Fantasy Football Week 14 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: Jake Ferguson vs. Brenton Strange
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Both ranking inside our week 14 TE rankings are TE from the Dallas Cowboys, Jake Ferguson, and TE for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Brenton Strange. Here is a breakdown of who to play between the two this week in fantasy football.
Brenton Strange
For the first time this year, TE for the Jaguars, Brenton Strange, found the endzone in week 13 against the Tennessee Titans. In the game to go with his TD, he had three receptions on four targets, for 45 receiving yards. Among TEs, this slotted him at TE7 for the week in most fantasy points in PPR formats. Over the last three weeks, he ranks as TE10 in these rankings.
In week 14, Strange will look to continue this play against the Indianapolis Colts. In the year, the Colts are allowing the sixth most passing yards per game, and their weakness in their pass defense has shown up against opposing TEs. In the season in PPR fantasy formats, they are allowing the fifth most fantasy points per game to the TE position as a whole. Recently, in a small sample size, in their last three games, they have done fairly well against opposing TE1s. Over that span, they have not let one TE1 over 60 receiving yards, and have also not given up a TD to them.
Jake Ferguson
The Dallas Cowboys TE1 Jake Ferguson is coming off a down game against the Kansas City Chiefs in week 13. In the contest, he had five receptions for 36 yards. This ranked him as TE18 for the week in PPR fantasy formats. One positive that continued for Ferguson in last week's game was his reception total. His five receptions mark the third game of his last four and his ninth game out of 12 this season, where he has had five or more receptions in a game. Ferguson will look to carry this positive and build off it in a big way to hopefully stack some big games together as some fantasy leagues start to enter postseason play.
The Cowboys this week will take on the Detroit Lions on Thursday night. This year, the Lions have done well in guarding opposing TEs, allowing the 12th fantasy point per game in PPR fantasy formats to the position. In their last three games, they have maintained that level. In two of their past three contest, the Lions have allowed under 25 receiving yards to opposing TE1s and two or fewer receptions. The one TE1 out of the three to go over both of these totals was New York Giants TE Theo Johnson. He had three receptions for 77 yards in what ended up being a 34-27 shootout win for the Lions.
Final Verdict
When it comes to who to start and who to sit in fantasy football this week, between Strange and Ferguson, Strange should start, and Ferguson should sit. The main factor in this is just matchups. Ferguson has a tough opponent in week 14, while Strange has a statistically more vulnerable one. Strange with this matchup and his high-level play as of late is enough to give him the starting nod over Ferguson in week 14 of fantasy football.
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Gray Deyo is a Nashville-based sportswriter who graduated with a sports management bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has covered prep sports, college sports, the WNBA, and the NBA for the past four years. In addition to writing for SI, Gray also currently contributes to Prep Girls Hoops