Yet another NFL Sunday is upon us, meaning it’s time for the latest edition of our weekly must-starts column.
Week 14 kicked off with an awesome Thursday Night Football game between the Lions and Cowboys and the action only continues with some high-stakes matchups with playoff implications. After crunching the numbers, we’ve got another three must-start players for your fantasy football contests. Whether a standout talent to build lineups around or an intriguing value with matchup and salary, these are guys who can smash and win the week. Let’s jump right in.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]
QB Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals ($5,700)
Sorry in advance to anyone tired of hearing about Jacoby Brissett, but I just can’t stop playing this guy at quarterback. Since taking over under center in Week 6, Brissett has now thrown at least 31 times in every game with five weeks of 40+ pass attempts and one game with an astounding 57 tries. He boasts a completion rate of 67.5% and an average of over 300 yards per game through the air, and he’s tossed two touchdowns in all but one outing as well. In last week’s loss, he delivered another nice outing of 301 yards and two scores for 23.6 DKFP, bringing his average line as a starter to 23.4 FPPG. Are the Cardinals awful? Honestly, pretty close to it. That doesn’t matter as long as Brissett keeps seeing the kind of volume in negative game scripts to make him one of the most reliable fantasy quarterbacks in the game, though. He’d be QB2 on this slate based on FPPG but is 10th on the salary sheet, a screaming value.
Playing against the Rams means almost certain doom for the Cardinals, but anything can happen after L.A. lost to the Panthers last week. While the matchup appears a smidge rough against this Rams defense, there’s not much reason to worry since the unit is occasionally vulnerable to the pass and Brissett will see plenty of pass attempts to Trey McBride and Michael Wilson. Is it odd to call a quarterback a volume-based play? A little, but it’s the way things are trending until Arizona stops throwing.
RB Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals ($6,700)
The Bengals’ season has been an interesting one, going through phases of unplayability for fantasy assets in early weeks with Jake Browning before the offense sputtered to life with Joe Flacco under center in the middle weeks. However, Joe Burrow made his glorious return last time out and returns the upside of his teammates to its rightful place. Chase Brown has very quietly excelled since Week 7 with at least 15 DKFP in every game and an average of 19.2 FPPG. Whether mainly via rushing or receiving, the halfback now boasts 100+ scrimmage yards in six straight contests and has posted his excellent fantasy numbers despite scoring just two touchdowns over the same span. Burrow’s return brings the end-zone upside back, and the matchup can’t get much better than this.
In Week 14, the Bengals duel the Bills, one of the NFL’s worst run defenses. Buffalo falls 29th in defensive EPA/rush, 30th in rushing yards allowed and has given up a league-high 18 touchdowns via the ground. It’s something of a run funnel defense, and while Cincinnati may not shy away from throwing, there’s plenty of work available for Brown in this backfield. He should carve up the Bills and post around 20 DKFP with room for much more if he crosses the goal line in a potential shootout.
WR Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders ($5,200)
Is there a better value than Terry McLaurin at wide receiver this week? While he’s played in just five games this season, the veteran returned from injury on last week’s edition of Sunday Night Football and put forth his best effort of the campaign by far. In that outing, he dueled against reigning DPOY Pat Surtain II and emerged with seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown on 14 total targets, good for 22.6 DKFP on the day. Oh, and he did that with Marcus Mariota throwing passes against an elite Broncos defense that rushes the pocket like few other teams. So, what’s there to like about McLaurin this week? Well, he looks fully healthy and will have the benefit of Jayden Daniels likely returning under center, who the wideout showed an awesome connection with last season.
The Commanders are up against a nice Vikings defense called by coordinator Ben Flores, who dials up nasty blitzes and is a bit of a boogeyman of sorts for opposing quarterbacks. However, Daniels can run, so that ability to escape will prove fruitful as he looks to extend plays outside the pocket. With Minnesota in the top-10 teams against the pass, McLaurin is more of a volume play than matchup-based selection. Still, the salary makes him one of the best values at the wideout position this week, so I love getting him as one of your middle WRs or a FLEX.
