NFL Fantasy Football: Week 6 starts and sits

It’s Week 6 in the NFL, which means the bye week blues have begun. That means several of your must-start players won’t be available this week, so make sure you’re paying attention and setting your lineup accordingly.

Teams on bye week this week are the Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders, and Tennessee Titans. That means no Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and many many more stars are out this week. In addition to the bye week, surely injuries have plagued your team by now, too. Things start to get challenging this week. We’re here to help with your starts and sits for Week 6 at each position.

Fantasy Football Week 6 Start ‘Ems

Quarterback - Geno Smith, Seahawks (vs Cardinals)

Here’s one we didn’t see coming. Over the last two weeks, Smith has scored more than 24 points and only has one game with less than 17 fantasy points. He is completing 75.2% of his passes and has 10 touchdowns on the season with only two interceptions. He and the Seahawks face a Cardinals defense who has allowed three quarterbacks to score at least 22 points against them in five weeks. He is a must-start in Week 6.

Other Week 6 Fantasy quarterback start ‘ems:

Kyler Murray, Cardinals (at Seahawks)

Kirk Cousins, Vikings (at Dolphins)

Aaron Rodgers, Packers (vs Jets)

Running Back - Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots (at Browns)

Stevenson had a huge game last week against the Lions with 25 carries for 161 yards and two catches on two targets for 14 yards, bringing him to a total of 19.5 fantasy points. The Patriots are still without Damien Harris, who left last week with a hamstring injury, which means Stevenson will have even more opportunities. The matchup against the Browns favors Stevenson too, as their defense has allowed six touchdowns to running backs in the last three games and the fifth-most points allowed to RBs this season.

Other Week 6 Fantasy running back start ‘ems:

Kenneth Walker III, Seahawks (vs Cardinals)

Breece Hall, Jets (at Packers)

Melvin Gordon, Broncos (at Chargers)

Wide receiver - Chris Godwin, Buccaneers (at Steelers)

Godwin was out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury and came back pretty slowly with just 12 points in the last two games. This week, though, he has a favorable matchup against the Steelers and should be in better shape. The Steelers have allowed nine receivers to score at least 13 points and seven to score at least 18.

Other Week 6 Fantasy wide receiver start ‘ems:

Gabe Davis, Bills (at Chiefs)

Tyler Lockett, Seahawks (vs Cardinals)

Christian Kirk, Jaguars (at Colts)

Tight End - Taysom Hill, Saints (vs Bengals)

Hill had a monster game against Seattle last week with nine carries for 112 yards and three touchdowns, plus a touchdown pass. It’s not likely he’ll have that kind of game a second week in a row of course, but he’s still a high ceiling starter. He has had over 15 fantasy points in two of the last five games and over eight in three, but he’s had less than two points in the other two games combined. So, he’s a riskier start, but worth the risk if you’re scrambling at tight end this week.

Other Week 6 Fantasy tight end start ‘ems:

David Njoku, Browns (vs Patriots)

George Kittle, 49ers (at Falcons)

Noah Fant, Seahawks (vs Cardinals)

Kicker - Evan McPherson, Bengals (at Saints)

Last week was not McPherson’s best performance, with just five points in the Bengals’ loss to the Ravens. Against the Saints though, it will be a different story. The Saints have allowed the second-most points to opposing kickers, giving up at least eight fantasy points per game and at least 10 in four of their five games. Despite his lack of big-game production, as far as kickers go, McPherson hasn’t been too bad. He is currently the sixth-best in fantasy.

Other Week 6 Fantasy kicker start ‘ems:

Will Lutz, Saints (vs Bengals)

Matt Gay, Rams (vs Panthers)

Cameron Dicker, Eagles (vs Cowboys)

Defense - Los Angeles Rams (vs Panthers)

The Panthers offense was already allowing the seventh-highest fantasy points to opposing defenses, and now, they’re without their starting quarterback Baker Mayfield and just fired their head coach Matt Rhule. They’re having a rough time, which means the Rams can maximize on their struggles. A Panthers offense led by P.J. Walker vs a Rams defense with Aaron Donald looks good for Los Angeles.

Other Week 6 Fantasy defense start ‘ems:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at Steelers)

Indianapolis Colts (vs Jaguars)

Carolina Panthers (at Rams)

Fantasy Football Week 6 Sit ‘Ems

Quarterback - Matthew Stafford, Rams (vs Panthers)

I have seen Stafford on some start lists. Don’t fall for it. He may have won the Super Bowl last year, but this is this year. And this year, he has only had more than 11 fantasy points in a game once in five games. He has more interceptions (seven) than touchdowns (five). Plus his offensive line has allowed the poor guy to be sacked 21 freaking times. The Panthers may be a nice matchup, but I still would not take my chances on Stafford. At this point, he’s proven not to be worth the risk.

Other Week 6 Fantasy quarterback sit ‘ems:

Russell Wilson, Broncos (at Chargers)

Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars (at Colts)

Daniel Jones, Giants (vs Ravens)

Running back - Najee Harris, Steelers (vs Buccaneers)

Harris has been a huge disappointment this season. He is averaging just 10.3 fantasy points per game and has just two touchdowns and it’s going downhill quickly. Jaylen Warren is also expected to be splitting the workload with Harris, which bodes even worse for his fantasy owners. The Buccaneers defense has allowed the second-fewest points to running backs, so with his track record and that stat, Harris is a definite sit for Week 6.

Other Week 6 Fantasy running back sit ‘ems:

Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys (at Eagles)

Antonio Gibson, Commanders (at Bears)

Cam Akers, Rams (vs Panthers)

Wide receiver - JuJu Smith-Schuster, Chiefs (vs Bills)

Smith-Schuster played last week despite being on the injury report leading up to the game and still saw plenty of targets from Mahomes. And yet, his fantasy points did not show it, with just 6.3, the third time this season he’s had points in the single digits. He has yet to get a touchdown this season and he’s just not doing much with all those targets. A matchup against the Bills does not do him any favors either, as they’ve allowed the sixth-fewest points and just two touchdowns to wide receivers this season.

Other Week 6 Fantasy wide receiver sit ‘ems:

D.J. Moore, Panthers (at Rams)

Drake London, Falcons (vs 49ers)

Garrett Wilson, Jets (at Packers)

Tight end - Tyler Conklin, Jets (at Packers)

Conklin and QB Zach Wilson just don’t seem to have the same chemistry that Conklin and Joe Flacco had. The Jets have been relying a lot on the run game, and that’s also left Conklin with few targets. In Week 5 against the Dolphins, he had no receptions at all. Against the Packers, it’s even less likely you can trust Conklin, as the Green Bay defense has limited tight ends to just 7.2 fantasy points per game, the sixth-fewest in the league.

Other Week 6 Fantasy tight end sit ‘ems:

Dalton Schultz, Cowboys (at Eagles)

Hunter Henry, Patriots (at Browns)

Mike Gesicki, Dolphins (vs Vikings)

Kicker - Younghoe Koo, Falcons (vs 49ers)

Koo has been one of the best kickers and most reliable in fantasy for several seasons, but this week could very well be an exception to the typical must-start he usually is. The Niners defense have allowed just five fantasy points to kickers this season, the fifth-lowest in the league. Last week, Koo got just one point against the Buccaneers defense. The matchup against the 49ers does him no favours. Sit him this week.

Other Week 6 Fantasy kicker sit ‘ems:

Brett Maher, Cowboys (at Eagles)

Chase McLaughlin, Colts (at Jaguars)

Chris Boswell, Steelers (at Buccaneers)

Defense - Buffalo Bills (at Chiefs)

This may be the one week we advise against starting the Bills defense and of course, that’s solely based on their opponent. The Chiefs offense is allowing just 1.6 fantasy points per game to opposing defenses. And they’re scoring a whopping 32 points per game, the most in the NFL. Basically, don’t start any defense against Patrick Mahomes - who has 15 touchdowns to two interceptions - even the Bills.

Other Week 6 Fantasy defense sit ‘ems:

New England Patriots (at Browns)

Pittsburgh Steelers (vs Buccaneers)

New Orleans Saints (vs Bengals)