seventh-fewest points to the position. That unit has already kept Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco in check this season and will come out angry after a major loss at the hands of New England.

Running Backs

Start 'Em: Branden Oliver, San Diego Chargers (at OAK)

Gregory Bull/Associated Press

From waiver-wire gem to must-start material, Branden Oliver has had quite a wild week and change.

Oliver exploded last week on 19 carries for 114 yards and one touchdown for 29 points, reaffirming that he is the lead guy in San Diego with a wealth of names out of the way due to injury.

For those around him, Oliver's outburst is no shock, as illustrated by Marc Sessler of NFL.com:

Oliver is going to now get the bulk of the load against a laughably bad Oakland defense that has allowed a minimum of 23 points to running backs in three of its four games with a high of 30 and the outlier being just eight to New England.

Considering Oliver just torched a New York Jets defense that still ranks sixth overall against backs after their encounter, owners need to have him in all lineups.

Sit 'Em: Matt Asiata, Minnesota Vikings (vs. DET)

The term "boom-or-bust" does not do Minnesota Vikings running back Matt Asiata justice to this point.

For owners, the supposed starter's season has been a test of patience:

WK	OPP	ATT	YDS	TD	PTS
1	@StL	2	10	0	1
2	NE	13	36	0	13
3	@NO	12	35	0	6
4	Atl	20	78	3	27
5	@GB	15	72	0	5

Of course, optimists could look at that and suggest a pattern is there and Asiata is due for another strong performance, but that is certainly playing with fire thanks to a Detroit defense that ranks in the top 10, having never given up more than 20 points to date and just three touchdowns to the position.

Add in that fact coach Mike Zimmer may move to more of a committee approach thanks to strong showings from rookie Jerick McKinnon and Asiata is a FLEX in only the deepest of leagues this week.

Wide Receivers

Start 'Em: Wes Welker, Denver Broncos (at NYJ)

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Wes Welker is a fantasy goldmine against the New York Jets, especially in points-per-receptions leagues.

Over the course of his last nine meetings against the Jets, Welker has averaged 88.6 yards and five catches per game. Since making his return in Week 3, Welker has caught 13-of-18 targets from Peyton Manning and seems due for a score sooner rather than later.

Remember, Welker is the guy who scored 10 touchdowns a season ago. As he gets back into the swing of things this year, a matchup with a familiar foe should do him well—especially when that foe already surrenders the sixth-most points to receivers and has allowed six touchdowns.

Sit 'Em: Cordarrelle Patterson, Minnesota Vikings (vs. DET)

Jim Mone/Associated Press

Time to double dip in Vikings for a moment.

Through no fault of his own, Cordarrelle Patterson has not been as effective as he could be, as Yahoo Sports' Scott Pianowski puts in a blunt manner:

Since posting a hefty 18 points in Week 1, Patterson has gone for five, six, three and zero outputs, much to the sheer frustration of owners. That Lions defense that ranks well against backs? It rests in the top five against wideouts, too, after impressively holding the New York Giants and Green Bay to less than 10 points at the position. 

Whether it is coaching woes or a lack of Patterson creating his own looks, the task gets even more difficult against Detroit.

Tight Ends

Start 'Em: Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans (vs. JAC)

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

For one reason or another, Delanie Walker is only owned in 88.9 percent of leagues despite being the fifth-highest scorer at his position this year.

While a bit of a boom-or-bust player, when Walker scores, he single-handedly can put owners over the top:

WK	OPP	REC	YDS	TD	PTS
1	@KC	3	37	1	9
2	Dal	10	142	1	20
3	@Cin	4	54	0	5
4	@Ind	5	84	1	14
5	Cle	4	47	0	4

As a matchup-based play, few tight ends are more reliable. Next on the slate is Jacksonville, which allows an average of 12.6 points to the position per game, good for rank No. 31. Walker is a must play in all leagues.

Sit 'Em: Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles (vs. NYG)

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Since scoring 13 points in Week 1, Zach Ertz has faded from fantasy relevancy with a total of 14 points over the course of his next four games.

Ertz continues to take a backseat to Brent Celek thanks to his issues as a blocker, which has done much to hurt owners who decided to lean on him as a breakout option before the season.

Things get even worse for Ertz this week against New York, the second-best defense against tight ends this season. No tight end has scored more than six points on the defense, and that includes pass-happy attacks such as Detroit, Arizona, Washington and Atlanta.

Kansas City, New Orleans on bye. All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info. Statistics courtesy of ESPN.com.