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It's time for Week 6 of the XFL season. This week features a highly-anticipated meeting between the league's two best teams: the undefeated D.C. Defenders and the one-loss Houston Roughnecks. Which team will come out on top when the two teams meet in D.C. on Monday night? (That's right, we've got a Monday game this week, the only one scheduled this season.)
With DraftKings offering XFL contests again this year, I'll be here every week with lineup picks for the league. It looks like the plan at DraftKings is to do one four-game slate each weekend, even when there's a game on Thursday.
Below, you'll find my thoughts on the Week 6 DFS slate of XFL contests on DraftKings, which goes live on 3/25/2023 at 1:00 p.m. ET. Be sure to also read all our other weekly XFL fantasy football articles. Let's get to it, and good luck RotoBallers!
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DraftKings Quarterbacks - Week 6 XFL DFS Picks
Ben DiNucci - Seattle Sea Dragons - @ Orlando Guardians - $11,500
The Guardians have the XFL's worst scoring defense, allowing 30.4 points per game, as well as 213.8 passing yards per game, the third-worst mark in the league. This week, the Guardians face a Sea Dragons team that throws for more yards per game than any other team.
That makes Ben DiNucci a slam dunk play this week. The XFL's leader in passing yards with 1,328 of them, DiNucci's thrown for at least one touchdown every week, and he's had just one game with under 200 yards...which was a game where he threw for 196 yards, so not far off of 200. He's the most obvious play on this slate, but there's good reason for that.
Luis Perez - Vegas Vipers - vs St. Louis Battlehawks - $8,600
Despite being benched at one point, Perez has reclaimed his starting role and sits fourth in the XFL in passing yards with 801. 269 of those came against Orlando last week, as did three touchdown passes. In fact, if we take out the game where Perez was benched after starting 1-for-5 and the game against Seattle where he didn't play, Perez has been pretty great this season. In three full games, his worst throwing performance was for 249 yards, and he's had at least two touchdown passes in each game. The last two weeks, he's completed over 70% of his passes.
The matchup with St. Louis won't be easy, as the BattleHawks allow the third-fewest passing yards per game, but with Perez only being the sixth-highest-priced QB on this week's slate, I think there's a strong argument for ignoring the BattleHawks defense and playing him anyway for the upside.
DraftKings Running Backs - Week 6 XFL DFS Picks
Morgan Ellison - Seattle Sea Dragons - @ Orlando Guardians - $7,300
I think the game script for this one is pretty easy to figure out: the Sea Dragons build an early lead through the passing game, then attack on the ground in the second half against a Guardians defense that allows 85.8 rushing yards per game.
Last week, Ellison saw six carries for the Sea Dragons, though he only managed 15 yards on the ground. But before that, he'd rushed for 50 or more yards in three consecutive games, so I'm not holding that one bad showing against him, especially since it's the only time this year he's had under four yards per carry.
Rod Smith - Vegas Vipers - vs St. Louis BattleHawks - $6,600
Two teams allow over 100 rushing yards per game, and it's these two teams. This is the kind of game you'll love if you're a fan of teams that run the football.
On the Vegas side, Smith established himself as the team's No. 1 option on the ground last week, rushing 18 times for 62 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Deandre Torrey and John Lovett combined for 11 carries, so it's not like Smith's getting every carry, but if he continues to get the bulk of them then he's a strong option this week.
DraftKings Wide Receivers and Tight Ends - Week 6 XFL DFS Picks
Hakeem Butler - St. Louis BattleHawks - @ Vegas Vipers - $9,800
Hakeem Butler didn't score a touchdown last week, which was the first time all season that he didn't find the end zone. But despite that, he was still heavily involved in the St. Louis offense, as he was targeted 12 times, catching nine of those passes for 86 yards.
Outside of the Sea Dragons trio of wideouts, there's not a better floor/ceiling play in the league. You know Butler's getting targets, as he's had at least six in every game except for Week 1 against the Brahmas. And as for the ceiling, he's had two games with nine receptions, plus four touchdowns. This week he faces a Vipers defense that allows the second-most passing yards per game.
Deontay Burnett - Houston Roughnecks - @ DC Defenders - $9,700
With Jontre Kirklin on IR now, Deontay Burnett should step into the role as Houston's No. 1 receiver. We got to see some of that last week against Seattle, as he had eight targets, his most since Week 1. He only caught three of those passes for 35 yards, but the opportunities were there, and they should remain there this week against the Defenders, who allow the most passing yards per game in the XFL.
Fred Brown - San Antonio Brahmas - @ Arlington Renegades - $3,200
The Brahmas haven't had a very strong passing attack, ranking sixth out of the eight XFL teams in passing yards per game. Jalen Tolliver has been the team's top wideout, but he didn't play last week, then got released by the team, then got re-signed by the team in a situation that...doesn't really make much sense from an outsider's perspective.
With Tolliver not playing, Fred Brown saw a team-high nine targets though, catching four of them for 31 yards. He had the most receiving yards of any non-running back for the Brahmas. I think at $3,200, Brown's a good punt/value option this week, in the event that he sees a high amount of targets again.
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