Week 2 Start Bench Advice: Start 'Em and Sit 'Em advice fantasy football

Below you will find our Week 2 Start Bench Advice for the 2013 fantasy football season. Who should you start entering Week 2? Who should you sit? If you have players and start ‘em and sit ‘em dilemmas not mentioned below, be sure to post a comment at the end of the article and I, or one of our awesome DraftCalc moderators, will try and hit you back with an answer!

Also, don’t forget to check out our Week 2 Projections.

Let’s get to it!

Chris Givens at ATL

Chris Givens @ATL

Atlanta just surrendered 341 passing yards and passing 2TDs to the Saints, so this is a great match-up for Sam Bradford, Jared Cook and Chris Givens. Givens pulled in just 2 passes for 27 yards in Week 1 against the Cardinals, and people are already set to give up on him. This spells opportunity if you ask me! I’ve seen comments and forum posts this week where fantasy owners are already asking if they should release Givens in favor of a waiver wire guy. Wow. Two words: Week one! Not only should current Givens fantasy owners not overreact after one single week, Givens owners need to consider that Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson was assigned to shutdown Givens all day long in Week 1. Not only could Asante Samuel miss Week 2, Jared Cook’s Week 1 breakout party is going to, moving forward, keep defenses extremely-honest when it comes to covering Givens. While there are a few predicted breakout players that clearly command some concern heading into Week 2, Givens is not one of them, and there is a great shot his breakout party is this week in Atlanta; 5-6 receptions for 90-100 yards and 1TD sounds about right! Bradford should throw for 300 and 2, with Cook grabbing Bradford’s other score, along with about 70-90 of those yards!

Eddie Lacy at WAS

Eddie Lacy at WAS

The Redskins just surrendered 184 rushing yards and 1TD to LeSean McCoy, and the entire Philly offense ran for 264 yards and 2TDs. If there was ever a time to buy-low, it is before this Week 2 contest against the Redskins. I can see Eddie Lacy rushing for well over 120 yards, and he should punch in at least 1TD. After a monster Week 2 game, it won’t be a bad idea to test the trade waters when it comes to Lacy, and that goes for those that currently own him as well as those that plan to trade for him in the coming days. Don’t get me wrong, I think he can still have a good 2013 season, even with my long-term doubts about his foot/toe… long-term is very different than the now, which I’m considering 2013… selling high is never a bad idea, but know that I can see him having a successful first year, no question. Will I doubt him heading into 2014 and beyond? Let’s take it one year at a time for now, as I want to see how healthy he can remain.

Darren McFadden vs. JAC

Darren McFadden vs. JAC

The Jags gave up 120 rushing yards and a score in Week 1 against the Chiefs. While the Chiefs could have run the ball more in that game, Jamal Charles was racking up 4.8 yards-per-carry when he did carry the rock, so Darren McFadden should have a nice ground outing in this one, and of course he does a lot of his damage pulling in passes. With Jacksonville looking to contain Pryor on the ground, McFadden might rack-up some good yardage on a couple screen passes and dump offs. Pryor, who should throw for close to 200, rush for over 50 and have at least 1-2 total scores, is an exciting player to own right now, and hopefully you took our advice during the first two preseason weeks and you picked the guy up! His trade value isn’t holding consistent just yet, but in a couple weeks he could be a nice player to package into some 2-for-1 type deals.

Julian Edelman vs. NYJ

Julian Edelman vs. NYJ

With Danny Amendola likely to sit this one out with a groin injury, Julian Edelman gets shoved right back into Amendola’s role, a role that he was playing quite well in Week 1 when Amendola pulled up limp with the groin injury. Keep an eye on the last minute Amendola news, but even on the off chance that he plays, he isn’t 100 percent, and Edelman is going to get a lot of targets. Edelman should be good for 5-6 receptions for 70-90 yards and a score. Tom Brady should be good for 300 yards passing and 2-3 scores. Shane Vereen’s wrist injury is a huge bummer, as we had Vereen pegged as one of our biggest breakout predictions for all of 2013. He started off on fire, too, racking up 100 rushing yards, while pulling in 7 passes for 58 yards. Vereen is on short-term IR, but won’t be eligible to return until Week 11. What a lucky break (literally) for Stevan Ridley, who fumbled away his job to Vereen in Week 1, but clearly he will now get his starting job back, which means that he will be a strong weekly bet for 100 rushing yards.

Lamar Miller at IND

Lamar Miller at IND

Indy just gave up 171 rushing yards to the Raiders. Granted, 112 of those yards were Terrell Pryor’s, but this team can be run on, which is great news for Lamar Miller owners, who are not sure what to expect in this Week 2 game. Could Miller share carries in Week 2? Sure, it’s possible, and Daniel Thomas will certainly get some carries, but it’s tough to predict what that Dolphins’ coaching staff is going to do regarding dividing up the Week 2 rushing workload. What I do know is this… Miller is an elite talent, even though he only gained just 3 yards on 10 carries in Week 1… Miller is so fast and quick, all it takes is one nice long run and he is back in the spotlight, and Miami will want to roll with their play maker once he gets going. Again, a slower start than expected for Miller is possible, and at third- to fourth-round value, a slow start was built into his value… in fact, a slow start could even span into the next couple weeks; however, I’m not about to put this rising star on the bench after one single week of play, and neither should you, at least not for WR3/flex-like options! I expect 90-100 rushing yards out of Miller in this one, and he should also have a nice shot at a score.

Alshon Jeffery vs. MIN

Alshon Jeffery vs. MIN

At some point, Alshon Jeffery is going to get going, especially when teams play smart defense and double Marshall, who Cutler literally telegraphs to on almost every passing play. Don’t do anything crazy and bench a legit fantasy WR2 for the receiver, but if you’re hurting at your WR3 or flex spot this week, Alshon is a good look!

Ben Tate vs. TEN

Ben Tate vs. TEN

Ben Tate looked great in Week 1 (55 yards on just 9 carries, and he pulled in 2 passes, so the team isn’t afraid to throw his way). Foster, while healthy, is surely going to get at least 50 percent of the carries in Houston; however, Tate can do damage to the tune of 60 or so total yards and a strong shot at a score even in his reserve role. Imagine if he ever gets forced to start! Tate, Bernard Pierce and Christine Michael remain my favorite “stash” players heading into Weeks 2-16 (with Bryce Brown next on the list). If any single one of these four runners get into their team’s line-up, get ready!

Chris Givens STL WR