By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com

If you’re in an 0-2 hole, it’s crunch time for you this week. Some are hoping too stick with their guns and weigh out the losses with your point total. Others might be buried in that stat too, might of got suckered into a trade. Too avoid that 0-3 start, here are some players to start and sit for week three.

Quarterback

Start: Cam Newton
Two impressive outings give Newton the nod to plug in this week. He has his best match up so far. With the Jaguars putting rookie Blaine Gabbert out, mistakes are bound to happen. Newton’s been a statistic machine, and won’t stop vs. the Jaguars.

Start: Sam Bradford
Apparently the secondary weaknesses of a year ago for the Ravens have not been resolved yet. Chunks of yardage through the air were given up to low rated fantasy quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. Bradford excels with great accuracy, and is developing more confidence in the Rams new offensive system.

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Start: Colt McCoy
Miami’s defense has been torn apart by tight ends. Cleveland boasts an under rated tandem in Evan Moore and Ben Watson. McCoy is the a rhythm type quarterback that can get hot quick. As he starts to hit his targets early, he’ll be en route for a big day.

Start: Kyle Orton
Denver’s backfield is still a bit dinged up. With Willis McGahee likely receiving all carries, Denver will need to offset his poor yards per carry average. Expect Orton to be gunning a way and get fantasy owners plenty of points for yardage. Last year against the Titans, Orton threw the ball 50 times.

Sit: Ryan Fitzpatrick- Yes the match up looks intriguing. In order for the Bills to stay in this game they’re going to need to utilize their solid run game over relying on Fitzpatrick. He was able to get away with picking apart the Raiders secondary in the second half, as they melted down completely. Bill Belichick realizes the Bills are under manned at receiver. David Nelson has been Fitzpatrick’s favorite target, and Belichick will look at taking him out as a factor completely.

Sit: Josh Freeman- During his breakout campaign of 2010, Freeman didn’t exactly have solid outings versus the divisional rival Falcons. Both games he threw for under 200 yards, and had a grand total of three touchdowns to three interceptions. Their offense was out of sync week one, but got back on track week two by refocusing on rushing the football.

Running Backs

Start: Chris Johnson- Don’t be a fool and decide to sit Johnson. You drafted him highly and dealt with his first two weeks of poor games. He’ll come along starting this week. Never sit someone you drafted in round one unless he is injured.

Start: James Starks- For some reason the Bears know how to contain Aaron Rodgers. That trend may halt this week, but Starks limited carries the first few weeks should change as well. Averaging almost seven yards a carry, the Packers need to involve his workload more in the range of fifteen to eighteen a game.

Start: Brandon Jacobs- This is one of the weeks where a back like Jacobs will be a main factor. The Eagles struggle at stopping the run up the gut. Corners and linebackers already have a hard enough time tackling Jacobs. In goal line situations there won’t be an Eagle tripping up Jacobs for a loss. He should get a touchdown and a decent amount of yards to pair with it.

Sit: Tim Hightower- It never takes long for Mike Shanahan to pull a switch at running back. Roy Helu was a factor last week, enough to garner more carries as the season goes on. Hightower has been effective as well, but there is a reason why Arizona did not retain him or give him a main shot. He isn’t consistent enough to be a feature back on a weekly basis.

Sit: Thomas Jones/Dexter McCluster- Acquiring a running back that now has a shot at being a fantasy factor, brightens the hopes of many fantasy owners. With the case of the Chiefs backfield, it’s all dependant on when this offense shows some life.

Sit: Mark Ingram- The Saints look as if by mid year they’ll try and force feed Ingram more carries. In the mean time, Pierre Thomas is still in the fold, and the offense is at another level the more plays Darren Sproles is involved in.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Start: Vernon Davis- San Francisco has been hit with the injury bug at receiver. With Ted Ginn having to get reps as starter, you know the 49ers are in trouble. Expect Davis’s targets to be around eight to ten in this game, and one big pass play out of it.

Start: Johnny Knox- The Packers aren’t going to let Chicago roast them all day with Matt Forte screens and catches. Someone else on the Bears is going to have to contribute. Knox has been Cutler’s bail out receiver in the past when the dink and dump option is taking away. It’s not often you can start a Bears receiver, but I say this is the week to do with Knox.

Start: Mike Sims-Walker- It was DaNario Alexander that made the highlight catch on Monday Night Football, but Mike Sims-Walker was quietly just as dependable. He made plenty of crossing pattern catches, in which he picked up additional YAC. Bradford just threw for a career high in yards. He might top it this weekend.

Sit: AJ Green- The law of averages are against Green to continue his solid season. Not that the 49ers have a great secondary. Green’s weekly performances should be somewhere in between last week’s monster game, and his week one. Week one he had one catch for a forty yard touchdown.

Sit: Rob Gronkowski- Many are ready to automatically move Gronkowski into the top three tight ends with Hernandez out. Not so fast. With both on the field teams have to pick their poison. Now that it is just Gronkowski, teams will be able to gear to shut him down. He still has great value in the red zone, but I don’t expect for him to be as high of a factor outside of it, as fantasy football analysts are predicting.

Sit: Antonio Brown- He was targeted nine times last week, catching just four balls. This game has blowout written all over it, but I think it’ll end up being closer than people think. The Steelers will get this win with monster yards on the ground by utilizing Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman.