Start Em / Sit Em - Week 16 - Sunday Games

By Brad Kruse

In this Start Em / Sit Em column each week, I'm looking to find some fringe players that you might consider starting each week and comment based on their matchups. Early on, I'll base my selection of candidates on where they were with respect to ADP. I'm not going to try to pad my stats by suggestin your start Drew Brees each week, but instead trying to dig deep and find some nuggets for players to avoid or to go after. These are coin flip guys and if I can finish the year at better than 60% I'll consider it a success. My metrics to get the start decision are: QB 20 pts or more, RB, WR or TE need to score 12 pts or more for a successful endorsement. Defense/Special Teams should put in 8 points or more to get those picks right. I'll look at ~4-6 players on each Thursday night's game and ~ 6 players for the rest of the week to get you going. Good Luck this year!

Player	Pos	Team	Opp	Start / Sit	Comment
Matt Ryan	QB	ATL	NOR	START	Ryan has turned in startable performances in 7 out of 14 weeks. This week he gets the Saints defense which he torched for 35.9 points in week 1. The hope is Julio Jones is able to return this week. Ryan is on a three wee run of scoring 20+ points per game (the last without Julio). Trust Ryan this week.
Matt Stafford	QB	DET	CHI	START	Similar to Ryan, Stafford has turned in 7 startable weeks out of the 14 he's played. However, unlike Ryan, Stafford is in somewhat of a slump. Only 2 of his last 5 weeks have resulted in startable performances. One of those weeks, however, was against Chicago who he matches up with again in week 16. Look for another start worthy performance from Stafford.
Mark Sanchez	QB	PHI	WAS	START	Sanchez has one startable week in the last four. As we close in on playoff contention, Philadelphia needs a win over Washington. Washington has a tough run defense. If they're going to generate the offense they'll need in this game, it will need to be in the air (or on defense). Look for Sanchez to have a good chance to provide start worthy numbers this week.
Jeremy Hill	RB	CIN	DEN	START	Hill has a tough matchup this week vs DEN, but he seems to have emerged as the lead back now in Cincinatti. Expect him to have a strong chance of breaking 12 points in week 16.
Tre Mason	RB	STL	NYG	START	Mason has struggled the last two weeks against Washington and Arizona. Things should be easier against the Giants in week 16.
Eric Decker	WR	NYJ	NE	SIT	Decker draws a tough matchup against NE in week 16. NE is very good at shutting down the WR and the Jets tend to try to grind these games out against the Pats. They focus on running the ball and good defense, I don't expect a lot of passing attempts from the Jets this week. Decker will be challenged to put up a big number.