After a great Week 5, the Week 6 fantasy football sleeper page was a swing and a miss. Josh Downs came through, albeit it was fairly obvious, but little else went right. Ja’Lynn Polk was the wrong New England receiver to promote, Daniel Jones had another nightmare game at home and we failed to find traction in the backfield.
There will be weeks like that. We’re onto Week 7.
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster vs. 49ers (44% rostered)
I can’t believe Smith-Schuster is still available for this column, but he’s still floating free in over half of Yahoo leagues. Are memories that short?
Smith-Schuster was galloping free the last time we saw him in Week 5 (7-130-0, eight targets), and let’s not forget Smith-Schuster had 78 catches for 933 yards the last time he was a Kansas City regular — that was just two years ago. He already has the trust of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. If Travis Kelce doesn’t lead the Chiefs in targets this week, JuJu is going to. He should be rostered in every medium and deep fantasy football league. He’s certainly welcome on all of my teams.
QB Drake Maye (14%), WR DeMario Douglas (35%) vs. Jaguars in London
The Maye debut wasn’t perfect, let’s be clear on that. There were sacks; there were occasional poor decisions. But the speed of the pro game didn’t overwhelm him, and there were plenty of highlights as well — three touchdown passes and a useful 38 rushing yards.
Now, the matchup turns divine: the Jaguars defense. Jacksonville’s had the worst pass defense in the league, by a considerable margin, over the past month.
Douglas might be an even easier fantasy ticket to punch. He’s become the target hog in the New England offense (nine targets in three of his last four games), and there was a touchdown in Week 6, along with increased downfield opportunity.
Generally, we think of Douglas similar to Wan’Dale Robinson in New York — a horizontal receiver — but maybe there’s more upside than initially thought. No matter what you think of Douglas in the long-term, his fantasy stock gets a bump with Maye under center, and that leaky Jacksonville secondary on the other side. Wake up early on Sunday.
RB Tyler Goodson vs. Dolphins (7%)
The league is filled with injury-plagued backfields these days, and this is another one. You can’t start Goodson until we know for certain that Jonathan Taylor (ankle) won’t be able to go. But if Taylor is scratched, we need to recognize that Goodson has been far more efficient than Trey Sermon this year (look at those yards-per-touch stats), and Sermon himself is not completely healthy.
Miami’s defense fits the record, as it’s the third-friendliest matchup for opposing running backs. This feels like the week the Colts let Goodson loose and see what he can do with an increased opportunity.
WR Bub Means vs. Broncos (5%)
Means could be the last man standing in a New Orleans receiver room that’s been riddled with injury. We won’t see Rashid Shaheed for a while, and Chris Olave (concussion) is also ruled out for Week 7. Patrick Surtain II has been ruled out as well — a boost for the Saints.
Means didn’t light the world on fire in his first substantial snaps last week, but a 5-45-1 line plays in most PPR-related formats, and he did draw a team-high eight targets. Obviously, he’s been running scout team reps with newly minted starter Spencer Rattler; there’s already a rapport forming. It’s pretty easy to give Means some projectable volume in the Thursday night game, and I think he’ll do something with that opportunity. He’s a reasonable WR3 option for Week 7.
RB Tyler Allgeier vs. Seahawks (36%)
Nobody expects Allgeier to steal the starting job in Atlanta — Bijan Robinson is that good — but the Falcons have made it clear that Allgeier deserves a seat at the table. Atlanta’s No. 2 back has collected 55 touches in his last five games, and last week he got into the end zone twice — once on a traditional touchdown, once on a two-point conversion.
In a normal week, Allgeier is looking at 7-12 touches. If he gets the hot hand or Robinson encounters a mishap, the role could easily expand. Seattle’s a plus matchup for opposing running backs, too, handing out the 11th-most points to the position.
Sometimes you have to get a little creative with your flex plays as we navigate bye season and injury season; this could be one of those times.
TEs Cade Otton vs. Ravens (36%), Noah Fant at Falcons (29%), Colby Parkinson vs. Raiders (19%)
We know a lot of fantasy managers will be without Cole Kmet and Jake Ferguson this week, and we hate to lose set-and-forget options at fantasy’s most vexing position. So here are three possible tight-end streamers to consider:
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Otton is a secondary part of the Tampa Bay passing game, but the Ravens have struggled in seam coverage, and he did have a touchdown last week.
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Fant’s role could be ready for an increase after he’s secured all 17 of his targets in the last four games. Andy Behrens would also mention another Fant fact — he attended the University of Iowa, home of so many talented tight ends.
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Parkinson’s roster tag was probably held back because of the bye week, but he’s drawn 20 targets over his last two games, grading a respectable TE11 over that span. All three of these players are also working with competent quarterbacks, a time-honored way of breaking a tie.