Fantasy football Week 6 rankings: Who to start and sit

Start: Ameer Abdullah

Overall, Abdullah has been a fantasy disappointment this season. Much hyped for three straight seasons, this was supposed to be the year when Abdullah finally took over the starting role and was unchallenged in the Detroit backfield. Unfortunately for Ameer and his owners, he’s not been able to put together the fantasy points we were looking for.

On the positive side of things, Abdullah has had double-digit carries in all five games this season, and 288 yards on the ground. His rushing yardage total puts him at 11th in the NFL, but the 3.8 yards per carry average is not great, and certainly not what we’d expect from the speedy, flashy big-play threat. While the rushing volume is close to what we want, he hasn’t been too involved as a receiver and isn’t doing enough to take all the carries away from Dwayne Washington and Zach Zenner.

This week, the third-year back has a chance to get back on track. The New Orleans Saints, despite a shutout win against Jay Cutler and the impotent Miami Dolphins attack, still have trouble on the defensive side of the ball. They are 29th in the league as a defense, and importantly they give up the sixth-most points to running backs. If there was ever a great time to play Abdullah, it would be in this matchup.