Buccaneers and Vikings are on a bye, which means you are missing your star defense, as well as a few very playable wide receivers and one of the hotter tight ends in the game right now. Jordan Reed highlights this week’s big names to watch on the injury list, Charles Sims made a surprising trip to the IR, and Eric Decker made what everyone knew was coming official and ended his season.
So who do you start and sit this week? We got you covered.
Expert of the Week: This week was a group effort. Overall, The Wayniac struck gold again, but it was also because I endorsed the starts of Saucy T with Brian Hoyer and Teddy Ballgame’s Carson Wentz, who played well enough. 80-percent of my sits were dead on as Brock Osweiler, Eric Ebron, the Jets defense and Will Fuller V were non-factors. While I did misstep on Ryan Mathews, I also said it was because we didn’t know which one would show up, so it was better to be cautious and sit him with hopes of success (which he accomplished) and I stand by that. As for starts, alongside the QBs, Terence West had a nice debut in his full time role, Hunter Henry is proving to be Antonio Gates heir apparent, and Emmanuel Sanders put up a solid day an an otherwise lackluster Denver effort.
So, on to Week 6:
Dunton:
Starts:
QB-Matt Ryan. Many people are going to shy away from Matty Ice because of the matchup he faces this week against Seattle. Don’t!! The Falcons high powered offense just torched the Broncos and their defense is probably better than Seattle. Keep Ryan in your lineup!
RB-Jordan Howard. The stock is way up on Howard. Get him in your lineup against the Jags. He has done nothing but improve every week this season and has become the Bears’ most potent offensive weapon.
WR-Deandre Hopkins. Yeah Yeah Yeah. Nuke has been, well he hasn’t been very nuclear this season. The Texans offensive play calling has been deplorable of late, to put it lightly. This week they play the Colts and their woeful D and in order for Houston to right the ship Nuke has to be the captain of said ship. Get him in your lineup.
WR-Kelvin Benjamin. I say this cautiously because he is currently listed as questionable due to a soar surgically repaired knee. IF Benjamin is a go I think the Panthers realize that he is going to be the straw that stirs their offensive drink. Pay careful attention to this but if you can play him, play him.
Sits:
RB-LeGarratte Blount. LB is a little banged up and the Pats Offense is back to their old tricks where Brady doesn’t need a healthy RB to dominate. Blount may play but I don’t see him being extremely effective against the Bengals front 7.
WR-Randall Cobb. That late hit that Cobb took on Sunday night late in the game against the Giants looked pretty rough. He is listed as questionable, I think he plays but not very long and is on the sideline pretty early in the game.
Teddy Ballgame:
Starts:
WR- Terrelle Pryor could have a huge day on the road at Tennessee. With all of the QB’s for Cleveland banged up he could also play some quarterback to go along with his reps at WR.
WR-Will Fuller and the Texans will have the luxury of being at home against the Colts defense on Sunday night. Even though Osweiler has been struggling this year he has looked a lot better at home, could be a big day for the Texans offense.
TE- Delanie Walker is without a doubt Marcus Mariota’s favorite target. The Browns defense has been awful against TE’s he should have a huge day at home.
Sits:
RB- Jeremy Hill will probably have a real rough time in New England, Giovanni Bernard will probably see most of the touches in a game where they will probably be playing from behind.
WR-Jeremy Kerley and the 49ers will have a new QB this week in Colin Kaepernick. That should be enough to sit him! I would expect a whole lot of Kaepernick and Hyde in a heavy run scheme on the road against the Bills.
Saucy T:
Starts:
QB: Marcus Mariota – I still don’t know if Mariota will be a good NFL QB, but if he is running like he was last week(7/60/1) he is a valuable fantasy QB. The Titans get the scrappy Browns this week, which means Mariota will have opportunities to use his legs again, and help your fantasy team for at least one more week.
RB: Lamar Miller – I know Lamar Miller owners are dissapointed with him this season, but you have to be excited with the amount of work he is getting even if he doesn’t have a TD yet. After a terrible week 5 against the league’s best defense, Miller now gets to face the Colts, who might be the league’s worst defense. Miller’s breakout is coming this week, so don’t bench him or trade him away just yet.
WR: Julio Jones – Some fantasy owners might consider putting Julio Jones on their bench after two duds in the last three weeks, but that would be a mistake. Don’t forget what came between those two duds. Seattle’s defense is great, but so is Julio Jones. Don’t get cute.
Sits:
QB: Dak Prescott – Dak Prescott has been great for the Dallas Cowboys this season and pretty good for fantasy owners, but he’s only topped 20 points once, and going to Lambeau is never easy for a young quarterback. I expect Prescott to have his first bad game and even throw his first interception. Keep him out of your lineups, and expect all the “Romo lost his job” talk to finally end.
RB: Melvin Gordon – Pretty much any running back with a pulse should be started at this point in the injury ravaged 2016 season, but I would try to avoid Gordon if I could this week. His 7 touchdowns mask the fact that he still hasn’t been that good. His yards per carry is around 3.4 and he faces an angry Denver defense this week coming off their first loss. You probably don’t have many better options than Gordon this week, but expect low end RB2 numbers rather than the top 6 back he’s been to this point.
WR: Demaryius Thomas – Broncos fans and players are excited to have Trevor Siemian back under center(who would have thought that sentence would ever be said), but Thursday night games are usually ugly, boring, and vanilla. This feels like a big game for CJ Anderson, and a quiet one from the Broncos starting wideout.
The Wayniac:
Starts:
QB: I love Saucy T’s pick of Mariota against a Browns defense that has allowed nearly 1,500 yards passing and 13 TDs to QBs this season. Russell Wilson is the play of the week, however, as the Falcons have allowed the most points to opposing QBs in 2016 and Russ is home off of a bye.
RB: Lamar Miller should kill it, but if he is healthy, and reports are that he is get Jonathan Stewart back in your lineup. No one has allowed more TDs on the ground than the Saints defense and the yards per game is gross.
WR: Larry Fitzgerald. I have quite the conundrum on my own fantasy team as I am only allowed to start two wide receivers. I have Antonio Brown slotted in there every week, and the other slot is a weekly toss up between Jordy Nelson and Fitz. Thus far, I have picked correctly, and while Jordy has been a touchdown machine thus far, he hasn’t had those big break away games with lots of yards. Fitz is on fire, playing a terrible pass defense. The Raiders have allowed the most points to fantasy WRs this season. Chris Conley or Tyreek Hill may be nice deep league sleepers this week.
TE: Coby Fleener has looked terrible this year, aside from one week. That was against the Atlanta Falcons. This is the last time I am going to tell you to start Jimmy Graham, because after this week he returns to must start status.
DEF: The Blitzburgh Steelers. We know my feelings on Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins. They are bad.
Sits:
QB: Philip Rivers is a terrific fantasy QB. The problem is the Broncos defense is absurd. This is the week to sit him.
RB: Looks like it’s that time to play the Eddie Lacy game. You know, where you can’t decide if he is relevant or not. This week he seems to be hobbled, and even without James Starks, the Packers may go all pass against the Cowboys.
WR: Jordan Reed is likely out, but that still doesn’t give DeSean Jackson a boost this week. The Eagles are solid agains the pass, allowing only one TD to WRs this season, and DeSean is still DeSean. His own touchdown was on a 44-yard bomb. If he can’t get that separation and score the big one, he’s pretty useless.
TE: As just mentioned, Reed is in concussion protocol, so monitor his status, but the Eagles have been the best against the TE this season, so he’s a tough play despite being a must start if healthy. The Chargers TE combo each scored last week, but the Broncos haven’t allowed a TE to score this year. This is probably of one the few times you sit Hunter Henry for the rest of the season.
DEF: Everyone is saying to sit the Jets, and I do think they will get beat, but Carson Palmer has been very inaccurate and interception prone the past few weeks. While the Jets may get smoked in reality, they could provide some useful fantasy points. Plus I dropped them in my two leagues and NO ONE has picked them up, so I don’t think they are really on the radar right now. I think the Chiefs should be sat. That Raiders offense is fun to watch.
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