• Start Geno Smith: The Seahawks quarterback should continue his hot streak with several big-time plays against the Raiders.

• Start Jeff Wilson Jr.: Wilson has back-to-back top-10 finishes and will aim to make it a third against the Texans' run defense.

• Sit Adam Thielen: The once-consistent fantasy starter is in a slump, and it’s unlikely he returns to form against the Patriots' defense.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Deciding who to start or sit can be as easy as looking at the PFF rankings and starting the player ranked higher. This start’em, sit’em column digs a step deeper, looking into why someone you might typically start might not have a good week, or why someone overlooked might have a good week. In many cases, it’s the usual starters who should star, but we want to explore the borderline players too.

QUARTERBACKS

START

Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks

Smith has finished as a top-10 fantasy quarterback in six of his past 10 games.
He has scored 11 touchdowns by throwing to a receiver in the end zone, which is tied for the most among quarterbacks.
The Seahawks play the Raiders, who have allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season.
Smith has a 13.8% big-time throw rate against man coverage this season, compared to 3.6% against zone.
The Raiders use man at the sixth-highest rate in the NFL.

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Prescott has finished as a top-10 fantasy quarterback in each of his past three games.
He is tied for 10th in fantasy points per dropback, at 0.53.
The Cowboys have the best matchup for quarterbacks this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
Prescott has thrown a touchdown on 8.8% of his dropbacks against man defenses and 2.0% of his dropbacks against zone over the past two seasons.
The Giants are the only team to run more man defense than zone so far this season.

SIT

Daniel Jones, New York Giants

Jones has three games as a top-10 fantasy quarterback but has seven games at QB14 or worse.
His 6.9-yard average depth of target is the third-lowest among quarterbacks.
He just lost his favorite target, Wan’Dale Robinson, and backup slot receiver Richie James Jr. hasn’t been practicing.
The Giants have the third-worst matchup for quarterbacks this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
They play the Cowboys, who have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.
The Giants' offensive line has the worst disadvantage compared to the Cowboys’ defensive line in the passing game for all of the matchups this week, according to PFF's offensive line/defensive line matchup chart.

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Rodgers has put together only one game as a top-10 fantasy quarterback this season.
The Packers have the fourth-worst matchup for quarterbacks this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
They play the Eagles, who have allowed the fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.
Philadelphia has a top-four defense in terms of both team PFF pass-rush grade and team PFF coverage grade.

RUNNING BACKS

START

Jeff Wilson Jr., Miami Dolphins

Wilson has finished as a top-10 fantasy running back in each of his past two games.
The Dolphins have the sixth-best matchup for running backs this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
They play the Texans, who have allowed the most fantasy points to running backs this season.
The Dolphins' offensive line has the fifth-largest edge over the Texans' defensive line in the run game, according to PFF's offensive line/defensive line matchup chart.
Miami is a heavy favorite, which should allow the offense to spend most of the second half running with the ball.