Fantasy football start/sit advice, Week 14 Quarterbacks

Week 14 of the fantasy football season is here, and we’re back with another crop of start/sit options. We have a nice set of data about each team through 13 weeks and can make informed decisions on good plays and traps. With that in mind, we’ll pick quarterbacks who should exceed expectations in Week 14, along with three you should probably sit.

Normally I wouldn’t feel the need to include a player of Wilson’s caliber on a list like this, but I know how fantasy owners get in Weeks 14-16 when everything is on the line, and they start to outsmart themselves by overemphasizing the matchups. People see “Jacksonville defense” and just auto-sit the opposing QB. The difference here is that cornerback Jalen Ramsey may not play, and the Seattle offense still relies almost exclusively on Wilson’s passing and running. Don’t shy away from him because of a bad matchup on paper unless you have a rock-solid second option.

Rivers has always been a fantasy-friendly quarterback. Now, he’s matching it up with real-life success. The Chargers are 6-2 in their last eight games and are tied for the AFC West lead. Rivers has been the reason for the frantic charge. In four games since the Chargers’ bye in Week 9 — all victories — Rivers is averaging 316 yards with eight touchdowns against one interception, an average of 24 fantasy points per game. The man is red hot and should be started in all leagues.

The Jimmy G Era began with a rare 49ers victory last week in Chicago, and though the raw fantasy numbers were underwhelming, his performance showed why the 49ers traded for him. That he didn’t put up a statistical masterpiece on the road against the Bears’ defense is hardly an indictment, and now he gets to face a collapsing Texans defense with the promise of a big fantasy day. If you grabbed Garoppolo off waivers, now is fine time to deploy him in your lineup.

Rivers is the man on offense, but the defense is a team effort for the Chargers, and it’s killing the fantasy outlook of all opponents. The Chargers allow the third-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks in the league and have 10 interceptions and nine sacks in the past four games. Cousins is stepping into the world’s smallest — yet most dangerous — hornet’s nest in the NFL.

Mariota has been putting up decent fantasy points totals — he has 16-20 points in four of his last five game — but the past two weeks, against terrible pass defenses, he’s failed to top 200 yards. The Cardinals’ secondary is arguably the best he’s faced since Jacksonville in Week 2. If you need a big game to make your league’s playoffs, Mariota is probably not the way to go.

The Vikings rank third in fewest fantasy points allowed, but perhaps most important in this matchup, they are first in fewest rushing yards allowed to quarterbacks. With Devin Funchess and Greg Olsen both potentially playing hurt, the job is only going to get harder for Newton to deliver a big fantasy game.