Fantasy Football Mailbag Week 16: Answering Start/Sit Questions For Championship Week

It’s championship week in fantasy football.

The time has come to set your final lineups of the season with the hopes of winning money, bragging rights, a trophy or however else your league’s winner is celebrated.

Most of the mailbag questions for Week 16 involved start or sit decisions. We’ve answered four of them below.

From Pete via Twitter: Tom Brady or Cam Newton for the win?
Newton is the best choice. He’s thrown five touchdown passes in three of his last five games and he’s also giving fantasy owners points on the ground with 214 rushing yards and a touchdown over that same span. Newton also is doing a good job protecting the football with only one interception in his last six games.

Brady is without his top receiver Julian Edelman and No. 2 wideout Danny Amendola might not play either. Even though Brady played very well against the Jets on Oct. 25, New York still presents a tough matchup. The Jets defense ranks fifth in interceptions and have the fourth-lowest opposing quarterback rating. New York also allows the third-fewest yards per pass attempt.

It’s a tough choice, but Newton should be started based on the quality of his recent performances and favorable matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.

From Cam via Twitter: Zach Miller or Zach Ertz at tight end?
Ertz is the guy because he’s more likely to receive the most targets. He was targeted 13 times Sunday night and tallied eight receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles have trailed in a lot of games this season, which has forced them to throw early and often. Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford trusts Ertz and looks for him in the red zone. Ertz also has back-to-back games of at least five receptions and 75 receiving yards, and his matchup against a mediocre Redskins pass defense is a favorable one.

From Derek via Twitter: Which to running backs do I start? Latavius Murray, Lamar Miller and Charcandrick West.
Murray is a must-start because he’s playing a San Diego Chargers defense giving up the ninth-most rushing yards per game and third-most yards per carry. West also is a good start and has scored a touchdown in four of his last seven games. He’s back to being the Chiefs’ No. 1 running back after a brief injury battle.

West has found the end zone in every game in which he’s received 16 or more touches, and there’s a good chance he’ll receive that kind of workload Sunday versus a Cleveland Browns defense giving up the second-most rushing yards per game and fourth-most yards per carry.

Miller is too much of a risk because he’s had 20-plus touches in only one of the last five games. The Dolphins don’t use him enough, and his value in non-PPR leagues is minimal.

From BMurph on Twitter: Eli Manning or Aaron Rodgers in the championship?
This is a tough one because both players have difficult matchups against good pass defenses.

Rodgers gets a slight edge because even though the Arizona Cardinals have an elite defense, its secondary suffered a huge loss when safety Tyrann Mathieu tore his ACL on Sunday night. Rodgers hasn’t thrown for 300-plus yards in the last six games, but he does have eight touchdown passes and just three interceptions in that span. He’s also a much better individual player than Manning and the Packers offense as a whole is playing well — at least 27 points scored in three straight games.

Manning is playing a Minnesota Vikings defense that ranks seventh in yards allowed per game. He also won’t have his top target, Odell Beckham Jr., because the superstar wideout was suspended one game for his actions in Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers. Beckham made Manning fantasy relevant, but without him, New York’s best option in the passing game is Rueben Randle. That’s far from ideal in championship week.

Thumbnail photo via Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images