Making lineup decisions can be the most frustrating or most rewarding part of fantasy football. Here to help you make those decisions are our positional start ’em and sit ’em picks.
Fantasy decisions are more important than ever with playoff spots and positioning on the line, so let’s look at our Week 14 start/sit plays for the QB position.
Which QB Should You Start in Fantasy This Week?
Gardner Minshew II, Indianapolis Colts (at CIN)
There are a couple of viable QB streamers this week, which is good news (or as good as you can hope for) for those fantasy managers who lost Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence (or who have already been dealing with losing one of an inordinate number of starting quarterbacks that have gone down).
Gardner Minshew II is coming off his second-best game of the season. He threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns.
MORE: Week 14 Start/Sit Options — WR | RB | TE
This week, Minshew gets a Cincinnati Bengals defense that just allowed 321 passing yards to Lawrence and backup QB C.J. Beathard. They allowed the latter to complete nine of 10 passes when he came in for Lawrence.
The Bengals allow the 10th-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. With QB Jake Browning looking more than capable of running the offense, the Indianapolis Colts are unlikely to be able to rely purely on the run game and ball control, resulting in more volume for Minshew, which is good for fantasy.
Which QB Should You Sit in Fantasy This Week?
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (at BAL)
Over the past two weeks, Matthew Stafford has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence. After failing to reach 17.5 fantasy points in any of the first 11 weeks this season, Stafford scored 24 and 23 in the past two weeks.
While it’s been nice to see Stafford look like his old self, not much has changed. He just happened to throw seven touchdowns over that span.
This week, Stafford is not only on the road, but he gets to face the top pass defense in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens allow just 12.8 PPG to quarterbacks, the fewest in the league. Rookie WR Puka Nacua is banged up, and WR Cooper Kupp does not look right. The Rams are not going to score 36+ points for a third consecutive game. This is a bad spot for a quarterback playing as well as he has all season.
Trending Searches for QB Start/Sit
Did you know that we have a Start/Sit Optimizer here at Pro Football Network? It’s completely free to use, and it allows you to enter up to six players to find the best option to plug into your starting lineup.
It also allows us to see the most popular trending searches, so we’ve jotted some of them down here to help provide some clarity.
Should You Start Gardner Minshew or Jameis Winston?
This, of course, hinges on whether New Orleans Saints QB Derek Carr can clear the concussion protocol. Carr has been like a zombie this season. Shoulder, ribs, and shoulder again — he keeps powering on.
If Carr can’t go, though, Saints backup QB Jameis Winston has a 20+ point upside — even against a Carolina Panthers defense allowing the second-fewest PPG to quarterbacks. But he also hasn’t started a game in over a year.
MORE: Fantasy News Tracker
Gardner Minshew scored 18 points last week and has a 28-point week on his resume this season. He also gets a Cincinnati defense allowing the 10th-most PPG to quarterbacks.
The PFN Start/Sit Optimizer has Winston projected for 15.0 points against 14.7 for Minshew. I disagree and would start Minshew due to the better matchup.
Should You Start Matthew Stafford or Baker Mayfield?
While you can and should rely on the Start/Sit Optimizer for help with lineup decisions, sometimes, things are too close to call. With Baker Mayfield projected for 13.9 points against Matthew Stafford’s 13.8, that’s not exactly a clear check in the Mayfield column. We must dig deeper.
As mentioned above, Stafford has been hot the past two weeks but has a very difficult matchup. Mayfield has been cold the past three weeks but has a favorable matchup against an Atlanta Falcons defense allowing the 11th-most PPG to quarterbacks.
The Buccaneers lost to the Falcons at home when these teams played earlier this season. In that game, Mayfield had a very respectable 17.2 fantasy points despite throwing for just one touchdown.
I think the Bucs win this game behind a strong two-touchdown effort from Mayfield, so I would start him over Stafford this week.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!
