Fantasy Football Week 12: Start or Sit Mohamed Sanu, Keke Coutee, or Sterling Shepard?
Week twelve is upon us, which means that some of us are just two games away from worrying about our fantasy football playoffs. If you’re still reading this, congratulations, the marginally-long slog of the fantasy football season hasn’t broken you yet. Every week, we at Football Absurdity like to highlight players with marginal matchups that you might get a wild hair about. We hope to provide you with some basic facts to help you inform your start or sit decisions. The wide receivers below are the #2 WRs on their respective squads, but they all have a chance to end up a WR1 in most fantasy football leagues.
Start or Sit Mohamed Sanu at New Orleans
Early Season Mohamed Sanu was a fantasy football steady Eddie. He posted four-straight games of at least 11 fantasy points in half-PPR. Then, he hurt his hip, his targets fell off, and he tumbled back onto waiver wires. As of writing this, only 43% of leagues have an owner with Sanu on their roster. Since their bye, Sanu has worked himself back into the target rotation, receiving an average of 6.33 targets per game. He hasn’t scored in these games, so he’s only turned in respectable efforts (centered around the Platonic Ideal of an Okay WR3 Day – five catches, 50 yards). 5/50 is his floor on Thanksgiving, as he will give thanks for the shootout the Falcons are going to receive against the Saints. The Saints allow the most fantasy points to wide receivers, and prior to stomping on Philly’s throat last week, they had allowed seven double-digit fantasy days to wide receivers in their previous four games. Sanu posted 4/36 and a score against them in his double-digit-points streak and is a good bet to make it two-for-two this year. If you’re in a position to wonder if you should start or sit Mohamed Sanu, go ahead and get him into your lineups and start him.
Start or Sit Keke Coutee versus Tennessee
Coutee started his NFL career with a bang, posting 160 yards and a score in his first two games while hauling in 17-of-22 targets. Then the targets wavered, and he injured himself. He returned last week and was on the receiving end of nine targets. There was a question as to whether Demaryius Thomas or Coutee would step up into the Will Fuller role. Well, I’m not sure why there was a question; Demaryius Thomas hasn’t been as agile and quick as Fuller in a long time. Coutee isn’t as explosive, but if anyone would step into the Fuller role, it would be Coutee. That seems to have been the case. He snagged five of those nine targets and turned it into 77 yards. This week, Houston and Coutee host the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football. These Titans have given up 80 yards or a touchdown to six wide receivers in their last three games, which has done a lot to buoy their ranking as the third-best matchup for opposing wide receivers. If you’re wondering if you should start or sit Keke Coutee this week, I would start him as a WR3 or a flex. He is a good catch and yardage floor play, with a good shot at a touchdown.
Start or Sit Sterling Shepard at Philadelphia
I know I recommended Shepard last week against the Buccaneers, but Saquon Barkley absorbing three touchdowns and Eli Manning throwing just eighteen times last week put a damper on those predictions. This week, he gets an Eagles team that doesn’t have a cornerback that was on the roster a month ago, in a fight-for-their-lives scenario. Eli Manning should let it fly (and hopefully the balls go to Giants. Shepard has one of the best possible matchups this week against street free agents, though his target volume the last couple of games is concerning. A lot of that has to do with Evan Engram’s return and utilization. However, the strong point of Philly’s pass defense is against the tight end. While they allow the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers, they allow just the third-lowest fantasy points to tight ends. The targets that see-saw back and forth between Engram and Shepard should tilt back towards Engram this week. He didn’t do well last week, and a touchdown saved him two games ago, but the question of whether you should start or sit Sterling Shepard remains a valid one. This week, I would lean into the matchup and start him. The opposing defense is a mess, and the Giants are playing for their lives. This one should have some back-and-forth to it, and Shepard will benefit.
These three wide receivers this week are all likely to be good options for you, but if you’re trying to decide who to start or sit, I would go with:
- Keke Coutee
- Mohamed Sanu
- Sterling Shepard
If you need more start or sit advice, check out the remainder of our start and sit articles for week twelve!
Start or Sit Baker Mayfield, Nick Mullens, or Eli Manning?
Start or Sit Dak Prescott, Andy Dalton, or Kirk Cousins?
Start or Sit Marques Valdez-Scantling, Christian Kirk, or Corey Davis?
Start or Sit Marlon Mack, Gus Edwards, or Josh Adams?
Start or Sit Adrian Peterson, Chris Carson, or LeSean McCoy?
Start or Sit Cam Brate, Vance McDonald, or Jordan Reed?
Start or Sit Evan Engram, Kyle Rudolph, or Jared Cook?
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