Week 6 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Fantasy Football Stars to Play and Bench

Even with the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions on bye, the NFL's Week 6 slate should provide plenty of fantasy football fireworks. 

The week starts with a bang thanks to an NFC East showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants, before moving into a weekend featuring contests like Tampa Bay-Atlanta, Pittsburgh-Cincinnati, Carolina-Washington and Kansas City-New England, to name a few. 

This doesn't mean everyone is a great fantasy start, but the on-paper outlook suggests plenty of scoring. Here is a look at some matchup comparisons and decisions on top stars. 

QB

Matchup Comparison	Verdict
Aaron Rodgers (vs. SF) vs. Andy Dalton (vs. PIT)	Aaron Rodgers
Matt Ryan (vs. TB) vs. Andrew Luck (at NYJ)	Matt Ryan
Patrick Mahomes (at NE) vs. Carson Wentz (at NYG)	Patrick Mahomes
Deshaun Watson (vs. BUF) vs. Ben Roethlisberger (at CIN)	Ben Roethlisberger
Tom Brady (vs. KC) vs. Kirk Cousins (vs. ARI)	Tom Brady

Star to Start: Matt Ryan, ATL (vs. TB) 

Believe it or not, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan isn't a guaranteed start every week. 

Owners who don't agree learned this the hard way in Week 1 when he put up a 9.84-point effort before two weeks featuring 31.68 and 40.16 points. 

One would think a guy throwing to Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Calvin Ridley and an army of pass-catching backs would be a start no matter what, but alas—Ryan is a gold mine in Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Those Buccaneers cough up the most points to opposing quarterbacks on average this year, infamously letting Mitchell Trubisky throw six touchdowns on the way to 43.46 points last time out. 

Star to Sit: Philip Rivers, LAC (at CLE) 

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Philip Rivers is one of the most consistent players in fantasy football once again. 

To date, the Los Angeles Chargers veteran is having another stellar season and sits on 13 touchdowns against two interceptions, having scored 21 or more points in four of his five outings. 

That ends in Week 6. 

Not only do Rivers and the Chargers have to travel quite a bit, he's looking at facing an elite Cleveland Browns defense that only permits the ninth-fewest points to the position this year. This includes holding Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees to under 20 points apiece, so Rivers is a no-go. 

RB

Matchup Comparison	Verdict
Ezekiel Elliott (vs. JAX) vs. Todd Gurley (at DEN)	Ezekiel Elliott
Christian McCaffrey (at WAS) vs. Devonta Freeman (vs. TB)	Devonta Freeman
Joe Mixon (vs. PIT) vs. David Johnson (at MIN)	Joe Mixon
Adrian Peterson (vs. CAR) vs. LeSean McCoy (at HOU)	LeSean McCoy
Dalvin Cook (vs. ARI) vs. Phillip Lindsay (vs. LAR)	Dalvin Cook

Star to Start: Dalvin Cook, MIN (vs. ARI) 

The Dalvin Cook breakout game is coming. 

It's easy to forget Cook was one of last year's breakout rookie running backs before he went down with an injury, as he turned 74 attempts into 345 yards and two scores (4.8 average) and caught another 11 passes for 90 yards. 

Cook has battled an injury this year and missed two games as a result, but he scored 10 or more points in two of this three outings. The Vikings have yet to score a rushing touchdown and clearly need to take a run-first approach, which is good news with the Arizona Cardinals next on the schedule. 

Those Cardinals surrender the most points outright to backs this year, even coughing up 10 or more points to three differing running backs in Week 5 alone. Cook should reannounce his presence to the NFL in a big way over the weekend. 

Star to Sit: Dion Lewis, TEN (vs. BAL)

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So much for Dion Lewis breaking out with the Tennessee Titans. 

Things look good at the start. Lewis erupted in his debut after being a prized free-agent add, ripping off 19.5 points on the road in a loss. 

Since then, he's scored more than 10 points in a game once and 5.5 or less three times. 

Next up is a date against a strong Baltimore Ravens defense allowing the third-fewest points to backs. Some of that is the result of a soft running back schedule, but a Titans-Ravens brawl screams defensive-minded affair in the first place. 

Despite versatility and playmaking ability, Lewis will likely score less than plenty of guys owners could promote from the bench. 

WR

Matchup Comparison	Verdict
DeAndre Hopkins (vs. BUF) vs. Keenan Allen (at CLE)	Keenan Allen
Odell Beckham Jr. (vs. PHI) vs. A.J. Green (vs. PIT)	Odell Beckham Jr.
Julio Jones (vs. TB) vs. Mike Evans (at ATL)	Julio Jones
Josh Gordon (vs. KC) vs. Antonio Brown (at CIN)	Josh Gordon
Sammy Watkins (at NE) vs. Corey Davis (vs. BAL)	Corey Davis

Star to Start: Jarvis Landry, CLE (vs. LAC) 

Jarvis Landry, Hard Knocks star and new arrival with the Cleveland Browns, hasn't changed much. 

So far this year, Landry is once again a target hog who only occasionally erupts for big games. He has three trips to double digits, only once surpassing the 15-point mark, but he also has two games under 10 points. 

However, he has 10 or more targets in four of five outings with a high of 15. 

The quantity is bound to create an eruption against a defense like the one those Chargers will bring to town in Week 6 considering they permit the sixth-most points to wideouts. Baker Mayfield should be rolling at home against a struggling defense after plenty of travel, so Landry might just hit a season-best mark. 

Star to Sit: Demaryius Thomas, DEN (vs. LAR) 

Remember Demaryius Thomas? 

Owners certainly do after his 19-point outburst in Week 5. The problem is, it's looking more like an anomaly than anything else. 

Those 19 points were only Thomas' second trip to double digits all year and it came against an exploitable New York Jets defense. The Los Angeles Rams aren't even in the same stratosphere and only allow the 10th-fewest points to wideouts. 

Combine a bad matchup with an offense that isn't playing to its new quarterbacks' strengths and owners get a possible No. 1 wideout playing like a bench warmer, so Thomas needs to sit on the pine for at least another week. 

TE

Matchup Comparison	Verdict
Zach Ertz (at NYG) vs. George Kittle (at GB)	Zach Ertz
Eric Ebron (at NYJ) vs. Charles Clay (at HOU)	Charles Clay
Rob Gronkowski (vs. KC) vs. C.J. Uzomah (vs. PIT)	Rob Gronkowski
Travis Kelce (at NE) vs. Cameron Brate (at ATL)	Travis Kelce
Vance McDonald (at CIN) vs. Austin Hooper (vs. TB)	Austin Hooper

Star to Start: Austin Hooper, ATL (vs. TB) 

The Austin Hooper train should keep right on rolling through Week 6. 

Hooper posted 12.2 points in Week 5, catching nine of his 12 targets for 77 yards, giving him a double-digit outing for just the second time on the season. 

A matchup-based play no matter what, Hooper is in a golden situation against Tampa Bay, which boasts a defense also giving up the most points to opposing tight ends. 

Three of the four starting tight ends the Buccaneers have faced this year have tallied at least 14.9 points, so Hooper could be looking at a career day while Ryan looks his way with Tampa Bay distracted by his host of weapons at wideout. 

Star to Sit: Eric Ebron, IND (at NYJ) 

Eric Ebron is experiencing a career resurgence with the Indianapolis Colts, which is apparent enough in his fantasy production alone. 

Ebron has double-digit outings in four of his first five games, including 27 points in Week 5. 

But part of the skill in fantasy football is knowing when to get off the hot name. That would be the case with Ebron in Week 5 as he gets ready to take on a Jets defense allowing the fewest points on average to his position. 

To make matters worse, he missed practice Wednesday. While there is a chance this is nothing more than a veteran's day off to let him deal with nagging issues, combine it with the matchup and things look cloudy for Ebron. 

All scoring info, points-against info and ownership stats courtesy of Yahoo standard leagues.