Fantasy football start/sit advice, Week 10: Rams-Colts

The Rams have an exciting young running back. The Colts have an exciting young wide receiver and an exciting young quarterback. It makes for a fantasy matchup that ought to be ... what’s the word ... exciting.

by Daniel Kelley

Nov 10, 2013, 11:26 AM UTC

Gregory Shamus

The St. Louis Rams and Indianapolis Colts will face off at 1 p.m. Sunday in a matchup of a first-place team against a last-place team. One team (the Colts) has several fantasy players of theoretical value, while the other has ... Zac Stacy:

Rams

Start in every league: Zac Stacy, Greg Zuerlein

Start if you’re desperate: Defense/special teams

Bench: Kellen Clemens, Jared Cook, Chris Givens, Austin Pettis, Tavon Austin

The Rams finally found a monster at running back, if Stacy's last two weeks are any indication. Stacy followed up his 134 rushing yards against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8 with 127 rushing yards, 51 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Tennessee Titans last week. After shuffling through running backs throughout the early season, the Rams (and fantasy owners) seem to have struck gold. "Greg the Leg" had a huge rookie year kicking, with several long field goals. While Zuerlein hasn't converted from beyond 50 yards this season, his skills are still there.

The Rams’ defense has been inconsistent of late, posting totals of 25, 5, 11 and 6 in their last four games. There’s always the chance for a big performance, but against a decent Colts offense, it might be a long shot.

This part is easy. Clemens is bad; Cook, Givens, Pettis and Austin didn't do a whole lot with Sam Bradford, and Clemens is worse. Stay away.

Colts

Start in every league: Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Adam Vinatieri

Start if you're desperate: Donald Brown, Defense/special teams

Bench: Trent Richardson, Coby Fleener, Darrius Heyward-Bey

Luck might be the MVP at this point in the season, and he's gone from a mid-level quarterback to the top tier. The same could be said of Hilton, whose three-touchdown second half Sunday night proved that, while the Colts will miss Reggie Wayne, his loss wasn't necessarily a death sentence. Hilton is now a low-end WR1 in most leagues. Vinatieri doesn't age, and he's averaging almost 10 points a fantasy outing, third-best among kickers who are active this week. Take advantage of it.

Assuming Richardson plays, Brown probably won’t be worth much, but the starter’s appearance on the injury report late in the week means that the backup could be the lone guy. His 6.3 yards-per-carry average will fall in a feature role, but he’s been the best running back in Indianapolis this season, and it hasn’t been close. The Colts’ defense has had games of 22 and negative-4 fantasy points this year, so good luck if you think you know what to expect. But again, it’s not like the Rams have an NFL quarterback. They could have a good game here.

Richardson -- the other running back in Indianapolis -- has been a huge disappointment, and combining that with his injury concerns means fantasy owners should look elsewhere. The best thing about the Rams’ defense is their performance against tight ends, allowing only 4.1 points per game. Fleener hasn’t been huge regardless, and that matchup says bad things. Heyward-Bey has a drop problem and an injury problem. It’s tempting to use him with Wayne hurt, but avoid the temptation.