Fantasy Football Week 6: Power Ranking the Top 50 Point Magnets
If you have Troy Polamalu and the Pittsburgh Steelers defense ready to go in your fantasy football league this Sunday, then the football gods are smiling on you.
This the place for projections of every kind regarding points, and here are my projections for the top 50 fantasy football performances of Week 6.
The Writer assumes no responsibility if these picks don't pan out, but will take full credit for all those that do.
Keep in mind point predictions are based on leagues that give one point for every 10 rushing/receiving yards, one point for every 20 passing yards and six points for every touchdown.
50. Malcolm Floyd
1 of 50
Malcolm Floyd put up eight catches for 213 yards last week versus the Raiders. This is called "points" where I come from.
The Matchup: vs. the St. Louis Rams. Sharks will be circling.
How Much They'll Score: At least 25 points. The Rams pass defense is ranked 25th in the league.
Bust Potential: Low. Philip Rivers will ride the hot receiver like any good quarterback.
49. Miles Austin
2 of 50
Tony Romo threw for more than 400 yards last week, so it's a good bet that the ball will continue to go in the air.
The Matchup: vs. the Minnesota Vikings. At last check, the Vikings gave up a ton of yards to the Jets and Mark Sanchez.
How Much They'll Score: 18 points. Even if the Cowboys lose, they're going to put points on the board.
Bust Potential: Moderate. After throwing three interceptions last week, Dallas may try to emphasize the running game.
48. Ray Rice
3 of 50
Ray Rice is feeling good after putting up 133 yards last week in Denver
The Matchup: vs. the New England Patriots. Rice has to get through the line, but if he does, then it could be another 100-yard game.
How Much They'll Score: 14 points. The Ravens can score, the question is how much versus the Patriots.
Bust Potential: High. The Patriots defense has been known to shut down the running game.
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47. Marques Colston
4 of 50
Colston hasn't had a touchdown catch this season, so he's due.
The Matchup: vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs defense will give up a big play or two.
How Much They'll Score: 14 points. The Saints aren't looking like the defending Super Bowl champs much right now, but improvement comes in baby steps.
Bust Potential: Moderate. Colston hasn't done much so far this year, but that can change in an instant.
46. Sam Bradford
5 of 50
Bradford's main receiver, Mark Clayton, is gone. But Bradford still will be throwing the ball, so there's that.
The Matchup: vs. the San Diego Chargers, who have proved already this season they can and will lose to a bad team.
How Much They'll Score: 14 points. The Chargers may put up a better fight this week, but Bradford was the No. 1 overall pick for a reason.
Bust Potential: High. Bradford is facing the third-ranked pass defense in the league.
45. Donald Driver
6 of 50
Donald Driver is an experienced receiver on the Green Bay Packers. Injuries to the Packers make it harder to say much more.
The Matchup: vs. the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins defense gives up an average of 232 passing yards per game.
How Much They'll Score: 14 points. That's a pure guess since it's impossible to say at this point how much Matt Flynn will throw the ball.
Bust Potential: High. With Aaron Rodgers concussed, Green Bay might rely on the running backs to get them through the game. However, with Jermichael Finley out for the year, Driver could get more passes by default.
44. Braylon Edwards
7 of 50
Braylon Edwards, so far this season, seems to have recaptured his 2007 Pro Bowl form.
The Matchup: vs. the Denver Broncos. The Broncos pass defense is middle of the pack, and Mark Sanchez could capitalize on that.
How Much They'll Score: 10 points. Now that Santonio Holmes is back, there's a lot less potential for Edwards to catch everything.
Bust Potential: High. The Jets' last two games have been in prime time, and Edwards always plays better under the lights. This week's game is a 4:05 Eastern Time start. Expect drops.
43. Cleveland Browns D/ST
8 of 50
The Cleveland Browns have a defense? Yes, Virginia, yes they do.
The Matchup: vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before you say, "You're crazy!," remember the Browns defense sacked Ben Roethlisberger EIGHT times last December.
How Much They'll Score: 15 points. The Browns have a lot of guys who can get through the Steelers porous offensive line. Roethlisberger is elusive, but the Browns have proved they can get him. Plus, Joshua Cribbs still is taking kick returns.
Bust Potential: Very high. The Browns may get their butts handed to them with barbecue sauce.
42. Phil Dawson
9 of 50
Phil Dawson has been the Browns kicker since they came back in 1999. I'm not sure it's been all wine and roses for Phil.
The Matchup: vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers defense has been very stingy about letting teams into the end zone.
How Much They'll Score: 12 points. Chances are field goals will be all the Browns will be in a position to score.
Bust Potential: Very low. Have you heard of this guy? He's one of the best kickers in the league the last decade. Being stuck on a bad team tends to get that fact lost.
41. Michael Bush
10 of 50
Michael Bush plays for the Raiders, which makes predicting performances the prognostication equivalent of walking through thorn bushes.
The Matchup: vs. the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers bus may explode on the way to the field because that's the kind of luck they're having this year.
How Much They'll Score: 20 points. The Raiders will score against the 49ers.
Bust Potential: Moderate. The 49ers may roll over this week, or they may finally not fall apart in the fourth quarter. Either way, Bush should get some points.
40. Brandon Marshall
11 of 50
Brandon Marshall is the Dolphins' top receiver, and the Packers may field linebackers from the local junior college.
The Matchup: vs. the Green Bay Packers. This could be an ugly game for Packers fans if Clay Matthews is out along with half the defense
How Much They'll Score: 18 points. Tony Sparano is going to exploit the Packers injuries this week.
Bust Potential: Moderate. The Packers have the 15th-ranked pass defense in the league, and the secondary still is fairly healthy.
39. Randy Moss
12 of 50
Moss now has another week of practice under his belt in the Minnesota offense.
The Matchup: vs. the Dallas Cowboys. Moss is 7-0 in his career against the Cowboys.
How Much They'll Score: 14 points. Whether Favre starts or not, Moss is the featured receiver. He will get the ball.
Bust Potential: Moderately high. Dallas may decide to blanket Moss and let the chips fall where they may.
38. Kevin Kolb
13 of 50
Kevin Kolb may start as things stand now. Or maybe Michael Vick will start. Got that?
The Matchup: vs. the Atlanta Falcons. If Michael Vick starts, ignore everything else on this slide.
How Much They'll Score: 21 points. The Falcons always seem to give up more points than they should this year.
Bust Potential: Low. That's assuming Kolb plays. He looked a little better versus the 49ers this week, and the Falcons barely held off the 49ers.
37. Pittsburgh Steelers D/ST
14 of 50
The Pittsburgh Steelers defense is one of the best in the league. This is not an arguable fact going into Week 6.
The Matchup: vs. the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers face a rookie quarterback in Colt McCoy, who has few targets, an injured running back and an offensive line that got two quarterbacks injured in five weeks.
How Much They'll Score: At least 20 points. This is going to be a brutal game with a lot of sacks and turnovers on Cleveland's part.
Bust Potential: Very low. The Browns offensive line is bad and the Steelers love brutalizing AFC North teams.
36. Visanthe Shiancoe
15 of 50
Visanthe Shiancoe should have had a better week last week, but he didn't.
The Matchup: vs. the Dallas Cowboys. If Shiancoe can get whoever starts at quarterback to look his way, he'll put up good numbers.
How Much They'll Score: 14 points. Shiancoe had an off-week versus the Jets as far as production, but that shouldn't become a trend.
Bust Potential: Moderately high. Shiancoe should be putting up better numbers, so we'll see if he breaks out this week.
35. Jamaal Charles
16 of 50
Jamaal Charles is going to run. The question is: Will he score?
The Matchup: vs. the Houston Texans. The Texans have the fifth-ranked run defense in the league, giving up only 79 yards per game.
How Much They'll Score: 10 points. There's no reason to think the Texans run defense is going to collapse this week.
Bust Potential: Moderately high. The Chiefs running game is still too much of an unknown against a defense ranked this high.
34. Matt Schaub
17 of 50
Schaub already has more than 1,200 yards and seven touchdowns. Not too shabby.
The Matchup: vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs have a good pass defense and held Peyton Manning to under 300 yards last week.
How Much They'll Score: 14 points. The Kansas City defense looked good against the best last week, no reason to think that will change this week.
Bust Potential: High. If Manning couldn't get 300 yards against the Chiefs, where does that leave Schaub?
33. Matt Forte
18 of 50
Jay Cutler is back as the starter this week, which should be good news for Forte. Handing the ball off means Cutler is less likely to get his bell rung again.
The Matchup: vs. the Seattle Seahawks. The Bears MO this year is defying expectations.
How Much They'll Score: 20 points. Forte will get more than one good run against the Seattle defense.
Bust Potential: Medium. Cutler may take to the air.
32. Shaun Hill
19 of 50
Matthew Stafford still isn't going to play this week unless the Lions are pulling the biggest fakeout in the history of football.
The Matchup: vs. the New York Giants. Remember what the Giants defense did to Jay Cutler?
How Much They'll Score: 12 points. Shaun Hill has been a great backup, but the Giants defense is much better than the Rams.
Bust Potential: Very high. The Giants may decapitate Hill in the first quarter.
31. Joe Flacco
20 of 50
Flacco had a good game against the Broncos, but now he's got to go to New England. Ouch.
The Matchup: vs. the New England Patriots. Another quarterback duel versus one of the best, Tom Brady.
How Much They'll Score: 24 points. Anquan Boldin is a stud and if the Patriots double cover Boldin, that'll just leave someone else open.
Bust Potential: Moderate. You never know when a Bill Belichick defense is just going to clamp down.
30. Austin Collie
21 of 50
Collie already has 446 yards and five touchdowns. That's through five games, not eight, not seven, not nine, FIVE games.
The Matchup: vs. the Washington Redskins. They have the No. 30th-ranked pass defense. Not sure how much that means after last week, but there it is.
How Much They'll Score: 20 points. If Collie is on the field, Peyton Manning will find him.
Bust Potential: High. Collie didn't practice Wednesday with a foot injury, and that could end up limiting his playing time Sunday.
29. Michael Turner
22 of 50
Michael Turner runs for a lot of yards, but so does Jason Snelling.
The Matchup: vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. Turner will be going up against LeSean McCoy.
How Much They'll Score: 18 points. Turner busted through the Browns line last week, and the Eagles are ranked one slot lower than the Browns.
Bust Potential: Medium. Snelling might bust out for the big runs, or Philly may just shut both guys down entirely and turn the game into an aerial battle.
28. Chad Henne
23 of 50
Chad Henne is an underrated quarterback who quietly is having a decent year.
The Matchup: vs. the Green Bay Packers. The Packers are beat-up and Henne will have more time to throw.
How Much They'll Score: 24 points. If Henne has time to throw, he'll take the Packers apart because of injuries.
Bust Potential: Moderately low. The Packers have a middle-of-the-pack pass defense, and now their pass-rushing capabilities are in question.
27. Wes Welker
24 of 50
Wes Welker is a receiver for the New England Patriots. Last time I checked, that meant Tom Brady was his quarterback.
The Matchup: vs. Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens actually give up an average of 214 passing yards per game.
How Much They'll Score: 14 points. Welker will get the ball and probably will have at least one touchdown.
Bust Potential: Moderately low. Brady will find a way to work Welker into the game.
26. Tony Romo
25 of 50
As long as Tony Romo is throwing for 400 yards, who cares how many picks he throws?
The Matchup: vs. the Minnesota Vikings. The Cowboys won't stop throwing just because Romo throws interceptions. If they did, Romo would've been benched a long time ago.
How Much They'll Score: 24 points. He'll throw interceptions, but that just goes without saying anymore. That being said, though, Romo will probably throw for more than 300 yards against the Vikings.
Bust Potential: Low. There's little chance the Vikings will shut him down.
25. Frank Gore
26 of 50
Frank Gore is the Frank Goriest Gore of the Frank Gores.
The Matchup: vs. the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders have no rush defense worth mentioning. They're ranked 31st.
How Much They'll Score: 25 points. Gore could have a career day against the Raiders and the Niners are desperate.
Bust Potential: Low. Gore gets most of the carries, and there's nothing to suggest the Raiders can shut him down.
24. Matt Hasselback
27 of 50
Matt Hasselback is having a decent year, but his year could improve greatly with some touchdowns this week.
The Matchup: vs. the Chicago Bears. Hasselback is going against the league's 24th-ranked pass defense. Time to wrack up some stats.
How Much They'll Score: 20 points. Coming off a bye week, the Hawks have had two weeks to prepare for the Bears.
Bust Potential: Medium. This is Matt Hasselback—he might get injured in the second quarter.
23. Matt Ryan
28 of 50
Ryan had a decent day against the Browns, but the Eagles aren't going to be a cakewalk.
The Matchup: vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles pass defense is better than the Browns, so Ryan needs to play better.
How Much They'll Score: 22 points. Ryan will get some touchdown throws in, but don't expect him to throw for 300 yards.
Bust Potential: Medium. If the running game takes off, that could bring his numbers down.
22 Dallas Clark
29 of 50
Dallas Clark is the kind of receiver other receivers want to be.
The Matchup: vs. the Washington Redskins. Peyton Manning will not have two weeks under 300 yards in a row.
How Much They'll Score: 20 points. It's going to be a good day for Dallas Clark owners.
Bust Potential: Medium. Last week proved you never know how the Colts offense will look week-to-week in 2010.
21. Calvin Johnson
30 of 50
Just think about what Calvin Johnson's numbers could have been had he spent the last few years as a Colts receiver? Yeah, that's a nice dream.
The Matchup: vs. the New York Giants. Johnson is the best receiver the Lions have had since, well, I don't know how long. But the Giants are pretty good.
How Much They'll Score: 20 points. Johnson will get points, but the Giants won't let him run wild.
Bust Potential: Moderate. Johnson is one of the league's best receivers, but the Giants could hassle the quarterback and disrupt the passing game.
20. Arian Foster
31 of 50
Arian Foster missed big-time last week for fantasy owners, but he should bounce back against the Chiefs.
The Matchup: vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. A very tough defense, and Foster didn't do well last week.
How Much They'll Score: 18 points. Foster will do better than last week.
Bust Potential: Moderately high. If Foster plays as he did last week, he won't score much. Here's hoping he plays as he did two weeks ago.
19. Mark Sanchez
32 of 50
Mark Sanchez is proving to be a lot better than Jets haters want him to be. Such is life.
The Matchup: vs. the Denver Broncos. This will be about as unpredictable a game as you will have this week.
How Much They'll Score: 20 points. Sanchez should get at least two scores.
Bust Potential: Moderately high. Sanchez hasn't had a bad week since Week 1, so there's the "he's due" factor.
18. Hines Ward
33 of 50
Hines Ward and Ben Roethlisberger, together again.
The Matchup: vs. the Cleveland Browns. No matter who the Browns put on Ward, expectations are low.
How Much They'll Score: 20 points. Ward will torch the Browns secondary as bad as Anquan Boldin and Terrell Owens did.
Bust Potential: Very low. If Ward doesn't get at least two touchdowns, something went very wrong.
17. Dustin Keller
34 of 50
Keller is the kind of tight end every coach wants on his team.
The Matchup: vs. the Denver Broncos. Sanchez will be looking for Keller early and often.
How Much They'll Score: 24 points. If Braylon returns to his usual Sunday afternoon form of dropping passes, Keller will pick up more attempts.
Bust Potential: Moderate. Keller is too reliable not to get the ball.
16. Maurice Jones-Drew
35 of 50
Jones-Drew played the Bills last week and didn't get 100 yards. He's not playing the Bills this week.
The Matchup: vs. the Tennessee Titans. Jones-Drew will have a lot more work getting to 100 yards this week. The Titans are ranked 11th in their rush defense.
How Much They'll Score: 15 points. Jones-Drew can have a good game, but he probably won't see more than 100 yards and one touchdown.
Bust Potential: Moderate. The Titans are good at shutting down the run.
15. Brandon Lloyd
36 of 50
Brandon Lloyd is becoming one of Kyle Orton's favorite targets. That's good news for fantasy owners.
The Matchup: vs. the New York Jets. This matchup may not work well if Darrelle Revis plays, but there are a lot of unknowns going into this game.
How Much They'll Score: 20 points. Lloyd has 589 yards, but only three touchdowns. If Revis is out, though, this score could go higher.
Bust Potential: Medium. The Broncos have no running game, and if Revis plays and shuts Lloyd down, then it's going to be ugly for Broncos fans.
14. Chris Johnson
37 of 50
Chris Johnson ran for a lot of yards and scored twice in the fourth quarter last week. It's safe to say he's getting hot again.
The Matchup: vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags give up an average of 146 yards per game, and Johnson ran for 2,000 yards last season.
How Much They'll Score: 22 points. Johnson is going to give the Jags defense a real big headache.
Bust Potential: Moderately low. The Jaguars give up a lot of points.
13. Antonio Gates
38 of 50
Antonio Gates is not one of the reasons the Chargers lost to the Raiders last week.
The Matchup: vs. the St. Louis Rams. I don't see the Rams stopping Gates.
How Much They'll Score: 24 points. Gates is a scoring machine. Even when the Chargers lose, he scores points.
Bust Potential: Low. If he busts, it'll be the first time all year.
12. Tom Brady
39 of 50
Tom Brady has three Super Bowl Rings, a supermodel wife and great career stats. What do you have?
The Matchup: vs. the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens laugh at Brady's resume.
How Much They'll Score: 14 points. Tom Brady is Tom Brady, it's very hard to shut this guy down.
Bust Potential: Moderately High. The Ravens have the No. 2 pass defense in the league. Tom Brady does not scare them.
11. LaDainian Tomlinson
40 of 50
LaDainian Tomlinson still has gas left in the tank.
The Matchup: vs. the Denver Broncos. The Broncos are ranked 25th in rush defense. LT will get some yards this week..
How Much They'll Score: 20 points. Denver wishes they had this guy.
Bust Potential: Moderate. The Broncos might stack up the middle and try to force LT to the outside to limit his breakthrough potential.
10. Kyle Orton
41 of 50
The only week Orton hasn't thrown for at least 300 yards was Week 1.
The Matchup: vs. the New York jets. I don't think it matters who Orton plays, he finds ways to get the ball to his receivers.
How Much They'll Score: 26 points. There's no reason to think Orton won't pick apart the Jets defense. He's been unbelievable so far this year.
Bust Potential: Medium. Orton may finally have a bad game, but I doubt it.
9. Adrian Peterson
42 of 50
If Favre doesn't start, Adrian Peterson IS the Vikings offense.
The Matchup: vs. the Dallas Cowboys. We know which team will be running the ball.
How Much They'll Score: 24 points. Peterson will get yards and he will get at least two touchdowns, but the Dallas run defense isn't that bad.
Bust Potential: Medium. If there's no aerial attack, the Cowboys will have a much easier time shutting Peterson down.
8. Philip Rivers
43 of 50
The Chargers should have a lot more wins than they do the way Rivers has played.
The Matchup: vs. the St. Louis Rams. There's no reason Rivers shouldn't have another monster day.
How Much They'll Score: 30 points. If they score anything less than this, someone needs to lose their job.
Bust Potential: Low. Even in his losses he's put up great numbers.
7. Ronnie Brown
44 of 50
Ronnie Brown is the Dolphins leading rusher. But Ricky Williams still is on the team, in case anyone forgot.
The Matchup: vs. the Green Bay Packers. Brown is facing a Green Bay line that is beat-up, so good news for Brown.
How Much They'll Score: 14 points. The Packers defense will give up some ground because of injuries, so Brown could have a good day.
Bust Potential: Moderately low. The Packers are not the team they were a week ago.
6. Josh Freeman
45 of 50
Josh Freeman seems to be growing into the role of a starting quarterback.
The Matchup: vs. the New Orleans Saints. The Saints have looked anything but like a defending Super Bowl champ.
How Much They'll Score: 18 points. Freeman will have a tough time against the Saints pass defense, but he's been good enough so far this year.
Bust Potential: Moderately high. The Saints are ranked seventh against the pass.
5. Steven Jackson
46 of 50
Steven Jackson is just about the only other offensive threat left on the Rams with Mark Clayton injured. Bradford can't do everything.
The Matchup: vs. the San Diego Chargers. Sam Bradford will need Jackson to be effective in order to survive.
How Much They'll Score: 16 points. Unless the Rams can open up holes for Jackson to run through, the Chargers have shown the ability to cut running backs down.
Bust Potential: Very high. The Chargers have the seventh-ranked rush defense
4. Anquan Boldin
47 of 50
Anquan Boldin will catch passes and he will torch your secondary.
The Matchup: vs. the New England Patriots. The Patriots already got lit up once this year by the Jets, so Boldin could have a good game.
How Much They'll Score: 30 points. Flacco and Boldin have developed very good chemistry.
Bust Potential: Moderately high. The Patriots are good at shutting down big threats, but the Patriots defense still is giving up more than 200 passing yards per game.
3. Drew Brees
48 of 50
The Super Bowl Champs continue to struggle, but this could be the week they turn things around.
The Matchup: vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs are no pushovers, so this won't be easy with the way the Saints have been playing.
How Much They'll Score: 25 points. Drew Brees is going to score this week, so mark the points up.
Bust Potential: Low. I just don't see Brees having a bad day.
2. Peyton Manning
49 of 50
Peyton Manning was held to under 300 yards last week. That won't happen two weeks in a row.
The Matchup: vs. the Washington Redskins. Manning will shred the Redskins defense.
How Much They'll Score: 34 points. Would you like me to count the ways? I think you can figure it out.
Bust Potential: Low. Manning is going to be on a mission.
1. Ben Roethlisberger
50 of 50
Ben Roethlisberger is back. That's bad new for the Browns secondary.
The Matchup: vs. the Cleveland Browns. A point of order here, I'm a Browns fan. The Browns secondary is oatmeal. Roethlisberger will have a field day, assuming he doesn't get sacked eight times again.
How Much They'll Score: 38 points. Roethlisberger won't have as bad a game as he did last year. The Browns secondary will not be able to stop him.
Bust Potential: Very low. If this turns into a sack-fest again, I'll be very surprised.
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