Here is our Week 15 Fantasy Football Start and Bench Advice for the 2009 Fantasy Football Season. Start ‘EM & Sit ‘Em Advice was meant to be bold, yet calculated. We know that and we understand that. We also understand that fantasy owners aren’t looking for answers to the obvious questions, which is why we have addressed more dilemma-like situations entering Week 15 of the 2009 fantasy football season.
This one is easy, Roddy White faces Darrelle Revis and the Jets this week, probably without Matt Ryan. I start Sidney Rice who’s QB is healthy and whose team is fighting for playoff position. With Percy Harvin on one side and Adrian Peterson ready for a big day Brett Favre will be looking for Rice deep just enough for this start to pay off.
Both guys are RB3/flex considerations for me, so take what follows with a grain of salt. I’d take a risk on Quinton Ganther in this one. Primarily because of his goal line carries and the presence of Ahmad Bradshaw in the Giant backfield along with Brandon Jacobs. The Redskins rank 22nd in the league vs the run, giving up 117.5 ypg. Jacobs needs to get the ball more than 15 times a game to take advantage of this matchup. Those 15 carries in last game were his high water mark since week 8. Bradshaw getting 12 or so carries a game severely cuts into Jacbos value. I gamble with Ganther in this one hoping he’ll get enough goal line carries to justify the start.
Both Ricky Williams and Rashard Mendenhall are facing top shelf run defenses this week, although the good news is that they are both the clear cut starters for their respective teams. Bottom line for me here is that Pittsburgh is not playing well and Miami is – and in spite of the matchup, Williams is playing at home and coming off a five game stretch where he has gone over 100 yards rushing 4 times and scored 5 TDs. Pittsburgh has morphed into a passing team and I don’t know that they will be able to go back to the run this week trying to keep pace with a Green Bay team capable of putting up points in bunches. Leave Mendy on the bench.
Ryan Grant has had a very good season, already over 1,200 total yards with 7 TDs. A look at his game logs reveals that he feasts on the poor defenses, averaging 109 total yards with 5 TDs against the likes of Chicago, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Detroit and St. Louis. Against stiffer competition like Minnesota, Cincinnati, Baltimore and Dallas, he has only averaged 70 total yards with a single score. The matchup with Pittsburgh obviously falls into the latter category, so I expect Grant to have mediocre numbers this week. Is that enough reason to bench him in favor of Jamaal Charles? I say yes. Charles has averaged nearly 120 total yards in his last 3 games and scored a TD in each one. This week’s matchup with Cleveland is a gift from the fantasy Gods, and I fully expect him to stay true to those averages again this week.
Here are the defensive ranks against the run through Week 14.
|
Rk
|
Team
|
G
|
Yds
|
Avg
|
Yds/G
|
TD
|
|
1
|
Pittsburgh Steelers
|
13
|
1,104
|
3.7
|
84.9
|
4
|
|
2
|
Green Bay Packers
|
13
|
1,105
|
3.6
|
85
|
4
|
|
3
|
Cincinnati Bengals
|
13
|
1,123
|
3.8
|
86.4
|
8
|
|
4
|
Minnesota Vikings
|
13
|
1,130
|
4.1
|
86.9
|
3
|
|
5
|
San Francisco 49ers
|
13
|
1,235
|
3.7
|
95
|
10
|
|
6
|
Baltimore Ravens
|
13
|
1,271
|
3.5
|
97.8
|
7
|
|
7
|
Tennessee Titans
|
13
|
1,284
|
4.2
|
98.8
|
11
|
|
8
|
Dallas Cowboys
|
13
|
1,303
|
4
|
100.2
|
6
|
|
9
|
New York Giants
|
13
|
1,308
|
4
|
100.6
|
17
|
|
10
|
Philadelphia Eagles
|
13
|
1,319
|
3.8
|
101.5
|
10
|
|
11
|
New York Jets
|
13
|
1,356
|
3.9
|
104.3
|
9
|
|
11
|
Seattle Seahawks
|
13
|
1,356
|
4.2
|
104.3
|
10
|
|
13
|
Miami Dolphins
|
13
|
1,379
|
4.1
|
106.1
|
15
|
|
14
|
Jacksonville Jaguars
|
13
|
1,391
|
4
|
107
|
9
|
|
15
|
Denver Broncos
|
13
|
1,396
|
3.9
|
107.4
|
7
|
|
16
|
New England Patriots
|
13
|
1,421
|
4.4
|
109.3
|
3
|
|
17
|
Indianapolis Colts
|
13
|
1,435
|
4.1
|
110.4
|
8
|
|
18
|
Arizona Cardinals
|
13
|
1,446
|
4.5
|
111.2
|
9
|
|
19
|
New Orleans Saints
|
13
|
1,456
|
4.4
|
112
|
15
|
|
20
|
Houston Texans
|
13
|
1,489
|
4.4
|
114.5
|
14
|
|
21
|
San Diego Chargers
|
13
|
1,522
|
4.3
|
117.1
|
8
|
|
22
|
Washington Redskins
|
13
|
1,527
|
4.1
|
117.5
|
7
|
|
23
|
Atlanta Falcons
|
13
|
1,532
|
4.3
|
117.8
|
10
|
|
24
|
Detroit Lions
|
13
|
1,669
|
4.5
|
128.4
|
14
|
|
25
|
Chicago Bears
|
13
|
1,675
|
4.4
|
128.8
|
12
|
|
26
|
Carolina Panthers
|
13
|
1,785
|
4.6
|
137.3
|
13
|
|
27
|
St. Louis Rams
|
13
|
1,914
|
4.6
|
147.2
|
19
|
|
28
|
Kansas City Chiefs
|
13
|
1,925
|
4.5
|
148.1
|
13
|
|
29
|
Cleveland Browns
|
13
|
1,927
|
4.5
|
148.2
|
14
|
|
30
|
Oakland Raiders
|
13
|
2,004
|
4.6
|
154.2
|
20
|
|
31
|
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
|
13
|
2,096
|
4.7
|
161.2
|
15
|
|
32
|
Buffalo Bills
|
13
|
2,210
|
4.9
|
170
|
17
|
Here are the defensive ranks against the pass through Week 14.
|
Rk
|
Team
|
G
|
Yds
|
Avg
|
Yds/G
|
TD
|
|
1
|
New York Jets
|
13
|
2,085
|
5.5
|
160.4
|
7
|
|
2
|
Denver Broncos
|
13
|
2,383
|
6.1
|
183.3
|
14
|
|
3
|
Green Bay Packers
|
13
|
2,431
|
6.1
|
187
|
24
|
|
4
|
Washington Redskins
|
13
|
2,444
|
6.7
|
188
|
13
|
|
5
|
Buffalo Bills
|
13
|
2,467
|
6.2
|
189.8
|
10
|
|
6
|
Carolina Panthers
|
13
|
2,501
|
6.6
|
192.4
|
13
|
|
7
|
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
|
13
|
2,603
|
7.5
|
200.2
|
24
|
|
8
|
Chicago Bears
|
13
|
2,611
|
6.7
|
200.8
|
21
|
|
9
|
New York Giants
|
13
|
2,685
|
7.1
|
206.5
|
23
|
|
10
|
San Diego Chargers
|
13
|
2,692
|
6.7
|
207.1
|
19
|
|
11
|
Baltimore Ravens
|
13
|
2,706
|
6.8
|
208.2
|
15
|
|
12
|
Cincinnati Bengals
|
13
|
2,718
|
6.4
|
209.1
|
14
|
|
13
|
Pittsburgh Steelers
|
13
|
2,719
|
6.7
|
209.2
|
15
|
|
14
|
New England Patriots
|
13
|
2,747
|
6.9
|
211.3
|
22
|
|
15
|
Houston Texans
|
13
|
2,792
|
6.8
|
214.8
|
17
|
|
16
|
Minnesota Vikings
|
13
|
2,817
|
7
|
216.7
|
19
|
|
17
|
Oakland Raiders
|
13
|
2,838
|
8.2
|
218.3
|
14
|
|
18
|
Philadelphia Eagles
|
13
|
2,842
|
6.6
|
218.6
|
21
|
|
19
|
St. Louis Rams
|
13
|
2,896
|
7.8
|
222.8
|
18
|
|
20
|
Indianapolis Colts
|
13
|
2,951
|
6.3
|
227
|
13
|
|
21
|
Dallas Cowboys
|
13
|
2,979
|
7
|
229.2
|
18
|
|
22
|
Miami Dolphins
|
13
|
3,037
|
8.1
|
233.6
|
15
|
|
23
|
New Orleans Saints
|
13
|
3,063
|
6.6
|
235.6
|
13
|
|
24
|
Kansas City Chiefs
|
13
|
3,083
|
7.8
|
237.2
|
22
|
|
25
|
Cleveland Browns
|
13
|
3,094
|
8.2
|
238
|
18
|
|
26
|
Jacksonville Jaguars
|
13
|
3,113
|
7.2
|
239.5
|
20
|
|
27
|
San Francisco 49ers
|
13
|
3,167
|
7
|
243.6
|
13
|
|
28
|
Arizona Cardinals
|
13
|
3,232
|
6.9
|
248.6
|
20
|
|
29
|
Seattle Seahawks
|
13
|
3,287
|
7.1
|
252.8
|
24
|
|
30
|
Atlanta Falcons
|
13
|
3,352
|
7.9
|
257.8
|
23
|
|
31
|
Tennessee Titans
|
13
|
3,364
|
7.1
|
258.8
|
27
|
|
32
|
Detroit Lions
|
13
|
3,537
|
8.3
|
272.1
|
29
|
Be sure to check out our 2009 Fantasy Football Weekly Player Projections, which are updated daily.
Our player projections include over 100 offensive player projections each and every week.
Also, be sure to utilize our ASK OUR STAFF feature if you have tough decisions to make heading into Week 15 of the 2009 fantasy football season.
For NFL Breaking News, click here. Things happen quickly in this league and knowledge is power!
Get your 2009 fantasy football fix here at FantasyFootballXtreme.com.
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Related Tags » 2009 fantasy football • advice • Brandon Jacobs • Fantasy Football Blogs • Jamaal Charles • mendy • predictions • projections • quinton ganther • Rashard Mendenhall • ricky williams • roddy white • Ryan Grant • sidney rice • sit • sit em • start and bench advice • start bench • start em • Week 15 • week 15 start bench
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