Any Given Sunday 5 | RealTime Fantasy Sports

RealTime DFS Strategy: Week 6

Fri Oct 15 9:47am ET
By MIKE BARNER
Contributing Writer

Jackson is worth high price tag

Week 6 brings the first round of teams on a bye. While that might limit our options in DFS, there are still some great players to consider for your lineups. Let’s highlight some of them at each position, as well as some players to possibly avoid.

Quarterbacks

Lamar Jackson, BAL vs. LAC ($7,400): Jackson is coming off of a monster performance against the Colts in which he had over 500 total yards and four touchdown passes. He completed 86.0 percent of his passes, leading the Ravens to a comeback win. In addition to his passing prowess, he turned his 14 carries into 62 yards. That marked his third game with at least 10 carries and his fourth with at least 58-rushing yards. Look for him to do plenty of damage in a matchup against a Chargers team that has allowed the most rushing yards per game in the league.

Taylor Heinicke, WAS vs. KC ($5,800): Last week brought a rough outing from Heinicke, who had two interceptions and no touchdown passes. There have been reports that Ryan Fitzpatrick (hip) could return as early as Week 7, so this might be Heinicke’s last game as Washington’s starting quarterback. If it is, he could go out with a bang against a Chiefs team that has allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks.

Player to Avoid

Ryan Tannehill, TEN vs. BUF ($6,400): With injuries limiting his options at wide receiver, Tannehill is off to a slow start. He has thrown one or no touchdown passes four of five games and has thrown for 212 yards or fewer three times. This is not a good matchup for him to get back on track, considering the Bills have nine interceptions and have allowed only five touchdown passes all season.

Running Backs

Austin Ekeler, LAC at BAL ($7,900): Ekeler has been a touchdown machine in the Chargers’ potent offense, recording seven total touchdowns in the early going. His rushing numbers aren’t always great, evident by the fact that he has run for fewer than 67 yards in four of five games. However, he helps to make up for that in the passing game with at least five targets in each of the last four weeks. That’s noteworthy given that the Ravens have allowed 30 receptions to opposing running backs, which is tied for the ninth-most in the league.

Darrel Williams, KC at WAS ($5,000): Not only did the Chiefs fall to the Bills last week, but they lost starting running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire to a knee injury that has since landed him on IR. In his absence, Williams is expected to take on a larger role. He’s shown an ability to be productive when given the opportunity, including rushing 26 times for 130 yards and a touchdown across two playoff games versus the Browns and Bills last season.

Player to Avoid

Josh Jacobs, LV at DEN ($5,900): The Raiders will have a new head coach for this game, which makes things a little more complicated to project. They have options at running back, which can be partly to blame for Jacobs not topping 15 carries in any of the three games in which he has played. His limited workload contributed to him recording fewer than 50-rushing yards all three contests. Up next could be an uphill battle against the Broncos, who have allowed the sixth-fewest rushing yards per game.

Wide Receivers

Terry McLaurin, WAS vs. KC ($7,100): The bad news is that McLaurin only caught four passes for 46 yards last week. The good news is that he received 11 targets, giving him 49 total for the season. Washington should have to throw a lot in this game to keep up with Patrick Mahomes, and with the Chiefs’ defensive struggles already detailed, a juicy stat line could be coming from McLaurin.

Emmanuel Sanders, BUF at TEN ($5,200): The Titans’ secondary has been a weak spot for them in the early going. In fact, they’ve allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers. That might have many DFS players flocking to Stefon Diggs ($7,200), who is certainly an appealing option. However, if you’d like some exposure to this matchup, but need to save more of your budget, Sanders is also worth a look. He has four touchdowns catches over his last three games and has received at least six targets four of five games.

Player to Avoid

A.J. Brown, TEN vs. BUF ($6,400): In his return from a hamstring injury, Brown caught just three of six targets for 38 yards last week against the Jaguars. It continued a disappointing season in which he hasn’t topped 49-receiving yards in a game yet. With Julio Jones (hamstring) likely to return and the Bills being so adept at defending the pass, Brown might be too risky of an option at his salary.

Tight Ends

Mark Andrews, BAL vs. LAC ($5,400): Andrews was the main beneficiary of Jackson’s prolific stat line last week. He was targeted 13 times, which he turned into 11 receptions for 147 yards and two touchdowns. He even hauled in a couple of two-point conversions. That marked his second game of the season with at least 100 receiving yards and his third straight game with at least seven targets. His volume, combined with the Chargers allowing the third-most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends, makes him one of the top options at his position.

Ricky Seals-Jones, WAS vs. KC ($3,000): Logan Thomas rarely comes off the field for Washington. He played all of their offensive snaps in each of the team’s first three games this season. However, he went down with a hamstring injury early in Week 4, which resulted in Seals-Jones playing 91.9 percent of their offensive snaps in that game. With Thomas on IR, Seals-Jones followed that up by playing 98.7 percent of their offensive snaps in Week 5. The end result was him catching five of eight targets for 41 yards. At this cheap salary, his new role could help him provide significant value.

Player to Avoid

Robert Tonyan, GB at CHI ($3,800): Touchdown regression has kicked in with Tonyan. After logging 11 touchdowns despite only receiving 59 targets last season, he only has one score this season on his 17 targets. His salary is starting to come down, but with Seals-Jones having a larger role with his team, and a significantly cheaper salary, there’s no need to take a chance on Tonyan.

Mike Barner has been covering fantasy sports since 2007. His work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, SportsLine and RotoWire. Mike was also a finalist for the 2018 FSWA Basketball Writer of the Year award. Follow Mike on Twitter @rotomikebarner.

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Sam Darnold May 8 11:30pm ET

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold could be named the team's Week 1 starter over first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. As Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com writes, "It's only a matter of time before McCarthy becomes the Vikings' starting quarterback [...] but it is not likely to happen as quickly as some fans might hope, and if anything, the Vikings are poised to err on the side of methodical caution." Such a scenario could see Minnesota let Darnold, whom they signed this past offseason when Kirk Cousins left for Atlanta, start a few games before transitioning to McCarthy. Darnold has struggled to support major fantasy production from his playmakers at previous stops, including the Jets and Panthers, so fantasy managers might want to temper expectations with players like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson to start the year. Darnold himself falls to the low-end QB3 tier in fantasy football drafts.