Fantasy Football Starts and Sits for Thursday Night Football Week Two
By Carl Daley
Thursday presents a weird matchup for fantasy owners as the Houston Texans take on the Cincinnati Bengals. Who should you start and sit? Find out here.
In this weeks Thursday Night Football matchup we will see the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Houston Texans. There is no fantasy football advice on quarterbacks as Andy Dalton is one pick away from Ryan Fitzpatrick and Deshaun Watson is still too tough to trust.
From the Texans perspective, their defense will be dealing with multiple missing components so they could allow a bigger performance from their opponent than usual. From a fantasy perspective, this game is as confusing as it gets so let’s take things slow and look at the best matchups from this contest.
Cincinnati Bengals:
Running backs:
Jeremy Hill/Joe Mixon/ Giovani Bernard: Actually this matchup is not that bad in regards to fantasy football especially after the injuries to the Texans defense in Week One. The Texans defense should continue to struggle but most likely not against the Cincinnati ground game.
The Texans defensive line even with the injuries/suspensions is better than Cinci’s offensive line. Hill will likely get all of the early down work and potentially goal line looks. Mixon will come in second and Gio will alternate on passing downs. None of these players are particularly appealing to fantasy owners this week.
Wide receivers:
AJ Green: Other than Green there is no need for anyone to start a Bengals wide receiver, Green owners are still waiting for a sign that this year is not going to be a huge bust.
He is one of the most talented and physically gifted wide receivers in the NFL period, so you should never sit him when healthy but it will be tough to trust his quarterback after Week One. It is likely Dalton cleans up his act a bit and manages to connect with Green more down the field, he should be in line for low double digit fantasy points (10,11,12).
Tight End:
Tyler Eifert: I own Eifert in one of my leagues and I am starting him in my flex, my trust issues are enormous. After a .90 point outing in Week One where he was barely targeted, it is tough to see him having a bigger impact. But it is tough for the Cincinnati offense to work properly without him being utilized.
The Bengals will likely want Dalton to focus on shorter passes with Eifert as his main target and that could lead to a red zone touchdown. He is also fully healthy this week as last week he was dealing with some sort of nagging injury. This week he should get back on track against a defense that will be reeling from their losses in Week One.
Houston Texans:
Running backs:
Lamar Miller: I don’t like this matchup for fantasy football specifically because of the Texans offensive line. But Miller is likely one of your top four picks so it would be hard to not start him. It worries me that Foreman will seemingly get more carries as the season goes on but for this week he should be relatively fine. If Miller can get into the end zone on his first try, that would be a big relief for fantasy owners.
De’Onta Foreman: Foreman has the feeling of a vulture this week as the Texans attempt to run the ball with a porous offensive line. He could easily find his way into the end zone as he will spell Miller as the primary backup. He could be worth a flex play but there are better options out there.
Wide receivers:
DeAndre Hopkins: Hopkins was one of the better wide receivers a few seasons ago and was projected to become the next elite receiver in the NFL. That has not happened, and mostly that is on the Texans quarterbacks.
Hopkins will be tough to trust with a full Bengals secondary on deck as cornerback, Adam Jones returns from suspension. He is, however, the only receiver that really has Watson’s attention and is reliable enough to take shots deep down the field with. He did have a touchdown in Week One so Hopkins is a likely start for most.
Other:
Houston Texans Defense: Bad matchup for fantasy football in the sense that, the Bengals can only go up from their Week One performance. The Texans are ailing on defense and have lost Brian Cushing for 10 games. There are better streaming matchups out there.