Start 'Em & Sit 'Em is the ultimate weekly look at NFL matchups and how they'll affect your fantasy football team. Fantasy superstars such as Patrick Mahomes and Saquon Barkley will not be featured in this column. All player matchups are based on a PPR scoring system. For your final starting lineup decisions, check my weekly fantasy football lineup rankings.
Start 'Em
Start of the Week
One of my favorite preseason sleepers, Andrews blew up for eight catches, 131 yards and a touchdown in win over the Dolphins. While he's unlikely to hit those numbers for a second straight week, a matchup against the Cardinals does make him a strong option. Last week, Arizona surrendered 25.1 fantasy points to T.J. Hockenson.
Walker, listed as a start 'em last week, found the end zone twice and racked up 22.5 fantasy points in a surprising win over the Browns. Fantasy owners would be wise to keep him in their lineups against the Colts, who allowed the third-most points to home tight ends in 2018. Hunter Henry also scored 10 points against them in Week 1.
Hockenson isn't likely to duplicate the big totals he recorded a week ago, but he's hard to ignore after playing 71.3 percent of the offensive snaps and tying for the team lead in targets in Week 1. With that sort of usage, the rookie out of Iowa deserves to be in the conversation as a top-10 fantasy tight end against the Chargers this weekend.
Listed as a sleeper last week, Waller has graduated to the full out start 'em list. He led the Raiders in targets (8) and played 100 percent of the offensive snaps in Week 1, so he's locked and loaded as a prominent member of the Raiders offense. At what can be a thin position, Waller should be added and started for owners in need.
Start 'Em:Evan Engram vs. Buffalo Bills, Jared Cook at Los Angeles Rams
Sleepers:Vance McDonald vs. Seattle Seahawks, Vernon Davis vs. Dallas Cowboys
Sit 'Em
Sit of the Week
Njoku scored a touchdown to save his stat line in last week's loss to the Titans, but he's going to be end-zone dependant from a fantasy perspective. Can he do it again? Well, the Jets surrendered just five touchdown catches to opposing tight ends all of last season. I'd consider Njoku a risk-reward proposition on Monday Night Football.
Ebron was a fantasy star last season, but that was then and this is now ... and now, Ebron is little more than a desperation fantasy starter with a lesser quarterback and a shared role with Jack Doyle. Last week, the duo combined for five targets. What's more, Doyle played on 68.3 percent of last week's snaps compared to Ebron's 39.7.
Eifert was a popular "if you're desperate" option at tight end last week, but he finished with just 27 yards and took a backseat in snaps to C.J. Uzomah. In fact, the latter played on nearly 20 percent more snaps in the Bengals opener in Seattle. The Niners held O.J. Howard mostly in check last weekend, making Eifert even less attractive.
Rudolph played in 100 percent of the Vikings offensive snaps last week. That's good right? Well, he still put up a big fat zero on just one target in a victory over the Falcons. The Packers defense was strong in last week's win over the Bears, so it might be another weak performance from the veteran tight end. Keep him on the sidelines.
Sit 'Em:Â Austin Hooper vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Jason Witten at Washington Redskins
Busts:Â Jimmy Graham vs. Minnesota Vikings, Jack Doyle at Tennessee Titans
Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on NFL.com and NFL Network and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. You can follow Michael on **Twitter**, **Facebook**, **YouTube** and **Instagram** for all of the latest fantasy football news, notes and in-depth analysis!
