Fantasy Football Week 6 Sleepers at Every Position

We've reached the point in the year when fantasy sleepers become more important than ever. Some teams sit at 2-3 or 1-4 and on the cusp of the season getting away from them.

The 0-5 clubs already sailed off that cliff. Condolences.

Maybe the upcoming bye week has you in a bind, and you need a Week 6 replacement for Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Or Buffalo Bills tailback LeSean McCoy. Or Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green.

Or it could be that your problems are even bigger, and you're one of the unfortunate souls who spent a Round 1 pick on New York Giants wideout Odell Beckham only to see him succumb to a season-ending ankle injury last week at MetLife Stadium.

It might even be both—in which case, ouch.

Whatever the case, the pressure's on to find players capable of stepping into those holes and keeping floundering fantasy seasons afloat.

So let's get to it.

Accountability Time

Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

Before we get into the Week 6 recommendations, let's re-examine the Week 5 calls to see who had a big game and who fell flat on their faces.

If a player I recommended finishes inside weekly starter territory (the top 12 quarterbacks, tight ends and defenses, top 24 running backs and top 36 wide receivers), I'm calling that a "win." Otherwise...not so much.

Latavius Murray, RB, Minnesota Vikings (12 carries, 31 yards, 2 catches, 12 yards, RB41): Well, as it turns out I was right that a Vikings back would have a big game against the Chicago Bears. Too bad it wasn't Murray. LOSS

Jay Cutler, QB, Miami Dolphins (92 passing yards, 1 TD. 1 INT, 8 rushing yards, QB26): I blame Cutler for infecting the rest of my Week 5 calls with the stench of this performance. Because when in doubt, blame Jay Cutler. LOSS

Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants (225 passing yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 1 FL, QB14): Had the Giants' entire receiving corps not been decimated in this game, this one would have turned out differently. Unfortunately, it was. LOSS

Alex Collins, RB, Baltimore Ravens (55 rushing yards, RB43): Just as with Latavius Murray, right position, right team, wrong player. This was an ugly week. LOSS

Frank Gore, RB, Indianapolis Colts (14 carries, 48 yards, 3 catches, 38 yards, RB21): Gore didn't even have the best fantasy outing of a Colts RB in Week 5. But the veteran still managed to sneak his way inside the top 24. WIN

Eddie Lacy, RB, Seattle Seahawks (9 carries, 19 yards, 1 catch, 9 yards, RB55): File this one with Cutler. Both veterans aren't rosterable in fantasy leagues, much less startable. LOSS

Geronimo Allison, WR, Green Bay Packers (GOOSE EGG): Davante Adams started against the Dallas Cowboys and caught two touchdown passes. Enough said. LOSS

Jaron Brown, WR, Arizona Cardinals (3 catches, 39 yards, WR53): In theory, this was a solid call. But the entire Cardinals offense was a steaming pile of awful in a blowout loss to the Eagles. So in practice, the solid call was anything but. LOSS

Will Fuller, WR, Houston Texans (2 catches, 57 yards, 2 TD, WR9): Fuller was easily the biggest bright spot in a dark week of picks after his second straight contest with a pair of touchdowns. Thank you, Deshaun Watson. Thank you, garbage time. WIN

Tyler Kroft, TE, Cincinnati Bengals (4 catches, 38 yards, TE20): The top two fantasy options at the position in Week 5 were Ed Dickson and George Kittle. So at least I wasn't lonely in being completely and utterly wrong at tight end. LOSS

Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE, New York Jets (6 catches, 29 yards, 1 TD, TE9): OK, so I wasn't completely wrong at tight end. "ASJ" has quietly become a sneaky low-end starter in a year when the tight end spot is a mess. WIN

New York Jets Defense/Special Teams (419 yards allowed, 14 points allowed, 2 INT, 1 FR, 1 sack, D/ST12): This looked like a great call in the first half against Cleveland. But then the Browns benched DeShone Kizer and nearly ruined everything. WIN

WEEK 4 TOTAL: 4/12 (.333)

That three of the wins were marginal and two involved New York Jets pretty much sums up Week 5. The reality is that the later we get into the season, the harder sleepers are going to be to come by—especially if I continue to shy away from making too many repeat picks.

But no excuses. Week 5 was unacceptable. Time to run laps until I pass out.

SEASON TOTAL: 28/60 (.467)

Sleeper of the Week

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Jacoby Brissett, QB, Indianapolis Colts (at TEN)

The 2017 season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Indianapolis Colts, who have played their first five games of the year without Andrew Luck under center.

However, things aren’t as bad as they could have been for the 2-3 Colts—largely because young quarterback Jacoby Brissett has been better than expected.

As Zak Keefer reported for the Indianapolis Star, Brissett’s rapid acclimation to his new team (he’s only been in Indy just over a month) has made a very favorable impression on Luck.

“Really, really, impressive,” Luck said. “Mentally, physically, how he’s handled things. It’s hard to learn an offense in an offseason and he’s come in (in a few weeks) and done a really, really impressive job. He’s a very, very impressive quarterback.”

That favorable impression should extend to fantasy owners in Week 6 given whom Brissett and the Colts face Monday night.

The Tennessee Titans held Jay Cutler under 100 passing yards in Week 5, but that says a lot more about how bad Cutler is than how good their defense is. Even with that stinker thrown in, the Titans are still giving up the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks in 2017.

Brissett’s ability to hurt defenses with his legs is a nice benefit to fantasy owners (he’s rushed for three scores), and he’s taken advantage of favorable matchups with the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers already this year.

Brissett will do the same against the Titans.

Brian Hoyer, San Francisco 49ers (at WAS)

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Sometimes things don’t work out the way you want.

Maybe in your fantasy draft you selected Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts as your starter at quarterback. Or Derek Carr of the Oakland Raiders. Or maybe Marcus Mariota of the Tennessee Titans. You backed them up with Eli Manning of the New York Giants.

And now you’re staring at the waiver wire in your league wondering what the heck you’re going to do in Week 6 other than eat a terrible score at the position.

Well, if there’s a quarterback in the NFL who knows all about things not working out as planned, it’s Brian Hoyer of the San Francisco 49ers.

The Niners have lost all five of their games. Their last four losses have been by 11 points—combined. They are experts at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

But unless you get fantasy points for quarterback wins, that doesn’t matter.

What does matter is that twice in the last three weeks, Hoyer has posted top-10 fantasy numbers. In Week 3 Hoyer passed for 332 yards and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams. Last week, it was 353 yards with a pair of scores against the Colts.

The Niners have been in catch-up mode as much as any team in the league. They all but certainly will be again in D.C. on Sunday against a Washington team that will be without star cornerback Josh Norman.

Carson Palmer, QB, Arizona Cardinals (vs. TB)

Michael Perez/Associated Press

Carson Palmer, I just can’t quit you.

There isn’t a player in all of the NFL who has made more appearances in this column in 2017 than the Arizona Cardinals veteran signal-caller. This makes three times in six games.

Given that Palmer ranks inside the top 12 fantasy quarterbacks for the season in some scoring systems, there are those who will argue the 37-year-old doesn’t qualify as a “sleeper” at all.

But per Matt Franciscovich of NFL.com, Palmer remains owned in just 33.7 percent of NFL.com fantasy leagues.

And if he’s rostered in just one league in three, then he’s started in that many less—so math says his “sleeper” status remains intact. More so, perhaps, after Palmer and the Cardinals were shelled on the road by the Philadelphia Eagles last week.

The Cardinals are in the friendly confines of University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday, but even with a shiny new (old) running back in tow, this game is going to follow the same script as all of Arizona’s contests this year.

The Cardinals will try to run the ball with Adrian Peterson. They will fail—due to a number of factors that aren’t especially relevant here.

And so Palmer will drop back over and over and over again, attempting over 40 passes for the fifth time in six weeks.

Take advantage of a one-dimensional offense playing a Tampa defense giving up the fourth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks. Join the 34 percent.

You won’t regret it.

OK, you probably won’t regret it.

Samaje Perine, RB, Washington Redskins (vs. SFO)

Mark Tenally/Associated Press

There are plenty of fantasy owners who have been forced into searching for a spot starter at running back in Week 6 because of injuries.

Of course, for every door closed by an ailment, another opens. Every player who sits opens the door for another to play.

As ESPN.com's John Keim reported, it appears that when the Washington Redskins host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, they will do so with starting tailback Rob Kelley on the shelf with an ankle sprain. That means most of the early-down work in the backfield will go to rookie Samaje Perine.

To date this year, Perine hasn't done a lot—he's averaging just 3.1 yards a carry. But head coach Jay Gruden still believes the youngster has all the tools necessary to succeed in the NFL.

He just needs to calm down and use them.

“Samaje is a power runner and he should be good under center or in shotgun,” Gruden said. “Maybe some runs under center, some outside zones, he’s still feeling his way through those cuts and staying on course. That happens to a lot of young backs. A lot of them are so anxious to get the cutback to the hole, they don’t read them out all the way. ... Under center, he has to be more patient with his reads.”

If ever there were a week for Perine to get right, this is it. He should see enough touches with Kelley out to get into a rhythm. The 49ers are better against the run in 2017 than they were a year ago, but they still rank in the bottom half of the NFL, allowing over 116 yards per game.

Add to that the seventh-most fantasy points allowed to running backs, and the door's open for Perine.

All he has to do is run through it.

Elijah McGuire, RB, New York Jets (vs. NE)

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The amount of faith I’ve placed in New York Jets players as sleepers the last couple of weeks is deeply distressing.

The number who have hit is (I think anyway) a portent of the End Times.

But I’m going back to the Gang Green well again in Week 6 with sixth-round rookie tailback Elijah McGuire—with good reason.

For starters, there’s the banged-up nature of the Jets backfield. The playing status of both Matt Forte (turf toe) and Bilal Powell (calf strain) remains in doubt for Sunday’s AFC East showdown with the New England Patriots.

Head coach Todd Bowles told Ethan Greenberg of the team’s website he’s confident McGuire can carry the load in the Jets backfield if required.

“Well, it’d be the next man up,” said Bowles. “Obviously, we have everything in right now, so Eli will carry a load and we’ll go from there. But it’s early in the week so we’ll see how they progress.”

That confidence may be borne of McGuire’s showing against the Jacksonville Jaguars two weeks ago—a game in which the youngster topped 130 total yards and scored a long touchdown.

The Patriots are many things. Good defensively is not one of them. They rank dead last in total defense and have surrendered the most fantasy points to running backs this season.

Even if Forte is able to play, I like McGuire as a sneaky-good start in Week 6.

If he doesn’t, then I love him.

Shane Vereen, RB, New York Giants (at DEN)

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

There hasn’t been a team in recent memory that’s been hit harder by injuries at a single position in a single week than what happened at wide receiver to the New York Giants in Week 5.

Star receiver Odell Beckham? Broke his ankle. Done for the year.

Veteran Brandon Marshall? Also toast with season-ending ankle surgery.

Dwayne Harris? Broken foot. Injured reserve.

Youngster Sterling Shepard? Iffy to play in Week 6 with ankle injury No. 3.

Seriously. That all happened to the 0-5 Giants last…week.

They were able to stop quarterback Eli Manning from jumping off the George Washington Bridge, but it took a while (and a bunch of Oreos) to talk him down.

The Giants receiving corps has been reduced to scrubs, practice-squad call-ups and guys they tried out in the parking lot heading into a prime-time matchup in Week 6 with the Denver Broncos.

Shane Vereen tied his season high amid the carnage in Week 5, touching the ball nine times (five carries, four receptions) against the Los Angeles Chargers.

It’s not hard to imagine him topping that number Sunday night out of necessity.

In recent weeks, we’ve watched Andre Ellington of the Arizona Cardinals become a viable PPR fantasy asset because he piled up short catches that served as Arizona’s de facto run game.

The script’s a bit flipped in the Big Apple, but Vereen could be set for a similar workload as the closest thing the Giants have now to an underneath receiver, while tight end Evan Engram at least tries to stretch the defense a little.

Like I said, the script is flipped.

And set on fire.

Jaron Brown, WR, Arizona Cardinals (vs. TB)

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

If at first you don’t succeed…

Jaron Brown made an appearance in this column last week, and the results were—ungood. He caught three passes for 39 yards and the Cardinals laid yet another egg in a 1 p.m. game on the East Coast.

The Cardinals are playing in the at home this week in a 4 p.m. game...just how they like it.

It's a great chance for Brown to wash off the stink from last week’s dud.

As Craig Grialou reported for Arizona Sports, Carson Palmer said he’s been blown away by the progress Brown has made as a player this season. “He has looked phenomenal,” Palmer said, “and that is nobody but Jaron.”

Palmer seems to backing up that talk of confidence in Brown on the field, too. Palmer is averaging over 45 pass attempts per contest, and of those, an average of seven a game have been directed at Brown. Among Cardinals wide receivers, only the great Larry Fitzgerald has been thrown at more.

Seven targets should be more than enough to do damage Sunday against Tampa—no team in the NFL has given up more fantasy points per game to wide receivers in 2017.

So, it’s back to the drawing board one more time with Brown.

A Palmer/Brown stack, even.

Ricardo Louis, WR, Cleveland Browns (at HOU)

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It’s the dawn of a new era in Cleveland.

Again. This year.

As ESPN.com’s Pat McManamon reported, this week against the Houston Texans second-year pro Kevin Hogan will become the 28th starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns since they re-entered the NFL in 1999.

Whether you agree with the decision or not, it’s been made. Hogan will start. He’s going to need someone to throw to.

And last week at least, he appeared to prefer Ricardo Louis.

Not that DeShone Kizer wasn’t targeting the 23-year-old, too. In the last two games combined, Louis has led the team in both targets and receiving yardage, piling up 10 catches on 17 targets and 135 yards over that span as the Browns’ No. 1 wideout.

Or at least what passes for one in Cleveland.

Mind you, Louis isn’t any kind of elite talent. Much like Hogan, Cleveland may be the only team in the NFL he’d start for.

But he’s starting and being targeted with regularity on a team that’s playing from behind approximately always.

Mike Wallace, WR, Baltimore Ravens (vs. CHI)

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The last few years, Mike Wallace of the Baltimore Ravens was the top-25 fantasy option no one knew about, a veteran receiver who year in and year out would somehow sneak his way into WR2 territory by year’s end.

It looked like that streak was in real jeopardy this year. Over the first three weeks of the season, Wallace was a complete non-factor for the Ravens, catching just three passes for 21 yards…

The last two weeks, however, quarterback Joe Flacco has seemingly remembered that Wallace is on the roster. Two weeks ago, Wallace hauled in six passes for 55 yards and a score. He had just three grabs last week, but made the most of them—to the tune of 133 yards.

In addition to remembering that Wallace is on the team, Flacco also remembered last week against the Raiders that he’s at his best when challenging defenses over the top. The first play of that game against Oakland was a 52-yard strike to Wallace.

That, as they say, is more like it.

This week, the Ravens host a Bears team that’s the definition of an average matchup, ranking 15th in fantasy points given up to receivers.

And if the last two games are any indication, Flacco should be looking Wallace’s way with regularity.

Better late than never.

George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers (at WAS)

AJ Mast/Associated Press

The perfect fantasy sleeper is a player who is rostered and started just before he breaks out with a huge outing.

However, if there were any fantasy owners who started rookie tight end George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers last week, they might want to consider giving up fantasy football for playing the lottery.

Because apparently, they can foretell the future.

In his first four games of the 2017 season, Kittle caught 10 passes for 83 yards.

In Week 5 alone, Kittle matched that yardage against the Indianapolis Colts on seven grabs, adding his first career touchdown.

As Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, Kittle thinks last week’s breakout can only help his confidence moving forward.

“Making catches, making plays, it always helps everyone’s confidence,” Kittle said. “You want to make those plays every single week.”

It wasn’t just Kittle’s growing confidence that was on display in Week 5. The rookie was targeted nine times by quarterback Brian Hoyer—the second-highest total for a San Fran pass-catcher on an afternoon in which Hoyer threw 46 times.

If Kittle sees anything like that target share Sunday in the nation’s capital against a Washington team allowing the third-most fantasy points per game to his position, this lottery-ticket tight end is going to pay off big.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE, New York Jets (vs. NE)

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OK, I know I said I like to shy away from repeat calls.

However, there’s a difference between “shy away from” and “avoid altogether,” because semantics.

As you can tell this week.

Besides, while New York Jets tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins had his best game of 2017 last week in a win over the Cleveland Browns, his season stat line of 15 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown still lends itself to “sleeper” status.

At least, until you consider those numbers in the context of a Jets passing game that ranks 25th in the NFL, at less than 190 yards a game.

Entering last week’s matchup with the Browns, Seferian-Jenkins ranked second on the team in both targets and receptions since his return to action in Week 3. He led the team in both categories with eight targets and six grabs in Cleveland. Those eight looks were three more than any other receiver on the team.

To say that New York’s three-game winning streak is in jeopardy this week is an understatement. Sunday, the Jets host the big bad of the AFC East—a New England Patriots team that possesses both the NFL’s best offense and the league’s worst defense.

The Jets are an excellent bet to be playing from behind in Week 6 against a defense that can be had with relative ease through the air.

The Pats are also fourth in PPR fantasy points allowed to tight ends, having just given up a 5/68/1 stat line to Cameron Brate of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Take a favorable matchup and add a tight end who has been his team’s top receiving target of late, and you have the reason for a repeat this week.

Atlanta Falcons Defense/Special Teams

John Bazemore/Associated Press

Through five weeks this season, the Atlanta Falcons rank 25th among fantasy defenses in NFL.com Default Fantasy Scoring. The Falcons are 15th in fantasy points per game.

Neither of those numbers is apt to send fantasy owners scrambling to pick Atlanta up off the waiver wire.

There are some numbers that might, though.

Coming out of their bye, the Falcons play host to the offensive juggernaut that is the Jay Cutler-led Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins are dead last in the NFL in total offense. Worse than the Chicago Bears. Worse than the San Francisco 49ers. Worse than the 0-5 Cleveland Browns.

And it’s not close. They’re averaging just over 230 yards per game total. They are also dead last in passing offense, scoring offense (just 10.3 points a game) and last in the AFC in rushing offense.

This offense would have to improve by leaps and bounds just to be terrible.

They are also turning the ball over once a game, surrendering an average of two sacks and giving up the fifth-most fantasy points to team defenses in 2017.

Told you there are some numbers that would get you scrambling.