Drew Brees: Start him or sit him vs. 49ers?
By John Buhler
Though the New Orleans Saints are a good team, so are the San Francisco 49ers. Should you start or sit Drew Brees at quarterback in fantasy football?
In a game that could potentially decide home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs, the New Orleans Saints will host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Both teams are 10-2 and dream of having the NFC playoffs run through their respective stadiums. Though the Saints are the home favorite in this one, is it wise to start Drew Brees at quarterback against this 49ers defense?
The Fantasy Footballers believe it is in your best interest to go with a streaming option at quarterback this weekend rather than start Brees against one of the better defenses in the NFL. The 49ers defense is one of the few defenses in fantasy football that consistently gets you a ton of points to round out your week. Brees hasn’t been at that quarterback for a while now.
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There is one option that may make it worth your while to start Brees, despite him going up against the stout 49ers defense. That option would be if you also have Michael Thomas on your fantasy team as your WR1. If you have that luxury, you can potentially offset your losses by Brees, as Thomas’ is seemingly his only wide receiver target and can make up for it.
Frankly, if you are in a league where you have to win by Brees, you haven’t managed your quarterback roster spot correctly. Even though he was an MVP candidate a season ago, Brees did miss five games this season with a thumb ligament injury and the Saints didn’t seem to skip a beat with Teddy Bridgewater filling in for him as the New Orleans starting quarterback.
If there was ever a week to not start Brees in your fantasy lineup at quarterback, outside of his bye week, of course, this would be the week to do so and for so many reasons. One, he’s not an elite fantasy quarterback anymore. Two, you’re going up against arguably the best defense in the NFC in San Francisco. And three, this is fantasy football playoff season. You cannot mess up!
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If Brees has a monster game on your bench against the 49ers, let’s just hope it wasn’t the difference between you winning your playoff game of not. Frankly, that’s not expected to happen. Go on waivers and find a guy who has a favorable matchup this week, or roll with the guy you’ve parked on your bench for far too long because you’re still living in the fantasy past with Brees.