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Peyton and Eli Manning are the most successful brothers in the history of the NFL, but at this stage of their respective careers, they are heading in separate directions. At one point in his career, it would have been laughable to even consider sitting Peyton in a fantasy league. On the other hand, his brother Eli has been hit or miss for large portions of his career, but is now rapidly approaching must-start territory, regardless of who else you have on your roster at the quarterback position.
While the history of the two players are fascinating conversation, fantasy owners are more interested in the here and now. Here is a look at how the Manning brothers have fared through nine weeks, and what we can expect from them over the next few weeks as the march to the playoffs continues.
Eli Manning - Only four quarterbacks have more fantasy points than Eli. What's tough about starting Eli some weeks is just how bad he can be, having finished with less than 12 fantasy points in three of nine starts this season. However, when he is good he can single-handedly win a week for you, as he most likely did in week 8 when he scored 49 fantasy points against the Saints. Looking at the next four weeks, it's a bit of a mixed bag for Eli. Next week the undefeated Patriots visit New York, but the following week he gets to travel to Washington with a chance to put up a big number against a Redskins defense that has been battling injuries all year and is not that good to begin with. Then on December 6, they stay home against a top defense in the Jets, but following that up with a visit to Miami in a week a lot of fantasy owners will be trying to sneak into the playoffs.
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The verdict? It's hard not to go with Eli because he is a thread to put up 25 plus points every week but you'll have to live with a potential stinker, which would be hard to swallow down the stretch.
Peyton Manning - For the first time in his illustrious career there have been talks about benching Manning, the same thoughts you've probably had for your fantasy team. When you look at the numbers though, you begin to see why. Among players that have started at least five games for their teams this year, Manning is dead last in fantasy points. Peyton's season high in fantasy points is 27.24, which he did in week 2. On the flip side, he has five games where he has failed to score 15 fantasy points.
If you're planning to stick with Peyton, next week is your best bet as they play Kansas City at home, which is the team he scored his season high against, and follow that with a trip to the Bears. Following that though, things get dicey as they take on the Patriots at home, but quickly improve once again when they travel to San Diego. With a schedule like that it will be hard for both you and the Broncos to sit him, but with a very limited upside at this point in his career, it may be time to face the reality of sitting a legend. That's something that's never easy to do.
