Start 'Em, Sit 'Em For Week 14 Fantasy Football: Why You Should Bench Jalen Hurts

Clock’s ticking… let’s close this fantasy season out strong as always. Felt pretty good after planting my flag to start Tyler Shough, who actually outscored Josh Allen, in bailing me out of a few tough spots last weekend. Sadly, that and a buck will get you a cup of bad coffee, so it’s all about moving forward while avoiding the fantasy landmines.

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Start These Players In Week 14

Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB, WAS at MIN

LAGHEZZA: Finding running back production in this age of committees is frustrating. Toting seventy percent of a team’s RB touches was once considered a standard and benchmark to chase for fantasy success. Well, over the last month and a half just 14 backs can lay stake to that claim—with two of them (Kimani Vidal and Chase Brown) set to take workload reductions upon respective backups returning to action.

More backfield splits not only means fewer viable options—more game script dependency creates timing concerns as well. Looking for positive running back situations? Washington’s not usually the first to come to mind… except of course when the Vikings’ motley crew of quarterbacks are next up on the schedule

Spreadsheet and tape grinders unite as one. Chris Rodriguez is clearly the Commanders’ best conventional runner, leading the RB room in all the objective measurables since reassuming a prominent role Week 9 versus Seattle: +0.07 EPA/attempt, 4.6 yards/rush, 57.0% success rate, 9.1% explosive rush rate. Unfortunately, despite soaking up most of the goal-line work regardless, his ceiling’s perpetually capped with Washington always trailing.

Enter J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings, who don’t currently look capable of blowing anyone out—especially a Commanders squad that just took Denver down to the wire. Minnesota defends the run fairly well, though the Vikings have struggled with tackle success the past month, and therefore yards after contact per rush—precisely Rodriguez’s wheelhouse. Two tuddies… who says no?

Tyrod Taylor, QB, Jets

CLEMONS: Taylor may not be a sexy name but he can be an effective start in fantasy. He's scored over 17 points in two of his four starts this season. He had another week that was a 13 point performance. Taylor provides a floor that does not bottom out as much as other backup quarterbacks because he brings value as a runner — averaging over 30 yards in his four starts. 

He throws at least one touchdown in each game but when he adds a rushing touchdown, he normally ends up a top 10 finisher, like he did in week 13 when he scored 21.3. With quarterbacks like Drake Maye, Bryce Young, Jaxson Dart, and Brock Purdy on byes this week, Taylor could be the perfect fill-in. He is only rostered in 12% of leagues so he should be readily available and his matchup against the Dolphins is a favorable one. The Miami defense is allowing 19 or more fantasy points per game on average to opposing quarterbacks.

Isaac TeSlaa, DET, WR vs DAL

LAGHEZZA: Opportunity often breeds fantasy playoff berths, and the planets seem to be aligning perfectly this weekend for third-round rookie out of Arkansas, Isaac TeSlaa. Detroit’s star WR Amon-Ra St. Brown suffered a lateral ankle sprain on Thanksgiving Day and hasn’t practiced since. Now Kalif Raymond’s doubtful with an ankle injury as well.

Assuming St.Brown misses Thursday night’s tilt versus Dallas, there’s yet another massive target void to be filled with since losing TE Sam LaPorta. TeSlaa slotted right in as the next man up with ASRB down on Turkey Day, tying for team-lead in routes run— while reeling in his third TD of the season on just eleven targets. Dallas’ defense may not be nearly as porous as earlier in the year, but it doesn’t matter—the ceiling case of being Jared Goff’s focal point in a 54.5-point game total’s too good to pass up.

Fun stat: Isaac TeSlaa is the only remaining WR on Detroit’s active roster with an end zone target this year, including Jameson Williams.

Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jaguars

CLEMONS: Tuten is a guy who has been on the cusp of a breakout, with double-digit performances in Week 2 (15.4) and Week 11 (13.4). He also had three weeks where he scored just under 10 points; it was 8.1 in Week 3, 9.6 in Week 9, and 8.9 in Week 13. Every time he's flashed relevancy,though, he's been beaten back by a great Travis Etienne performance. Still, Tuten is clearly gaining trust with the coaching staff and is seeing more consistency in his role. 

The Colts surrender between 16 and 19 fantasy points to opposing teams’ running backs. Like many backup RBs, when Tuten is able to have success it is because he can find the end zone. The Colts give up a little less than one per game — good for 15th in the league — but the Jaguars have invested extra effort in the run game. Christian McCaffrey is on a bye and so are the Patriots, Giants and Panthers backfields. You may need to roll the dice this weekend.

Emeka Egbuka, WR, Bucs

CLEMONS: I know it's been a bad three weeks since Egbuka gave you 23.5 points in PPR formats in @eek 10. Performances below 10 points have a lot of fantasy analysts saying "bench him, he's too volatile." I would beg to differ. I look at these performances as the natural ebb and flow that you get from a rookie receiver on a team dealing with injuries. 

In Week 5 Egbuka went for over 31 points and then had three substandard weeks before bouncing back with the aforementioned 23.5 points. That means this week could be a potential bounce back performance for the rookie — any week could be! But specifically here... the Saints are allowing over 24 points per game in fantasy to opposing receivers. We should be bold about Egbuka because Baker Mayfield believes in him. There have only been two weeks this season where Egbuka has not earned seven or more targets. Even during these past three games he has earned nine, eight, and eight targets. Eventually with that consistency, positive regression should happen, especially against a division rival.

Sit These Players In Week 14

Jalen Hurts, QB, PHI at LAC

LAGHEZZA: No timid sits around here, people! Jalen Hurts is fantasy’s overall QB4, yet still terrifies me to roll him out there Monday in Los Angeles. Sure, he pushed his tush into the paint twice against the Cowboys for a QB1 finish Week 12—Hurts also failed to rank top-10 in any of the other three games since the bye.

Losing sworn protector Lane Johnson’s looming large for the QB10 in points per game over the last month—and it won’t get any easier versus Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers. The Bolts just wrapped up an elite month defensively, leading the NFL in yards per play, plays allowed, and average drive distance to go with top-3 scores in everything else that matters.

A stout defense isn’t the only thing worrying me regarding Hurts’ box score—L.A. continues to stray from their extremely pass-heavy approach to open the season. And now Justin Herbert’s at less than one hundred percent with a busted hand? You know LAC’s going to do everything in its power to sit on the rock as long as possible. I’m concerned this turns into a total rockfight.

Fun stat: No quarterback’s passed for more than 170 yards against the Chargers since Week 7!

Devin Neal, RB, Saints

Even if Alvin Kamara is not back this is a bad matchup for Neal. Tampa Bay is one of the better running defenses in the NFL and there is a chance the Saints could be behind in this game which will limit the rush attempts. Do you really want to rely on Neal being able to produce with receiving numbers alone?

Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike, WR, Titans

The Titans passing offense has not been the greatest all season, now they face the Browns defense which has been one of the most disruptive in football. Myles Garrett should be chasing Cam Ward around all game which does not make you believe he will be able to get the ball to any receiver. Best to stay away.

Ashton Jeanty, RB, LV at DEN

LAGHEZZA: It’s a trap! Rookie RB Ashton Jeanty may have two separate top-5 finishes in just the last five weeks alone—I’m still not buying anything in black and silver this Cyber Week. Backing Las Vegas may be the most frustrating venture in fantasy today, because unlike the other total dregs, there’s actual talent in there somewhere.

Bottom line is, Las Vegas had no business drafting a running back in the first round, regardless of talent to run behind this offensive line. Then, in pure reap-what-you-sow fashion, big men Kolton Miller and Jackson Powers-Johnson hit the I.R. with ankle injuries, leaving an abject disaster in their absences’ wake.

Denver’s coming off a razor thin win and heading back home to the altitude as eight point favorites. Talk about a nightmare spot for any visiting team. And as if boasting the league’s best run-stopping unit in terms of yards/rush and explosive rush rate wasn’t enough, Denver’s insane speed in the front-seven’s responsible for the fewest receptions allowed to RBs—Jeanty’s sole recent source of production. We’ve seen the bottom of this offense… it ain’t pretty.

Fun stat: Of 39 RBs with over 110 touches in 2025, Ashton Jeanty’s 4.0 yards per touch ranks second to last.

Sean Tucker and Rachaad White RB Buccaneers

CLEMONS: Neither Tucker or White consistently lit the world on fire without Bucky Irving, which is why his return meant doom for both in fantasy. It does not matter how much they play in the game, when it's time to run the ball, they are giving it to Bucky. When they want to pass it, it's likely to Bucky. This is not Atlanta, Chicago, or Detroit. This offense is not structured to sustain two backs.

Tua Tagovailoa QB Dolphins

CLEMONS: The Dolphins have been winning — but have they been winning because of Tua or in spite of Tua? Over the past four weeks he is averaging a meager 14.5 points per game. The recipe for the low-scoring output? Too many throws that do not find the hands of the receivers mixed with one throw that seems to always find a defensive back. Even without Sauce Gardner the Jets are pretty rough against quarterbacks. Tua may have an even lower number.

John's Parting Start/Sit Chart

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