NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 14: Wide receivers

Starting Hilton sometimes gives you the same feeling as staying at a Hilton. It’s good. Probably not your first choice. But you could easily do a lot worse. Man, I missed my calling and should have been an ad executive. Hilton scored 25 fantasy points against the Texans, his highest total since Week 1. But he’s had at least 18-plus points in back-to-back games. And here’s what is great about Hilton, he has the Raiders this week, which is a good matchup. But he’s got Houston again the following week in the fantasy semifinals which is another plus matchup. But then the Steelers in the fantasy finals. Which is fine, just get me there, baby. I’ll find someone to start in Week 16.

I like what the Jets did on Sunday. Get as close to winning as possible, but then not win in order to remain in line for the top overall pick. Though I believe they still would have had pole position with a win, but you don’t want to cut it too close and start winning games. But my guy Sam Darnold looked a lot better. And that meant a good game for Crowder, who was the WR7 after Sunday, when he had 21.7 fantasy points against the Las Vegas Raiders. He was targeted seven times (his most since Week 6) and his 35% target share was his highest since Week 1. The Seahawks defense is better, but can still allow some production to opposing offenses.

I had this dilemma on Sunday: three spots for Myles Gaskin, Gio Bernard and Boyd. And I wanted to punch myself in the face when I left Boyd on my bench like an idiot. I mean, I should have started Boyd over Terry McLaurin, because that worked out PERFECTLY. But alas, sometimes you have a lot of nice options, so what can you do? Oh, I mean other than making the right decisions. Boyd had just four targets (and the 72-yard TD) before he was ejected, but I’m optimistic for him this week against the Dallas Cowboys who have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to wide receivers this year. Tee Higgins also deserves to be in your lineup this week. Zac Taylor said he was not going to give up play-calling, which isn’t my favorite news of the week. My favorite news of the week is that we’re having tacos twice because it's my birthday. But even Taylor should be good against the Cowboys. It’s kind of like when you’ve struggled against the CPU and so you take it down to rookie level.

A.J. Brown is a stud who needs to be started every week. Davis needs that kind of love, too, right? He scored 35.2 fantasy points against the Browns, which was the highest total by a Titans receiver since Kenny Britt in 2010. Davis had scored less than 12 fantasy points in two of his previous three games before this huge outburst. Love his chances this week against the Jaguars, who have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to receivers this year. The Corey Davis breakout season continues!

Look, I want to be all, “the Bears are going to be so mad; they will come back refreshed and play their best game of the season.” Which is what I thought was going to happen last week. And it was the case offensively. But the defense allowed a lot of production (and I’ll have some thoughts on Marvin Jones in a moment). Coutee was targeted nine times last week and caught eight. Although, he’s killed the Colts during his career, with 20-plus fantasy points in three of his last four against Indy. I have Coutee as a starter not only this week, but his fantasy playoff schedule includes another game with the Colts and the Bengals. Speak well of him as he helps you in the postseason. Or at least sing that Drake song that I’ve butchered on Fantasy Bites, which you can watch here on the NFL Fantasy app.

Bears fans are angry with ARob, but I won’t stand for the slander in this space. And we’re all going to be sorry if he ends up leaving Chicago at the end of the season. I’m soaking up these last few games, just in case. The matchup is decent enough this week. The Texans are in the upper third in fantasy points allowed to opposing wide receivers this season. Robinson has 74 and 75 yards in each of the last two games. So he’s consistent. The touchdowns are hard to predict. But he does have a safe floor because of the volume of targets he receives. 

I also didn’t love starting Jones last week (in fairness, I went with Jarvis Landry, who was fine), but that was a mistake. Mostly because I didn’t realize it was going to be the Bears defense that was going to let us down. I mean nobody was near Jones. And I love the way Jaylon Johnson has played this season. That was a mistake. But this isn’t point chasing. This week, however, the Lions have the Green Bay Packers. And that means Jaire Alexander. Jones was targeted four times when covered by Alexander. He had three receptions for 19 yards. Jones did manage a touchdown, but that came against Christian Kirksey. Jones has played really well recently. But I would have a hard time starting him in this matchup. I know, new offensive coach. However, I’m staying away if I can.

We love Tua. But we need Ryan Fitzpatrick. Going with Tua is kind of like hanging out with your friend the night before they have a presentation due in the morning. It’s still fun. And it could be really cool. But it’s not as cool as it could be. Fitzpatrick is like 2 a.m. on the final night of your bachelor party. It’s a scene. It’s wild. And it could end up horribly or super fun. And Parker has been living this. Parker has scored fewer than eight fantasy points in four of six games with Tua. And he’s averaging 9.5 PPG with the rook. Parker is averaging 15-plus points per game with Fitzmagic. I know the Dolphins are more concerned with making the playoffs and whatnot. But they're killing Parker’s fantasy value.

I really want to be excited for Jalen Hurts and Reagor. I know Eagles fans are over hearing about how they should have drafted Justin Jefferson. I mean, it’s not like I called it or anything. (Oh wait, sort of did. Not that I should get too far ahead of myself. I dissed Justin Herbert a little bit.) But Hurts was selected as the starter this week, which is awesome. But this is the worst possible matchup and I want to take a week to see how this all plays out. The Eagles do have the Cowboys in a few weeks, so who knows. Maybe he can be somebody to win you a ‘ship. But I can’t take that risk this week.