Fantasy Football: Terrance West Among Starts, Sits For Browns-Bengals Game

The Cleveland Browns’ 5-3 record through Week 9? Big surprise.

Their players providing endless frustration to fantasy owners everywhere? Not surprising at all.

Cleveland never has been a fantasy hotbed — though wide receiver Josh Gordon enjoyed success last season — and five wins in eight games hasn’t changed that. The team’s supposed lone fantasy star, running back Ben Tate, immediately got hurt in Week 1 and had two good games upon returning before slipping into fantasy mediocrity.

Yet all hope is not lost on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. Backup Terrance West, who emerged as the team’s lead back in Tate’s absence, is starting to make a comeback after receiving 15 carries last Sunday.

Thursday night games always are tricky. But if you’re going to roll with a Browns player this week, it probably should be West against a surprisingly mediocre Cincinnati Bengals run defense.

Then again, we might be wrong. But bad advice is better than no advice, right? Here’s a look at who else to start in this week’s AFC North clash.

START
Terrance West, Running Back, Browns: Tate still will get some carries, but this is looking more and more like West’s backfield to lose. The Bengals have yet to lose at home this season, but they’re ranked 30th in the NFL against the run. Cleveland likely will use West to try to exploit that. If one of your starters is on a bye, West is a solid replacement.

Jeremy Hill, Running Back, Bengals: It looks like Giovani Bernard will miss his second consecutive game, which is great news for Hill owners. The rookie put up huge numbers while shouldering the load last week, and the Browns have allowed double-digit fantasy points to running backs in three of the past four weeks. As long as Gio is out, start Hill with confidence.

SIT
Andy Dalton, Quarterback, Bengals: It seems like Dalton always teeters on the edge between start and sit, but he’s on the “sit” side this week. Joe Haden heads a solid Browns secondary, and if the Bengals can extend their home winning streak, they’ll do it by running out the clock late in the game — not by airing it out. There are better quarterbacks out there this week.

Andrew Hawkins, Wide Receiver, Browns: Hawkins is expected to be a game-time decision, which is an immediate red flag for any player in a Thursday night game. The matchup isn’t great anyway, as Cincinnati has surrendered the fifth-fewest points to wide receivers in standard-scoring leagues. It’s not worth taking a risk on Hawkins here.

Have a fantasy/NFL question for Darren? Send it to him via Twitter at @darren_hartwell

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