Week 6 Start Em Sit Em: Aaron Hernandez and 3 Players You Must Start

There are a few hallmarks of a fantasy football stud: One is that he produces at a high level every week. Another is that he can have a big game even if his real-life team doesn't win. And yet another is that if he gets injured, he returns and picks up where he left off.

The three must-starts I highlight here exemplify these traits completely. If they're on your team, you have no reason to not start them this week.

TE Aaron Hernandez, New England Patriots (vs. Dallas Cowboys)

Utilizing the tight ends are the single greatest key to the Patriots' offensive success this season, resulting in the peculiar fantasy football situation where two tights ends on the same team are must-start fantasy players every week.

Fellow tight end Rob Gronkowski more than held his own while Hernandez healed from a sprained MCL, but with his return last week, he proved that the injury hasn't cost him any of the considerable skill he displayed in the weeks before it.

He will again be a main target for quarterback Tom Brady this Sunday against a Cowboys team ill-prepared to manage the many-layered Patriots offense. He had five grabs for 56 yards last week, and this week it will likely be more than that.

QB Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (at Atlanta Falcons)

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has become one of the best fantasy starters of the year, with 1,610 passing yards and seven touchdowns as well as 160 rushing yards on 40 carries for five touchdowns.

He has been named the team's goal-line back despite the presence of two capable rushers on the roster, and with a choice matchup this week against the Atlanta Falcons, Newton will likely have yet another big statistical day.

There's no question that if the Panthers get to Atlanta's goal line, he will be running in the touchdown, and there's no question that his big arm probably got them to that point to begin with. In what I see as a shootout, Newton's primed for a 20-point performance.

RB Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings (at Chicago Bears)

While most other running backs in the NFL are part of their team's offense, Peterson is the Vikings' offense. The team has 1,649 total yards on the season thus far, with 800 of them and seven touchdowns coming from the run game.

Peterson is responsible for 498 of those rushing yards and six of those seven touchdowns, though the team is 1-4. Three of those touchdowns came in the first quarter of last week's big win over the Arizona Cardinals, and while that's a freakish and hard-to-reproduce performance, he'll still have serious success against the struggling Bears defense.

Vulnerable against the run as it is, the Bears won't likely have an answer for Peterson, who makes even the toughest defenses look like this year's Philadelphia Eagles. No, you'd never bench Peterson for any reasons other than injury or the bye week, but this should be an extra-special day for the league's No. 2 rusher.