• Rico Dowdle has three straight 100-yard rushing games: His upcoming matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might slow him down a bit — but not enough to bench him in the fantasy football semifinals.
• Some big-name wide receivers are going through rough patches: Cooper Kupp and D.K. Metcalf, among others, haven’t put up big numbers recently but could still be fantasy starters this week.
• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all 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: 22 minutes
The start/sit article is getting a makeover for the final few weeks of the 2024 fantasy football season.
The New Format: I have asked fantasy managers on the PFF Discord and Bluesky which players they are least sure about this week, and I compiled that list and ranked them against each other. If you have multiple players mentioned, you should start the player ranked highest. At the bottom of each position are some players you should start over all of the featured players, as well as some players you should sit in favor of the featured players.
If a player isn’t mentioned, that means they are very close to those with blurbs, and factors like injuries on the opposing defenses or weather could influence the rankings. Situations involving injuries are also generally avoided because there is some grey area early in the week and things typically become clearer closer to kickoff. As always, check our weekly fantasy rankings for the most up-to-date information to help you make all start-sit decisions.
Why It's Changing: There are fantasy leagues of all shapes and sizes. At 9:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, I answer start/sit questions on the PFF Discord and often find myself telling some people to start players and others to sit those same players based on the circumstances. The players to start in a 10-team league on a squad with strong depth at running back can be very different from a 12-team squad with a weakness at running back. Very few players can be universally started and universally sat, but it doesn’t help anyone to say, “Start Saquon Barkley,” for example.
RUNNING BACKS
1. Rico Dowdle, Dallas Cowboys
Dowdle has been a top-10 fantasy running back over the past three weeks, with three straight 100-yard performances. He has exceeded 70% of offensive snaps in all three games, taking snaps away from both Ezekiel Elliott and Hunter Luepke. He has also played three teams with losing records during that stretch, and the game scripts were close enough for Dallas to rely on the run game.
This week, Dowdle has a rough matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They completely shut down the Los Angeles Chargers‘ running backs last week, and in recent weeks, Chuba Hubbard was held to 43 yards on 12 carries, Tyrone Tracy Jr. notched 42 yards on nine carries and Christian McCaffrey tallied 39 yards on 13 carries. However, other great running backs have played just fine against the Buccaneers' defense, and some out-of-nowhere running backs, such as Sincere McCormick and Tyler Badie, were very successful.
While the matchup pushes Dowdle out of the RB1 territory he’s occupied in recent weeks, his expected volume keeps him high in the RB2 conversation. Unless you’re on a team stacked with excellent running back options, he should be in your fantasy starting lineup.
It’s worth noting that Dowdle is dealing with a knee injury, but he has fully participated in practice. Most of the time, someone who is a full participant in practice Wednesday is just fine on game day. Still, monitor the situation, just to be safe.
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