Week 3 Start/Sit: You Need a Win!

Start ‘Em!

Eli Manning: The Bucs are hurting in the defensive backfield and Manning has found some life in his wide receivers with Manningham and Smith. At the start of the season sans Burress I never thought I would recommend little brother and I sure wouldn’t have expected Smith and Manningham to lead the NFC in receiving yards!!

Trent Edwards: Edwards has been good this year and if he wants to keep up with the Saints he’ll have to be a lot better. But for fantasy purposes we are more interested in the attempt to keep up. He’ll need to throw the ball a lot and that means numbers. Remember, this is a numbers game.

Tashard Choice: Since this is a Monday night game it is hard to know for sure if Marion the barbarian will go into battle, but with backups like Choice and Felix Jones it would be stupid to not let him rest. I believe Barber will be out and Choice will get a big share of the work. He was awesome toward the end of the season last year against tough defenses and Carolina hasn’t been tough.

Derrick Ward: He gets to go to his old team to exact some revenge. The Giants are susceptible to passes to RB’s in the flat. Ward will be a nice flex option against his old team.

Mario Manningham: He showed his ability in Dallas and I don’t see him slowing down much. The Bucs are weak against the pass and as long as Manning continues to do is thing and Jacobs averages 3.3 yards a carry he’ll be allowed to throw the ball.

Mike Sims-Walker: He is the fastest and most talented receiver on the Jags and they are going up against a poor Texans secondary. If the Texans had no offense I might not feel as good about Sims-Walker because MJD would just run and run and run, but Schaub and company will put points on the board and Garrard will have to air it out to keep up.

Sit Down!

Kurt Warner: This is only for those with a good backup to Warner. There are a lot of nice matchups at the QB position and Warner is going against the #1 pass D in the league. Warner got better against a bad Jags D, but didn’t look quite right against a decent 49ers D. To win this game Arizona will need to run the ball against a poor Indy run D. Hightower and Wells could see a lot of work.

Byron Leftwich: His numbers have been starter worthy lately, but he gets a tough Giants secondary this weekend. Add to that Antonio Bryant is still hurting and your spot starter might be a big dud.

Cedric Benson: He has been a fantasy boon to many fake footballers, but this is the Steelers run D we are talking about. Pittsburgh has won 8 in a row and they are coming off a loss. Look for them to put the clamps down on Benson.

Larry Johnson: With Charles out last week I thought maybe, just maybe LJ could return to some of his old for against the Raiders at home. Not so much. This week he goes into Philly where he won’t fare any better. Sit him in the corner.

Brandon Marshall: Will he play that much? And if he does, how will he fare against Asomugha? Both these questions lead me to put him on the bench this week. I have high hopes that he’ll turn things around soon, but not this week.

Dwayne Bowe: The Chiefs are going to find it hard to move the ball in Philly and Bowe isn’t 100% healthy. If he does play I would sit him.