• Start Brock Purdy: The San Francisco 49ers quarterback didn’t put up many fantasy points against the New York Jets in Week 1, but there is no secondary tougher than the Jets’, which means Purdy should bounce back.

• Sit George Pickens: Pickens will spend the day facing Pat Surtain II while the rest of the Steelers’ offense takes advantage of the Denver Broncos’ defense.

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Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes

Deciding who to start or sit can be as simple as checking PFF’s rankings and choosing the higher-ranked player. This start-sit column goes a step further, examining why a typical starter might struggle in a given week or why an overlooked player could perform well. While usual starters often remain the best choices, we also focus on those borderline players worth considering.

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QUARTERBACKS

START

Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

Purdy had a subpar start to the season from a fantasy perspective, but that won’t be a long-term problem. He faced a strong New York Jets coverage defense, completing 19 of his 29 passes for 231 yards and no touchdowns. His 10.3 fantasy points ranked 25th among quarterbacks. However, he was the second-highest-graded quarterback of the week and helped the 49ers to victory.

He is going from facing the second-best defense at preventing quarterbacks from scoring fantasy points last year to a below-average unit in the Minnesota Vikings. The Minnesota defense did a great job last week against Daniel Jones, but this will be an entirely different challenge.

Purdy has excelled throughout his career against zone defense, posting an 85.7 grade against zone compared to 68.5 against man. The Vikings were a top-10 unit in zone coverage usage last season under Brian Flores and deployed zone at the fifth-highest rate in Week 1.

Purdy was selected to be a weekly starter in fantasy drafts. Last week was an exception, not the rule.

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