Welcome, #DFFArmy to Week 6! Bye weeks have arrived with Lions, Texans, Raiders, and Titans sitting at home this week. With players disappearing from those starting lineups, digging deep to find startable players becomes extra important! However, avoiding duds from players you’ve relied on in the past may be even more crucial. As always, I’ll look at some deeper targets that you may be on the fence about for my “Starts of the Week” and some bigger name performers that I’m expecting not to play well for my “Sits of the Week”.

Quarterback

Start: Matthew Stafford, LA Rams vs Carolina

Stafford? Really? That’s the deep dive? I could have put Geno Smith here who’s going to be in a shootout at home against the Cardinals, but he’s a top-ten QB in fantasy, while Stafford has scored under 11 points in four out of five games. He’s the QB23 on the year! However, I’m going to feel good putting Stafford back in lineups after a tumultuous start because he’s got the Panthers coming to town, fresh off the firing of their head coach. This is the perfect bounce-back situation for Stafford. A home game against a team in shambles, with a middle-of-the-road defense. The Rams are also being given an implied 26 points, so Vegas expects them to find the end zone around three times this week and with a poor run game, that means the ball should be coming out of Stafford’s hands on its way there.

Sit: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay vs New York Jets

Last week’s big sit was Jared Goff, a big hit for the column, but this week I’m going to be making a bit of a more dangerous call. Aaron Rodgers, the man undefeated after a loss since 2019, at home against the New York Jets as 7.5-point favorites. It seems a bit crazy, but I believe the Jets are going to continue their winning streak this week. The Packers still haven’t figured out how to throw the ball enough to scare anyone, and even though they could figure it out this week, it’s much more likely that they take advantage of Aaron Jones’s speed from the backfield. The Jets’ defense gave up big plays to Raheem Mostert last week, while mostly containing Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. I think the Packers could reach their implied point total of 26, but I expect Jones to be the biggest fantasy scorer from that offense.

Running Back

Start: Rachaad White, Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh

Rachaad White is a bit of a risky play, but if you’re in a pinch, I feel good about him seeing a season-high in both snap percentage and touches this week as the Bucs travel to Pittsburgh. The past two weeks saw eight carries and nine targets on 40% of the snaps. The Bucs are 8.5-point favorites and when the Bucs get up early, White should be seeing the field early and often. Game script and usage trends tell us who to keep an eye on as we look for that next player to have a “pop” game and White fits the mold early into his rookie season. He is a risky play, but I believe he pays off with a double-digit fantasy performance in all formats.

Sit: Michael Carter, NY Jets at Green Bay

Breece Hall is the man. Carter is no longer a safe play despite the two-touchdown performance this past weekend. His snap percentages have decreased every week since week two, and despite 12 touches last week, he only totaled 33 yards. The floor for Carter is extremely low in fantasy, and he was two Breece Hall touchdowns instead of being down at the one-yard line plays away from scoring 3.3 points. This would have been his fourth straight game in single digits. Carter’s efficiency is what scares me away from him, whereas, with Rachaad White, I’m counting on his 10 yards per catch to raise his floor in his matchup. Two young runners heading in different directions for fantasy.

Wide Receiver

Start: Darius Slayton, NY Giants vs Baltimore

The Giants are coming off a surprising upset over the Packers across the pond and look to continue their winning ways against the 3-2 Ravens. The surprise for the Giants last week? Daniel Jones’ play and the revival of Darius Slayton. I don’t know what Slayton did to the coaching staff, but the fact that it took him this long to see the field given the abundance of injuries to the receiving core is insane. Slayton played just over 50% of the snaps but put together a cool 6-catch, 79-yard performance. On paper, that’s fine, but he looked very impressive on the field, earning 26% of Daniel Jones’ attempts on the day. The receiving core is still banged up, so Slayton should see another 7 targets, or more, as Jones needs to throw the ball to someone on that team! 

Sit: Allen Lazard, Green Bay vs NY Jets

Wow, another player in the Packers-Jets game. Yes, going back to this game, and specifically Lazard because he could see smothering coverage from rising-star cornerback, Sauce Gardner. The Packers’ offense seems almost random at times, with Rodgers feeding the hot hand, both out of the backfield and out wide. As I stated with Rodgers in the “Sit” column, I believe this will be a big Aaron Jones week. Lazard saw eight targets last week against the Giants but wasn’t able to do much with them other than find the end zone once, totaling only 35-yards. With a much tougher cornerback matchup, I’m not banking on a trip to the end zone making his fantasy day. I’m out on Lazard this week.

Tight End

Start: Gerald Everett, LA Chargers vs Denver

Last week’s call was Higbee as an every-week starter. This week I’m calling Gerald Everett the same, despite the higher volatility. Everett has seen 29 targets through the first five weeks of the season, but let fantasy managers down last week with only one catch for two yards. Denver is middle of the road defensively against tight ends, but it’s hard to truly estimate given the ugly Thursday night game we were forced to watch last week, so it’s slightly inflated in the favor of the defense. Gerald Everett provides too much upside at such a volatile position to not consider him an every-week starter. The Chargers are top ten in scoring, and number two in yards, and Everett is top ten in tight end targets. He has the potential to score multiple touchdowns each week and pick up a sizeable amount of yards as long as he has a hold on the starting spot. This week will be a big bounce-back test, but he’s got my vote of confidence.

Sit: Hayden Hurst, Cincinnati at New Orleans

Hayden Hurst has been playing very well this season, with only two games in single digits. He’s been a great asset to have in your tight-end spot given the natural volatility of the position. However, this week he plays against the Saints, who give up the sixth-fewest points to the tight end position. Receiver Tee Higgins also returned to practice on Friday which should take away from the targets Hurst will see. Hurst is set up to have a difficult week ahead.

You might be thinking, “damn @DFF_JoeMem, how do you stay sharp in your leagues?” Easy! I START off my week by SITTING down and reading the wide range of content that the crew here at DFF is cooking up! I also check out our Dynasty Rankings so I stay one step ahead of the competition! But if you’re tired of cheesiness and plugs, head over to my Twitter and let me know what you think of my article!