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Startem sitem 2020 Sunday Week 3

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 suggesting your start Patrick Mahomes 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 ~3-6 players on each Thursday night's game and ~ 6 players for the rest of the week to get you going.

Player	Pos	Team	Opponent	Start / Sit	Comment
Jeff Wilson	RB	SFO	NYG	START	Wilson was somewhat the forgotten man on waivers compared with Mike Davis, Devonta Freeman and Dion Lewis. But, Wilson potentially walks into a solid rushing share for SF who is one of the best rushing teams. Both Benny Snell and David Montgomery ran well against the Giants in the first two weeks. I like Wilson's chance at either a TD or a few catches to propel him to a startable week.
D'Andre Swift	RB	DET	ARI	START	Over the first two weeks, Swift has 8 carries and 8 receptions. Those aren't the numbers you're looking for over a two week period to be sure. But, he is averaging 11.75 ppr ppg. He's flirting with putting in startable numbers and Arizona is likely to either turn this game into a negative gamescript for Detroit or have each team participating in a shoot out. Swift has been the pass catching back which should bode well for him to get 4-6 catches and give you a solid floor and a good enough shot at startable numbers.
Jerick McKinnon	RB	SFO	NYG	START	McKinnon's main competitors for touches are out this week (Mostert and Coleman). I suspect he still splits action with Jeff Wilson and maybe even Hasty, but his floor on touches is elevated and he can take a screen or a run to the house so he should be a good emergency RB for week 3.
Devin Singletary	RB	BUF	LAR	START	At the beginning of the year, things were looking dicey for Singletary as Zach Moss was challenging him for who would get the dominant number of snaps and Moss looked like the better pass catching and goal line back. But, they played to a draw in week 1, Moss got dinged up in week 2 and Moss is OUT week 3. So Singletary is likely to have an expanded role this week.
Logan Thomas	TE	WAS	CLE	START	This is an interesting intersection of trends. Cleveland has given up a lot of points to tight ends. But, they've played Baltimore and Cincinnait who's thrown to their tight ends with their rookie QB a lot the first two weeks. Logan Thomas scored a lot against Philadelphia who subsequently allowed 3 TDs to Higbee in week 2. Incidentally, those are the only TDs Jared Goff has thrown through two weeks. Thomas only caught four for 26 yds and no TD. However, he did get 9 targets last week so the offense still views his as the 2nd target, I think. And McLaurin will have his hands full with Denzel Ward. So I'm going with starting Thomas this week.
Drew Sample	TE	CIN	PHI	START	Sample came on after Uzomah's injury and Burrow went to him frequently. Philadelpha gave up 3 TDs to Higbee last week and hosted Logan Thomas' potential breakout campaign in week 1 propelling him into being a waiver wire darling prior to week 2. Let's see if Burrow continues to funnel targets to the TE. TEs have seen 31 of Burrow's 94 targets over two weeks. That's a 33% target share.
Russell Gage	WR	ATL	CHI	START	Julio hasn't practiced all week, this should result in a snap and target increase for Gage. Chicago's top corner should be dealing with Ridley. Further, Chicago's pass rush has been limited with Goldman opting out and now they've lost another DT due to injury. Mack and Quinn have both been hobbled. When at full strength, this is a dangerous front seven. But, I think they're vulnerable week 3. Over the first two weeks, Gage has 21 targets, 15 receptions, 160 yds and 1 TD. That's a pretty good average coming into week 3.
CeeDee Lamb	WR	DAL	SEA	START	The liklihood of this being a high soring affair and Lamb being entrenched as a strong target from Prescott makes this an easy recommendation for the rookie who looks like a startable candidate most weeks this year.