By Kyra Wiaterowski
‘Twas the morning before Sunday and I’ve looked through my picks.
Not a bust will be occurring, not even D’Andre Swift.
The wide receivers were locked, and the running backs top notch.
Daniel Jones as a streamer? Never again. No, I will not.
The salary was used with just the perfect amount of cap.
Right before we settled down, for a Saturday afternoon nap.
For the hopes that you and I will win all of our cash games.
I whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
Now, Gaskin! Now, Montgomery!
On, Johnson! On, Landry!
To the end zone! To the ball! Now touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown all!
Oh, how that would be just such a lovely sight.
Happy Week 6 to all, and to all trying to win some cash on Sunday night!
Yes, I do realize that it is the middle of October. I’m not trying to get a jump on the holidays. It’s just that it feels a lot more like a November/December vibe to me after the last two weeks have seen Derrick Henry score four touchdowns. Usually, we don’t see that kind of production from him this early on. Plus, I can be pretty corny sometimes. So you may need to get used to that.
Nonetheless, you are still here reading and while I still have your attention, I’m going to try and help get some value into those Week 6 lineups. No matter how good or bad you did this past Sunday, I am fairly certain that we are all having a much better week than Josh Norman. So we all have that going for ourselves. Also, if you tuned in to last week’s article and chose any of my suggested wide receivers, you had an absolute slam dunk at those values.
Looking back at Week 5, it brought to us some heartbreaking injuries (RIP to Dak Prescott’s ankle) and a delayed return for Michael Thomas because his bad temper put him in time out — things that none of us expected or prepared to have to pivot from, but crazier things have happened this year. Speaking of the New Orleans Saints, we reminded that death, taxes, and tight end’s scoring on them is still alive and well. It’s a damn shame that we can’t take advantage of such a thing this week since they will be enjoying their bye week. We do, however, have plenty of other match-ups we can exploit and I would like to fill you in on them. So let’s kash out!
QUARTERBACKS:
Matthew Stafford (DK:$6,300 / FD:$7,300)
The Jacksonville Jaguars are pretty generous to opposing fantasy players. They have given up 11 touchdowns through the air this season and multiple quarterbacks have thrown for over 300 yards and a couple of touchdowns on this unit. Detroit’s defense hasn’t been doing themselves any favors and can’t get any pressure on QBs. As a result, I think that the Jaguars can keep this game competitive enough that Stafford can have himself a nice fantasy outing. Over his last three contests, he’s thrown for multiple touchdowns against weaker passing defenses (getting Kenny Golladay back into the lineup has surely helped). Coming fresh off a bye, they’ve had time to prepare for this one. I feel good about Stafford this week. Maybe this week we can see the start of a resurgence to early 2019 Matt Stafford.
Gardner Minshew (DK:$6,400 / FD:$7,200)
I guess it only makes sense that if I expect Matt Stafford to have a good fantasy day because of the Jaguars staying competitive, then Minshew should have himself a good fantasy day as well, right? Over the last five games, Minshew has put up over 300 yards three times while scoring multiple touchdowns with the exception of the one game he struggled without star wide receiver D.J. Chark. Chark’s availability is still up in the air for Sunday but I still expect Minshew to be a solid value option in what should be a shoot out between two bad passing defenses. His ceiling is high this week.
Honorable Mention: Kirk Cousins (DK:$6,100 / FD:$7,100)
RUNNING BACKS
Myles Gaskin (DK:$5,400 / FD:$5,700)
Jordan Howard a healthy scratch last week? Hmm, you have my attention, Myles Gaskin. Look, he’s not a sexy choice and I get that. But I think he is well capable of putting up solid RB2 numbers in this matchup. Last week, he easily saw his toughest opponent yet in the 49ers and put up his best fantasy game thus far. I think he is in a safe range of around 15 fantasy points if you want to try and pay up at other positions and take Gaskin here at the discount.
David Montgomery (DK:$5,800 / FD:$5,900)
Man, if David Montgomery doesn’t break out in this one, then I will truly be eating my words. Over the last two games, his 20 carries are less than to be desired but his 14 targets are looking really promising! It’s encouraging to see him being used in the passing game since Tarik Cohen has been ruled out for the season. The Panthers have been absolutely terrible against running backs this season allowing four different running backs top-3 performances against them through the past five weeks of football. Montgomery owns this backfield– there is little to no competition from Cordarrelle Patterson. The concern with Montgomery is how much Chicago is throwing the ball. Matt Nagy needs to adjust his game plan this week against a porous Panthers run defense. I fully expect that to happen and for less than 6k, I’m willing to take the chance on a bell-cow type running back. I will continue to target RBs against them until they show me why I shouldn’t.
Honorable Mention: D’Andre Swift (DK$4,500 / FD:$5,400)
WIDE RECEIVERS
Diontae Johnson (DK:$4,900 / FD:$5,700)
What? A guy gets four touchdowns and all of a sudden Diontae Johnson’s chopped liver?! He led the team in targets the first two weeks prior to injury. So… Diontae Johnson at only $4,900? On a pass-heavy Steelers offense? In this economy?! Yeah, this just seems too good to be true. But, I get it… the best ability on the field is availability. If Johnson isn’t good to go in this one, then get you some *Chase Claypool* (DK:$5,200 / FD:$5,500), who also has a valued price this week in a matchup against the Cleveland Browns who are giving up the 3rd most fantasy PPG to the wide receiver position. This should be a high scoring affair. I want in on the fantasy players for each team, especially the wide-outs. **Editor’s Note: It was reported on Friday that Diontae Johnson was ruled out for Week 6 against Cleveland. Fire up Mapletron!**
Jamison Crowder (DK:$6,100 / FD:$6,600)
Can we put some respek on this man’s name? He isn’t flashy or particularly spectacular at the wide receiver position but you know what he is? Consistent. Jamison Crowder has very quietly put up three double-digit fantasy performances of over 15 fantasy points in the three weeks he’s been healthy. He’s seeing all of the Jets targets regardless of matchup and has put up over 100 yards in each contest. For this price point, I will happily take that kind of consistency against Miami this week.
Honorable Mention: Jarvis Landry (DK:$4,900 / FD:$5,600)
TIGHT ENDS
Trey Burton (DK:$3,100 / FD:$4,700)
This is a little bit of a dart throw pick here, but I dig it. Super low pricing for a guy the Colts are purposely trying to use in their offense. Last week, he was 2nd in targets on the team and has seen 11 total targets over the last two weeks. Burton is coming back from injury and is a sleeper waiting to emerge. Philip Rivers, over the course of his career, has loved him some tight ends. Maybe we have something here with Burton. I’m not too sure, but I’m willing to take a risk here and throw him into my lineups in a favorable matchup against the Bengals who have allowed a massive 27.1% target share to the tight end position.
Jonnu Smith (DK:$5,200 / FD:$5,800)
I know the $5-6,000 range isn’t necessarily all that cheap but we are looking for value here. Jonnu Smith is having his breakout season and has put up double-digit fantasy points every game while seeing a healthy number of targets. He is the number 2 pass catcher on this offense and a big end-zone target for Tannehill. No reason for the Jonnu hype train to stop here versus the Texans, who are always in line for a fantasy-friendly shoot out. He isn’t being priced too high this week and as unpredictable as the tight end position is, I definitely prefer him over a lot of the other options.
Honorable Mention: Eric Ebron (DK:$4,100 / FD:$5,200)
D/ST
Miami Dolphins vs New York Jets (DK:$2,900 / FD:$4,400)
Washington Football Team vs New York Giants (DK:$3,300 / FD:$4,600)
Honorable Mention: New York Giants vs Washington Football Team (DK:$3,200 / FD:$3,900)
Looking for more help building DFS lineups? We’ve put together our DFS Matchup Report for Week 6, showing who has the best (and worst) matchups.
If you’re looking for even more Week 6 content, check out Josh’s Confidence Plays and Ryan’s Streams of the Week.