October 15, 2016

Cliff Clinton evaluates some unexpected sleepers and busts for Week 6 of the 2016 NFL season by playing a game of fantasy football fill in the blanks.

Week 6. Can I be honest? I gave up in one league already.

For most leagues, it's barely a third of the way through the season, and if you own Le'Veon Bell or Tom Brady it is far too early to cut bait on an entire team. It was my dynasty league, the one I have with some of my closest friends. Some of the names will make you groan; Odell Beckham Jr, Mark Ingram, Kirk Cousins, DeVante Parker. It's a "Most Unwanted List" of sorts, the players who are the most highly drafted whose early value doesn't correlate. I had won all of one game, and my best players were incredibly high priced. I did my best to save my season, and threw away the guys who I wouldn't keep anyway.

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There are times where it is definitely too early to call it quits. If you're waving the white flag before Week 4, you may have not wanted to play anyway. But by Week 6, Week 7.... you sort of know if you need to start selling off players for parts.

I'd recommend, heading into this week, figuring out where you sit in the hierarchy. Are you at the top of the league? Start figuring out players to bring on; Devontae Booker, Jordan Howard, Michael Thomas, before they become priceless commodities. Also figure out whose value is the highest right now; yes, that's right, I'm talking about DeMarco Murray. There's also the guys at the bottom of the league, especially in keeper leagues; who can you sell for a profit still and put yourself into the drivers seat for next year.

If you NEED to win your league, you can always turn it around. Trade for the guys trending upward, trade away the ones who are unsustainable. But if you are playing the long con.... make your moves.

(Shout out to Josh Nichols, the only one who sent me a "bad trade" story from last week. The rest of you... shame on you.)

Running Back

Matt Forte will either be on my bench or will ruin my week.

I don't know if Bilal Powell is legit, but I know that if Arizona has their way with the New York Jets, then Matt Forte may not be carrying the load on Sunday. Forte has absolutely carried some teams to start the season, and this is a hard decision to make, but his lack of end zone work in the last three weeks means I am benching him until he gets any bit of the workload back.

Dear LeSean McCoy, do you like like me? I like like you this week.

It was only three weeks ago that McCoy was on my "stay away" list. Obviously as an avid RotoBaller reader, McCoy was sufficiently upset with my crappy take and decided to begin really excelling. McCoy has been an absolutely dangerous fantasy RB despite not scoring for the last two weeks, but Buffalo should have its way with the 49ers this weekend. Start LeSean McCoy with all of the confidence in the world.

Am I going to really start Terrance West in Week 6?

Terrance West is widely own, and yet barely being started. I love Kenneth Dixon (see; all of my columns so far), but I think West has one more big week in him before Dixon begins to take over a bigger role. The Giants have been decent at stopping the run, but this won't be a shootout. Baltimore will look to slow down the clock and focus on keeping the ball, and West could see one of his biggest workloads of the season.

Wide Receiver

Don't hand me my money back, I'm going double-or-nothing on Jarvis Landry

Technically I'm going quadruple or nothing, as Landry was my pick last week as well. I know that everyone and their mother is streaming the Steelers defense this weekend while the Minnesota Vikings defense is on BYE, but I think there's a decent shot of a shootout. Yes, Ryan Tannehill isn't good (RIP my pre-season columns, all of them) but the Steelers secondary is overrated. Landry is good for at least a touchdown this weekend.

I will be discarding my Terrelle Pryor and replacing him with two cards from the deck

Congratulations, Cleveland Browns fans and drafting aficionados. If you picked up Pryor with a very late round or waiver flyer, you are now riding him to total glory. I don't think you'll find that same sort of success against Tennessee however. Pryor has been a hell of a beginning-of-the-season talent, but I don't know if he can keep it up consistently due to his number of receptions. I think there's a better WR2 or FLEX option in Week 6.

Maybe he’s born with it, maybe it’s Brandon LaFell

I cannot follow my own advice here. I keep looking at Brandon LaFell. He's available on waivers in every league I'm in. He has a revenge game this week against the New England Patriots. So why aren't we all running to start him? It's a mystery, but he's a decent matchup play in what could be a shootout.

Tight End

Parachute? I don't need no parachute, I have Zach Miller

It's a real "double or nothing" moment. Miller held his own in his matchup last weekend, and he doesn't have a great matchup this week. However, the targets he is getting are real and Brian Hoyer seems to have a connection with Miller. Ignore the matchup and ride the wave.

Don't cry kids! We will bury Dennis Pitta in the yard

Did I add Dennis Pitta at some point this season? Sure! But the Giants have been semi-decent vs tight ends, and Pitta only has ten receptions through two games. Any scoring he does in Week 6 is a fluke. Poor Dennis....