Josh Jordan

Fantasy football under-the-radar plays — Week 6

Fantasy football under-the-radar plays — Week 6
Sony Michel is a great play in every format this week. Photo via Sony Michel/Facebook

Week 6 starts tonight and I have more sleeper plays for you. Let’s take a peek at how I did last week, and then look ahead to this week’s slate of games. My standard for a good fantasy game is around 100 total yards and/or a TD, and this is for PPR scoring. Of course, the bar is a little lower for TEs.  

Week 5 Results

RB

T.J. Yeldon (JAX): Right, great game!

Matt Breida (SF): Right, 60 total yards and a TD before he got hurt.

James Conner (PIT): RIGHT! Huge game for Conner! He was my pick for “Put your name on it” on my fantasy show Moneyline on ESPN 97.5 this week. Nailed it. 

Dion Lewis and Derrick Henry (TEN): Wrong, even in a great matchup you can’t trust these guys. I did say only play these guys if you’re desperate. At least I have that.

Sony Michel (NE): Right, he’s getting into must-start territory.

WR

Calvin Ridley (ATL): Wrong, he didn’t come through in a fantastic matchup against the Steelers. Targets will be the issue for him, but he scores TDs.

Jordy Nelson (OAK): Right, I had a feeling he would have a good game with all the attention going to Amari Cooper.

Julian Edelman (NE): Wrong, 7 catches for 57 yards in a PPR didn’t kill you, but his drop hurt his stats for sure. It was risky picking him in his 1st game back, but he was clearly involved and highly targeted.

Sterling Shepard (NYG): Wrong-ish, 4 catches for 75 yards isn’t bad. He now has 75 receiving yards or more in 3 straight games.

TE

Austin Hooper (ATL): Right, finally! I said Hooper was dead to me if he didn’t have a big game against the Steelers, and he finally did it. 9 catches and 77 yards in a PPR for a waiver wire TE, that’s what I’m talking about! I had the stones to put him in the article, did you have the courage to start him?

George Kittle (SF): Right, 5 catches for 83 yards and he left the game injured. I’ll take that.

QB

Ben Roethlisberger (PIT): Right, 3 TDs and only 1 pick for Big Ben!

Blake Bortles (JAX): Right, it’s always ugly when you start Bortles. The 4 picks were awful, but he came through with over 20 fantasy points. Over 400 yards passing and a rushing score to boot.

I don’t typically pick defenses in this article, but I did mention I liked the Titans last week. They were good but not great. In Yahoo, they scored 7 points, so I’ll call this one a push. I don’t include defenses in my record keeping, and I won’t pick one every week. In fact, last week is the first time I mentioned a DEF. If I see a DEF on the waiver wire that has a decent shot of having a good game, I will mention it, but it won’t be every week.

I went 9-4  in Week 5 if you lump the two Titans RBs together, if not, call it 9-5. Either way, a really good week picking sleepers, especially if you consider the ones I got wrong had solid games in PPR. I’m talking about you, Edelman and Shepard. All right, enough with last week. Let’s take a look at Week 6. These players are in no particular order.

Week 6

RB

Sony Michel (NE): He was great last week and I think that continues again against the Chiefs' awful defense. One more big week for Michel and I’ll have to consider him too obvious to put in this column. Michel is much better in non-PPR, but don’t be afraid to start him in a PPR as well.

Aaron Jones (GB): The 49ers aren’t good against RBs giving up over 30FPTS/G to the position, but that’s really not the issue. Knowing which back the Packers will feature is almost impossible, but I have to think they’ll take advantage of this matchup and give Jones some work. Rodgers and company should be in control of this game from jump street, and I think this is the game Jones breaks out.

Alfred Morris (SF): If you read this article regularly, you know I have featured Matt Breida several times. With Breida injured, I think Morris gets the fantasy goodness in a matchup where Green Bay gives up over 20FPTS/G to RBs. I like Morris this week because of opportunity, not because it’s a great matchup by the numbers.

Marshawn Lynch (OAK): Revenge game for Marshawn and I think he scores. The Seahawks are allowing over 22FPTS/G to running backs, which is around the middle of the pack.

WR

Calvin Ridley (ATL): I’m back on the Ridley train after a down week. The Bucs are awful against WRs giving up almost 49 FPTS/G to them. Fire him up this week.

Sterling Shepard (NYG): The Eagles are giving up over 47 FPTS/G to WRs. Evan Engram is ruled out, so Shepard should continue being a solid start. Get him in your lineup. He'll be in this article until Engram returns.

Tyler Boyd (CIN): He should have a big performance with most of the attention going to A.J. Green, plus the Steelers are awful against the pass.

Sammy Watkins (KC): He’s getting targets in a fantastic offense, and there will be a lot of points in this game.

Emmanuel Sanders (DEN): The Rams haven’t been very good against WRs over the past month giving up over 41FGTS/G to the position. Give him a shot this week, Denver will most likely be playing catch up.

Julian Edelman (NE): He's such a big part of their offense, and this should be a shootout. 

TE

Austin Hooper (ATL): It’s not Groundhog Day, but it may feel like it with me picking Hooper again. He has a great matchup though, and hopefully he builds on his big game last week with another against the Bucs.

Cameron Brate (TB): The matchup is not great, but Howard is still out and the Falcons are banged up on defense. Give him a start if you need a TE this week.

QB

Jameis Winston (TB): His matchup can’t get much better, so he’s worth a shot this week.

Andy Dalton (CIN): Dalton hasn’t had a ton of success against the Steelers over his career, but he’s playing well and the Steelers secondary can be exploited.

 

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Chas McCormick gets another start in Game 2. Composite Getty Image.

The Houston Astros will aim to lock up a series victory Tuesday night as they face the Tampa Bay Rays in the second game of a three-game set. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.

Houston (25–22) took the opener 4–3 on Monday and has now won five of its last ten games, continuing a recent surge that has pulled them back above .500 and into second place in the AL West. Tampa Bay (21–26) sits fourth in the AL East and has struggled to find consistency, especially at home where they are now just 11–18.

The Astros will turn to left-hander Brandon Walter, who is set to make his season debut. Walter, a depth option from the Astros' system, gets the nod with the club working through recent rotation injuries.

The Rays counter with right-hander Zack Littell (3–5, 4.31 ERA), who has been solid but not dominant across his first nine starts. He’s struck out 32 batters in 54.1 innings with a strong 1.12 WHIP.

Team trends

Houston holds the AL’s fifth-best team on-base percentage (.318) and has gone 6–4 over its last 10 games, posting a .252 batting average and a 3.78 team ERA in that span. Tampa Bay is 5–5 over its last 10, hitting .236 while their pitching staff has combined for a 4.34 ERA.

Players to watch

  • Jake Meyers continues to provide timely power for Houston, while Isaac Paredes has been one of Houston's steadiest hitters, going 11-for-37 with three home runs over his last 10 games.
  • Jonathan Aranda leads the Rays with a .309 batting average and has been a consistent bat in the middle of their lineup.
  • Chandler Simpson, a recent spark plug for Tampa, is hitting .364 over his last 10 games.

Betting line

According to BetMGM, the Astros are slight road favorites at -114, with the Rays at -105. The over/under is set at 9.5 runs, signaling expectations for a potentially high-scoring matchup.

With the series opener in their pocket and Walter making his first appearance of the year, the Astros will look to keep momentum rolling in Tampa and inch closer to the top of the AL West standings.

Here's a look at Tuesday's night's lineup:

Yainer Diaz gets the night off, with Victor Caratini catching Walter in his big league debut. Chas McCormick is in the lineup again playing left field, and Zach Dezenzo gets the nod in the DH spot.

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