Fantasy Football,: Start em or Sit em Week 6 edition

The Fantasy Football start or sit decisions for Week 6 are going to be a little bit tougher than normal because a lot of folks are dealing with high-powered teams on a bye.

Week 6 Fantasy Football is just about here and we’ll be singling out some players that could be on the fence about. Quarterback is always tough on each side so I’m going to try to focus more on two quarterback leagues for the sit portions. The starts might be a touch boring but there are just so many options, it’s pretty easy to find one you feel good about. Let’s get into who we should be looking at this week.

Quarterback Starts

Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts – at New York Jets

Perhaps this is already known after Luck threw for another 300+ yards and three touchdowns but I sense some might not buy into the production since the game script was so sideways for the Colts. I don’t think the Jets are any threat to hang 35 points or more on the Colts but I also don’t think Indy can run the ball with any effectiveness. Well, I know the Colts can’t run since they rank 29th in yards per game. If Luck can have a big fantasy day being down Jack Doyle and T.Y. Hilton, that says all you need to know. If he gets one or both of those players back, Luck could be close to a top eight option. Even if he doesn’t (and it does look like both will miss yet again), Luck is still in a great spot. The Jets have only three interceptions after their big first game in Detroit and the defense is starting to show their true colors. When you give up well over 300 yards to Case Keenum, Luck is going to smash in this spot.

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers – at Cincinnati Bengals

Usually we’re not going to feature a quarterback that’s in the top eight but the Big Ben on the road narrative lurks and I don’t think venue matters in this one. Pittsburgh is fifth in the league in passing attempts and fourth in yards per game. The Bengals are eighth in points given up to the quarterback and that includes them smacking around Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins last week. Pittsburgh has had a turbulent season so far and the run game has been hit and miss. The game is going to be on the shoulder of Roethlisberger in part because I’m not convinced the Steelers defense is as good as they played last week. Big Ben should be able to take advantage of Cincinnati giving up over 300 yards a game and I’m not sweating him not being in Heinz Field this week.

Also Consider – Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles – at New York Giants, Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns – vs Los Angeles Chargers

Quarterback Sits

Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears – at Miami Dolphins

People might be jumping at Trubisky after seeing the six touchdowns last game and proclaim a breakout. I’m not ready to go there yet seeing as who Trubisky went nuts on. The Buccaneers have been one of the worst defenses hands down so far this year. Trubisky only had two touchdowns all season coming into that game and frankly hasn’t looked good past the first few plays of the game. I need to see more than that before I buy into him and the Dolphins have been one of the toughest teams against quarterbacks so far this year. That’s a little surprising since I didn’t expect much from their defense but the secondary has been rock solid. The Bears are only gaining 220 yards through the air per game so far and that just won’t work in today’s NFL.

Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars – at Dallas Cowboys

It’s always going to hurt to tell you to sit my fantasy man crush Blake “The Snake” Bortles but that’s what is likely the best course of action. Dallas isn’t the most intimidating defense in the league but I’m not sure how many opportunities Bortles and the Jaguars will have in this game. Since the Jacksonville defense can likely smoke what’s passing as the Dallas offense, the Jags aren’t going to have much motivation to open up the offense. Game flow is always a concern with Dallas since they run the third fewest plays in the league. So Jacksonville likely loads up T.J. Yeldon with touches and tries to get our of dodge with a win. They’re sitting at 3-2 which is a little bit of a surprise so they’ll likely play to their strengths in this one. Bortles paid off last week since he passed the ball 61 times last week and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that number cut in half. I generally try to avoid Bortles if I don’t think he’ll get volume or has a fantastic matchup. Neither are the case this week.

Also Consider – Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens – at Tennessee Titans, Alex Smith, Washington Redskins – vs Carolina Panthers

Running Back Starts

Dalvin Cook/Latavius Murray, Minnesota Vikings – vs Arizona Cardinals

There’s every chance that we don’t have a ton of clarity on this backfield leading up to the game this week. Cook has had a miserable season so far and has basically not been healthy through the entire year. If he does come back 100 percent for this one, he should be an auto-start. That would break my normal rule of being very cautious with players returning from long-term injuries but that’s how good this matchup is. Frankly, I’m somewhat hoping that Cook misses one more week and Murray will be the main man in the backfield. Arizona has been crushed by backs all season and they’re dead last in points surrendered. The San Francisco running backs combined for 250 yards of production on 41 total touches this past week so even if there’s a split, both of these players are starters.

Tevin Coleman, Atlanta Falcons – vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

It looks like Devonta Freeman is going to be out for this matchup with a new injury and some Coleman owners might be a little gun-shy about using Coleman. He’s only totaled 99 rushing yards and 55 receiving yards on eight receptions in his last three games but that trend will change this week. Tampa is giving up the fifth most points to running backs and they’re getting gouged on the ground and through the air. Coleman will share the load with Ito Smith but it won’t matter in this spot. Don’t get hung up in the box scores and roll out Coleman with confidence.

Also Consider – Nyheim Hines, Indianapolis Colts – at New York Jets, Bilal Powell, New York Jets – vs Indianapolis Colts, Phillip Lindsay, Denver Broncos – vs Los Angeles Rams

Running Back Sits

Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers – vs San Francisco 49ers

I severely dislike Mike McCarthy right now because Jones seems to be pretty clearly the best running back on Green Bay but he can’t get enough touches. In fact, Jones did not see one single touch in the second half of this past game. Now, the 49ers don’t represent the toughest matchup on the planet and he could break off a big run. The problem is he just got one of the best matchups a running back possibly could have against the Lions. It’s a sad state of affairs but Jones has not seen more than 38 percent of the snaps. Not being on the field that much can be worked around if the player is getting a huge amount of touches when he’s on the field, but that’s not what’s happening in Green Bay. Until things change, Jones needs to be glued to the bench.

Kenyan Drake, Miami Dolphins – vs Chicago Bears

Don’t fall for the Kenyan Drake trap. He’s coming off a big game and you spent a relatively high pick on him but I’m not ready to declare him back after on game. The snaps look fine as usually but he was at six rushing attempts. He got 11 targets this past week which brought his fantasy value up in a major way. That’s great and I really don’t care if the touches come rushing or receiving but what scares me is he had a grand total of 14 targets coming into this game. The counts read as 4, 4, 4 and 2 and then suddenly they jumped to 11. I’m sorry, but I know which total is the outlier. If the targets go back to normal and he continues to see fewer rushing attempts than Frank Gore, you’re going to be staring at a very low score come Sunday night.

Also Consider – Lamar Miller, Houston Texans – vs Buffalo Bills, Alex Collins/Buck Allen, Baltimore Ravens – at Tennessee Titans

Wide Receiver Starts

Sammy Watkins, Kansas City Chiefs – at New England Patriots

This game is going to be one of the more exciting ones of the season and there should be gobs of points for anyone involved. Watkins showed he’s completely over his injury that knocked him out of the Week 4 game in Denver with a fine day of six receptions and 78 yards last week. That’s nothing special but he’s going to be a monster along with the entire Kansas City lineup. New England looks like they’ve been playing a little bit better defensively lately because they shut down the Dolphins and the Colts just did their work in garbage time. Kansas City is still in the lead for passing touchdowns this year despite some “slower” games form Patrick Mahomes the past two weeks. This is shaping up to be a big week for the Kansas City offense and you want each and every piece you can get.

Josh Gordon, New England Patriots – vs Kansas City Chiefs

I’m possibly out on a limb here by suggesting Gordon. It’s against the grain for me because it’s going to be rare that I say to start a receiver that is only getting four targets a game and hasn’t exceeded 26 percent of the snaps yet. Still, Gordon is so talented and there’s so much upside in this offense on a normal week. This isn’t a normal week since the Pats are in a game with a 59.5 point total and the Patriots can’t stop the Chiefs. That means New England is going to have to go pass heavy in this game. We’ve seen it from Bill Belichick before and he’s going to take advantage of the Kansas City passing defense. They’ve given up the most yards, second most yards per game and the most 20+ yard passing plays. Gordon should excel in this style of game, regardless of how many snaps he gets.

Also Consider – Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals – vs Pittsburgh Steelers, John Brown, Baltimore Ravens – at Tennessee Titans, DeSean Jackson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Atlanta Falcons

Wide Receiver Sits

Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks – vs Oakland Raiders(In London)

Until we get some sort of answer as to why Baldwin saw one target last week, I’m totally off of him. He played all of his normal snaps and as bad as this past week was, my concerns for the Seattle passing game are running even deeper right now. Only six teams have fewer pass attempts than the Seahawks and three of them have already had their bye week. They’re running the ball a ton and they’re eighth in rushing yards so far this season. If things are working through the run game, Seattle isn’t going to change their course. They’re going to continue to play smash-mouth football and I’m hands off Baldwin until something tells me otherwise.

Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears – at Miami Dolphins

Wide receiver vs cornerback has always been an interesting debate. I tend to side on these matchups are pretty important but they can be overcome in the right offense. Robinson should see a lot of Xavien Howard who is one of the better corners in football. Even though Robinson does lead the team in targets and might be able to get some production, I’m not going to be too excited about starting Robinson here. Howard has only allowed five receptions on 14 targeted throws so far this year and it would make a lot of sense for Howard to follow Robinson on the perimeter as much as he can. Even thought the Bears scored over 40 points last game, Robinson did very little and I’d wait at least one more week before putting Robinson back in.

Also Consider – Corey Davis, Tennessee Titans – vs Baltimore Ravens, Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders – vs Seattle Seahawks

Tight End

We’re going to continue to do the same thing as we’ve normally done with tight ends. Instead of a more detailed breakdown, we’ll highlight some names on each side of the fence for this week.

Tight End Starts

Austin Hooper, Atlanta Falcons – vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Hooper is coming off one of the best days of his career, is at home and gets one of the best possible matchups on the board. It’s hard to feel totally sure he gets more than 5-6 targets again but that’s all he might need.

More from FanSided

Cameron Brate, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Atlanta Falcons – With O.J. Howard on the sidelines, Brate is the lone man in town. He and Jameis Winston have always had some serious chemistry and I don’t expect things to be different.

David Njoku, Cleveland Browns – vs Los Angeles Chargers – It’s entirely possible that Derwin James is a tight end neutralizer for the Chargers. Still, Njoku saw double digit targets last week and seven the week before that. Give me that kind of target share every week.

Tight End Sits

Evan Engram, New York Giants – vs Philadelphia Eagles – Engram is due to be back for the Giants tonight but I’m not sure that I’d want to start him. Who knows what type of snap percentage and target share he’s going to see in his first game back. The Giants offense has two excellent receivers and an elite running back to soak up most of the usage.

Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers – vs Washington Redskins – It’s exciting to have Olsen back, especially with the tight end position the way it is. I’m not ready to go there after he missed almost the whole season so far and the potential for re-injury. I’d want to see one game of him getting through, if nothing else.

Geoff Swaim, Dallas Cowboys – vs Jacksonville Jaguars – I’ve been talking up Swaim for a couple of weeks and he’s mostly been paying off, as much as the Dallas Cowboys passing game can. This isn’t the matchup to tempt fate in. Jacksonville’s defense should be able to destroy what’s passing for the “offense” in Dallas and I want nothing to do with Swaim this week.

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Fantasy Football, Start or Sit Week 6

By Adam Strangis | Oct 11, 2018