ONE TO START, ONE TO SIT
One to start, One to sit is a weekly column where each NFL game will be evaluated and the best/worst fantasy match-ups will be listed.
Tonight’s Matchup: Indianapolis Colts @ Tennessee Titans
Best Option
INDY- Trent Richardson
TEN- Ryan Fitzpatrick
Not since the game against the Jaguars has a tease been this big for T-Rich. The Titans have given up two rushing TD’s and 20 fantasy points to opposing RB’s over the past 4 games. Meanwhile, T-Rich has scored a total of 14 fantasy points in that span. The last and only time Richardson has cracked double digit fantasy points this season was against Jacksonville. Tennessee ranks 21nd against the run and has given up the 2nd most rushing TD’s in the league. While Donald Brown has been performing better, the Colts have stated they’re going to try and incorporate Richardson in the passing game more and he still has been the feature back and will continue to be their goal line rusher. History will say I’m wrong, and it’ll be a sad Friday and Saturday if you start Trent and he underperforms again, but on paper, this is a great matchup for the 2nd year back.
With Jake Locker done for the season (foot), Tennessee will once again turn to the Harvard grad Fitzpatrick to lead their offense to victory. While obviously Chris Johnson will see the most time and a lot of carries, Fitz has been impressive fantasy-wise with his 3 full starts this season. In two of his 3 games, he’s scored over 20 fantasy points. This has to do with his running ability in the red zone, but with 2 rushing TD’s in 3 games he can be considered a rushing threat just as much as Andrew Luck can be in the red zone. While this is also an improvement for Kendall Wright, Nate Washington, and Delanie Walker owners (if there are any Delanie Walker owners), expect all 3 WR’s to see an increase in targets and possibly stats with Fitz under center. Expect the Colts defense to keep rattling as well, especially after making Case Keenum and Kellen Clemens look like monsters over the last 2 weeks.
Worst Option
INDY- TY Hilton
TEN- Titans defense
Having posted back to back 7 catches, 100 + yard games after fellow WR Reggie Wayne went down for the year, Hilton is clearly the new #1 in Indy. However, the Titans rank 8th against the pass and have given up an NFL leading 7 passing TD’s this season. With Colby Fleener and Darrius Heyward-Bay failing to pick up the slack, you know the Titans are going to try and take away Andrew Luck’s favorite target. I see one of two things happening; 1) Hilton’s going to see a lot of double covers and Luck will still try and force feed him the ball, leaving to a few catches, but a frustrating day with little production, or 2) Hilton will be used as a decoy for most of the game which will lead to more DHB, Donald Brown, T-Rich, or Fleener targets. Either way, I don’t think Tennessee is going to allow TY Hilton to beat them in tonight’s game.
While totally missing the mark last week on the Rams defense (come on, nobody saw that beating or Tavon Austin coming), I’m letting it ride this week with the Titans defense being the worst option in this game. Take away that game against the Rams, up until then, Indy had 6 turnovers in the first 8 games of the season. Also, the Titans defensive points have somewhat been overblown with their 3 Defensive TD’s this season. They’ve also only cracked double digit points twice this year, and haven’t done so since week 4 against the Jets. My guess is both the Titan’s defense and Indy’s offense is extremely P/O from their performance last week and will look for retribution, however, I think it’ll be Andrew Luck and Co who will get the final say in this one.
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