Fantasy Football Must Starts Week 6

By James Collier

While Week 6 brings with it bye weeks for the two remaining unbeaten teams in the NFL, the Chiefs and Vikings, it does still contain a number of great matchups. We have the Commanders @ Ravens (more of that later), the Lions @ Cowboys and Cardinals @ Packers to name a few. 

The high projected points total across all of these games should means there is plenty of fantasy production on offer. But it doesn’t always work that way so we’re back with our four Must Start players again this week to help you out with your lineup setting. 

A reminder of what we are looking for in a “Must Start”. We are trying to find you players that are undervalued in DFS or are being ranked too low by (Expert Consensus Rankings) ECR. So, while there will be some contrarian picks, there will also be some “good chalk”. 

Review of Last Week

My “Must Stack” of Joe Flacco and Josh Downs went very well as they combined for over 40 points in the Colts loss to the Jaguars. Flacco ended the week as the QB4 and Downs the WR17 from ECR ranks of QB27 and WR40. 

Lewis and Kev’s pick of Erick All continued his streak of hauling in all of his targets so far in his NFL career but that only led to two catches for 10 yards and a finish as the TE37 (from a rank of 27). And Tom’s selection Jayden Reed was solid but not week winning with his 13.7 point outing. 

Terry McLaurin @ Baltimore Ravens

I had McLaurin as my Must Start in Week 2 against the Giants and it didn’t end well (he ended with just 22 yards on six catches). After that game I wondered how long it would be before I was confident in starting him again. It turns out the answer to that question was “not very long” as the Commanders offense has been the surprise package of the NFL over recent weeks. 

The offense was not exactly bad for the first two weeks of the season but it was a little conservative and did’t look to be suiting McLaurin. Since then the Commanders have put up 114 points and over 1,200 total yards of offense in three games. It’s true that these games haven’t been against the best defences in the league but the impressive part has been how balanced and well put together it looks. Kliff Kingsbury has done a great job of getting rookie Jayden Daniels in a position to succeed which is not something many expected a month and a half ago. 

The Ravens defense isn’t normally one to target in Fantasy but it’s also not what it was in the past. They’ve given up the most yards in the NFL through five weeks (1,520) and the second most fantasy points to Wide Receivers (44.0 PPG). I don’t expect Daniels and the Commanders to have it all their own way like they have in recent weeks but there is still enough potential for some splash plays for me to plug McLaurin into my lineups without hesitation. 

ECR Rank (PPR): WR17

Jalen Tolbert vs Detroit Lions (Kev White)

We have another NFC East Wide Receiver from Kev (@TheDynastyMind), with his pick of Jalen Tolbert (Cowboys) who had the best game of his career last week. 

“Fresh off his game-winning touchdown in week five against the Steelers, Tolbert will look to continue his solid 2024 season with a strong outing at home to the Lions this week.

Projected as the highest over-under points total of the week at 52.5 points, this is an ideal game environment to deliver another big performance. With the recent loss of Brandin Cooks to IR, Tolbert has stepped up into the WR2 role on the Cowboys’ offense and a top three target alongside CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson.

The Lions have a beatable secondary and provide one of the best matchups on the slate. Tolbert should be used in flex spots in all lineup formats this week and as part of a stack or bring back in DFS – an ideal leverage play on the other Cowboys weapons or contrarian bring back option for the Amon-Ra St Brown lineups.”

ECR Rank (PPR): WR40

Zay Flowers vs Washington Commanders (Lewis Wood)

Lewis (@FF_Pancake) is looking at the other side of the Commanders matchup against the Ravens with his selection of sophomore Receiver Zay Flowers. 

“In a slate full of high over/unders, the Ravens-Commanders matchup is one I want to target for fantasy gold. It’s been an up and down season for Zay Flowers, who’s currently the PPR WR31, but in games where Lamar has completed more than 15 passes, Zay has finished as the WR36, 12 and 14. In a matchup that’s guaranteed to be pass heavy, I’m all in on the Ravens only reliable pass catcher.”

ECR Rank (PPR): WR13

Diontae Johnson vs Atlanta Falcons (Tom Strachan)

Finally we have Tom (@NFL_TStrack) picking our fourth Wide Receiver of the week, Diontae Johnson. 

“Despite the Panthers being miserable on offense till Andy Dalton took to the lineup, Diontae Johnson leads the league in red zone targets (10) and has averaged 11.0 targets per game with Dalton at the helm. Last weeks game against the Bears was always a potential disappointment spot with their pass defense grading out excellently so far, but the Falcons are a less-daunting opponent ranking 14th against the pass in DVOA and having given up five performances of 16 points or more.”

ECR Rank (PPR): WR12

JAMES COLLIER

Lead Fantasy Football Analyst

A Washington fan since the early 2010’s, James had no choice but to turn to fantasy football in search of happiness – and it wasn’t long until it became an obsession. You can follow him on Twitter @jamesc294.

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