NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 6: Wide receivers

We’ve seen some pretty impressive receiving performances this season. Guys like DK Metcalf. Chase Claypool. Travis Fulgham. But is there anybody playing better than Jamison Crowder right now? And before you answer that, remember his head coach is Adam Gase. And he was catching passes from Joe Flacco last week. I mean, that’s pretty impressive. I mean, it’s one thing to do a power bomb. Another to do it through a flaming table. From a balcony. Crowder has at least 10+ targets, 7+ receptions and 100+ receiving yards in in all three games he’s played this season. He’s currently the WR2 with 22.5 fantasy points per game. Great matchup against the Dolphins. And he’s doing it with Gase as his head coach. Give this man your respect.

Gardner Minshew played well in a plus matchup against the Texans. The only problem was he was throwing touchdowns to Keelan Cole and Collin Johnson. Which wasn’t great for us. Especially since it was such a great matchup. But D.J. Chark has scored at least 11 fantasy points in three of his four games this season. D.J.’s got a great matchup against the Lions this week. Detroit has allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to receivers this season, the 10th-most receiving yards per game. I have a team where I’m always trying to figure out which D.J. to start every week (I have D.J. Moore as well). I’ve got it handled the past few weeks and on paper, it says this is Chark Week.

Justin Jefferson is clearly the Dick Grayson of this duo with Adam Thielen being Bruce Wayne. That’s cool. But Nightwing, I mean, Jefferson has really started to impose himself in recent weeks. I mean, not last week. That wasn’t great. But he’s scored at least 14 fantasy points in two of his last three games. And he’s got the Atlanta Falcons this week. The Falcons are not exactly the elite members of Batman’s Rogue Gallery. In fact, they would probably be Kite Man. That’s right, a villain who has a giant kite strapped to his back and uses smaller kites as weapons. The Falcons have allowed the second-most receiving yards to receivers this year. Look at me, comic books, wrestling … how was I not more popular in high school?

I’m starting to grow concerned with this Giants' offense. It was supposed to breakout last week. And Danny Dimes was held to less than 10 fantasy points. He’s close to being the Mojo Rawley of quarterbacks if he doesn’t get it together. And look, if the Giants end up with the top pick in the draft and there is a quarterback everyone projects to be the first overall selection. Do the Giants make that move? And do you need these hypotheticals when trying to figure out whether to start Darius Slayton or not? You do not. Let me just say Slayton was able to have a nice game against the Cowboys. He had eight receptions for 129 yards. The good news is he’s had at least seven targets in four of his five games this year. And the FT allowed two receivers to crack the Top 30 last week: Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp.

Let’s talk about this for a moment: Andy Dalton gave the trio of Amari Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb three targets apiece when he came into the game. But he kept going to Gallup when the game was on the line. What stood out to me was Cooper played just 64 percent of the snaps. Lamb 55 percent. But Gallup led the way with 97 percent of the snaps. I’d start leaning into him a little bit moving forward. I still like Lamb a lot this week, too. The Cardinals have allowed four receiving touchdowns to the slot this year. That’s the fifth-most in the NFL. That’s where Lamb thrives. And I know I’m confusing you by throwing both receivers into this. But I like them both.

Moore has been a huge disappointment this season. Like when your wife buys some cool cereal. Like Cap’n Crunch Peanut Butter or whatnot. And you wake up one morning and find out your kids have eaten the whole box already. That’s Moore. One game with more than five receptions. One game with more than 20 fantasy points. And even last week when he had a huge touchdown, he didn’t even get in the 20s. I know a lot of you are like, we should trade him now. Which is great. But even the rubes you play with are smart enough to know that Teddy Bridgewater is targeting Robby Anderson. To make matters worse, this Bears have been incredibly tough on receivers. Kyle Fuller and rookie Jaylon Johnson have become one of the top tandems in the NFL. Wait a minute! I just saw this from the Panthers social media. Start D.J. Moore in all formats! (Don’t, but this is pretty great.)

Look. I love A.J. Green. But it’s time for him to move on from the Bengals. Just trade him to the Patriots already so he can have a great second act and we can all get him into our starting lineups. He ran just 15 routes last week and was targeted once. The pass was intercepted. And if you haven’t seen the video of that play, then you really need to watch it right now. I’m not sure you can ever trust to play him while he’s a member of the Bengals. And for the record, maybe the Bengals should bench Burrow until they get an offensive line. I don’t want him ruined.

The 49ers managed 173 passing yards against the Miami Dolphins last week. And it’s not going to be any easier against the Los Angeles Rams, the team I feel is the best team in the NFC right now. You can read more about that in my Unpopular Opinions piece for Week 6. The Rams have allowed the fewest fantasy points per game to receivers this year. Deebo Samuel was targeted eight times last week but managed just two receptions. Brandon Aiyuk was targeted six times and had just three receptions. I wouldn’t recommend either 49ers receiver this week.

I know, so tempting to chase the fantasy points after he scored more than 30 points last week as Deshaun Watson seemed to really enjoy not having Bill O’Brien around. Brandin Cooks received 12 targets and finished with eight receptions for 161 yards and a touchdown. I don’t believe he will go back to being the guy who didn’t have a single reception against the Vikings. But he’s not going to get you 30 points again.

Congratulations to those of you who grabbed Travis Fulgham off the waiver wire this week. Or even last week. Nice pickup. Now you have to keep him on the bench. Which I know doesn’t seem fair. It’s like when I got grounded the day I got my driver’s license. These things happen. I like his prospects for the long term. He’s had back-to-back solid weeks. With last week being incredible. I just don’t want to go up against the Ravens in this matchup. But don’t worry, you have the Giants in Week 7. You may start him then.