Welcome to the fifth 2022 edition of Fantasy Football: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Ems. Many students here at BHS are involved in fantasy football leagues. Many also fail to receive guidance on the important weekly decisions that may change the outcome of their matchups. I, along with guest analysts, will break down a handful of players at each position weekly and give you advice. Any readers with specific players they would like covered are encouraged to email to myself (at the end of this article) or other analysts. 

Here’s last week’s results: 

My Previous Starts:

QB: Justin Herbert, QB6 (24 Points). I suppose this wasn’t the riskiest pick in hindsight, but I did correctly predict he’d exceed his average and have one of his better games of 2022 against Seattle. The Chargers still massively disappointed. But regardless, I still earned a W here.

RB: Ezekiel Elliott, T-RB11 (17 Points) and *CC: Jake* Kenneth Walker III, RB3 (30 Points). Elliott was my personal pick, and he did well. He ran for a measly 3.8 yards per carry (YPC), which usually would result in a terrible score from him. He also caught no passes. But he luckily found the endzone twice, which completely salvaged his fantasy day. Walker III, on the other hand, who was selected by my companion Jake, absolutely blew up. He had 168 yards on the ground on a terrific 7.3 YPC, and reached the endzone twice, propelling himself into RB1 contention for the remainder of 2022. Elliott and Walker III both were great for you, and wins for me.

WR: Allen Lazard, T-WR31 (11 Points) and Alec Pierce, T-WR58 (6 Points). 

Both of these guys weren’t amazing. Lazard was a playable FLEX as the WR31 in most leagues, but didn’t prove himself as an obvious start. Pierce on the other hand, was embarrassingly unsatisfactory. Again, my expectations for him as a start were not sky high, but I did expect more than 6 points. Two losses here on my part. 

TE: Evan Engram, T-TE8 (10 points). 

Ten points is by no standard a killer week. But, it was enough to make him the TE8 this week. In such an unstable TE environment, Engram has quickly become a reliable option for QB Trevor Lawrence and fantasy owners.

My Previous Sits: 

QB: Jared Goff, QB27 (5 Points).

Goff was once again an embarrassment. After a bewildering and sizzling hot start to his year, he has completely gone off the rails. This year for Mr. Goff and the Lions has quickly derailed and I can only hope you resisted the urge to play Goff last week. 

RB: David Montgomery, T-RB23 (12 Points).

Montgomery was so mediocre last week. Precisely on the border between RB2 and RB3 territory with a measly 12 points, it is impossible to make a fair assessment of this pick. So, for the first time ever, this pick won’t be graded a W or an L. This pick is an N. As a wise man once said, “N means neutral. N means you don’t care.” This pick won’t count at all towards my record. 

WR: Jakobi Meyers, T-WR31 (11 Points). 

Meyers was dangerously close to joining Montgomery in the club of mediocre neutrality. Luckily for him, he played just poor enough to be classified as an L in my book. So he shall be. L.

TE: Robert Tonyan, T-TE20 (6 points). 

Tonyan understandably and predictably disappointed. I nailed the sits in total last week…

I’m a harsh critic of myself, but I’d say I was 6/8 (75%) for last week, and 19/30 (63.3%) on the year.  

So now, heading into Week 8, here’s my advice:

Start ‘Ems (Who you should START this week)

QB: Tua Tagovailoa (Miami)

Tua has been very good so far this year. He’s had respectable performances in all games he was healthy for, and of course that monstrous 60 points performance against Baltimore. With Tyreek Hill becoming more comfortable with the offense and Jaylen Waddle’s breakout, Tua should continue his fiery 2022 campaign for a nice outing as he duels the worst defense in the league, the Detroit Lions. 

RB: Tony Pollard (Dallas)

For the second week in a row, I’m telling you to start a Cowboys runningback. Now this week, I say Pollard is lined up for a nice gig against the lowly Chicago defense, who happen to be the 5th worst against RBs. With Zeke banged up and very unlikely to play, Pollard is not only a dynamite option this week but for other future weeks as well (one could assume).

WR: DJ Moore (Carolina) and Devonta Smith (Philadelphia)

Double trouble…again. Last week was a disaster here, so I’d hope with a higher caliber of players here we could get some nice points. DJ Moore is a fantasy nightmare, as my colleague Robert Ackerly can attest to. But Moore is coming off a strong week, dropping a solid 19 points. Now he is primed to clash against the mortifying Atlanta Falcons’ secondary who allows the most points to opposing WRs. Fellow sports writer Brogan Robackerly said, “[DJ Moore]’s the only freaking player on that team worth giving the ball to because they traded away every other player that was good at the game of American Football”.

Now on the other hand, Smith prepares for a bout against the banged up Steelers defense. I can expect Hurts and Co. to put up a hefty amount of points, and I also attribute a portion of those points to Devonta Smith. Start both of these guys as a WR2 or FLEX with skeptic confidence.

TE: Irv Smith Jr. (Minnesota)

To round out my starts, I’m going with a guy I’m not crazy confident on. I do believe in this Vikings offense and Smith’s skillset, but not feeling it crazy this week. With all this being said, I would still start him. After a 17% increase in his ownership on Yahoo after a game where he caught 4 balls for 7 yards, one is right to be skeptical. I am skeptical of his ability to explode this week, but I can still confidently predict a strong double digit performance (against the 2nd worst defense against TEs) for those who need a TE this week. 

Sit ‘Ems (Who you should SIT this week)

QB: Justin Fields (Chicago)

I like Fields I do. So much so, that I just picked him up for my own team to backup Brady (or start over him eventually). But, until then, we should keep him on our bench this week. The opposing Dallas defense has given up the least points to QBs this year, and can we really trust the Bears? No. Fields seems to be putting it together right now on the ground and through the air, but this development will stall for at least one week. 

RB: James Robinson (New York A)

Another connection to my personal team. I had drafted Robinson and this week I traded him (along with Devonta Smith to co-analyst James Mertz for Deebo Samuel. I fleeced him, right?) before I even got to see him play for the Gang Green. Firstly, the Jets have been clear with how they do not want to rush Robinson back from his injury and into the new playbook. Secondly, Michael Carter will likely see the brunt of the looks even when both are 100%. Both of these factors make this too easy of a sit against the second best run defense in football, New England. James Robinson should not sniff a starting lineup this week. 

WR: Christian Kirk (Jacksonville)

Kirk has been highly volatile this year. To put this simply and concise, the Broncos and their lockdown corner Pat Surtain II have allowed the least points to WRs in 2022. I cannot envision a scenario where Surtain does not galavant into Jacksonville and imprison Kirk for four quarters, like he has to many of his other victims this year. This pick is not a question on Kirk’s abilities, but instead an affirmation on Surtain’s. 

TE: Darren Waller (Las Vegas) [Note: this player is questionable for Week 8 as of Friday morning with an hamstring injury]

Waller has been highly disappointing this year. He has battled leg injuries and his offense doesn’t seem to be eager to get him involved despite his boundless talent and athleticism as a tight end. This sounds familiar, doesn’t it (ahem ahem, Kyle Pitts, ahem)? Anyways, against a lockdown Saints defense which will have Tyrann Mathieu draped on Darren Waller in a familiar matchup for both, I can’t see Waller bouncing back just yet in this penultimate Week 8 matchup. 

Thank you for tuning in. If you have requests for next edition, email me at [email protected]. Good luck this week to all!