Start em or sit em? Fantasy football start or sit decisions can be excruciating. While it feels great to make the right call and cruise to fantasy glory, it hurts just as much when you have someone erupt while on your bench. You can use our Who Should I Start? tool to gauge advice from fantasy football experts as you make your lineup decisions. And you can also sync your fantasy football league for free using our My Playbook tool for custom advice, rankings and analysis.
Let's take a look at a few polarizing players and what fantasy football expert Pat Fitzmaurice advises. And you can find all of Fitz's fantasy football outlook in this week's fantasy football rankings & tiers.
Dak Prescott has been terrific in his last two games. He had 319 passing yards and three TD passes against the vaunted Green Bay defense in Week 4, then had 237 passing yards and four TD passes against the Jets in Week 5. This week, Prescott gets a road game against the Panthers, who have allowed the 10th-fewest fantasy points to QBs. The Carolina pass defense certainly isn't a fearsome matchup despite that top-10 ranking, and Prescott has been terrific. But he's still playing without CeeDee Lamb and a couple of starting offensive linemen. I just don't know how many more of these ceiling games Dak Prescott can give us without Lamb. I have Prescott ranked as a low-end QB1 rather than as a slam-dunk, must-start quarterback.
Javonte Williams (DAL)
Javonte Williams is RB3 in half-point POPER fantasy points per game. He's averaging 5.7 yards per carry and chipping in as a pass catcher. Williams leads all NFL running backs with 25 runs for first downs. His matchup against the Panthers is a good one, but it's worth noting that the Carolina run defense hasn't been the pushover it's been the last couple of years. The Panthers have given up the 14th-fewest fantasy points to RBs, and their run defense ranks 14th in DVOA.
Rico Dowdle (CAR)
Revenge game! Rico Dowdle faces his 2024 employer this week on the heels of his 20-yard rushing game in Week 5. The Dallas defense ranks 23rd in DVOA against the run, and the Cowboys have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to RBs. The Cowboys have also given up a league-high 299 receiving yards to RBs, and Dowdle contributes as a pass catcher. He had three catches for 28 yards last week, and he had 39 catches with the Cowboys last year. Consider Dowdle a high-end RB2 and a must-start this week.
If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant - which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections - to our Waiver Wire Assistant, which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and how much - we've got you covered this fantasy football season.