“Start, Sit & Seth” is the original column of In-Between Media, bridging feel-good lifestyle advice with redraft fantasy football analysis. Consistently following Seth Woolcock’s journey as a young creator, this series is now in its fifth season. Join him this week as he shares the story of Christian Lezzer and his Week 3 start/sit selections.
The first leaves have begun to fall alongside the edges of Pennsylvania State University – the place I now call home.
Whether I like it or not, the first crisp autumn mornings are always nostalgic for me, reminding me of my roots. While I’ve often written about how my hometown of Kane impacted me, I sometimes neglect to mention what I deem “my second hometown.”
County Roads, Take Me Home
Alongside the West Branch of the Susquahana lies a town in the Clearfield County hills called Curwensville. Though I didn’t move there until I was 16 and a year and a half from graduating high school, it holds a special place in my heart.
It’s a slow-paced type of town – the kind with the same one or two bars rooting for the high school football team, probably wearing the same jerseys from the early 2000s. I hold myself to make the hour drive almost monthly. While there, I get a haircut from my longtime barber and best friend, followed by some Busch Lights and a round of disc golf at the local lake.
On my commute over the mountains, I’ve often wondered what the future holds for this tiny town tucked in-between farmlands and the state’s largest university.
Looking for answers, I linked up with someone who is making sure it remains the roots of so many like me and the home to new families alike.
Meet Clearfield’s Christian Lezzer
Today you can’t go very far in Clearfield County without seeing the name Christian Lezzer on a front-yard sign. But not long ago, Christian, now 27, was like any of my friends who grew up alongside the river.
After attending Curwensville until the first grade, Christian enrolled in the neighboring school, Clearfield, just four miles up the road. Quickly, Christian’s life became revolved around playing sports.
“You’re not going to have a better time playing sports than at the high school level,” Christian said in a Sept. 21 interview. “Just because it’s with people you grew up with, and you’re competing against other towns.”
By his junior year of high school, Christian was a highly sought-after inside linebacker recruit, drawing more than 10 scholarship offers from schools from around the U.S. This included Rutgers University, Kent State University, the University of Arizona (UA) and Boston College (BC).
Ultimately in 2014, Christian chose to attend BC because of the closer proximity to Clearfield County than second-choice UA.
From Clearfield Co. to Boston College
“It was a different lifestyle, changing from a small town to living in a big city,” Christian said. “It was very regimented. So I would have workouts starting at 6 in the morning and not get done until 9 at night with classes, study halls, workouts and meetings.”
After BC experienced injuries at linebacker his first year, Christian negated his redshirt season, taking the field for the Eagles. During that first season at BC, Christian played in two games and recorded a sack against the University of Southern California (USC) and future NFL QB Cody Kessler.
Curveballs
However, after Christian’s two seasons with the Eagles, doctors advised him to end his playing football career due to a series of concussions he had suffered. So, he put down his helmet and picked back up a baseball glove, and ultimately made BC’s baseball team as a walk-on.
Christian led Clearfield to four PIAA District 9 titles before going to BC.
Yet, after the college ruled baseball a contact sport, Christian’s time as a BC athlete came to a close.
Christian then spent six months with a renowned concussion specialist at Harvard, who cleared him to return to the football field. He eventually took his talents south as he transferred to the University of Central Florida (UCF).
This being the early days of the transfer portal, Christian had to redshirt his first season with the UCF Knights. Unfortunately, Christian suffered another concussion during training camp, officially ending his playing career.
“It was definitely hard,” he said. “You go from something you’ve been playing your whole life having it taken away from you in a split second.”
The Knights went on to have an undefeated season under head coach Scott Frost and win the Peach Bowl.
Forging Our Own Paths
After graduating with a 4.0 and his business management degree, Christian returned to Pennsylvania. He got his start with his family business, Lezzer Lumber, relocating to Lancaster County in the process. He worked there for almost two years before deciding to do his own thing in 2019.
“Honestly, I had just come home from work one day and started watching HGTV and thought I could do that.”
He got his real estate license, returned to Clearfield County, and began learning the ins and outs of real estate.
The Christian Lezzer Group – Keller Williams Advantage Realty exceeded $28 million in sales in 2021.
Today, in just his third year since opening The Christian Lezzer Group – Keller Williams Advantage Realty, he and his team of 10 agents are on pace to exceed $50 million in sales this year.
“I think the discipline of being an athlete, having a regimented schedule and sticking to that is a big thing,” Christian said. “I think teamwork and being able to work with people also played a major role in it.”
Since getting his license, Christian and his team have sold more than 300 homes in the Clearfield-Curwensville area. Of that total, he estimates more than 30 percent has been to out-of-town buyers that had no previous connection to the area.
“[Helping the area] means a ton to me,” he said. “Bringing new business here – selling commercial properties – or bringing new people into the area means something to me. Seeing that they want to start a family here and have their kids grow up the same way I did.”
At the Root of It
Hearing Christian’s story re-confirms that there are more people than I know helping to preserve and grow my roots. And more than likely, wherever your roots are, people are probably doing the same there too.
Blind faith can sometimes lead to some pretty sketchy situations. However, taking the time to better understand people and places generally leads to good outcomes.
The same rings true for the game of fantasy football. Sometimes we want to make brash decisions and conclusions on players purley based on outcomes. As fantasy managers, I urge you to the time to really understand the roots of a situation. Find the research regimen that works for you, and stick with it.
Snap counts, target participation, team sets/trends and target share are better indicators of season-long success than touchdowns – and ultimately – early season fantasy points.
Make your moves based on understanding the situation. If there is value there, practice patience. If there isn’t, time to move on (I’m looking at you Kenny Golladay).
Alright, and here we go.
The following start/sit selections are based on stats, trends, and film research, reflecting value in Points Per Reception (PPR) Redraft Leagues.
Quarterback I’d Start in Week 3:
Kirk Cousins (Minnesota): It wasn’t pretty Monday night for Kirk Cousins as he scored just 8.8 fantasy points against the Eagles on a night where he threw three interceptions. But it usually isn’t for him in primetime.
Week 3 against the Lions should serve as a bounce-back game as the Lions have allowed an average of 26.3 fantasy points per game and back-to-back QB5 finishes through the first two weeks. In addition, the Lions took some hits defensively in Week 2. John Cominsky suffered a thumb injury that required surgery. Second-overall pick Aidan Hutchinson isn’t practicing yet this week, and support safety Juju Hughes was limited Wednesday.
Since joining the Vikings in 2018, Cousins has topped 19 fantasy points against the Lions in five of eight games, going for 29-plus twice. Look for him to be somewhere between the two totals Sunday.
Quarterback I’d Sit in Week 3:
Tom Brady (Tampa Bay): Let me be clear this isn’t a sit selection based on Tom Brady vs. time. This sit selection is based on Brady likely not having any of his top three receivers against the Packers. Chris Godwin and Julio Jones didn’t practice today, and Mike Evans is suspended for another scuffle with Saints’ cornerback Marcus Lattimore.
That leaves Tampa Bay’s top receivers as Breshad Perriman, Russell Gage, Scott Miller and recently-signed Cole Beasley. Despite getting burned in Week 1 by Justin Jefferson, I still believe the Packers’ cornerback duo of Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes and Rasul Douglas remains the best in the league.
Brady is already struggling this year statistically, totaling just 19.8 fantasy points through two games. I can’t trust him here with sub-par receivers who likely can’t create great get separation from the league’s premier secondary.
Running Back I’d Start in Week 3:
Breece Hall (New York Jets): Many fantasy analysts and managers are calling for the benching of Breece Hall following a performance where Michael Carter took 61 percent of the snaps to Hall’s 27 percent.
However, when you look closer, Hall has been the better back. The rookie is averaging a spectacular 5.7 Yards Per Carry (YPC) and sound 6.9 Yards Per Reception (6.9) – both better than Carter. When Jets’ coaches watched back Sunday’s game, I bet they noticed the same thing. Hall is top-five amongst RBs in yards created per touch (4.4) and top six in targets with 11.
Even if Hall is still the change-of-pace back in Week 3 against the Bengals, he should still have success. Cowboys’ Tony Pollard just took Cincinnati for 19.8 PPR points in a similar role last week.
Running Back I’d Sit in Week 3:
Rashaad Penny (Seattle): The Falcons’ defense has come to play early this season. They’ve held opposing RBs to an average of 13.9 PPR points per game, the sixth least in the league. They faced Alvin Kamara in Week 1, and the Rams in Week 2. Yet, the highest RB scorer was Darrell Henderson, who scored 10.7 PPR points last week with a touchdown.
Rashaad Penny has yet to reach double-digit fantasy points this season and saw his touches drop from 15 to six last week in the debut of rookie Kenneth Walker III. With Penny now offering almost nothing in the receiving game, he is a sit until further notice.
Wide Receiver I’d Start in Week 3:
Adam Thielen (Minnesota): A slow start to the season for veteran Adam Thielen should get wiped away back in Minnesota as the Lions’ defense leaks fantasy points to opposing receivers. The Lions have allowed the eighth-most PPR points to opposing WRs this season. That’s with limiting them to only two scores – Thielen’s specialty.
As much as I love Jefferson, Cousins was over-targeting him last week, leading to interceptions. Look for Cousins to correct this and get Thielen more involved in Week 3.
Wide Receiver I’d Sit in Week 3:
D.J. Moore (Carolina): This sit selection might ruffle some feathers, but benching D.J. Moore this week may be in your favor. He plays in the league’s third-worst passing offense, averaging 168 passing yards per game and is playing against a top-12 passing defense that just limited the Buccaneers to 260 yards.
Moore is no longer a target hog, having just 12 receptions in two games (37th amongst WRs). He’s had back-to-back six target games, despite never seeing less than seven in a game all last season. He also has just 11 total Yards After the Catch (YAC) on the season. Don’t expect a TD to save Moore this week as he additionally has just one red zone target this season.
If you have a feel-good story that you would like to share for an opportunity to be featured in an upcoming edition of “Start, Sit & Seth,” please reach out.
And for more fantasy football and uplifting content, especially start/sit advice, you can find me on Twitter @Between_SethFF.