Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 15: Reviewing Fantasy Football's Top Fringe Starters

The fantasy football playoffs are here, and every decision you make could cost you the season. No pressure or anything.  

While most people at this stage have a group of key players they trust every week regardless of matchup, the fringe starters are the ones you really have to think about. The final few spots of your lineup could help decide whether you reach the finals or just have to watch your friends celebrate from a distance.

A lot of factors come into play at each spot, but here is a look at some players to start and sit for Week 15.

Start 'Em

Pos.	Player	Team	Opp.
QB	Matthew Stafford	Detroit Lions	NO
QB	Tyrod Taylor	Buffalo Bills	WAS
RB	Tim Hightower	New Orleans Saints	DET
RB	Jeremy Hill	Cincinnati Bengals	SF
RB	Charcandrick West	Kansas City Chiefs	BAL
WR	Michael Floyd	Arizona Cardinals	PHI
WR	Kamar Aiken	Baltimore Ravens	KC
WR	Ted Ginn Jr.	Carolina Panthers	NYG
TE	Vernon Davis	Denver Broncos	PIT

Jeremy Hill, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

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Congratulations if you survived Jeremy Hill's dud in Week 14. The running back finished with just 16 rushing yards on seven carries in a disappointing overall effort from the Cincinnati Bengals offense against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This would be less concerning for fantasy owners if this were the first time he disappeared in a game. Instead, Hill has five different games with two or fewer fantasy points in standard leagues, not exactly making him a trustworthy option.

On the plus side, Week 15 gives him a great chance to produce one of the "good" weeks we have seen from Hill. The San Francisco 49ers have allowed the second most rushing yards in the NFL this season at 133.2 yards per game while giving up 16 touchdowns on the ground. After seeing the 49ers allow Isaiah Crowell to total 145 rushing yards and two touchdowns Sunday, the Bengals running backs can do some serious damage.

Meanwhile, the game flow should allow for a bigger workload for Hill. The coaching staff will likely want to ease the transition for new starting quarterback AJ McCarron, leading to more rushing attempts early on. The 49ers are also unlikely to blow out the Bengals regardless of what happens, which means the team won't abandon the run game.

This gives Hill plenty of opportunity to carry your fantasy team when needed.

Michael Floyd, WR, Arizona Cardinals

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It's often hard to trust any receiver on a team where any of three receivers can break out on a given day. Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and John Brown have all had big games this season. And that doesn't even include J.J. Nelson and Jaron Brown, who have come through when one or more of these players are injured.

"Any one of us can get a (ball) any time," Floyd said after a Week 14 win over the Minnesota Vikings, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com. "To try to double-team us, someone’s going to be open. Carson has the confidence in all three of us, or actually our whole wide receiver room, to make plays for him."

The difference is it seems lately Floyd has been open more than anyone. He had 102 yards and five catches Thursday against a tough Vikings defense, including this touchdown where he was wide-open:

Floyd has dealt with injury issues all year, but he has topped 100 receiving yards in four of his last five games. The other one was his first game back from a hamstring injury, and he struggled to stay active.

There is no reason to expect him to be covered any more in Week 15 against a Philadelphia Eagles defense allowing the second most fantasy points to opposing receivers this year, per ESPN. The Cardinals offense is dynamic enough to make even a No. 3 receiver fantasy relevant and even at times a star. Floyd should be in your lineup with a chance at a big game.

Sit 'Em

Pos.	Player	Team	Opp.
QB	Matt Ryan	Atlanta Falcons	JAX
QB	Philip Rivers	San Diego Chargers	MIA
RB	Latavius Murray	Oakland Raiders	GB
RB	DeMarco Murray	Philadelphia Eagles	ARI
RB	Ronnie Hillman	Denver Broncos	PIT
WR	Jordan Matthews	Philadelphia Eagles	ARI
WR	Emmanuel Sanders	Denver Broncos	PIT
WR	Brandon LaFell	New England Patriots	TEN
TE	Jason Witten	Dallas Cowboys	NYJ

Philip Rivers, QB, San Diego Chargers

You can be certain Philip Rivers will be excited to face a new defense this week. In the last four games the quarterback has faced the Denver Broncos once and the Kansas City Chiefs twice, resulting in just 19 combined fantasy points in those three games.

Rivers did try to play with the flu Sunday against Kansas City, which likely exacerbated his problems, but the fact is the Chargers offense is simply not good right now. With a banged-up offensive line and few receivers around him he can trust, Rivers has been unable to throw the ball down the field with any regularity.

The result has been an offense that hasn't been able to score a touchdown in three of the last four games.

Although Rivers did have a strong effort in Week 12 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, it's tough to trust a player who has had just one good game since his top receiver, Keenan Allen, went down in Week 8. From that point on Rivers has just a single passing touchdown aside from the matchup against Jacksonville.

The inconsistency makes him a scary start in the fantasy playoffs, even with a good matchup against the Miami Dolphins.

DeMarco Murray, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Most people expected a decline in DeMarco Murray after he left the Dallas Cowboys, but this has been embarrassing. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network broke down some of the issues going on behind the scenes in Philadelphia:

Murray finished last game with 11 carries for 34 yards and two catches for three yards. He is stuck in a timeshare with Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles and can easily disappear for long stretches at a time.

Over the last three games, Murray has just 91 total yards from scrimmage and zero touchdowns. This wouldn't be a quality fantasy start on its own, and yet this is the combination of three terrible weeks.

While he always has the ability to break out with a big game featuring a couple of touchdowns, this isn't a good bet against the Cardinals in Week 15. Arizona ranks fifth in the NFL in run defense this season, with Todd Gurley in Week 4 being the only player to top 100 rushing yards in a game. None of the Eagles running backs is expected to post big numbers in this one.

With Philadelphia also likely to throw the ball a lot to keep up on the scoreboard, Murray is likely to stay irrelevant in fantasy.

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