• Start Tony Pollard: The running back is a dominant force as long as the Titans are winning or at least keeping the game close. This week, they are favorites.

• Sit C.J. Stroud: Stroud is in a poor position this week, with Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs out in a matchup against a strong New York Jets pass defense.

• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!

Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes

Deciding who to start or sit in fantasy football 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

Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons

Cousins’ fantasy production has been inconsistent this year, including three top-10 finishes and five outside of the top 20. His PFF passing grade isn’t as high as earlier in his career, but he still ranks among the top 12 quarterbacks. Like most good but not great quarterbacks who rarely run, the path to a top-12 fantasy finish is scoring multiple touchdowns. When Cousins has done so, he has finished in the top 12. And when he hasn’t, he’s finished much lower.

The Falcons in Week 9 face the Dallas Cowboys, who have given up the sixth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. The Cowboys have allowed six passing touchdowns in the past three weeks, and their team coverage grade is the fifth lowest among defenses. Dallas cornerbacks DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs were not practicing at the start of the week due to injuries.

The one strong point of the Cowboys’ defense is their pass rush, although Micah Parsons is dealing with an ankle injury. While Cousins doesn’t grade well under pressure and is more likely to get sacked or throw the ball away, he’s averaging 7.8 yards per attempt without pressure and 7.7 with. That difference is much better than most quarterbacks.

Cousins should generally play well against the Dallas defense, and since they’ve allowed a decent number of passing touchdowns recently, he has good odds of reaching multiple touchdowns this week.

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