Start Em Sit Em Fantasy Football Week 13: Wes a Good Guess, T.O. a No-Go

START EM  SIT EM—Week 13

by Dawgmaticå (pyromaniac.com)

Every week, there are certain fantasy studs that you simply have to start no matter what, such as Aaron Rodgers, Chris Johnson, or Roddy White. 

There are also a good number of players you know you should sit each week, such as a fringe player going up against a tough rush D, like Brandon Jackson is this Sunday against the 49ers.  

And then there are those players you have no idea whether you should Start Em, or Sit Em.

Here are a few not-so-obvious guys at each major fantasy position that you might not know what to do with, but the stats and information we’ve found say otherwise…

Start ‘Em

QBs

Mark Sanchez—Get the Dirty Sanchize in your lineup if you can this week, as this classic AFC East match-up has the looks of being a barn-burner.  

Sanchez went off for 220 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions in their first meeting back in Week 2, a performance that also happened to be Mark’s first three-TD game of his career. 

New England’s pass D is among the worst in the league, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see even better stats than these in this Monday Night showdown.

Matt Cassel—There is nothing better than an ultra-high scoring affair to boost your QBs fantasy statistics, and that, my friends, is exactly what this game is going to be. 

Fact is, Cassel is actually becoming somewhat of a dependable fantasy QB, though I’m not entirely sure if it’s because he’s gotten better as a player, or because Dwayne Bowe has become a monster. 

Whatever the case, he now has TD passes in seven straight games with multiple scores in six of them.  He also has only four INTs on the year if that matters in your league.

RBs

Jamaal Charles—Charles said after last week’s game that he feels as good as he’s felt all year, and that it seems like the season is just starting. 

If this is true, then look out fantasy world, ‘cause "The Ostrich" is about to go a little nutty. 

The Chiefs have been increasing his touches over the course of the season to where he has averaged 20 per game over the past five weeks. 

Considering that Charles could become just the seventh RB in NFL history to average over 6.0 YPC for a season (min: 100 atts), you’re looking at some pretty big fantasy numbers going forward.

Knowshon Moreno—Moreno is a touchdown machine, so in a game that looks like it’ll be chocked full of ‘em, Knowshon seems like he might be a nice guy to have. 

In fact, he now has seven total TDs in eight games this year and five in his last five games. 

In the showdown against the Chiefs three weeks ago, Moreno rattled off the only 100-yard game of his career while putting up 156 total yards and a TD. 

Sounds like a winner play to me.

Matt Forte—Looks like Mike Martz found a way to make Forte productive within his “supposed” high-octane passing offensive scheme. 

In fact, what people don’t quite know yet is that the Bears actually finished second in the league in run-to-pass ratio during the month of November at 52.9 percent. 

Looks like Forte is here to stay folks, and in a game against a defense that has allowed the third-most rushing touchdowns this season, you simply have to give him a shot. 

Oh, by the way, he also had 201 total yards and two TDs in their first meeting.

WRs

Steve Johnson—Stevie J probably embarrassed himself more than ever in his life last week against Pittsburgh. 

The great ones tend to use stuff like this as motivation, and I believe Johnson will step up to the plate against a beatable Vikings secondary because of it. 

The Vikings have given up eight passing TDs in their last three home games and an average of two per game on the year. 

Expect Johnson to grab at least one of them.

Mike Williams (TB)—Williams was held to his worst outing of the year last week against the Ravens (two catches, 20 yards), but my guess is he’ll bounce back nicely. 

Against a Falcons secondary that has allowed 19 passing TDs in just 11 games, you’d have to think the youngster is good for at least one. 

Last game against the Falcons, Mike put up 89 yards and a TD, numbers I could see happening again this Sunday.

Wes Welker —Welker had six catches and a TD in their first game this year, but I expect even better than that as he’ll be counted on quite a bit to move the ball this Monday night. 

Since joining the Pats back in 2007, Welker has a reputation of coming up big against the Jets, a trend that should continue in Week 13. 

In fact, Welker set career highs in both catches (15) and yards (192) in the Patriots Week 11 game against the Jets last year. 

Get the Slot Machine in your lineup.

Ben Obomanu—Obomanu has burst onto the scene with three TDs in the past four weeks, capped off by a 159-yard performance last week against the Chiefs. 

Hasselbeck seems to have taken a liking to his playmaker, and even with a (gimpy) Big Mike Williams back in the lineup this week, so should you.

TEs

Dustin Keller—Keller had a MONSTER game against the Pats in the first contest going off for seven catches, 115 yards and a TD. 

Will he repeat those numbers? 

Probably not, but against a Patriots secondary that has given up the most yards per game in the NFL this year, he could be in line for his best outing in two months. 

Sit ‘Em

QBs

Ben Roethlisberger—Big Ben is hobbled by a sprained foot, which in case you didn’t know, does NOT bode well against a ferocious Baltimore D. 

That said, the Ravens can be beat through the air on occasion, but Roethlisberger has a history of poor fantasy games against them (with the exception of one awesome outing back in 2007), and shouldn’t be counted on for much more than an average stat-line this Sunday night.

Jon Kitna—First of all, the most passing TDs the Colts have surrendered in a game this year is two. 

Second, only once this year has a QB tossed up more than 300 yards against them. 

Basically, Kitna isn’t the greatest bet for your fantasy team this week.

RBs

Darren McFadden—McFadden has been plain awful the last couple of weeks rushing for a total of 16 yards on 18 carries combined. 

He’s a special talent for sure, and usually worth taking a chance on, but don’t bet on his latest numbers getting much better this week against this vicious Chargers D.

Ray Rice—Rice had his worst game of the season against the Steelers back in Week 4, but last year he was able to crack ‘em for 229 yards in the two games he faced them. 

Considering Ray-Ray has played better at home than on the road this year, he’ll likely do better than the 20 yards on eight carries he had in the first game. 

However, don’t expect his overall numbers to end up good enough to be used as an RB2 this week.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis—The Pats couldn’t run worth a lick versus the Jets in their first battle earlier this season, as you can clearly see by The Firm’s 10-carry, 19-yard performance. 

If the Pats get down around the goal-line, BenJarvus might be able to hit paydirt, but that’s an awful big chance to take this late in the fantasy season.

WRs

Terrell Owens—As bad as Carson Palmer has played this season, Owens has still been good enough to make up for the obvious ineptitude. 

In fact, if both he and Ochoschizo were seven years younger, Palmer might still be an All-Pro. 

However, they’re not. 

So even though it’s possible for T.O. to work a little magic, don’t go depending on it, especially with one of the best corners in the league (Jabari Greer) in his hip pocket all game.

Dez Bryant—Dez was pretty much the forgotten man on Thanksgiving with Kitna’s “favorite target” coming up with zero catches on the day. 

Normally I’d tell you not to worry too much about it, as Dez is another one of those players who can score from pretty much anywhere on the field. 

However, the Colts have been terrific at defending the pass this year, and even though they were beaten by the Chargers last week, they still held Rivers to under 200 yards passing with no TDs, both firsts on the season for him.

Michael Crabtree—Crabby continues to show a nice rapport with Troy Smith as he hurled in yet another TD pass from him last week from 38-yards out. 

However, Week 13 will NOT be a lucky one for the youngster. 

Charles Woodson will be shadowing him all day long on Sunday, and seeing that he held Roddy White to 49 yards on five catches just last weekend, I can’t see Crabby out-performing those numbers by any stretch of the imagination.

Nate Burleson—Burleson might actually take a bigger hit with the Shaun Hill injury than Megatron does. 

Backup QBs, and especially third-string QBs, tend to depend on their tight ends and most talented receiver more than anyone else, in order to avoid looking like they don’t belong in the league making an NFL salary. 

Burly may have enough talent to squeak by with some decent numbers, but don’t expect too much.

TEs

Zach Miller (Oak)—As if Miller’s injuries haven't taken their toll enough this year, you can now add a painful leg contusion to the torn plantar fascia he was already dealing with. 

Besides that, his best statistical game since Week 7 is two catches for nine yards. 

Don’t bother taking a chance on him against the mighty San Diego D if you don’t have to.