Start 'Em, Sit 'Em For Week 6 Fantasy Football: Trust Josh Downs, Bench Derrick Henry
Gene Clemons and John Laghezza break down their favorite starts and sits for Week 6 of the fantasy football season.
Tag team off the roof! Time for your favorite one-two Start 'Em, Sit 'Em combo, Coach Gene and Big John! As teams and players start revealing themselves, we must ask ourselves if we have the guts to challenge preseason priors in the face of new data. Let's dive into our starts and sits for Week 6.
Start These Players In Week 6 Fantasy Football
Josh Downs, WR, IND
LAGHEZZA: Don’t take my word for it; much smarter analysts will tell you with certainty. We’re right at that pivot point in the fantasy season—where the importance of preseason ADP gives way to newer, year-to-date data. Well if that’s the case, Josh Downs’ recent usage uptick for an ascendant Colts team couldn’t come at a better time.
No, you’re not crazy or old-fashioned for remembering Downs making a difference in fantasy—y’know, way back when he led the Colts in both receptions and fantasy points scored … last year. However, one of the league’s biggest offensive turnarounds occurred in spite of a once-relied-upon weapon failing to finish as a top-36 WR this season. But that all changes Sunday.
It was just a matter of time before Shane Steichen began unleashing a player who eclipsed +2.2 yards/route, earning a very healthy +29% target/route just last year. Week 5 marked yet another box on the calendar where Downs increased his route rate, finally reaching startable levels for fantasy. It’s on …
Starting to make me wonder—maybe Downs’ partial workload to start 2025 coming back from that late August hamstring injury was more meticulously planned than I assumed (hmmm). Indianapolis hosts the Cardinals this weekend, fresh off the worst team loss in a generation (and not just because it sunk my Survivor teams). Down bad is a colossal understatement of fact out in the desert.
Credit where it’s due. As effectively as Arizona’s played on defense (19.2 PPG, 5.1 yards allowed/play), the NFL’s second-highest rate of preventative two-high safety shells (32.0%) leaves lots of room underneath—slot WRs average 9.4 catches, 88.4 receiving yards, and 1.0 TDs per game versus ARI. Time to attack the soft spot.
Despite playing in minimal 2-WR sets, Downs led Indy in targets plus catches for the first time in Week 5—and I’m betting it won’t be the last. To my eyes, he’s easily their most explosive pass-catcher with the ball in his hands. Backend WR1 finish, here we come …
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All Your Chargers at Miami Dolphins
LAGHEZZA: Fantasy football’s answer to real estate’s “location, location, location” is “matchup, matchup, matchup”. Want to know the winningest start/sit formula so far this year? Face the Dolphins. In just five weeks of play, Miami’s already allowed four top-five quarterbacks to go with six other separate top-10 positional finishes. Giddy up.
Social media’s already flooded with debates over which RB will fill the massive touch-void left when Omarion Hampton went down against the Commanders. Let me just say this: eventually, I believe Kimani Vidal’s explosivity and chops in the passing game will win out—even if Hassan Haskins controls LAC’s base work from the jump.
Justin Herbert, Hassan Haskins, Kimani Vidal, Keenan Allen, Quentin Johnston, or Ladd McConkey—show me a Charger and you have my answer to every fantasy coinflip this weekend.
Don’t overthink it. Everyone can get home against the Fins. Look at this list of bottom-of-the-barrel stats so far …
Miami Dolphins Defense, Year-To-Date:
- 6.4 Yards Allowed Per Play: Last
- 45.7% Defensive Success Rate: Last
- -0.17 EPA/Play: 31st
- 40.9 Average Drive Distance: Last
- 3:39 Time Of Possession Per Drive: Last
- 57.7% Scoring Drive Success: Last
- 174.2 Rushing Yards Per Game: Last
- 7 +20-Yard Carries: Last
- 13.5% Explosive Rush Rate: 31st
- -0.31 EPA/Dropback: Last
- 117.6 Opposing Passer Rating: Last
- 5.0 QB Hits Per Game: Last
Bold Starts For Week 6 Fantasy Football
Matthew Stafford, QB, LAR
CLEMONS: Resist the rushing upside quarterbacks this week!
Stafford has really been throwing the football over the past two weeks. He has finished as a top-10 fantasy quarterback after being a superflex or two-QB option for the first three weeks. Now he plays the Baltimore Ravens with that porous secondary and limited pass rush. The Fantasy Life ranking have him ranked 11th this week, because we know you should be starting him, but temptation sitting right behind him in the rankings could make you think you should turn away. Justin Fields, Daniel Jones, Bo Nix and a host of other quarterbacks who offer rushing upside are there for the taking behind the immobile Stafford. DON'T FALL FOR THE TEMPTATION!
Throughout his career, when Stafford smells blood in the water, he attacks. This week will be no different. It does not matter who plays at quarterback; Stafford is going to be a statistical unicorn this week, and he could have a boosting effect on everyone around him.
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, NE
CLEMONS: I do not know why, but the Patriots love Stevenson. Every time we think they are ready to turn things over to Henderson in the backfield, they keep feeding it to Stevenson in critical situations. In Week 2, he was top six, and last week he finished 15th in half-PPR scoring. He has found different ways to be relevant. In Week 2, he scored as a receiver, catching five passes for 88 yards. Last week, it was two touchdowns. He just keeps finding his way back to relevancy. So instead of fighting it, let's just embrace it.
Now they play the Saints and although their defense looked formidable against the Buccaneers, they were helped by several unforced turnovers. Stevenson is still getting the goal-line carries and it could be a game script that leans into the rushing attack more. It might not be the prettiest pick, but it has a great chance to be effective.
Bold Sits For Week 6 Fantasy Football
Garrett Wilson, WR, NYJ
LAGHEZZA: Has any team ever better represented the disconnect between fantasy and real-life football than these 2025 Jets? Last winless team in the league, and fantasy managers couldn’t be happier about it. Just five (losing) games in, and New York’s already responsible for nine top-10 positional finishes on offense (Justin Fields x2, Tyrod Taylor, Breece Hall x2, Garrett Wilson x3, Mason Taylor). Wowzah.
Scrolled passed a perfect stat easily lost by box score scouting from the Underdog NFL handle to explain this current Jets run: 39.4% of Fields' fantasy points this season have come in the final 8 minutes of regulation. Crazy times, what a rush.
The roller coaster comes to a full stop this weekend for Wilson, who’s admittedly already profited at ADP. Yes, the Broncos allowed three passers to go over the 280 mark, but to me, it’s a simple matter of functionality.
Through five games, Denver’s posted lopsided results facing three competent (IND, LAC, PHI) and two dysfunctional (TEN, CIN) offenses. With that, even in strong team performances, most of the WR1-types the Broncos faced (Calvin Ridley, Michael Pittman, Ja’Marr Chase, A.J. Brown) all did very little against extra attention from Pat Surtain and an extremely tough secondary.
Quick question: Would you classify the Jets as a well-coached and quarterbacked offense, or the low pass volume type to crumble when pressured by the NFL’s sack leader? Wilson’s still going to be fine rest of season, just prepare yourself for the worst version of the Jets to date.
Derrick Henry, RB, BAL
LAGHEZZA: Getting an elite player fade correct is not nearly as satisfying when it happens for the wrong reason. Derrick Henry’s disappointed but still very much healthy … and awesome. That said, as if missing Lamar Jackson wasn’t bad enough, it’s Baltimore’s defense keeping him off the field right now.
One month in and injuries already decimated the Ravens’ D at every level. There’s simply no room for King Henry in the game plan up against +35 points allowed every week. Matthew Stafford and the Rams project to score 26 as eight-point favorites at home Sunday—and there’s still plenty of time for those lines to move coming off a tough loss to Michael McCorkle "Mac" Jones.
I’d be shocked if John Harbaugh keeps Sean McVay under 30, honestly, instantly sinking Henry’s value. Sorry, your highness.
Justin Fields, QB, NYJ
CLEMONS: Fields has been money in fantasy. He has only had one week where he did not produce at a top-10 level. Even when the Jets have not looked good or the offense has looked disjointed, Fields has managed to smash in fantasy. This week is different; this week, they face the Broncos.
If you are looking for the 25-plus-point games of Weeks 1, 4 and 5, that is wishful thinking. The passing game should be nullified by the boogeyman, Patrick Surtain, and his comrades in the secondary. They will be spying Fields as a runner and make it difficult for him to beat them with his legs. Even if he has late heroics, they will not amount to the points of other solid starting options. He's ranked QB12 this week when everybody knows that even during a bad game, he is capable of top-five performances. That means they are all worried about the matchup, and they have good reason to be. It may be worth it to just wait until Week 7 with Fields.
Alvin Kamara, RB, NO
CLEMONS: The Saints play the Patriots this week after New England was able to quiet James Cook and the absolute heater he was on. He was RB34 last week after four straight top-10 finishes. Kamara has a lot more than the matchup working against him. He is splitting time with Kendre Miller, and Miller seems to be more than capable of leading this backfield. Taysom Hill is also back. That will cut into Kamara's goal-line touches, his targets and possibly even his carries.
Then consider that, with everything said, there have been rumors that the team may be looking to move Kamara by the trade deadline. They will want to keep him as healthy as possible if that is, in fact, the case. All of it points to a pretty bleak outlook for Kamara this week in fantasy.
John's Parting Week 6 Start/Sit Thought
Our start/sit piece wouldn’t be complete without my favorite research tool, updated weekly throughout the season! When I’m in a pinch, this image is my favorite picture when I don’t have time for a thousand words.
When you want to win weekly fantasy matchups, attach yourself to the highest-scoring game totals. Easy stuff, right?
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