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Fantasy Football 2019: Thursday Night Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Week 9

By Kole Berrey

GLENDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 28: Arizona Cardinals wide receiver J.J. Nelson (14) battles with San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman (25) in game action during an NFL game between the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers on October 28, 2018 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 28: Arizona Cardinals wide receiver J.J. Nelson (14) battles with San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman (25) in game action during an NFL game between the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers on October 28, 2018 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Arizona Cardinals wide receiver J.J. Nelson (14) battles with San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman (25) (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver J.J. Nelson (14) battles with San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman (25) (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The halfway point to the NFL season has now come, which means it also the home stretch for fantasy football.

Teams are gearing up for their playoff runs in fantasy football, and that means navigating injuries, bye weeks, and other unforeseen obstacles in your way. Trust me, I know the pain of injuries and bye weeks. I am starting Peyton Barber in a league this week. We are officially to that point.

That brings us to Thursday Night Football, which has some challenges of its own. Injured players have shorter recovery times from Sunday ailments, which means teams are likely to hold them back an extra week to mitigate risk. We saw it two weeks ago with Sammy Watkins, last week with Adam Thielen, and it appears this week with David Johnson.

Before we get into any of that, I would like to take this moment to talk about a very important tip for fantasy football. If you plan on starting any players on Thursday night, TAKE THEM OUT OF YOUR FLEX SPOTS. This is a giant thing that many overlook.

Last week, Keenan Allen was injured mid week and didn’t practice on Friday. He ended up playing, but what if he didn’t? Let’s say you started Stefon Diggs at WR and Terry McLaurin in your flex on Thursday and then Allen is ruled out. That means your flex is already used and locked, and you are forced to start a WR for Allen if he doesn’t suit up.

But if you move McLaurin to your WR spot, Allen to your flex, and then Allen gets ruled out? That means you can use your best available player on your bench in relief. So trust me here folks, move Thursday night players out of your flex spots.

All right, let’s get into this thing. First off, my weekly disclaimer is that this Start and Sit column wont be for absolutely obvious choices. You have George Kittle? Great. You are starting him. Don’t get cute here. This advice is hopefully here to help you make the tough decisions. Everyone on the bus? Good. Great. Grand. Wonderful.

*all statistics are courtesy of fantasypros.com, and all numbers are PPR formats

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