Who To Start And Sit In Week 6 Of The 2015 Fantasy Football Season

We had our first major waiver wire situation this week as Charcandrick West cost a pretty FAAB penny. I got asked my friends at work what to make of West, so here’s my quick summary. Starting running backs don’t grow on trees. West is the kind of guy you save up your #1 waiver priority or free agency auction budget for. The Chiefs have decided to give him the job over Knile Davis and remember how effective Davis was historically with Charles out. West won’t be Adrian Peterson all of a sudden, but he will be a factor. The Chiefs aren’t gonna start throwing the ball around 50 times a game. He’ll fit somewhere into the top 12-20 running backs and that’s not bad given how fragmented the position is right now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him put up 1,000 total yards and seven touchdowns the rest of the season.

Below is a list of guys I’m focused on for one reason or another this week. They’re especially important in daily fantasy sports (DFS) leagues like DraftKings. If you’re curious about guys you don’t see listed here, you can always find me on Twitter (@MrT_BroBible) to ask questions, but remember to mention league specifics like PPR. You can always ask about trades as well.

You Know Who You Should Start?

Colin Kaepernick (QB – San Francisco)
This is a week where the top QBs are expected to shine, but maybe you’re streaming or dealing with injuries. Normally I wouldn’t recommend Kaepernick, but he’s in a pretty great spot. The Ravens defense has been abysmal against the pass so far this season. You really need to evaluate your place in life if you’re giving up over 450 yards to a McCown. Kaepernick was more aggressive in a successful second half during last week’s game and should set up nicely for him in this home match-up. 250 passing yards and two touchdowns should be easily reached.

Lamar Miller (RB – Miami)
This pick has some narrative street and some stats to back it up. For starters Joe Philbin is out as Miami Dolphins coach, which means there will be changes to the offense. Lamar Miller indicated in his comments this week that Miami is more dedicated to the run now that Philbin is gone. It couldn’t be less dedicated since Miami was last in the league in rushing attempts. This is a good week to find a running game as Tennessee, Miami’s opponent, is giving up approximately 4.5 yards per rush and sits 28th in Football Outsiders rush defense rankings.

Giovanni Bernard (RB – Cincinnati)
I would love to recommend T.J. Yeldon, but I’m worried about his groin. Instead I’ll recommend Bernard in case people don’t have full faith in him already. You may wonder why I’m recommending a Bengals running back against Buffalo, but Bernard is in the same situation he was in last week against a tough defense. The Bengals will look to Gio out of backfield in the passing game and Gio’s quickness will be useful against a hefty Bills front seven.

Eric Decker (WR – New York Jets)
Start DeAndre Hopkins. Wait, it’s not that easy? Well I guess I can recommend Decker. Decker was a little banged up going into the London game, but now he’s had an extra week to recover. Washington has struggled against the pass this season, showing there’s opportunity for Decker to shine. Don’t be confused about Washington shutting down Julio Jones and Leonard Hankerson last week. Jones dropped easy catches and both guys were banged up. Washington was cut up by both the Giants and Eagles passing games before that and the Jets have similar talent on the outside.

Torrey Smith (WR – San Francisco)
I could tell you Anquan Boldin in this spot, but then you’d think I was chasing points. Instead I’ll take a real flyer and say Torrey Smith is due for a good spot here. Think of it this way: The Ravens have given up an 80-yard touchdown to A.J. Green, a 68-yard touchdown to Amari Cooper, and a 29-yard touchdown to Michael Crabtree. They’re susceptible to the long passing play and that’s where Smith comes in. Besides, I’m sure he knows a few tricks against his former teammates since he just left Baltimore.

Zach Ertz (TE – Philadelphia)
The Giants have continued to struggle against tight ends and have becoming the whipping boy since the Raiders on the bye this week. The Giants have given up at least 7 standard fantasy points to tight ends this year and Ertz is the next man up.  Ertz is slowly getting more integrated in the Eagles offense as he had five catches for 60 yards last week.



You Know Who You Should Sit?

Philip Rivers (QB – San Diego)

Rivers is still trying to figure out how he lost to the Michael Vick led Steelers last week. Rivers was alright, but didn’t put up the elite game that many in the DFS community were expecting. Now he heads to Lambeau Field with a beat up offensive line against the team with the second most sacks in the league. Yikes! San Diego would be best served not getting into a shootout here against Football Outsiders #1 ranked passing defense.

Jeremy Hill (RB – Cincinnati)
We’re one week away from Jeremy Hill getting back into everyone’s lineups, but we need to wait another week. As mentioned above, it’s a Gio game this week. Look how Gio played over Hill last week. The same should be  the case here as well against a defense allowing less than 4 yards per carry and less than a half a rushing touchdown per game.

Chris Johnson (RB – Arizona)
I’ll give Johnson credit. He came back from the dead. He’s looked great this year, but this is not the week for him. The Steelers have held opposing teams under 71 rushing yards in all but one game. They have not allowed a rushing touchdown this season either. (It doesn’t help Johnson’s case that he gives up goal line work to David Johnson.) You might think these stats are indicative of the Steelers getting big leads in their first couple of games, but they’re rated fifth in defensive efficiency against the run according to Football Outsiders, so it’s clearly not all game flow.

Pierre Garcon (WR – Washington)
It doesn’t bode well for you when you’re the only quality receiver on a team and you face the Jets secondary. Garcon probably has another week until Desean Jackson returns to the lineup, so he’ll be seeing all the offensive attention from Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, and Buster Skrine. The Redskins only have a Vegas team total of 17.5 points, so it’s not like they’ll exactly be explosive this week.

Travis Benjamin (WR – Cleveland)
I will say I’ve become a fan of Benjamin’s week-to-week ability, but I can’t support him this weekend. The Broncos’ secondary is just too good and Benjamin won’t have the same room to operate he’s had in recent week. Denver’s also only allowed one passing touchdown to a wide receiver this year and have only once given up more than 150 yards total to any receiving core.

Heath Miller (TE – Pittsburgh)

He has the name recognition, but Miller’s not the same player without Ben Roethlisberger as his quarterback. Miller had a nice catch at the end of last week’s game, but that was only his third on the day. He also hasn’t found the end zone since Week 2 and the Cardinals haven’t given up a touchdown to tight ends all season long.