Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 8: Last-Minute Fantasy Football Advice for Sunday

A fantasy football owner's week—or even season—can come down to making one lineup decision, and until time travel is invented, results may vary.

While fantasy studs such as Peyton Manning, Antonio Brown and DeMarco Murray must remain secured in starting positions whenever they are active, most of the league's players are categorized as fringe players and must be re-evaluated every week.

What are fringe players? Well, they can be a number of things. Fringe players can simply be a middle-of-the-road player like Brandon LaFell, a boom-or-bust player like Kendall Hunter or a time-sharing running back like Mark Ingram. To confidently start these players, matchups, injuries and trends must first all be taken into consideration.

As the kickoff for Sunday's action quickly approaches, let's take a look at one fringe player to start, and one to sit, in all four major positional categories.

Quarterback

Start 'Em: Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins

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This is most certainly a week to dust off Tannehill and place him firmly in your starting lineup.

Remember when head coach Joe Philbin questioned Tannehill's starting status? That may have been the best thing that's ever happened to this young quarterback, as he's been completely lights-out ever since. Over his last three contests, he's thrown for at least 244 yards and two scores each time. His ability to gain yards with his legs is an added bonus for his fantasy owners.

Here's a look at his fantasy numbers over that span:

Week	Opponent	Pass Yds	TD	INT/FUM	Rush Yds	Pts
4	Raiders	278	2	1/0	35	20
6	Packers	244	2	2/0	49	17
7	Bears	277	2	0/0	48	23

This week, the quarterback is up against a lowly Jacksonville Jaguars pass defense. The Jaguars rank 30th in the league, allowing an average of 280.1 yards through the air per game. Jacksonville is also giving up an average of 16.9 fantasy points per contest to opposing signal-callers, via ESPN.com.

Expect the surging Tannehill to increase that average once Sunday's contest has concluded.

Sit 'Em: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

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Ryan put up some great numbers for his fantasy owners this season, but it's time to sit Atlanta's quarterback in Week 8 due to an extremely difficult matchup against the Detroit Lions.

The Falcons offensive line just cannot stay healthy, and Ryan has suffered as a result. After putting up video-game numbers early in the season, a lack of protection resulted in the quarterback throwing no more than one touchdown over his last three contests.

Making matters worse for the veteran signal-caller is the Lions' sixth-ranked pass defense, allowing an average of just 216.9 yards per game. Detroit also owns the league's most stingy defense against quarterbacks from a fantasy football standpoint, giving up an average of 11.1 points per game, via ESPN.com.

While it may be difficult to relegate Ryan to the bench this week, it will turn out to be worth it in the long run.

Running Back

Start 'Em: Ahmad Bradshaw, Indianapolis Colts

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Here's a bold statement: Bradshaw will be the most productive running back in Week 8. Whether that turns out to be true or not, there's plenty of reason to believe the veteran ball-carrier with have a field day against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Known for his ability as a dual-threat option out of the backfield, Bradshaw has established himself as a reliable receiving target for quarterback Andrew Luck. Expect those targets to increase against Pittsburgh, as wide receiver Reggie Wayne will not be in action, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter:

Adding to Bradshaw's fantasy value is the fact that Trent Richardson is dealing with a hamstring injury. This will lead to more carries for Bradshaw because Richardson's role should be expected to be limited even if he does suit up.

The Steelers have also been average against the run this season. They are ranked 17th in the league, allowing 114.1 yards per game, but they are also giving up an average of 17.4 points per game to opposing ball-carriers, via ESPN.com.

Expect Bradshaw to take full advantage of this situation in Week 8.

Sit 'Em: Chris Ivory, New York Jets

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Fantasy owners were loving Ivory in Week 7 after the running back torched the New England Patriots for 107 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, but that love must be set aside heading into a difficult Week 8 matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills have been downright impossible to run on this season. The team ranks fourth against the run, allowing an average of just 80.4 yards per game. Making matters worse, Buffalo is allowing 9.6 fantasy points per game to opposing ball-carriers—tied for the fewest in the NFL along with the Baltimore Ravens, via ESPN.com.

Ivory isn't much of a pass-catcher out of the backfield, and that only further diminishes his value on Sunday. It would be wise to keep him on the bench until a more favorable matchup arises.

Wide Receiver

Start 'Em: Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks

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There's a lot to like about Baldwin this week. Without Percy Harvin in the fold, he's the clear-cut No. 1 receiver on Seattle's offense, and that showed in Week 7 against the St. Louis Rams when he accumulated seven receptions for 123 yards and a score.

After the game, the receiver shared his thoughts regarding the team's offense, via Bob Condatta of The Seattle Times:

Baldwin enters Week 8 as the team's leader in targets, receptions and receiving yards this season, and we should expect him to have a field day against a bad Carolina Panthers secondary. The Panthers are ranked 22nd in the league, allowing an average of 250.7 yards per game through the air. They create a very wide receiver-friendly matchup, giving up 26.4 fantasy points per game to opposing receivers, via ESPN.com.

The fourth-year veteran's breakout performance in Week 7 is only the start of what should be a strong back half of the season, beginning with Sunday's contest against Carolina.

Sit 'Em: Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons

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White should remain on the bench this week for many of the aforementioned reasons of why fantasy owners should be doing the same with his quarterback. We all know how stingy Detroit is against the pass, but it has clamped down on opposing wide receivers in a big way this season.

According to ESPN.com, the Lions are giving up just 15.7 points per game to opposing wide receivers. That's the third-fewest total of the league's 32 teams. This makes White a very unlikely candidate to have any sort of a relevant fantasy day in Week 8.

Having Julio Jones on the other side of the field only adds to White's limited value, as the speedy Jones is the more likely candidate to get over the top of the secondary for a big score.

Tight End

Start 'Em: Scott Chandler, Buffalo Bills

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Chandler hasn't had any significant fantasy relevance for the most part this season; however, he did show some nice chemistry with quarterback Kyle Orton in Week 6 against the Patriots, racking up six receptions for 109 yards. The Bills tweeted his record-breaking performance:

There's a good chance we'll see a similar performance on Sunday.

The Jets have been average against the pass this year, but they've been pretty bad against opposing tight ends. New York is one of just four teams giving up double-digit fantasy points per game to the position, allowing an average of 10.3, via ESPN.com.

With rookie Sammy Watkins being the team's only legitimate receiving threat, expect the Jets to pay extra attention to the team's first-round pick, allowing many opportunities for Chandler to accumulate fantasy points.

Sit 'Em: Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals

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Gresham is coming off a week in which he saw a team-high 12 targets. He came away with 10 receptions for 48 yards. Sure, with Tyler Eifert still sidelined, Gresham seems like a decent play considering that kind of volume, but his fantasy owners shouldn't expect a similar showing in Week 8.

One of the biggest reasons for Gresham's abundance of targets in Week 7 was due to the Colts clamping down on a Bengals receiving corps that severely missed All-Pro A.J. Green. The tight end garnered his production as a checkdown option for quarterback Andy Dalton—hence lots of receptions for few yards.

On Sunday, Gresham and the Bengals offense face off against a Ravens team allowing just 4.7 points per game to opposing tight ends, via ESPN.com. Sound coverage will limit Gresham's targets and decrease his fantasy value to next to nothing.

This tight end is best left on the bench in Week 8.