Scoring came at a premium for wide receivers in week 5, with Indianapolis wide receiver Andre Johnson turning back the clock with 19.70 points in fantasy football.
Week 5 was the only week this year where no one was in the 20-point range, so don’t expect that trend to continue.
We’re not sure if the Colts were motivated to get Johnson the ball based on him returning to Houston for the first time, or if he’ll start to get more targets. Either way, he’s still a risky option going forward.
Be prepared for more scoring this week in our week 6 wide receivers start ’em, sit ’em guide.
Daily fantasy start of the week
DeAndre Hopkins vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Hopkins is a target machine.
Did you watch his last game against Indianapolis? Houston quarterback Brian Hoyer doesn’t look for anyone else (except maybe on Hail Mary’s) other than Hopkins.
He leads the NFL in receiving yards per game with 116 and he has recorded double-digit targets in every game this season.
In the last three games, he has 50 targets en route to three 100-plus yards receiving in each game.
The only mark against him since week 1 has been his inability to score touchdowns. The Texans are having a tough time finding the endzone anyway, and Hopkins has one touchdown since his two-touchdown performance in week 1.
With Jacksonville being one of the worst teams against the pass in the NFL, we expect the Texans to throw the ball at will. Teams are attempting 36 passes per game against the Jaguars, and since the Texans are throwing 48 times per game, we don’t expect them to ditch that strategy this week.
Hopkins will haul in another double-digit target afternoon en route to another big day.
Start
Kamar Aiken vs. San Francisco 49ers
The Baltimore Ravens are void of options without Steve Smith Sr. in the lineup. Even with the All-Pro receiver, the Ravens are still in search of someone with the ability to move the chains.
In the last two weeks, Aiken has been that guy.
We’re not sure if Smith will suit up this week, making this play even more enticing. Last week with Smith out with injury, Aiken saw nine targets and hauled in four catches for 78 yards. The week before, when Smith exited the game with an injury against Pittsburgh, Aiken garnered five catches on seven targets and scored his season’s lone touchdown.
Quarterback Joe Flacco is targeting Aiken, giving fantasy football owners hope that Aiken will produce points. Even if Smith returns, which is questionable at this point, Aiken would still be a decent play since Flacco has limited options and the 49ers defense has been bad in all facets of the game this season.
Anquan Boldin vs. Baltimore Ravens
We told you last week not to give up on Boldin just yet. He responded, turning in by far his biggest performance this season with 107 yards receiving and one touchdown.
While we don’t believe that production will continue for the long haul, Boldin is once again a good play this week based on multiple factors.
First, the Ravens secondary has been atrocious this season. Not including a week 1 loss to Denver, Baltimore has given up the most passing yards per game in the NFL.
And secondly, the Ravens are Boldin’s former team, and if we know Boldin just a little bit from seeing him play on Sundays, we expect him to have extra motivation in games like these.
There’s really no other option for Colin Kaepernick in the passing game and we anticipate San Francisco to pass against Baltimore’s leaky secondary.
Mike Wallace vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs secondary has been torched this season and with several weapons uncertain for Minnesota, Wallace’s stock is rising.
Make sure to keep an eye on the injury report for Wallace, because he missed practice Monday, but if he goes, he should be the primary target of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Wallace caught a season-high eight catches on 10 targets against a quality secondary in Denver in week 4. The bye week should have given him some rest, so we’re hopeful he’ll see the field Sunday against the Chiefs.
Kansas City is the sixth-worst defense in the NFL against the pass and has given up 13 touchdowns through the air, the most in the NFL.
Wallace is usually a boom-or-bust option, but as the primary receiver for Bridgewater, we expect him to see plenty of looks this week.
Daily fantasy sit of the week
A.J. Green vs. Buffalo Bills
We know that Buffalo hasn’t been dominant against the pass this season, ranking ninth from the bottom in passing yards per game.
But those stats can be deceiving.
The Bills are allowing a 58.5 completion percentage, which ranks fifth in the NFL. Teams are attempting a league-leading 45 passes per game against Buffalo. That’s happening because teams can’t run on the Bills.
We believe Cincinnati will still attempt to run the ball against the Bills, and despite seeing a resurgence in Andy Dalton, Green hasn’t been the dominant force that fantasy football owners expected this season.
In four of five games this season, Green hasn’t gone over 10.50 points. He’s been in single digits in three games this season.
Don’t trust him this week on your daily fantasy team.
Sit
Pierre Garcon vs. New York Jets
Garcon is one of those fringe fantasy football players who shouldn’t make the cut this week.
He’s still generating targets, as he saw eight last week to go along with eight the week before. But this matchup isn’t one where the Redskins will pass much.
The Jets are the second-best team against the pass in the NFL, and the best when it comes to completion percentage. New York is allowing a 51.1 completion percentage and that doesn’t bode well for Kirk Cousins or any Washington wide receiver.
The Redskins won’t be able to pass and won’t even try against the Jets, limiting Garcon’s value this week.
Jarvis Landry vs. Tennessee Titans
We’re going all in on the Miami Dolphins changing its identity. That will mean less targets for Landry.
Miami has changed its head coach and has had a bye week to change its philosophy. We’ve been wondering if the Dolphins would ever decide to run the ball and what better time than now against the Tennessee Titans, which stops the pass at a better rate than any other NFL team.
The Titans are allowing the least amount of passing yards per game in the NFL. They also are limiting quarterbacks to a less than 60 percent completion rate.
And it’s not as if Landry has been a stalwart for fantasy owners. The Dolphins have passed plenty in the first part of the season, but Landry still only has one game where he reached double digits with 11.60 points.
Ryan Tannehill is the king of dink and dunkers and spreads the ball around. That doesn’t work well for Landry who still doesn’t have a touchdown this season.
