2022 NFL Fantasy Football Week 6: Start Em’ or Sit Em’

Each week we’ll break down one player that should start in your fantasy lineup and one that would be better left on the bench per position. There are players like Josh Allen & Cooper Kupp who are matchup proof and should be in your starting lineups every week barring a major circumstance. Through 5 weeks, we’ve been correct on 25 of our 40 predictions in what’s been a wild start to the season. 

QB Start of the Week: Tom Brady – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers are facing a Steelers defense that just got smoked by Josh Allen and the Bills. The Steelers next matchup is against another Super Bowl contender in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are dominant on both sides of the ball. Tom Brady currently has the 4th most passing yards per game, but against the Steelers defense who let Josh Allen get over 400 yards, Brady should climb his way up to 2nd after this one to go along with multiple touchdowns. 

QB Sit of the Week: Marcus Mariota – Atlanta Falcons

It might be tempting to pick up Marcus Mariota after his best fantasy game of the season last week netted him out as a top 10 fantasy quarterback on the week. Last week was the most yards he’s accumulated in a game on the season with 61 even against a tough Tampa Bay defense. The matchup only gets tougher this week as the Falcons are huge underdogs against a top 2 defense in the NFL in the San Francisco 49ers. We are fading all Atlanta players this weekend starting with the signal caller in Marcus Mariota. 

RB Start of the Week: Rhamondre Stevenson – New England Patriots

Before the Damien Harris injury, Rhamondre Stevenson was slowly being added into rosters as a potential flex worthy player. With Harris out, Rhamondre is a must-start in all formats. This offense is going to be run through Stevenson as Mac Jones might still be out as well. Stevenson is in line for a breakout performance. 

RB Sit of the Week: Clyde Edwards-Helaire – Kansas City Chiefs 

The potential AFC Championship game of the Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs is this weekend and it is going to be a shootout. We are very excited for this matchup as are fantasy owners of Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, Travis Kelce, and Patrick Mahomes. Fantasy owners of Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Devin Singletary however are going to be holding their breath as they depend on one of them to get a touchdown. In the red zone last weekend, the Chiefs didn’t run the ball as much which allowed Travis Kelce to get 4 touchdowns all in red zone plays. The Chiefs are going to score but we don’t expect them to rush with CEH when in striking distance. 

WR Start of the Week: Devin Duvernay – Baltimore Ravens 

The Baltimore Ravens visit the 4-1 New York Giants who surprisingly are 4-1 and have been one of the better defenses in the league. The Giants are holding teams to under 200 yards per game passing which they might be able to do against Lamar Jackson, but their average of 18 points allowed per game is going to be surpassed. Lamar Jackson is having a great season and should have a fantastic performance against the Giants. The two players who benefit the most from this are Mark Andrews who is consistently a top player at his position and then Devin Duvernay who gets more opportunities with Rashod Bateman out. Duvernay has quietly emerged as the Ravens #2 option behind Mark Andrews this year and is on his way to the best season of his career. 

WR Sit of the Week: Jaylen Waddle – Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins are in need of another week with Skylar Thompson as the lead quarterback as he earns his first career start with Tua not cleared for play and Bridgewater sidelined serving in the backup role. When Thompson faced the Jets, he only managed 166 yards and the offense was not able to move the ball downfield well at all. The only receiver who managed any reasonable amount of targets was Tyreek Hill. As long as Skylar Thompson is quarterback, we need to demote both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Hill goes down to a flex option and Waddle is flex in deeper leagues, but would be better left on the bench as the Dolphins are not going to be able to do much against the Vikings. 

TE Start of the Week: Zach Ertz – Arizona Cardinals

With the suspension of DeAndre Hopkins and injuries to the other half of the Cardinals weapons, Zach Ertz has continued to get targets his way. Ertz has been very consistent this season with a very high floor but a low ceiling and with the output of tight ends this season, that’s exactly what you need to make the playoffs. Ertz is going to have another solid showing this weekend as he and Marquise Brown see the bulk of the targets. 

TE Sit of the Week: Dalton Schultz – Dallas Cowboys

Much like Jaylen Waddle with Tua, Dalton Schultz cannot be trusted until Dak Prescott takes over as quarterback. Dak is closer to his return from injury, while Cooper Rush has been great in his absence and hasn’t lost yet since taking over as starter, Rush has connected with #1 receiver CeeDee Lamb while all others have been put to the side. Each game, we might see one other player like Noah Brown or Tony Pollard get extra touches their way, but Rush has primarily looked Lamb’s ways and will continue to do so as we see with most backup quarterbacks who go with what feels most comfortable and safer.