Fantasy football start/sit advice, Week 8: Bengals vs. Jets

We give some sit/start advice for fantasy owners interested in the matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets.

by James Brady

Oct 27, 2013, 10:40 AM UTC

Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals will face off in a Week 8 matchup on Sunday. The Jets are 4-3, which is surprising to some given that they were expected to be much worse at this point in the season. Cincinnati is 5-2 and coming off three-straight wins, including solid victories over the Detroit Lions and New England Patriots.

We’re going to take a look at the fantasy implications of this game, however. More accurately: who fantasy owners should start and sit. We’ll start with the Bengals:

Bengals

Start: Andy Dalton, A.J. Green

Dalton has been productive this season, with 1,924 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. The Jets have a decent pass defense, but Dalton should have a big day leading to an eventual Cincinnati victory. Dalton should be considered a must-start this week.

Green has been very, very good. He’s caught 43 passes for 619 yards and five touchdowns. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Green doesn’t have a big day with near 100 yards and another touchdown to put on the books.

Deep Start: Giovani Bernard

Bernard wasn’t used very much in Week 7, but the Bengal will try and go with him more this week. He is a solid option for catching the football out of the backfield and should see the field more than Green-Ellis. He’s a start if you lack any better options in deep leagues.

Sit: BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Jermaine Gresham, Tyler Eifert

Green-Ellis struggles big-time against good run defense, and if the Jets do anything well, it’s stopping the run. He’ll be ineffective and the Bengals will go back to Bernard as a result. Neither Gresham nor Eifert have been able to consistently perform this season. They should be benched by fantasy owners for the time being.

Jets

Start: Jeremy Kerley

Kerley has been the bright spot on the New York offense. He's caught 24 passes for 319 yards with two touchdowns. Stephen Hill and Santonio Holmes have been decent as well, but both have been ineffective in recent weeks. Really, Kerley is the only fantasy option we like this week.

Sit: Geno Smith, Stephen Hill, Bilal Powell, Chris Ivory

Smith isn’t likely to have a big day against the Cincinnati pass defense. He throws interceptions and he doesn’t put up huge yardage. Jets fans may like his potential going forward, but a solid fantasy quarterback he is not. Hill wasn’t involved last week and needs to show more before he has the confidence of fantasy owners, while the Jets running game and carry distribution is all out of whack at this point.