The final test of the fantasy football regular season is here for fantasy managers. Many will be fighting for playoff spots in Week 14 while missing some of their top playmakers during the NFL’s final set of bye weeks.
Four total teams will be on bye in Week 14: the Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. That will knock plenty of playmakers out of action, including Drake Maye, Christian McCaffrey, Rico Dowdle and many, many more.
As such, fantasy managers on the cusp of making it into the fantasy postseason will have to make some key start ’em, sit ’em decisions to replace these contributors. Those lineup choices could end up making or breaking their respective seasons as the fantasy playoff push reaches its final stages.
Who can you start and sit in fantasy football for Week 14 of the NFL season? USA TODAY Sports outlines eight players to start and eight to sit.
Fantasy football players to start in Week 14
Quarterbacks
- Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (vs. Dallas Cowboys)
Goff continues to be a steady producer at quarterback, as he has logged at least 250 passing yards in five straight games while logging multiple touchdowns in four of those five contests. Now, he gets to face a Cowboys defense that has surrendered a league-high 28 passing touchdowns and the most fantasy points per game (FPPG) to quarterbacks.
- Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (vs. Chicago Bears)
Love has been hit or miss this season, but he performed at an MVP level in the Packers’ Thanksgiving win over the Lions. The 27-year-old should find similar success against the Bears, who are tied with the Lions for the second-most passing touchdowns surrendered to quarterbacks this season.
Running backs
- Jordan Mason, Minnesota Vikings (vs. Washington Commanders)
Mason has taken a backseat to Aaron Jones in recent weeks, but Jones suffered a shoulder injury against the Seahawks. It isn’t clear whether that will cause the veteran to miss time, but either way, it could create more opportunities for Mason. The former 49er has generated between 42 and 47 rushing yards in his last three outings while averaging 6.7 carries per game. He could post better numbers with more volume against a Washington defense that has surrendered the fourth-most FPPG to RBs this season.
- Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams (at Arizona Cardinals)
Wide receivers
- Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions (vs. Dallas Cowboys)
Since Detroit’s bye week, Williams is averaging 83.4 receiving yards over five games with four touchdowns. On Thanksgiving, he racked up a season-high seven catches for 144 yards after Amon-Ra St. Brown left the contest with an ankle injury and did not return. Expect Williams to have another big game against a Cowboys defense that has allowed a league-high 21 receiving touchdowns to wideouts this season.
- Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens (vs. Pittsburgh Steelers)
Flowers is coming off a Thanksgiving dud against the Bengals, but he has largely remained consistent despite Lamar Jackson’s recent struggles. The Boston College product has posted at least 58 receiving yards in seven of his last nine games and gets an appetizing matchup against a Steelers team that has allowed a league-high 2,061 receiving yards to wide-outs this season.
Tight end
- Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins (at New York Jets)
Waller returned to action after missing four games with a pectoral injury. He totaled a team-high 47 yards on just two catches but nearly logged his fifth touchdown of the season, narrowly failing to get both feet down in the end zone. Waller remains a big-time red-zone threat and should have plenty of scoring chances in a favorable matchup against a Jets defense against which he scored twice in Week 4.
Defense/special teams
- Cleveland Browns (vs. Tennessee Titans)
No quarterback has been sacked more times than Cam Ward this season (48). Myles Garrett is on pace to set the NFL’s single-season sack record, as he has 19 sacks through 12 games. Add in that the Titans are averaging a league-low 14.2 points per game and this seems like a smash spot for the Browns.
Fantasy football players to sit in Week 14
Quarterbacks
- Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals (vs. Los Angeles Rams)
Brissett has been incredibly consistent since taking over for Kyler Murray, logging two passing touchdowns in six of his seven starts and averaging a whopping 312.6 passing yards per game. But backing him against a Rams team that has only allowed multiple passing touchdowns four times in 12 games this season doesn’t seem like a formula for success.
- Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. Philadelphia Eagles)
Herbert and the Chargers seem confident he’ll play despite the quarterback suffering a fracture in his left, non-throwing hand. Still, backing a quarterback at less than 100% against a strong defense like the Eagles doesn’t seem like a winning formula. Philadelphia has limited opposing quarterbacks to 12 passing touchdowns this season, tied for second-fewest in the league, so Herbert has a low floor/ceiling combination in this one.
Running backs
- Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs (vs. Houston Texans)
The Chiefs eased Pacheco into action in his first game back from a knee injury that sidelined him for three games. He could eventually work his way back into a larger role, but he appears to be playing second fiddle to Kareem Hunt for now. That makes it hard to trust him against a Texans defense that ranks No. 1 overall league-wide in defensive EPA per play, per the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
- Woody Marks, Houston Texans (at Kansas City Chiefs)
Trusting either running game in the Texans-Chiefs contest seems risky. The Chiefs have allowed the sixth-fewest FPPG to running backs this season while Marks has averaged just 3.6 yards per carry despite overtaking Nick Chubb in Houston’s backfield rotation. Chubb could also vulture potential scores from Marks, so this just seems like a situation to avoid.
Wide receivers
- Darnell Mooney, Atlanta Falcons (vs. Seattle Seahawks)
Many believed Kirk Cousins’ return to the lineup would help Mooney regain the form he displayed during his career-best 2024 season. Instead, he has managed just five catches for 99 yards and a touchdown across Cousins’ two starts. Mooney will remain an inconsistent deep threat, as such, which makes him hard to trust against a Seahawks defense that has allowed the second-fewest receiving yards to wide-outs this season.
- DJ Moore, Chicago Bears (at Green Bay Packers)
Moore has been wildly inconsistent during his second season working with Caleb Williams. The 28-year-old veteran had a two-touchdown game in Week 12 but has surrounded that with three games in which he totaled three catches and 35 yards. Moore certainly has boom potential, but he comes with a lot of risk against a Packers defense that is allowing the fifth-fewest points per game league-wide this season (20).
Tight end
- Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. Philadelphia Eagles)
Gadsden has had a couple of monster showings during his rookie season, but he hasn’t been as productive of late. The 22-year-old is averaging just two receptions for 27 yards over his last three games and hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 8. It’s best to sit him against an Eagles defense that has allowed the third-fewest FPPG to tight ends this season, especially with Herbert banged up.
Defense/special teams
- Houston Texans (at Kansas City Chiefs)
The Texans have one of the NFL’s best defenses and just limited one of the NFL’s best offenses, the Colts, to just 16 points. It may be hard for them to do the same against the Chiefs after Patrick Mahomes and Rashee Rice enjoyed a breakout game in Kansas City’s Thanksgiving loss to the Cowboys.
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