• start Brock Purdy: The San Francisco 49ers Quarterback does not have many fantasy points against the New York Jets in Week 1, but there is no stronger secondary than the Jets’, which means Purdy should bounce back.
• Sit George Pickens: Pickens will spend the day Pat Surtain II while the rest of the Steelers’ offense Denver Broncos’ Defense.
• Take advantage of a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all of our fantasy tools throughout the season, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Starting Sit Optimizer and more. Register now!
Estimated reading time: 14 minutes
Deciding who should start or sit can be as simple as checking PFF rankings and choosing the higher-ranked player. This Start Sit column goes a step further and examines why a typical starter might struggle in a given week or why an overlooked player might perform well. While common starters often remain the best choices, we also focus on those fringe players who are worth considering.
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QUARTERBACKS
START
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Purdy had a below-average start to the season from a fantasy perspective, but that will not be a long-term problem. He had 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 him 25th among quarterbacks. However, he was the second-highest rated quarterback of the week and helped the 49ers to the win.
He’s coming off the second-best defense that prevented quarterbacks from scoring fantasy points to a subpar unit last year. Minnesota VikingsMinnesota’s defense did a great job last week against Daniel Jonesbut that will be a completely different challenge.
Purdy has excelled in zone defense throughout his career, posting an 85.7 rating against zone defense compared to 68.5 against man coverage. The Vikings were a top-10 unit in zone coverage last season under Brian Flores, posting the fifth-highest zone rate in Week 1.
Purdy has been selected as a weekly starter in fantasy drafts. Last week was an exception, not the rule.
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