Welcome back! The fantasy football playoffs are rapidly approaching, and hopefully your team is in the hunt. Making the correct call on starting and sitting players is the key to fantasy glory, and you should put some serious time into checking up on the details of a player’s situation. By now, you should know your players relatively well; you know their trends, their tendencies and how they respond in various situations. If you study up and understand what you need to understand, you won’t get through a fantasy matchup having lost by five points when you had a player on your bench that would have won your matchup if you had started him. Expect greatness, O fantasy football owner, and greatness you shall achieve. Now here are some of my thoughts on players you might not be too sure about.

MARK SANCHEZ ‘ If you have had bad luck at your QB position this season, you could do worse than Sanchez. The problem is figuring out which Sanchez will show up for you. He has four games of 20+ points and four games of single-digit points. With this quarterback, the two biggest factors at play are the matchups (obviously) and his confidence level. When he is timid, he throws for fewer than 200 yards, but when he is in the zone, he finds the end zone. Just don’t play him against the Steelers or another good defensive team down the stretch, but otherwise, you can start him for decent upside with decent risk involved.

SANTANA MOSS ‘ He is easily Donovan McNabb’s favorite target, but how valuable is that? Moss has put up decent numbers, but nothing staggering: just two touchdowns all year. McNabb has been underwhelming all year long, and I don’t see that getting any better, so Moss has very limited upside. In a 12-team league, it wouldn’t be a stretch to start him, but it’s very unlikely that you get an explosive, matchup-winning performance out of him.

DANNY WOODHEAD ‘ He’s a popular waiver-wire add this year for his versatility, but you can’t start him. He’s getting the touches, and he has done a lot with them, but he is the No. 2 running option on the team and probably the No. 5 receiving option at best. Can you really count on that? He has decent flex value, but bye weeks are over, so you shouldn’t be starting Woodhead.

MICHAEL VICK ‘ I’m thinking ahead to my end-of-the-year fantasy MVP awards, and I see Vick near the top of my list. He isn’t higher in the overall points rankings because of his injury keeping him out of four games, but he has been absolutely unbeatable when on the field, including his touchdown bonanza on Monday night at Washington. The most staggering part is that he isn’t turning the ball over in his dominant performances. I’m interested to see how he does in his two games against the Giants, who have been QB-killers this year. But right now, I would say to start him no matter what ‘ I don’t even care if you have Philip Rivers or Aaron Rodgers, too. Start him.

RONNIE BROWN ‘ Talented enough to be a top-tier RB, he has grossly underwhelmed this year, and now Ricky Williams may finally be creeping up on him as the team’s starter. The Dolphins’ disarray at the QB position would make you think Brown would gain value. Don’t get your hopes up. I wish he would turn it around, but his numbers speak for themselves. You have to sit him.

MATT FORTE ‘ Another infuriating fantasy player. Two 30-point weeks and five single-digit performances have made him a questionable start to some owners. You shouldn’t be one of them. Forte is wicked talented, but the Bears are also playing a bit better than they did during their midseason slump. The worrisome part is that he got 21 carries on the Vikings and gained only 69 yards. But Minnesota’s defense is strong; that game was won through the air, and Forte only got one reception. Don’t quit on Forte; if the Bears are playing well, he should get the looks.

REGGIE WAYNE ‘ Um, what the hell? Wayne may be top 10 points-wise, but he has only three double-digit games this year. But don’t you dare sit Reginald. Remember who’s throwing him the football; while there may be three or four reliable targets for Peyton Manning, his favorite will always be Wayne. His upside is absurd, and that cannot be ignored.

JAHVID BEST ‘ Through two weeks, he was 2010’s fantasy darling, but he hasn’t scored since. He is getting the touches, both on the ground and through the air, but he just hasn’t found the end zone. This is concerning; Detroit has been scoring a good number of points, so some scores must go to Best eventually, right? You might need to pull him for a couple matchups down the stretch, like Green Bay and Minnesota, but remember that he scored 40 points in Week 2. If you have better options, go with them, but don’t forget Best’s upside.