Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 6: Debating Difficult Fantasy Football Lineup Decisions
One glance at the Week 6 schedule should have fantasy football owners thinking about a high-scoring affair when it comes to start 'em, sit 'em decisions.
With teams like the Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints squaring off, as well as a handful of matchups featuring bad defenses and potent offenses, it looks like the overall scoring leaderboard could see some new names enter the fray.
Right now, said leaderboard is a little odd, with names such as Alex Smith and Leonard Fournette near the top of the list. It figures to even out as the season progresses, perhaps as soon as this week.
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A return to normalcy is something owners would likely welcome, so here is a look at matchup comparisons to find the best values and analysis of start-sit decisions.
QB
| Alex Smith (vs. PIT) vs. Carson Palmer (vs. TB) | Cam Newton |
| Kirk Cousins (vs. SF) vs. Jameis Winston (at ARI) | Jameis Winston |
| Ben Roethlisberger (at KC) vs. Matt Ryan (vs. MIA) | Matt Ryan |
| Deshaun Watson (vs. CLE) vs. Drew Brees (vs. DET) | Drew Brees |
| Aaron Rodgers (at MIN) vs. Matthew Stafford (at NO) | Matthew Stafford |
Start: Jameis Winston (at ARI)
Don't hold a grudge against Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston for too long.
Winston had a dud of sorts against a faltering New England Patriots defense in Week 5, only tallying 18.46 points in a matchup other signal-callers had exploited.
Still, Winston now hits the road to take on an Arizona Cardinals team allowing the seventh-most points to opposing quarterbacks on average. Keep in mind this rank would be much, much worse if the defense hadn't had a pair of cupcakes against Jacoby Brissett and Brian Hoyer, who both scored less than 10 points.
All other opposing quarterbacks scored at least 22.92.
Quietly, with weapons like DeSean Jackson and Mike Evans in the fold, Winston sits in perhaps the best position outright of any quarterback.
Sit: Derek Carr (vs. LAC)
Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr will return to the field this weekend, according to Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
That doesn't mean owners should rush him into lineups without thinking.
It's something worth thinking about long and hard, too, because Carr is coming off a back issue and there is bound to be some rust there. Not only that, he scored less than 10 points in each of his past two outings and now has to deal with a Los Angeles Chargers defense ranked right in the middle of the pack in terms of points allowed to the position.
Only one quarterback has reached the 20-point mark against the Chargers and banking on Carr to do so off a back injury isn't wise at an easily streamable position.
RB
| Kareem Hunt (vs. PIT) vs. C.J. Anderson (vs. NYG) | Kareem Hunt |
| Todd Gurley (at JAX) vs. Carlos Hyde (at WAS) | Todd Gurley |
| Melvin Gordon (at OAK) vs. Jordan Howard (at BAL) | Jordan Howard |
| Leonard Fournette (vs. LAR) vs. DeMarco Murray (vs. IND) | Leonard Fournette |
| Jerick McKinnon (vs. GB) vs. Aaron Jones (at MIN) | Aaron Jones |
Start: Leonard Fournette (vs. LAR)
Fournette got a nod in the intro because it isn't often owners see a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars slot highly anywhere, let alone near the top of the overall list.
But here we are with Fournette, who has 18 or more points in three appearances so far, including 20.5 and 30.4 over his last two outings. The latter was a bit of a fluke against a bad Pittsburgh Steelers defense, but 181 yards and two touchdowns is still worth a mention.
Now Fournette gets to beat up on a soft Los Angeles Rams defense coughing up the most points to opposing backs on average, a unit that has been burnt by everyone from Marlon Mack to Chris Thompson to Carlos Hyde and beyond.
At home, look for the rookie to have another monster day as the Jacksonville defense gives the Rams problems before handing the game flow to Fournette.
Sit: Doug Martin (at ARI)
The return of Doug Martin was fun.
Just don't expect it to last.
The Buccaneers got Martin back a week ago, and he posted 14.2 points on 74 yards and a score to catch the Patriots off guard.
Arizona won't have the same problems. For all the struggles in the desert, the Cardinals allow the fourth-fewest points to opposing running backs on average.
Part of this statistical strength is because quarterbacks have such an easy time against the unit. This will be the case once again as mentioned above in the Winston section, leaving Martin with limited touches—not to mention he lost the element of surprise last week.
WR
| Antonio Brown (at KC) vs. Larry Fitzgerald (vs. TB) | Antonio Brown |
| T.Y. Hilton (at TEN) vs. DeSean Jackson (at ARI) | T.Y. Hilton |
| Julio Jones (vs. MIA) vs. Mike Evans (at ARI) | Julio Jones |
| DeAndre Hopkins (vs. CLE) vs. Jarvis Landry (at ATL) | DeAndre Hopkins |
| Jordy Nelson (at MIN) vs. Tyreek Hill (vs. PIT) | Tyreek Hill |
Start: DeAndre Hopkins (vs. CLE)
Houston Texans wideout DeAndre Hopkins has been all over the place this year, scoring no more than 7.6 points in a game twice, yet hitting 16.7 and 23.2 points over his last two outings.
There hasn't been much in the way of consistency in terms of matchup outlook with these performances, either, though this week is a game against the Cleveland Browns.
Owners should always pounce on a game against the Browns.
Numbers wise, the Browns only allow the 13th-fewest points to the position, but they've faced top-heavy units. Antonio Brown, T.Y. Hilton and A.J. Green all had huge days against the unit while few others pitched in to help. New York Jets wideouts didn't do anything.
This means Hopkins should have a big day on his lonesome because the Browns don't have anyone who can stop a No. 1 wideout.
Sit: Keenan Allen (at OAK)
Chargers wideout Keenan Allen smacks of the Jarvis Landry vibe—lots of targets, little overhead for big fantasy production.
Allen has been a nice comeback story this year and has double-digit target counts in four of his five games, with the exception being a nine-target affair.
He's scored more than 10 fantasy points once.
Allen is a monster in points-per-receptions (PPR) leagues, but standard leagues like this leave owners wishing for more. He's not going to blossom into a big scorer against a Raiders defense permitting the seventh-fewest points to the position.
TE
| Cameron Brate (at ARI) vs. Austin Hooper (vs. MIA) | Cameron Brate |
| Hunter Henry (at OAK) vs. Austin Seferian-Jenkins (vs. NE) | Austin Seferian-Jenkins |
| Rob Gronkowski (at NYJ) vs. Zach Miller (at BAL) | Rob Gronkowski |
| O.J. Howard (at ARI) vs. Delanie Walker (vs. IND) | Delanie Walker |
| Evan Engram (at DEN) vs. Travis Kelce (vs. PIT) | Travis Kelce |
Start: Austin Seferian-Jenkins (vs. NE)
Here's a name owners maybe haven't heard in a while.
Austin Seferian-Jenkins has had an odd journey through the league to this point, though he's found a nice landing spot with the New York Jets, at least from a fantasy perspective. Over his past three games, ASJ has six, four and eight targets.
It doesn't sound like much, at least until we weave in the Patriots—a struggling defense mentioned a few times in passing already.
There's no passing up the conversation this time—the Patriots haven't been able to guard tight ends, culminating in coughing up the fourth-most points to the position so far. This makes ASJ one of the better starts at what has been the most disappointing position of all this year.
Sit: Jordan Reed (vs. SF)
This is how miserable tight end has been so far: ASJ is a start, Jordan Reed is a sit—even against a winless team like the San Francisco 49ers.
Reed hasn't looked right this year, topping out at 4.8 points despite a minimum of five targets his three appearances so far.
So while the usage has been there, Reed hasn't found a way to turn the looks into worthwhile production. The trend figures to continue against a 49ers team permitting the fewest points to tight ends this year.
It's no fluke, either—Greg Olsen had 18 yards against the unit, while Jimmy Graham had one yard.
So no, banking on a Reed resurgence this week isn't the best idea.
All scoring info, points-against info and ownership stats courtesy of Yahoo standard leagues.
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