The Biggest Start/Sit Decisions for Week 6 (Fantasy Football)

“The secret to winning is constant, consistent management.”

– Tom Landry

Willkommen, Footclan! Welcome to Week 6 of the Start/Sit series where we’ll identify and discuss your most commonly asked “Who should I start?” questions for the week.

The projections between any two players on your roster may appear similar, but this “simple” choice could be the difference between your team’s victory or defeat. Luckily, the Fantasy Footballers have created the Start/Sit tool to easily compare any two (or more) players with insight from the Ballers themselves, and trust me — it’s an extremely valuable asset that will help you make these crucial lineup decisions that could ultimately lead you to your #FootClanTitle. Please note that the Footballers’ rankings are constantly being updated as news breaks, so make sure you check out the tool yourself to catch any last-second changes.

So without further adieu, let’s kick things off with the most popular Start/Sit questions for Week 6:

Darrel Williams (KC) or Myles Gaskin (MIA)?

Darrel Williams finds himself in a SMASH SPOT as the new lead back on a high-octane offense that’s ready to explode. He’ll have a great matchup against a vulnerable Washington front in what Vegas projects to be the highest-scoring game on the slate with the highest implied team total. Jerick McKinnon will surely play a role, but Williams should see enough valuable targets and, more importantly, goal-line work to make him a tempting start on most rosters. He’s an interesting DFS Cash option and could see an uptick in usage if the team maintains a comfortable lead as most expect.

Once the world gave up on Myles Gaskin, he decided to retaliate by having his second-best fantasy outing EVER, totaling nearly 100 yards and scoring twice against a revered Buccaneers front. It wasn’t done on the ground but rather through the air via 10 caught targets, something Gaskin managers have been anticipating and hoping for since they drafted him. Now lightning attempts to strike twice as he faces a juicy matchup against the Jaguars, who have been bleeding points to opposing RBs at will. Can “the Gasman” do it again? It’s quite a gamble, but if you’re out of options, there are worse out there than Gaskin.

The Verdict
It’s unanimous: Williams is the winner here.

Emmanuel Sanders (BUF) or Kadarius Toney (NYG)?

On the blue corner of this battle between wisdom and youth, tricenarian Emmanuel Sanders makes a compelling case to become a weekly fixture in your starting lineups after scoring two TDs in a lopsided victory — something he’s done twice now in just the past three weeks. The WR17 on the season, Sanders has found new life at Buffalo, averaging 64.4 passing yards and nearly a TD on just 3.8 receptions per game.

The Bills boast a plethora of pass-catching weapons like Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, and an emerging Dawson Knox, not to mention QB Josh Allen who is no stranger to running it in himself. But Sanders has carved a healthy role on the offense as the deep threat with the highest aDOT on the team (16.0; Diggs, 13.0). This Sunday, he gets a CUPCAKE matchup against the league’s WORST defense against WRs, the Titans. His 17.8% target share makes him a risky play as it’s the lowest of the team (Diggs, 27.1%; Beasley, 18.2%), but he’s got such big-play potential that the upside is usually worth it.

And in the red corner is rookie Kadarius Toney, this week’s most popular waiver wire add whose hype train has officially taken off. He was clearly a benefactor of a multitude of injuries to his offense, from Saquon Barkley‘s unfortunate left ankle sprain to Kenny Golladay‘s hyperextended knee, not to mention the existing injuries that already ruled out Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton (hamstring). But with Shepard expected to return and a menacing Jalen Ramsay waiting on the other side, we might need to pump the brakes a bit on the Toney express.

The Verdict
Both Jason and Andy favor Sanders, while Mike is riding the hype with Toney. Toney should be just fine as a Flex play and could become the next OBJ, but I’d rather wait and see how the targets are distributed once Shepard and the rest of the cast return.

Khalil Herbert (CHI) or Chase Edmonds (ARI)?

Damien Williams performed admirably last week as the team’s “starter,” turning 18 touches into 84 all-purpose (AP) yards and a TD. I added sarcastic quotation marks because it was surprisingly rookie Khalil Herbert who out-snapped (53% vs 48%) and out-carried (48% vs 43%) the veteran, also leading the team in rushing with 75 yards from 18 rushes… although that was likely a result of positive game script as the Bears sustained a comfortable lead over the Raiders throughout the match.

But with Williams testing positive for COVID-19 and expected to miss Week 6’s divisional battle, the window of opportunity is wide open for Herbert to smash through as Chicago’s presumed RB1. This week against Aaron Rodgers and co. will be a much more competitive contest, thus Herbert *should* be leaned on heavily as fellow rookie Justin Fields continues to find his footing in the offense. It’d be nice if he got any involvement in the passing game, but I’m not holding my breath. Let’s just hope he finds the endzone against a Packers defense that just gave up two to the Bengals in Week 5.

Khalil Herbert loves those cutback lanes… Packers LBs – can’t overrun/fast flow this week pic.twitter.com/PFjL4xx1Rm

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) October 13, 2021

It’s been tough sledding for Chase Edmonds, who is coming off a ghastly 34 AP yards from 10 opportunities without a trip to the endzone. In fact, he now has more fumbles (1) than TDs (0) this season but is due for some positive regression (although he’s never been a big TD guy). Things don’t look much better this week as he’ll challenge a daunting Browns front, although pass-catching back Austin Ekeler has recently found success against them. He’s also another week removed from his shoulder injury and should return closer to the 16.3 opportunities that he averaged beforehand. Edmonds is a highly recommended FanDuel GPP play this week at just $5,900.

The Verdict
The Ballers all have Herbert ranked lower than Edmonds this week, but once Williams is officially ruled out and Herbert is declared the starter, expect a boost in his projections. Although Edmonds should be serviceable and the preferred pick in PPR, I’m all aboard the Herbert hype train.

Kirk Cousins (MIN) or Taylor Heinicke (WAS)?

After a hot start to the season, Kirk Cousins has now had back-to-back weeks where he failed to reach 300 passing yards or multiple TDs. He went from the QB6 in Weeks 1-3 to the QB28 in Weeks 4-5. Cousins and the offense barely squeaked by with an undeserved win last week over the Lions in what should have been a layup. A trip to Charlotte isn’t going to make things easier for “Captain Kirk,” especially with his two strongest weapons — Justin Jefferson (ankle) and Adam Thielen (foot) — not practicing all week.

Taylor Heinicke has been the model of inconsistency thus far in his short stint with Washington, averaging over 300 total yards and nearly three TDs in his first three weeks as the starter, only to come short of reaching either accolade last week against the Saints. It was the first time he’s played in an NFL game and failed to score since 2018. That’s an outlier that I’m willing to ignore. He’ll get the perfect bounce-back opportunity at home against the Chiefs, who have given up the MOST points to opposing QBs.

But take note that the Chiefs’ last four opponents were Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert, and Lamar Jackson, all of whom are currently top-7 fantasy QBs on the season. Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield failed to convert any TDs in a high-scoring Week 1 affair as the team elected to pound the rock instead, finishing as the QB27 at Arrowhead Stadium. Not saying he’s Baker nor that they deploy the same offense, but considering Logan Thomas and Curtis Samuel are on IR while Terry McLaurin is nursing a tight hamstring, there’s a genuine concern about the lack of weapons available for Heinicke to utilize. Regardless, he’s still a great option that has proven top-5 upside, making him Jason’s Start of the Week and Mike’s QB Streamer of the Week, as well as a great DFS Cash and GPP play.

The Verdict
Heinicke all the way. Just know that there’s more risk than it seems.

Dan Arnold (JAX) or Ricky Seals-Jones (WAS)?

Yup, this is where we’re at. Just after five weeks of football, we’re already scratching the bottom of the TE well by asking about Dan Arnold, who just switched teams a couple of weeks ago, and Ricky Seals-Jones, who has never produced and is on his fourth team in just five years.  Even worse, both are ranked as borderline TE1s. But while Arnold is still acclimating with his new offense, RSJ has firmly entrenched himself as the lead TE after Logan Thomas was injured in Week 4, seeing an average of 96% snaps since taking over the role. He’ll get a mouth-watering matchup against the Chiefs and should be heavily utilized as one of the few healthy weapons available. He’s Jason’s Start of the Week for a reason.

The Verdict
If you’re desperate at TE (and most of us unfortunately are), take a chance on Ricky Seals-Jones. That way, we can all seal-bark in joy (or misery) together.