Fire & Ice: Top starts, sits and sleepers in fantasy football for Week 14

• Tua Tagovailoa is a top-10 start at home: Tagovailoa has finished as the fantasy QB 10, 3, and 8 over his last three games, putting together big touchdown performances in each of his previous two home games. This week, he faces a New York Jets defense that can be beat on the road.

• Calvin Ridley bound for a big performance in revenge game: Not only are the Jacksonville Jaguars a fantastic matchup for fantasy WRs, but Ridley also could be playing with an extra chip on his shoulder this weekend against a team that gave up on him after only one season.

• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all of our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Are you struggling to set your fantasy lineups? Maybe I can help… Below you can find my top fire (boom) and ice (bust) players at each position for Week 14. I also include my sleeper of the week at each position in case you are in a deeper league or in need of a replacement for an ice player.

Don’t miss my Fire & Ice chart at the bottom of this page. There, I have listed out all of my fire, good, sleeper and ice plays for Week 14 of the 2024 fantasy football season.

Quarterbacks

Fire QB Start of the Week: Tua Tagovailoa (vs. NYJ)

Tua Tagovailoa has scored 23-plus fantasy points in each of the last three weeks and has seven passing touchdowns with zero interceptions over his last two home games. The New York Jets secondary, although solid, is not what it once used to be … especially on the road. Over their last three road games, Kyler Murray put up 29 fantasy points against them in Week 10, Drake Maye and Jacoby Brissett combined for 20 points in Week 8 and Russell Wilson had 25 points in Week 7.

Sleeper QB of the Week: Will Levis (vs. JAX)

Will Levis has been a solid fantasy producer (and NFL QB) since he returned from a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined from Weeks 7-9. He has scored 15-plus fantasy points in each of his four games played since his return and should continue to find success in a fantastic matchup at home this weekend. The Jacksonville Jaguars’ pass defense has performed miserably on the road for most of this season — they have allowed four more fantasy points per away game to quarterbacks than any other team in the NFL in 2024. No quarterback has started a home game against the Jaguars and not scored at least 18 fantasy points this year.

Ice QB Start of the Week: Brock Purdy (vs. CHI)

Maybe it was just the terrible weather conditions in Buffalo, but Brock Purdy’s shoulder did not look healthy last weekend when he put up a miserable fantasy performance. Purdy was a very solid fantasy producer before the shoulder injury so there is a possibility he will come back to life at home in San Francisco but I don’t have high hopes. Not only do we have to worry about his injury, but the team will also be without both their top RBs Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason, and the 49ers will likely not have star LT Trent Williams on the field in Week 14.

The Bears have not been a shutdown pass defense as of late, but they have still not allowed a quarterback to score more than two touchdowns in any game this season. Purdy’s low upside is just not worth the risk.

Running Backs

Fire RB Start of the Week: Chase Brown (at DAL)

Since Week 9, Chase Brown is averaging 24 touches, 123.5 scrimmage yards, and 21.9 fantasy points per game. Saquon Barkley is the only running back who has averaged more fantasy points than Brown in that span. He plays the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, who have allowed the second-most rushing touchdowns and sixth-most fantasy points per game running backs in 2024.

Sleeper RB of the Week: Jerome Ford (at PIT)

There is hope that Jerome Ford can have a decent game this weekend in Pittsburgh despite being a useless fantasy asset for most of this season. Ford was given nine carries in Week 13 after totaling just 11 carries over his first three games played with Nick Chubb this year. He should continue to get more work as Chubb’s efficiency has been atrocious since returning from his knee injury – Ford offers the Cleveland Browns offense much more juice. At least one opposing RB has hit 17-plus fantasy points in eight of the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ last nine games.

Ice RB Start of the Week: Chuba Hubbard (at PHI)

The Panthers offense played well last wee,k but Chuba Hubbard was given just 12 carries and saw zero targets in the game — his fewest carries since Week 1 and his first time without multiple targets since Week 7. Teammate rookie RB Jonathon Brooks saw an increase in playing time and usage in his second career game, stealing six carries and getting all three backfield targets in Week 13.

The Eagles have allowed the third-fewest fantasy points per game in the league to the running back position since coming off their Week 5 bye. They even held King Henry to 82 yards on 19 carries in Week 13 — if they can limit Henry, they can control Hubbard.

Wide Receivers

Fire WR Start of the Week: Calvin Ridley (vs. JAX)

We have already seen a couple of blow-up games from Calvin Ridley since DeAndre Hopkins was shipped out of town. I am expecting his next huge performance to come this weekend in a REVENGE game. This past offseason, Ridley made it known he would have liked to stay with the Jacksonville Jaguars but they did not want to pay him what other teams (like the Titans) were offering — I am guessing this doesn’t sit too well with him. The Revenge factor has been real this year for WRs — Stefon Diggs put up 20 points against the Minnesota Vikings, DJ Moore had 28 points against the Carolina Panthers, and Jerry Jeudy lit up the Denver Broncos for 40.5 points just last weekend.

Even if you don’t believe in revenge games, the Jaguars are still a fantastic matchup for Ridley as they have allowed the third most fantasy points to the wide receiver position in 2024 – and are extra bad on the road where they have allowed 45 fantasy points per game to WRs.

Sleeper WR Start of the Week: Brandin Cooks (vs. CIN)

Despite playing only 40% of the Cowboys' snaps in Week 13, Brandin Cooks still saw seven targets and scored 10.6 fantasy points in his first game back after missing a chunk of time with a knee infection. In his second game back, he should be on the field closer to 80% of the time and this is a matchup that Cooks can exploit with his speed. The Cincinnati Bengals have allowed at least two wide receivers to put up 10-plus fantasy points against them in eight of their last nine games.

Ice WR Start of the Week: Adam Thielen (at PHI)

I am not chasing Bryce Young or Adam Thielen’s big Week 13 performance against a bad Tampa Bay Buccaneers pass defense. It was an impressive game by Thielen last week when he brought in eight balls for 99 yards and a TD, but he is going to have a much harder challenge this Sunday in Philadelphia.

Since their Week 5 bye, the Eagles have allowed only three wide receivers to score 12-plus points against them (Ja’Marr Chase, Puka Nacua, and Cooper Kupp). Thielen will see a lot of rookie slot CB Cooper DeJean in this matchup, who has allowed just 6.9 yards per reception in coverage this year (second-fewest among 108 CBs that have played 150-plus coverage snaps).

Tight Ends

Fire TE Start of the Week: Jake Ferguson (vs. CIN)

Ferguson has missed the last two weeks in concussion protocol but is trending toward playing this Monday night in a juicy matchup. The Cincinnati Bengals have allowed the fifth most receiving yards, second most receiving touchdowns, and second most fantasy points on average to the tight end position in 2024. Over the Bengals' last eight games, they have allowed seven tight ends to score 15-plus points against them — they let Mark Andrews, Pat Freiermuth, and Will Dissly to each score 18 points against them over their last three games.

Sleeper TE of the Week: Will Dissly (at KC)

Dissley has had just two big fantasy weeks this season, with a bunch of clunkers in between, but he should have a good performance this weekend. The Kansas City Chiefs have allowed the most targets, receptions, and receiving yards to tight ends this season — they have allowed nearly 120 more receiving yards to tight ends than any other team.

Plus, the Los Angeles Chargers’ leading receiver, Ladd McConkey, is dealing with a knee injury that is putting his Week 14 status in doubt. There will be a lot more targets to go around in the Chargers offense if McConkey is on the sidelines. This is a realistic chance that Dissly is Justin Herbert’s top target this weekend.

Ice TE Start of the Week: Evan Engram (at TEN)

Engram has a lot of things working against him. Not only does he rarely score touchdowns, but he is also averaging just 7.7 yards per reception and will likely be playing with Mac Jones for the rest of the way. Since Week 7, Engram is averaging just 37.5 measly receiving yards per game and this is in no way a favorable fantasy matchup.

The Tennessee Titans have allowed only four tight ends to put up 9-plus fantasy points in a game against them this season, and only one of those guys did it without scoring a touchdown — Engam has scored just one touchdown all season long.

Fire & Ice Fantasy Football Plays

Here, I categorize every relevant fantasy player into five different buckets: (1) fire starts (best starts of the week); (2) thumbs up (good starts); (3) Risky players with upside (sleepers); (4) Ice starts (predicting bad performance from good player); (5) Stop (must sits).

Note: If a player/defense is not listed, I am not considering starting them in Week 14. Also, I did not include Packers/Lions players as they play on Thursday night.