Fantasy Football Week 9: Start or Sit Baker Mayfield, Mitchell Trubisky, or Joe Flacco?
It’s fantasy football week nine, and the difficulty level matches the week. This week is one of two times this year that six teams are on a Bye. With Indianapolis, Cincinnati, the New York Giants, Philadelphia, Arizona and Jacksonville all on Byes, we are left searching for temporary replacement players. We at football absurdity help you decide who you can start or sit each week, with this week probably being the most difficult so far. Each week we take a look at six players at each position (across two articles) and give you a break down as to why you should start or sit them. In this article, we hope to answer your questions about whether you should start or sit Baker Mayfield, Mitchell Trubisky, or Joe Flacco?
Start or Sit Baker Mayfield versus Kansas City
Hue is gone. Todd Haley is gone. Gregg Williams, instead of being blackballed, is the new head coach for your Cleveland Browns. Something called Freddie Kitchens, instead of being a local dishwasher repair facility, is calling plays. He studied under Bruce Arians and briefly touched the Bill Parcells coaching tree. We know next-to-nothing about how he will be as an OC. Instead, we know what the game will be like: Kansas City will march up and down the field. The game has the fifth-highest over-under on the week at 51.5 points. There will be plenty for Baker, as the Chiefs let opposing quarterbacks feast: Andy Dalton and Case Keenum are the only QBs this year to score fewer than 21.8 fantasy points against them in four-point passing touchdown leagues. It’s a valid question if you should start or sit Mayfield given his new regime. For my money, he’s a start this week.
Start or Sit Mitchell Trubisky at Buffalo
Take a shot in the dark who the #3 quarterback (per game) is over the last five weeks? Did you guess Mitchell Trubisky? Because he’s the player we’re talking about? Well, you’d be wrong; it’s Andrew Luck. Above him is everyone’s golden boy, Patrick Mahomes. Above him, with more fantasy points per game than the guy who rolls out of bed and throws four touchdowns sits Mitchell Trubisky. He has a Bye jammed in there, but Troobs has 13 touchdowns and three picks in those four games, throwing for at least 333 yards in three of them. The key to his production? His rushing. Over his last four games, he’s added a whopping 29.2 fantasy points with his legs. Buffalo looks like a bad opponent on paper (seventh-fewest fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks), but that shouldn’t really play into if you should start or sit Troobs. Buffalo’s rank is carried by playing Bad Deshaun Watson (7.28 fantasy points), Regular Marcus Mariota (5.16), and Kirk Cousins (11.04). They just—somehow—held Tom Brady without a passing touchdown, but let Joe Flacco, Philip Rivers, and Andrew Luck throw at least three each on them. It’s pretty obvious if you should start or sit Trubisky: he has been on fire and is a start until he proves otherwise.
Start or Sit Joe Flacco versus Pittsburgh
2018 has been no different from most Joe Flacco years. He finds exploitable matchups and blasts them to hell and back. Then in-between, he is mostly inept with spells of being utter garbage. Case in point: he has four games this season with 20+ fantasy points in six points per passing TD leagues and three below fourteen fantasy points. He’s quietly en route to an extremely productive season (on pace for 4,500 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 12 picks) but he can’t put it all together unless he has an amazing opponent.
An amazing opponent, you say? How about the team that allows the fourth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks on the year? The Steelers have allowed multiple touchdowns to every quarterback that’s played them this year but Matt Ryan, and quarterbacks throw for an average of 299 fantasy points against them over their last six games. Plus, they were demolished by an absolute brute of a quarterback back in week four, named Joe Flacco. Flacco went for 385 yards and two scores, in Pittsburgh. This week he gets them at home. He’s not the best player to rely on and you should worry if you should start or sit Flacco each week. This week, against his divisional rivals, Joe Flacco is a start.
These guys are all good starts this week, but if you’re wondering if you should start or sit them, I would personally order them:
- Mitchell Trubisky
- Joe Flacco
- Baker Mayfield
If you need more start or sit advice, we offer plenty every week! Check out some of our week nine start or sit articles below (this list gets upgraded as it grows every week):
Fantasy Football Week 9: Start or Sit Dak Prescott, Case Keenum, or Ben Roethlisberger?
Fantasy Football Week 9: Start or Sit Devin Funchess, DeVante Parker, or John Brown?
Fantasy Football Week 9: Start or Sit Doug Baldwin, Courtland Sutton, or Corey Davis?
Fantasy Football Week 9: Start or Sit Nick Chubb, Latavius Murray, or Kerryon Johnson?
Fantasy Football Week 9: Start or Sit Alex Collins, Tevin Coleman, or Peyton Barber?
Fantasy Football Week 9: Start or Sit Greg Olsen, David Njoku, or Chris Herndon?
Fantasy Football Week 9: Start or Sit Rob Gronkowski, Trey Burton, or Austin Hooper?
Or, if you need a break from setting your fantasy football lineups, might I suggest checking out this week’s edition of Hot Takes From Crazy People?
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