7 Deep Fantasy Football Sleepers for Week 6

Week 6 is kind to the deep-league player, with only two teams on bye.

The Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have the week off, do have fantasy-relevant assets, but your lineup shouldn't be hurting too much from bye week absences.

As for injuries...that's another story. But that's what sleepers are for during the year. You don't need to worry about rest-of-season value always. Sometimes, you just need a useful game from a low-owned player.

Some of my lineups sure do.

You can help ease some of that struggle with these seven options in Week 6.

Quarterback

Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs (Owned in 34.3% of ESPN Leagues | Started in 17.1% of ESPN Leagues)

No, Alex Smith isn't significantly underowned, but he's readily available in about 65% of leagues. That's enough to talk him up in case he's out there on your waiver wire because he's a great target this week and for the next few. His Kansas City Chiefs are 1-point road favorites against the Oakland Raiders, who rank 29th against the pass according to our schedule-adjusted Defensive Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) metric. They're also 30th in sack rate. Smith shouldn't have to play from behind, and that should put him in efficient spots against a defense that can't get to him often.

If Smith is taken and you're desperate, Case Keenum gets to face a Detroit Lions defense that ranks 32nd against the pass and will be without Haloti Ngata. Isn't fantasy football fun?

Running Back

Bobby Rainey, New York Giants (8.0% | 2.4%)

Last week, Bobby Rainey played 50% of the offensive snaps for the New York Giants against the Green Bay Packers' top-ranked rush defense. This week, the Giants play the Baltimore Ravens, who are second, per our metrics. Both Baltimore and Green Bay have an Adjusted Defensive Rushing NEP per play of -0.23, and only one other team is better than -0.12. They're really tough fronts, and Rainey saw the majority of snaps in a similar situation last week. You can't play him if Rashad Jennings is healthy, but running back is a terrible situation in shallow leagues -- let alone deep ones.

Chris Thompson, Washington (12.5% | 2.8%)

The improved play of Matt Jones has put a damper on the workload for Chris Thompson, but Washington hosts the Philadelphia Eagles as 2.5-point underdogs in Week 6. We don't want to overstate the small spread when the game is in Washington, but the Eagles rank 1st against the pass and 10th against the run, per our metrics. Jones and the entire offense could have trouble, and that could lead to an uptick in passing usage for Thompson, who hasn't topped 32% of Washington's snaps since Week 3. Further in Thompson's favor, Jordan Reed may have to miss this contest with a concussion, and that could lead to making Thompson a low-floor PPR flex in a deep league.

Wide Receiver

Cameron Meredith, Chicago Bears (29.1% | 9.7%)

Cameron Meredith's big game last week -- 9 catches for 130 yards and 1 touchdown -- was no fluke. The Chicago Bears love the Kevin White role, and White and Meredith have played pretty much only without one another this season. Their 56 targets (20 for Meredith and 36 for White) would rank second as a singular entity at the receiver position. Their efficiency couldn't get much worse -- White and Meredith have combined for a Reception NEP per target of 0.27, the league average hovers around 0.67, and Alshon Jeffery is at 0.96 -- but you have to take that volume even against the Jacksonville Jaguars' eighth-ranked pass defense in Week 6.

Kamar Aiken, Baltimore Ravens (6.7% | 0.6%)

Really, you can take your pick between Kamar Aiken and Breshad Perriman, but I'll lean toward Aiken, who played 56% of the Ravens' snaps last week. Perriman played on 49%. Perriman did out-target Aiken five to three, and he caught two of them. Aiken went catchless. But Steve Smith is doubtful, and Mike Wallace is questionable for Week 6. The Giants are 31st in the NFL in half-PPR fantasy points allowed to wide receivers, per our daily fantasy tools, and they're a beatable 19th against the pass, per our metrics. Targets should be opened up for Baltimore, and Aiken or Perriman could wind up in startable spots moving forward if Wallace and Smith's injuries linger.

Tight End

C.J. Uzomah, Cincinnati Bengals (7.0% | 2.5%)

Tyler Eifert has been ruled out for Week 6, so C.J. Uzomah will get a crack at the New England Patriots. Through five games without Eifert so far, Uzomah has played on 67% of the Cincinnati Bengals' offensive snaps and gotten a target on 13.2% of the team's drop backs. Those marks rank 19th and 15th, respectively, among all tight ends. The Patriots will probably key in on A.J. Green, and they rank 28th against tight ends, per our daily fantasy tools. He's a sneaky play in a game where Cincinnati will have to throw as they likely play from behind. That doesn't mean touchdown upside, but those tight ends are tough to find. Also consider Richard Rodgers against the Dallas Cowboys.

Flex

Brice Butler, Dallas Cowboys (2.1% | 0.5%)

It's sounding like Dez Bryant will miss the Cowboys' Week 6 tilt against the Packers, who we already mentioned are elite against the run. They're less good against the pass -- in fact, they're kind of bad. They rank 24th against the pass, per our metrics, and you can snag Brice Butler for this week. Butler played 82% and 81% of the team's snaps in the past two weeks without Bryant in the lineup. Dallas will do all they can to run at this team, but the path of least resistance is through the air. Butler has been on the field more than any other receiver in the offense, and if you're digging this deep, you could do much worse.