Fantasy Football is all about the matchups. Even though you drafted your team with certain hopes and intentions, your weekly lineup decisions shouldn't be determined by the order you picked your players in. You need to check who your players play and make sure you've got the right guys in -- and the wrong guys out.
It's too early to be absolutely sure on which matchups will be easy and which ones will be tough, but we can take some educated guesses based on healthy personnel, defensive schemes, track records, and key details of offenses. The things we know can help us minimize the impact of the things we don't know. This should lead to better decisions being made.
We'll go through every game and highlight the players who aren't obvious starts and sits (because you don't need to be told to start Derrick Henry. You should feel more comfortable starting or sitting players based on the information given, and feeling comfortable with your Fantasy lineup before the games start is the best feeling in the world.
More Week 6 content:
- Dave Richard's Week 6 Trade Chart
- Heath Cummings' Full Week 6 Projections
- Week 6 Position Previews: QB | RB | WR | TE
- Fantasy Football Week 6 Lineup Decisions: Bears vs. Jaguars could yield impressive running back performances
- Jamey Eisenberg's Week 6 Start 'Em & Sit 'Em
All lines from Caesars Sportsbook.
Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb lamented this week that he didn't feature his run game enough against the Giants in Week 5. Correcting course against the 49ers' good run defense isn't exactly a gift for Kenneth Walker III, though he does figure to be a little more rested for their short-week home matchup. Hopefully, he carries the Seahawks because if it's left on Geno Smith's shoulders, then it could mean trouble. The 49ers have been increasing their blitz rate every week this year, and Seattle's offensive line has allowed the sixth-highest pass rush pressure rate this year at 38.7% with 18 sacks allowed (third-most). Smith's history with the Niners isn't great either -- he's 0 for 4 in finding 21-plus Fantasy points against them.
OBVIOUS STARTS: Jordan Mason, Kenneth Walker III, DK Metcalf (No. 2 WR), Deebo Samuel (No. 2 WR), George Kittle
STARTS: Brandon Aiyuk, 49ers DST (low-end starter)
FLEX: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (PPR)
SITS: Brock Purdy (low-end No. 1 QB), Geno Smith, Tyler Lockett, Jauan Jennings, Zach Charbonnet, Seahawks DST
The Jaguars face a tougher defense in the Bears this week. Chicago is tops in the NFL in defensive expected points added (EPA) per pass, fifth in yards after catch per reception allowed, seventh-best in completion rate and yards per pass attempt allowed, and has given up just two touchdowns to wide receivers despite seeing the third-highest rate of passes of 15-plus Air Yards. Brian Thomas Jr. has had an average depth of target (ADOT) of 13-plus yards in three of his past four games; only Nico Collins has posted an ADOT of 10-plus yards against the Bears and came away with more than 85 yards and 13 PPR points -- and he's the only wideout to hit those marks against this defense. The Jaguars would be wise to attack with the run, as the Bears have allowed at least 17 PPR points/13 non-PPR points to a running back in 4 of 5 games. Tank Bigsby has good speed and solid power but hasn't earned passing downs work yet, which is why he could be a non-factor if the Jaguars fall behind by two scores (Bigsby has two carries this season when the Jaguars are trailing by 10-plus points).
OBVIOUS STARTS: DJ Moore,
STARTS: D'Andre Swift, Travis Etienne (low-end No. 2 RB), Brian Thomas Jr. (No. 2 WR), Evan Engram (low-end No. 1 TE), Bears DST (low-end starter)
FLEX: Christian Kirk (PPR especially), Tank Bigsby (non-PPR)
SITS: Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence, Roschon Johnson (bye-week RB), Keenan Allen (bye-week PPR WR), Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet (streaming TE), Jaguars DST
Fantasy managers will start Jayden Daniels no matter what, but a 56% completion rate and a 16% off-target rate last week against a good Browns defense doesn't lend optimism going into a matchup against another competitive defense in the Ravens. For sure, Baltimore got busted up on both deep and short throws by Joe Burrow, but that's a more talented passer than Daniels at this point. And yeah, Daniels' rushing is a great equalizer, but you might want to know the Ravens have let up more than 50 rush yards to exactly one quarterback in their past 80 games over four-plus seasons, including postseason games (Josh Allen, 70 yards in 2022). And Baltimore is two games removed from holding Josh Allen to 21 rush yards (and 182 passing yards, and zero touchdowns). I would lower expectations for Commanders players.
OBVIOUS STARTS: Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry
STARTS: Jayden Daniels, Brian Robinson (low-end No. 2 RB), Zay Flowers, Terry McLaurin (low-end No. 2 WR), Ravens (borderline starter)
FLEX: Austin Ekeler (PPR)
SITS: Justice Hill (bye-week PPR RB), Rashod Bateman, Luke McCaffrey (stash in deep leagues), Mark Andrews (streaming TE), Isaiah Likely (streaming TE), Zach Ertz, Commanders DST
Kyler Murray is doing plenty as a rusher and is sporting career-highs in completion rate, TD rate, and Air Yards per pass attempt. Offensive line issues on the right side could potentially harpoon those electric metrics -- stud guard Will Hernandez is out, as is tackle Jonah Williams. Veteran right tackle Kelvin Beachum has been solid in Williams' place, but the guard spot will definitely be targeted by the Packers, who honestly have underwhelmed this year in terms of blitz rate (fourth-lowest in the league) and pass rush pressure rate (about league average). It's not even close to enough to consider benching Murray, who should get his connection with Marvin Harrison Jr. back on track against a Packers squad that's allowed the third-most PPR points specifically to outside wide receivers this year.
OBVIOUS STARTS: James Conner, Josh Jacobs, Jayden Reed, Marvin Harrison Jr.
STARTS: Jordan Love, Kyler Murray, Trey McBride, Tucker Kraft
FLEX: Dontayvion Wicks, Michael Wilson (low-end PPR flex)
SITS: Romeo Doubs, Greg Dortch, Emanuel Wilson, Packers DST (streamer DST), Cardinals DST
Drake Maye gives the Patriots an athletic quarterback with aggressive tendencies, certainly something they could use after Jacoby Brissett ranked toward the bottom in deep pass rate, completion rate, and touchdown rate. You can read a full breakdown I wrote about him here. Houston's defense did allow 30-plus Fantasy points to Anthony Richardson back in Week 1, but they also held Josh Allen to under 20 Fantasy points last week. They've started playing more man-to-man coverage, which has produced more blitzes, but their sack totals haven't been good in their past two games. Given the O-line in front of Maye, this is a good week to expect the Texans defense to stay aggressive versus a feisty Patriots team that's played better at home than on the road.
OBVIOUS STARTS: Stefon Diggs
STARTS: Joe Mixon, Dalton Schultz (low-end No. 1 TE), Texans DST
FLEX: Tank Dell, Demario Douglas (PPR), Antonio Gibson
SITS: C.J. Stroud (borderline No. 1 QB without Nico Collins), Drake Maye, Ja'Lynn Polk (stash), Xavier Hutchinson (deep-league stash), Cam Akers, Dare Ogunbowale, Hunter Henry, Patriots DST
Mike Evans has been under 13 PPR points in each of his past nine games against the Saints when cornerback Marshon Lattimore played. It gets worse: Evans has failed to record even 10 PPR points in seven of those nine games. Is there any reason to buy into Evans having a breakthrough game this time? Well, to date, Lattimore has been tethered to the right cornerback position and hasn't shadowed anybody. And part of the reason for that is because fellow Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo has held his own at the left cornerback spot. Despite seeing the sixth-most targets per game go to outside receivers, the Saints have held those players to just one touchdown on the year. Only four wideouts (JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Tolbert, and CeeDee Lamb) have had over 65 yards against the Saints this year, and only Smith played more than 60% of his snaps out wide. This figures to be a tough spot once again for Evans.
OBVIOUS STARTS: Alvin Kamara, Chris Godwin
STARTS: Baker Mayfield, Bucky Irving, Mike Evans (low-end No. 2 WR), Chris Olave (borderline No. 2/3 WR)
FLEX: Rashid Shaheed
SITS: Cade Otton (streaming TE), Jamaal Williams, Foster Moreau, Juwan Johnson (streaming TE), Buccaneers DST (streaming DST), Saints DST
The Browns defense played well last week but gave up numbers to Jayden Daniels and the Commanders over a handful of plays, some of which were improvisational. More of the same could happen this week, especially against a rested and restocked Philadelphia offense. It's crucial for the Eagles to protect Hurts, something made easier with Lane Johnson coming back to play right tackle. The other factor in Philly's favor? A favorable matchup for their defense against a Browns offense out of sync and playing with a bunch of backup linemen.
OBVIOUS STARTS: Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley
STARTS: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, David Njoku (low-end No. 1 TE), Dallas Goedert (borderline No. 1 TE), Eagles DST, Browns DST (borderline starting DST)
FLEX: Amari Cooper (low-end flex)
SITS: Deshaun Watson, Jerome Ford, D'Onta Foreman, Jerry Jeudy (bye-week WR)
Titans coach Brian Callahan said this week he wanted to get Calvin Ridley the ball more. This is a good week to do that. Ridley's had an outrageous ADOT of 18-plus yards in each of his first three games before having a negative ADOT of -0.67 yards in Week 4 at Miami when they didn't need to throw deep. I suspect we'll see a lower but not-too-low ADOT for Ridley this week in an effort to give him chances to make plays after the catch. Not only is Indy's pass defense coverage predictable, but it's beatable: Six wideouts in five games have hit at least 15 PPR points, most of them primarily outside receivers like Ridley.
STARTS: Anthony Richardson (borderline No. 1 QB), Tony Pollard, Calvin Ridley (low-end No. 2 WR)
FLEX: Josh Downs (PPR), Trey Sermon, Michael Pittman (low-end flex if he plays)
SITS: Will Levis, Alec Pierce (bye-week WR), DeAndre Hopkins (bye-week PPR WR), Adonai Mitchell (stash), Tyjae Spears, Tyler Goodson (bye-week PPR RB), Colts DST, Titans DST
The Chargers run defense was fantastic in their past three games, holding all running backs to seven or fewer non-PPR points/13 or fewer PPR points. It's not like they shut down any of the league's top run offenses, but it's not like the Broncos run offense is particularly great. That might be enough to lower expectations for Javonte Williams, who had his best game of the season in Week 5 (vs. the Raiders) with at least 11 Fantasy points regardless of format. The matchup is equally treacherous for J.K. Dobbins, who has faded considerably after a hot start against the Raiders and Panthers. The Broncos, like the Chargers, haven't led a RB get more than 13 PPR points against them since Week 2, and they have taken on some tougher run games. I do think Dobbins has an edge in that he's coming off the bye and could thus handle more work than the 14.5 carries he averaged in Weeks 3 and 4 -- hopefully with a rushing average north of three yards.
STARTS: J.K. Dobbins (low-end No. 2 RB), Javonte Williams (low-end No. 2 RB - higher in PPR), Broncos DST, Chargers DST (one-week option)
FLEX: Courtland Sutton, Ladd McConkey (PPR flex), Quentin Johnston (low-end non-PPR flex)
SITS: Justin Herbert, Bo Nix, Jaleel McLaughlin, Kimani Vidal (stash), Gus Edwards, Josh Reynolds
It's hard to make the case against anybody going up against the Raiders, but Najee Harris has really disappointed. In five games, Harris has yet to exceed 86 total yards and has not yet scored despite at least 16 touches in every single game. Why would this week be different? Each of four running backs with at least 16 touches against the Raiders this year, including Javonte Williams last week, posted a minimum of 15.5 PPR points (and 8.5 non-PPR points). Last season, there were 14 RBs with at least 16 touches against the Raiders, and half had at least 14.3 PPR points. The other half? Not so good, and Harris was one of those backs who didn't get it last year. The hunch is that he will this week because the Raiders run defense is so stinkin' bad, and just lost massive D-tackle Christian Wilkins.
STARTS: Najee Harris (No. 2 RB), George Pickens, Brock Bowers, Pat Freiermuth (low-end starter), Steelers DST
FLEX: Jakobi Meyers (PPR), Jaylen Warren (low-end flex in PPR)
SITS: Justin Fields, Aidan O'Connell, Alexander Mattison (bye-week RB), Ameer Abdullah, Tre Tucker, Van Jefferson, Raiders DST
When the week started, I faded Kirk Cousins because I didn't think he would have to do much against this paltry Panthers defense. Two realizations happened: One, Carolina has allowed at least 20 Fantasy points to Joe Burrow (31 pass attempts), Derek Carr (23 pass attempts), and Caleb Williams last week (29 pass attempts). Two, the Falcons' pass rush hasn't been consistently effective, and even with the Panthers' O-line issues, they should be able to put some points up and force Cousins to put the ball in the air. I think it's safe to expect at least an efficient game from Cousins -- nothing like last week -- but I hope it doesn't jeopardize the opportunity for Bijan Robinson. Carolina's defense allowed three touchdowns to the Bears RBs in Week 5 and the Bengals' RBs in Week 4.
OBVIOUS STARTS: Drake London, Bijan Robinson, Chuba Hubbard
STARTS: Kirk Cousins (low-end No. 1 QB), Diontae Johnson, Kyle Pitts, Falcons DST
FLEX: Darnell Mooney, Xavier Legette
SITS: Andy Dalton, Tyler Allgeier (low-end non-PPR bye-week RB), Miles Sanders, Panthers DST
Rico Dowdle has begun finding his way into Fantasy lineups. He played a career-high 50% of the Cowboys snaps last week against the Steelers, including all four of their snaps inside the 5-yard line. And not only did he post his fourth-straight game with at least four yards per carry, but he also found the end zone on a reception for the second straight outing. I think the receiving stats are a little fluky, but his grip on rushing downs for the Cowboys isn't. He runs tough, he's shifty, he can bust through defenders in the second half of games, and he proved he could handle a large workload last week. Dowdle's in for another tough matchup against a rested Lions defense that probably wants to rebound after getting pummeled by the Seahawks zone-scheme runs in Week 4 (8.1 yards per carry on those kinds of plays). Dowdle has been good on zone runs this year, averaging 4.3 yards per carry on them with higher before- and after-contact averages.
OBVIOUS STARTS: Jahmyr Gibbs, CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown
STARTS: Dak Prescott, David Montgomery, Rico Dowdle (borderline No. 2 RB), Jake Ferguson, Sam LaPorta
FLEX: Jameson Williams, Jalen Tolbert
SITS: Jared Goff (low-end starter), Hunter Luepke, Cowboys DST, Lions DST
Daniel Jones did a great job last week of getting the ball out just in time to escape getting hit. He didn't rush, he was accurate, his offensive line did a passable job, and he had his best game of the season without Malik Nabers hogging targets. And now we can say that Jones has posted at least 22 Fantasy points in three of his past four games, only getting pummeled by the Cowboys in Week 4. Cincinnati's defense has incurred plenty of injuries and has struggled to constantly harass opposing quarterbacks (just six sacks this season), making the matchup favorable for Jones. A high-scoring game is entirely possible.
OBVIOUS STARTS: Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase
STARTS: Chase Brown (No. 2 RB), Tee Higgins, Wan'Dale Robinson (low-end No. 2 WR in PPR)
FLEX: Darius Slayton, Devin Singletary, Zack Moss (PPR)
SITS: Daniel Jones (borderline No. 1 QB), Tyrone Tracy Jr., Andrei Iosivas, Erick All (streaming TE if Mike Gesicki is ruled out), Theo Johnson, Giants DST, Bengals DST
Josh Allen didn't look like himself last week. He was 9 of 30 passing with a 26.7% off-target rate against the Texans. A couple of miscommunications with his receivers -- mostly big guys like Keon Coleman and Mack Hollins -- didn't help. Worse yet, we have a two-game sample size of Allen trying to win downfield (11.7 average depth of target) but delivering poor stats (42.4% completion rate, 5.3 yards per attempt, one touchdown) against good defenses on the road, and here he is in the exact same spot at the Jets in Week 5. Only the Bears have allowed fewer Fantasy points per game to quarterbacks than the Jets have this year, though the toughest passers the Jets have faced have been Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold. Allen has had multiple touchdowns in five of his past six games against the Jets, scoring at least 22 Fantasy points in each of the five. But he's never taken them on with this weak of a receiving corps. The Bills might try to use their tight ends a little more, especially since they can line up with both of them and still run the ball if they so choose. It's probably for the best to lower expectations, especially versus a Jets defense in its honeymoon phase with interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich.
OBVIOUS STARTS: James Cook
STARTS: Josh Allen, Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson (No. 2 WR), Dalton Kincaid
FLEX: Allen Lazard (low-end flex)
SITS: Aaron Rodgers, Mike Williams, Tyler Conklin (streaming TE), Braelon Allen, Ty Johnson, Keon Coleman, Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins, Dawson Knox (bye-week TE)
Who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising running back could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week Fantasy rankings for every position, plus see which RB comes out of nowhere to crack the top five, all from the model that has outperformed experts big-time.
