Fantasy Football Week 6: Start 'Em, Sit 'Em

We've reached a turning point in the fantasy football season. After five weeks, enough time has transpired for one of three things to happen: Either you're off to a hot start and feeling good, fell flat over the first month-plus and are freaking out, or you're sitting at 3-2 or 2-3 and not quite sure how to feel about your team.

The injuries have started to pile up, hitting every position on the field last week. The bye weeks are here with four teams sitting Week 6 out, and the pressure to get a win is ratcheting up by the week—especially if those wins were few and far between before now.

The thing is, there's still time to turn things around. I have started seasons with four straight losses and five in six games and gone on to win the championship. If I can do it, you can too. All you have to do is stay active by improving your roster on the waiver wire and maximizing your score each week by setting a solid lineup.

This column exists to aid you with that second part.

Just as I do every week here at Bleacher Report, I have perused questions on the B/R app and picked some out that will hopefully aid both the fantasy managers who posed them and others in setting their Week 6 lineups.

Let's get started, beginning with some of the running backs pressed into service by those aforementioned injuries.

The New Kids on the Block

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Need to sit one. Josh Jacobs, Darrel Williams, Damien Williams --@WiseGuySAW94

With the injuries that have swept through the running back position the past two weeks, quite a few fantasy managers find themselves relying on players like Damien Williams of the Chicago Bears and Darrel Williams of the Kansas City Chiefs.

The former Williams is the easiest "yes" of this trio. The Green Bay Packers aren't an especially great fantasy matchup for running backs, ranking 15th in points-per-reception points allowed to the position. But if last week's 18 touches for 84 total yards and a score against the Las Vegas Raiders were any indication, the Bears are going to lean heavily on the seventh-year veteran with David Montgomery out.

Neither Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Raiders nor Darrel Williams of the Kansas City Chiefs has a favorable matchup this week—both the Denver Broncos and the Washington Football Team are in the bottom 10 in fantasy points allowed to the position.

Jacobs is the more known commodity where workload is concerned—he had 20 combined carries and targets last week and has amassed double-digit touches in three straight games (Jacobs missed Weeks 2 and 3 but was right back to a solid workload when he returned in Week 4). The 23-year-old is averaging a pitiful 3.2 yards per carry this season, though, and the Raiders just lost their head coach and are reeling as an organization right now.

We don't know for sure how Williams be used by the Chiefs this week in Washington, but if Kansas City gets a lead (a definite possibility), he could see quite a bit of work on the ground in the second half.

The Calls: Damien Williams, Darrel Williams

Here's to You, Mr. Robinson

Nam Huh/Associated Press

Pick Two. Allen Robinson, Robert Woods, Courtland Sutton, Marquise Brown, DeVonta Smith. --@kkronsbein

The title of this slide may refer to Chicago Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson II, but the veteran pass-catcher is actually the first player ruled out here. Robinson is certainly a talented player, but his stat line for the year (17/181/1) looks more like one big game than five of them. He's just not startable given the sad state of the Bears passing attack.

The easiest "yes" of this quintet is another relative surprise. Marquise Brown of the Baltimore Ravens has broken out in a major way this year. He's averaging over 90 yards a contest, a touchdown per game and ranks sixth in PPR points among wide receivers in 2021.

From there, things get tricky. Courtland Sutton of the Denver Broncos and DeVonta Smith are the No. 1 wide receivers for their respective teams and have shown considerable upside at times.

But the passing games for the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles haven't exactly screamed "consistency" this season. Robert Woods of the Los Angeles Rams is coming off a massive 12-catch, 150-yard effort against the Seattle Seahawks, but that was after just 172 yards in the first four games combined.

Woods remains the safest play here, thanks to his history of production, but he's not the best option. The Eagles will all but certainly be playing catch-up against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team with an injury-ravaged secondary, allowing the second-most fantasy points to the position in 2021.

Roll the dice on the rookie alongside Brown.

No guts, no glory.

The Calls: Marquise Brown, DeVonta Smith

Downtown Desperation

Michael Ainsworth/Associated Press

I'm struggling mightily my entire team is hurt. Need to start 3 of 4—Chase Edmonds, Kadarius Toney, Myles Gaskin and Jaylen Waddle. I'm 1-4 and need a win this week badly. --@alangreenstein

First off, I feel your pain. I have at least one 1-4 team where I just blew my entire remaining free agent acquisition budget on Devontae Booker as a desperation play so that I could field a full lineup. Even then, that team is probably toast, given my opponent this week.

It at least looks like you'll have a choice here. New York Giants wide receiver Kadarius Toney was back at practice on Wednesday after rolling his ankle during last week's loss to the Dallas Cowboys. There are multiple concerns with the rookie, whether it's Daniel Jones' status for Week 6 or the potential return of Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton. But after last week's 10-catch, 189-yard eruption, Toney has a fantasy ceiling those other players can't match.

It also appears that the Miami Dolphins could have Tua Tagovailoa back for Sunday's game in London—the second-year veteran was designated for return from injured reserve. Tagovailoa's return will be a welcome sight for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who has just five catches for 64 yards over the last two games combined.

Were it not for a muffed punt in Week 2 (which many leagues don't penalize for), Waddle would have had double-digit PPR points each of the first two games of the year with Tagovailoa under center. He gets spot No. 2.

That leaves running back Chase Edmonds of the Arizona Cardinals and Myles Gaskin of the Miami Dolphins. Gaskin caught 10 passes last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but that outburst had as much to do with a banged-up Jacoby Brissett as Gaskin himself.

Still, it's not like Edmonds has lit the world on fire of late (15 rushing yards last week against the 49ers), and Gaskin's matchup with the Jaguars is light-years better than Edmonds' with the Cleveland Browns.

Nothing says "desperate for a win" quite like stacking Miami Dolphins.

The Calls: Kadarius Toney, Jaylen Waddle, Myles Gaskin

Fugly Flexes

Tony Ding/Associated Press

Need 2 flexes please in .5 PPR. Kadarius Toney, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Nyheim Hines, Ricky Seals-Jones or Jared Cook --@greekgod716

Wow. This is quite the assemblage of, um, "talent."

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, I guess.

There's risk involved with Kadarius Toney in Week 6. He's nicked up, target share could be an issue with Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton potentially returning, and Mike "Airmail" Glennon could be starting at quarterback.

Still, he has the most upside of this lackluster group of players, so he gets a spot.

Tight ends Ricky Seals-Jones of Washington and Jared Cook of the Los Angeles Chargers both have top-five matchups for their position in Week 6. But Cook has more than three catches twice in five games this year, while Seals-Jones has topped two catches just once. Both are just too risky.

Generally speaking, the best approach with flex spots is to default to running backs, with the logic being they touch the ball more. The problem is that Nyheim Hines of the Indianapolis Colts hasn't had more than four touches in a game since Week 3.

That brings us to rookie wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions. St. Brown is no threat to Justin Jefferson's rookie receiving record, but over the last two weeks, he has been targeted 16 times, catching 13 of those targets for 135 yards.

With Quintez Cephus on injured reserve, that target share should, at the very least, continue. It may even increase.

And that gets St. Brown the second spot.

The Calls: Kadarius Toney, Amon-Ra St. Brown

3rd-and-Renfrow

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Need WR2 and flex full PPR. Hunter Renfrow, Tim Patrick, Marvin Jones, Jared Cook. --@dvillanueva6

Well, these options are at least marginally better than the last bunch.

We'll knock out the wide receiver first, and it's a fairly easy call. Hunter Renfrow of the Las Vegas Raiders may not be a flashy player with massive size or blazing speed. He is at least consistent—in every game this season, he has caught at least five passes and hit double digits in PPR leagues.

Steady Eddies may not win weeks, but they don't lose them either.

The concerns regarding Jared Cook of the Los Angeles Chargers have already been expressed. Cook draws a great matchup and has one big game this year, but he's as likely to disappear as to have a big game.

That leaves us with two wideouts for one spot. Marvin Jones Jr. got off to a great start to the season, finding the end zone in the first two games of the season. But since DJ Chark Jr. got hurt after just three snaps in Week 4, Jones has vanished, recording four catches for 49 yards in the last two contests combined.

Tim Patrick of the Denver Broncos topped that production in Week 5 alone—seven catches for 89 yards on nine targets against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That marked the fourth time in five games that the 27-year-old posted 10-plus PPR points.

That consistency gets the fourth-year pro the nod in spot No. 2.

The Calls: Hunter Renfrow, Tim Patrick

An Embarrassment of Riches

John Cordes/Associated Press

Need two RB and a flex for a .5 PPR league from these four…Nick Chubb, Jonathan Taylor, James Robinson and Darrell Henderson. Thanks in advance! --@sshear1676

First, let's hear it for good manners—although whether or not you'll actually be thankful remains to be seen.

Second, pardon my French, but dayum. That's a meaty stable of running backs.

Provided he's on the field, Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns is an every-week must-start. Only Derrick Henry has more rushing yards than the 523 that Chubb has amassed through five games. He's averaging a career-best 5.8 yards per carry and ranks 11th in PPR fantasy points among running backs.

Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts sits one spot ahead of Chubb after gouging the Baltimore Ravens for 169 total yards and two touchdowns. With a Houston Texans team on tap that isn't exactly stout defensively, he's a go too.

One step ahead of Taylor in this season's RB rankings sits James Robinson of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who has rebounded from a slow start to post 315 rushing yards and four scores over the last three weeks. No team in the NFL has surrendered more PPR points to running backs this year than Miami, so Robinson has to be in starting lineups as well.

Darrell Henderson Jr. of the Los Angeles Rams is a top-15 fantasy back in his own right with a favorable matchup with the New York Giants.

But he's the low man in this pecking order—and the odd man out.

The Calls: Nick Chubb, James Robinson, Jonathan Taylor

Wilson Woes

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Russ(ell Wilson) is out. Need a QB off the waiver wire. (Taylor) Heinicke, (Carson) Wentz or (Kirk) Cousins? --@Hollowborn

The Russell Wilson injury was a major hit for fantasy managers who will be without the Seattle Seahawks quarterback for at least a few weeks. But the upside here, at least, is that there are some decent alternatives available.

The first player eliminated is the one who had the best Week 5 because that's just how fantasy football works sometimes. Carson Wentz topped 400 passing yards with two scores against the Baltimore Ravens last week, easily this best performance of the season. But this week's matchup with the Houston Texans is only average, and he hadn't thrown for more than 251 yards before Week 5. He also hasn't had a three-score game in 2021.

From a matchup perspective, Taylor Heinicke of the Washington Football team is the best play in Week 6. The Kansas City Chiefs have been awful defensively this year and given up the most fantasy points to quarterbacks in 2021. But Heinicke is also coming off a miserable outing against New Orleans in which he threw two picks and didn't have a touchdown.

From a talent standpoint, the best play is Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings. He is a proven QB1 with two great wide receivers at his disposal and a top-five fantasy option over the season's first three weeks. But Cousins has cooled way off of late—Zach Wilson of the Jets has more fantasy points over the past two weeks than Cousins.

In the end, it's that favorable matchup and another factor that puts Heinicke over the top. Cousins and the Vikings will be on bye in Week 7, while Washington's isn't until Week 9.

With luck, Wilson will be back by then.

The Call: Taylor Heinicke

DraftKings DFS Question of the Week

Danny Karnik/Associated Press

In DraftKings Week 6 Fantasy Football Millionaire contest, who is the best quarterback value-wise above $7K and below $7K? --@AlbeenoPacino

You know what? Because I'm such a prince, I'll go one better than this user by singling out a quarterback at every price point who should have a big Week 6.

Above $7,000: Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals [DK DFS Value $7,900]

If you're going to spend big under center this week, Murray is the quarterback to spend big on. The Cleveland Browns are allowing the ninth-most DK points to quarterbacks this season, and Cleveland has been wrecked by injuries in the secondary. Last week in Los Angeles, the Browns surrendered 398 passing yards and four touchdowns to Justin Herbert. A stack with DeAndre Hopkins could pay off big, but it's going to cost you.

Below $7,000: Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams [DK DFS VALUE $6,700]

Frankly, there isn't a lot for DK managers between $6,000 and $7,000 this week. The smarter play is probably to either go big or hit the bargain bin. But among those mid-range options, Stafford is the best bet. His offense is loaded with skill-position talent, and he has been highly consistent this season—at least 275 passing yards in all five games and multiple touchdown passes in four of them.

Below $6,000: Taylor Heinicke, Washington Football Team [DK DFS VALUE $5,800]

To be fair, Heinicke did not play well at all last week against the Saints. But that was then, and this is now, and the Chiefs defense is most assuredly not New Orleans. In his four starts this year, Heinicke has averaged 272 passing yards and 1.75 touchdowns per game. It's not unrealistic to expect those numbers to be higher against Kansas City's terrible defense in a game when Washington could be playing catchup. A Heinicke/Terry McLaurin stack is highly attractive in Week 6, and you could throw in Ricky Seals-Jones on the cheap too.

Rapid Fire

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As is the case every week, we'll slap a bow on this week's Start/Sit mailbag by banging out some answers to app user questions in rapid-fire style.

Have more Start/Sit questions? Leave them in the comments. I try to spend a few hours there on Friday and/or Saturday, answering as many as possible.

Pick one flex, .5 PPR. Chase Edmonds or Mark Andrews? --@GretHamblino

Nine times out of 10, the running back is the way to go with flex spots—follow the touches. This is the 10th time. Edmonds' workload was down last week (nine touches), and he keeps losing goal-line looks to James Conner, while Andrews is coming off a ridiculous 11/147/2 line on 13 targets in last week's overtime win over the Colts. Ride the wave with Andrews.

Adam Thielen or Kadarius Toney? --@bodee3000

Concerns about Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen are genuine—he has taken a clear back seat to Justin Jefferson, and he only received three targets last week. But in the four games preceding that, Thielen averaged 8.5 looks per game. Meanwhile, Toney has concerns of his own with a cloudy QB situation and muddied depth chart in New York. Thielen is the play here.

Darrel Williams or Devontae Booker at flex? --@ckalustian

Neither of these backs draws a great matchup in Week 6, although Booker's tilt with the Los Angeles Rams is marginally better than Williams' go-round with Washington. The kicker here is workload—the Chiefs could decide to go pass-heavy against Washington's putrid pass defense, while the Giants will probably try to slow the game down as much as possible by leaning on Booker. Give me the latter.

(Chase) Claypool or Diontae Johnson? --@chubbs_bully

It's not that often you get a question about two teammates. With JuJu Smith-Schuster out most of last week's win over Denver, it was Claypool who stepped up as the No. 1 receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, posting a 5/130/1 line while Johnson was targeted only twice. Johnson will see more work this week against a bad Seattle secondary, but Claypool has both a higher ceiling with Smith-Schuster out and better odds of a red-zone score. Take that upside, even if some extra risk comes with it.

Tight End help full PPR. Jared Cook, Mike Gesicki or Hunter Henry? --@NCIO20

My concerns about Cook's target share have been discussed more than once this week, although he does draw a top-five matchup for the position against the Ravens. If Tua Tagovailoa does play this week, that could actually be bad for Gesicki, who was invisible early in the season with Tagovailoa. With 10 grabs for 107 yards the past two games and scores in two straight, Hunter Henry appears to be settling in with the New England Patriots. He gets the nod.

Lamar (Jackson) or (Jalen) Hurts? LOL. --@ludachris3785

First, it's not nice to laugh at fantasy managers who aren't ridiculously stacked at quarterback. Second, while Jalen Hurts of the Eagles has the better matchup for quarterbacks this week than Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, you don't sit Jackson for a guy who is essentially a poor man's version of the Ravens signal-caller. Third, you should be shopping Hurts on the trade market—now.

Tyler Boyd or Emmanuel Sanders? --@kadenp97

At first glance, this feels like a relatively close call—a pair of fantasy WR3 types with similarly advantageous fantasy matchups. But the Detroit Lions (Boyd's Week 6 opponent) have actually been a bottom-10 fantasy matchup for receivers this season. Sanders is red-hot, with two-score games in two of the past three weeks. The Tennessee Titans secondary is also really, really bad. Get Sanders in your lineup.

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Fantasy points allowed and scoring data courtesy of My Fantasy League.

Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on Twitter at @IDPSharks.