START FOR SURE
RB’s Arian Foster and Chris Johnson — You already knew not to sit Johnson against the worst defense in the NFL, that’s just common knowledge. Foster played very well against the Jets last week, who have one of the better run defenses in the NFL. Don’t downgrade him out of your lineup just because of his matchup unless you’re playing in a two team league.
WR Andre Johnson — Had a bad game against Darrelle Revis, but who doesn’t when he’s healthy? Cortland Finnegan should be an easier task, even if he is no cakewalk. The Titans have a pretty good pass defense but number one wide receivers have been their Achilles heel so far this year: they’re just 21st in the NFL against them according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA numbers.
TE Bo Scaife — If Zac Diles is back patrolling the middle of the field like a guard in a James Bond movie, then Scaife should find a way to get a touchdown out of the scenario, third string quarterback or not.
IFFY
Randy Moss — Between his new found quarterback struggling against the Redskins and Moss being much more of a vertical threat, you can make the case that his value will be stifled. Of course, if you have a receiver, and you don’t start them against the Texans, you’re asking for the Football Gods to spite you. I’d probably start him and cover my eyes if I had him.
Nate Washington — See Randy Moss, add some snaps against Kareem Jackson and Brice McCain and less talent. Nobody can blame you for starting him, but it sure would help if the Titans had a better quarterback.
SIT
Kevin Walter — While the Titans are bad against #1 wideouts, they’re fourth in the league against #2 wideouts. Walter has fought off Jacoby Jones to basically grab hold of the second receiver slot, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to nab a lot of balls in this particular game.
Joel Dreessen – The Titans are 8th in the NFL covering tight ends. Again, you don’t want any of this 3 catches for 27 yards stuff. So skip Dreessen and find a different TE on the waiver wire.
SLEEPER
Rusty Smith — It would take a tremendous pair of balls to play this one, and it probably has the highest risk/reward of any quarterback this week. Rusty is a rookie sixth rounder out of Florida Atlantic, which nominally is a no-start, but this Texans pass defense is on pace to be the worst in NFL history. I switch back-and-forth between starting and sitting him, and it wouldn’t make me completely comfortable if I were a fantasy owner, but the Texans have made a winner out of a low round rookie starting his first game before: Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Gun to my head, I’d rank Smith about 18th of the NFL fantasy QB’s this week and give him a little more respect than most are showing him. The only problem with putting him on your roster is that it’s a definite one-week solution. If he really does kick the Texans around, that has little bearing on his future starts.