Week 9 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Exploit and Avoid These Sunday Matchups

Just because there are six teams on bye in Week 9, it doesn't mean you have to get desperate and make bad decisions in your fantasy football lineup. 

Some of the more high-profile players remain bad starts based on their recent play or tough matchups, and they should remain out of your lineup unless you have nothing better. Of course, there are a few sleeper picks who could help you out either from your bench or off the free-agent list.

Here is a look at some players to start and sit heading into Week 9

Sit 'Em

Pos.	Player	Team	Opp.
QB	Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts	DEN
QB	Ryan Tannehill	Miami Dolphins	BUF
RB	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers	CAR
RB	T.J. Yeldon	Jacksonville Jaguars	NYJ
RB	Melvin Gordon	San Diego Chargers	CHI
WR	Allen Robinson	Jacksonville Jaguars	NYJ
WR	T.Y. Hilton	Indianapolis Colts	DEN
WR	Jordan Matthews	Philadelphia Eagles	DAL
TE	Vernon Davis	Denver Broncos	IND
TE	Jordan Reed	Washington Redskins	NE

Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts

All season long Andrew Luck has gotten off to slow starts and then come back with some big yards and touchdowns late. Sometimes those scores are meaningful, other times they are not. In any case, the consistency is not there from a quarterback many expected to be one of the best in the league this season.

In his upcoming matchup against the Denver Broncos, we will probably see the bad side of Luck without ever getting around to see the good one.

Thanks to an elite pass rush and athletic playmakers in the secondary, the Broncos have had one of the best defenses in the NFL this season. They are coming off a shutdown performance against the Green Bay Packers where they held Aaron Rodgers to just 77 passing yards.

Troy Renck of the Denver Post quoted Colts head coach Chuck Pagano in describing this unit:

There might be better days in the future, but this is not likely to be a good start for Luck.

Eddie Lacy, RB, Green Bay Packers

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

While Eddie Lacy did help fantasy owners with a touchdown in Week 8, he still only had 38 rushing yards on 11 carries. He was clearly better than James Starks (five carries for nine yards), but Lacy finished with only two more snaps in the game (25 to 23), per Pro Football Focus.

It's clear the coaching staff doesn't completely trust Lacy just yet, making production in Week 10 mostly reliant on again scoring a touchdown.

Against a strong Carolina Panthers defense, this will not be easy to come by Sunday. There is still potential for better weeks ahead, but don't trust him just yet.

Allen Robinson, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

Amari Cooper is one of the best young receivers in football and even he could only manage five catches for 46 yards while being covered by Darrelle Revis. Sure, the Oakland Raiders beat the New York Jets by throwing to Michael Crabtree and Andre Holmes, but getting the ball to your No. 1 target has been difficult in this matchup.

Cooper, Julian Edelman, T.Y. Hilton, Jarvis Landry and Jordan Matthews are just some of the top receivers for their teams who were unable to get more than 60 receiving yards against the Jets.

Allen Robinson has been red hot with four touchdown receptions in his last three games, but escaping Revis Island will not be easy.

Start 'Em

Pos.	Player	Team	Opp.
QB	Jameis Winston	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	NYG
QB	Jay Cutler	Chicago Bears	SD
RB	Jeremy Langford	Chicago Bears	SD
RB	Antonio Andrews	Tennessee Titans	NO
RB	Matt Jones	Washington Redskins	NE
WR	Brandon LaFell	New England Patriots	WAS
WR	Willie Snead	New Orleans Saints	TEN
WR	Robert Woods	Buffalo Bills	MIA
TE	Heath Miller	Pittsburgh Steelers	OAK
TE	Jacob Tamme	Atlanta Falcons	SF

Jameis Winston, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After a rough start to the season, Jameis Winston is starting to play like a No. 1 overall pick. He didn't put up huge passing numbers in the upset win over the Atlanta Falcons, but Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated discussed the quarterback's solid play:

Winston now has four passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in his last three games. Most importantly, he hasn't thrown a single interception in this stretch, something that plagued him earlier in the season and throughout his college career.

He will now take his recent hot streak into a home game against the New York Giants, a team that recently allowed over 500 yards and seven touchdown passes from Drew Brees. It would be crazy to expect this type of showing from Winston, but the skill is there against a poor secondary to put up some big numbers.

Jeremy Langford, RB, Chicago Bears

There will be understandable hesitation to play Jeremy Langford this week considering the Chicago Bears don't play until Monday night and Matt Forte was called "truly day-to-day" by head coach John Fox, per ESPN.com's Jeff Dickerson.

Of course, this could just be a bluff considering Chris Mortensen of ESPN's report that Forte would miss at least two weeks with an MCL injury, per Evan Silva of Rotoworld:

If Forte does sit as expected, Langford could be in line for a huge day. The rookie will get a lot of touches against a San Diego Chargers defense that allows the most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season. The risk he doesn't play much is there, but the potential reward is also extremely high.

Brandon LaFell, WR, New England Patriots

Most took notice of Brandon LaFell's struggles catching the ball in his first start back, but the New England Patriots kept faith in the veteran receiver. In his second game, LaFell was on the field for 63 snaps, trailing only Julian Edelman (72) and well ahead of Danny Amendola (35), per PFF.

Even though he is at best the third option behind Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, there are a lot of fantasy points to go around with the way Tom Brady has played this season. The Washington Redskins, who have dealt with injuries all year in the secondary, also allow the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing receivers.

With a two-touchdown spread in favor of the Patriots, according to Odds Shark, this could be a blowout win that allows every player to put up big numbers.

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