Tyler Boyd start or sit: Week 18 fantasy football advice

Game day update: Boyd is active, but not doing much work in pre-game. Do not play him in any formats this week.

The Bengals seem intent on resting some of their stars in Week 18 against the Cleveland Browns. What does that mean for Boyd’s fantasy outlook?

Fantasy Football analysis: Bengals WR Tyler Boyd

Well, it’s not good. Even if Boyd does play his usual allotment of snaps in this game, he will be receiving passes from Brandon Allen, who has five attempts this year and a career yards-per-attempt average of just 6.3. It’s bad news for all Bengals skill players. Moreover, why would Cincy chance its six-year veteran and integral slot receiver in this fairly meaningless game? Yes, the Bengals still have a shot at grabbing the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, but it would take a win here along with help from other teams. Obviously, they don’t like their chances so they are planning to take it easy on most of their good players. We probably won’t find out prior to kickoff if Boyd is a part of that crew, but there is a real chance that he plays a very limited number of snaps in Week 18.

Fantasy Start/Sit Recommendation

Don’t worry about the matchup or Allen or anything else; the risk of Boyd playing maybe a quarter or a half before calling it a day is much too high to trust him in any fantasy formats this weekend.