Starts & Fades 9.24

This article is intended to highlight some players who may have a positive or negative weekly outlook relative to their baseline value. 

“Starts” are players who might generally be on fantasy benches but might have a terrific perceived matchup or game script/environment, or the potential for an expanded role due to past performance or injuries to teammates or opponents. 

“Fades” are players who were likely drafted as fantasy starters or have performed as automatic starters lately but face a particularly tough week due to a poor matchup or a lack of short-term role clarity due to an injury, etc. 

Here are a few of my notable starts and fades for Week 9 of the 2024 NFL season, with some notes on my thought process included:

QB

Start: Dak Prescott, DAL (at ATL)

• Prescott and the rest of his Cowboys played the 49ers close for a half last week before being blown out in the third quarter. Dallas mounted a late comeback and actually had the ball, down six points, with three minutes left. Dak proceeded to throw four straight incompletions and the 49ers eventually won, 30-24.
• Dallas heads to Atlanta this week as 2.5-point underdogs in the game with the highest implied point total (52.0). Dallas is dead last in the league in rushing attempts, rushing yards, yards per carry, and rushing yards per game. They are tied for the least rushing TDs in the NFL (three). Their longest rush this season is somehow just 13 yards, less than half of the next-worst mark in the league.
• Dak hasn’t lived up to his draft status as a fantasy starter at QB so far, but if Dallas plays to anywhere near their implied team total this week, it seems extremely likely to come via their passing game. I like Dak as a back-end QB1 option in what projects to be a high-scoring game at ATL.

Fade:  Bo Nix, DEN (at BAL)