College Fantasy Football: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em for Notre Dame vs FSU

Notre Dame football is undefeated heading into the final quarter of their regular season schedule. The Irish also have a handful of players that are relevant in college fantasy football this season.

Notre Dame fans were flying high heading into the eleventh week of the 2018 college football season. The team is 9-0 and in full control of their destiny in the College Football Playoff rankings. That said, they will be without starting quarterback Ian Book on Saturday, due to a rib injury.

Yours truly has been in a bit of a slump choosing in my Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em picks for recently. So much so that my editors at Slap the Sign have told me they will discontinue the column if my predictions do not improve.

How do I respond to pressure like that? With some stone-cold locks for your college fantasy football team this week. Check it out.

Start ‘Em

Miles Boykin (WR)

Boykin has emerged as a solid number one option in the passing game this season. After the switch at quarterback, he is started to find his groove.

Don’t let Book’s injury scare you away from starting Boykin. If anything, Boykin now becomes more of a big-play threat.

Over the past five games, Boykin has 31 catches, 457 receiving yards, and seven touchdowns. I mean, damn.

Boykin is one of the first people Book looks to when the Irish offense gets near the red zone. Given his size, strength, and experience, it is not hard to understand why. That shouldn’t change when Wimbush is under center.

Notre Dame Defense (DST)

This is a defense you can trust in college fantasy football. I have definitely said this before, but I will say it again: lock this unit in as your starting defense for the rest of the season.

The Irish defense has proven it can shut down on opponents to close out games, and they are a big reason why the team is undefeated heading into Week 11.

On top of that, Florida State’s offense is atrocious. They are currently ranked 129th in yards per rush attempt and 63rd in yards per pass attempt. Their offensive line has been a concern all season, and I do not think they will fare well against Notre Dame’s front seven.

Sit ‘Em

Dexter Williams (RB)

Notre Dame’s run game did not inspire much hope last week against a pedestrian Northwestern defense. Now they face a Florida State defense that is no slouch.

The Seminole’s run defense is definitely the strength of their team. They are currently ranked sixth in the country in yards per rush attempt allowed.

The three Irish running backs combined for just 76 rushing yards on 26 carries last week. Ian Book actually finished the game tied for the most rushing yards on the team.

Hopefully, this will be a bounce-back game for Dexter Williams. Until he can put together another solid performance, I think Williams is only an option at the flex position in fantasy football.

Jafar Armstrong (RB)

I could have just copied exactly what I said in the section above as my reasoning for sitting Jafar Armstrong in this game. The Notre Dame rushing attack did not look impressive, and Florida State is arguably better than Northwestern at stopping the run.

After a strong performance in his first game back from injury, Armstrong only had four carries against Northwestern. Even more disappointing, he did not record a single catch in the game. How he responds in this game should give fantasy owners a more clear indication of his potential the rest of the season.