Fantasy football advice, Week 14: Who to start/sit for Denver Broncos vs. Tennessee Titans

The playoffs continue on Sunday for many fantasy leagues, and those owners don’t have any more room for error. Luckily, fantasy owners will have more than a few options to choose from in a showdown between two teams who are trying to cement spots in the AFC playoffs. Let’s take a look:

With the aid of a bye week, Demarco Murray becomes an even more attractive option at running back despite garnering heavy usage in all situations. He’ll be relied upon even more than usual with Denver’s shutdown secondary being a factor, and there’s opportunity for Murray to cash in now that linebacker Brandon Marshall is out of action. Murray remains a consensus RB1, and fantasy owners would be thrilled to have the rejuvenated veteran in fantasy lineups for the first week of the playoffs.

With the Broncos’ dominance against receivers, quarterbacks have been known to rely on tight ends to move the chains against them. That bodes well for Delanie Walker, who faces a defense that recently allowed five catches to Neal Sterling and 101 yards to Travis Kelce. Walker makes for a high-floor TE1 against Denver’s No. 1 ranked pass defense, but won’t have to do much battle with their trio of superb cornerbacks.

Nine-of-12 quarterbacks the Broncos have faced have not eclipsed 220 passing yards, which doesn’t make Marcus Mariota an attractive option to start at quarterback for fantasy owners. He, Tajae Sharpe and Rishard Matthews can remain on benches in all formats for a tough road matchup against a dominant secondary.

The Titans began the year with a capable defensive unit, but it is one that’s fallen back to earth. That’s good news for the tandem of Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas, who get to face a defense that has hemorrhaged fantasy points to receivers on just about every team it has faced since Week 6. Each can be squarely placed in WR2 territory and can be expected to bounce back with Trevor Siemian likely back in action.

Though Siemian looks likely to play, he is not a preferable option in a week with zero teams on bye. As for the Broncos’ backfield, fantasy owners would be playing with fire by starting a struggling Devontae Booker, especially with newly acquired Justin Forsett in the fold. Though Forsett has familiarity with Gary Kubiak’s scheme, the likelier outcome is that each back cannibalizes the other’s opportunities rather than one emerging with viable RB1/RB2 totals. Fantasy owners need to explore other backfield options than what the Broncos present.