7 Fantasy Football Sleepers for Week 6

Week 6 is here, which means we're almost 30% of the way through the fantasy football season. I don't get it, either, but on we march.

Sleeper is an ambiguous term. For the purpose of this article, we'll define anyone on fewer than half of Yahoo! rosters as a sleeper. Typically, I'll actually aim to feature players on fewer than 40 percent of rosters.

Don't worry, deep-league gamers, this article is intended to help folks in leagues of all shapes and sizes. With that in mind, I'm following my predecessor's lead, including honorable mentions. If the featured players are already rostered in your league, the honorable mentions should provide you with players to consider filling in for an injured starter or a player on a bye -- or for whatever other reason you're diving into the free-agent pool.

While this article is primarily written through a season-long lens, sleepers are certainly viable as daily fantasy punts in certain builds, too. Keep that in mind when you're looking for cash-game savings or trying to gain cheap leverage in tournaments. That's why you'll see every player's FanDuel price listed next to their Yahoo! roster percentage this year.

Last week was a nice build off Week 4's success. Carson Wentz was the QB7, Josh Reynolds provided another usable WR3 week, and Hayden Hurst once again delivered for this column's avid readers (surely there are many). There were some misses, too, but the process still felt right on plays such as Corey Davis and Marquez Callaway

Let's aim for more strong results in Week 6.

Quarterbacks

Geno Smith (36% | $7,400) - It is an actual travesty that Geno Smith is rostered in fewer than 40% of leagues. We need to fix this immediately.

Geno ranks fourth among all passers in Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) per drop back, behind only Tua Tagovailoa, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Smith is this year's QB7 in fantasy. It was reasonable to be skeptical of his performance against poor defenses like the Detroit Lions, but he deserves more fantasy street cred after shredding the New Orleans Saints this past weekend. If you're curious, the Saints have the 10th-best pass defense, per our schedule-adjusted metrics.

The Arizona Cardinals present a much easier matchup, with a pass defense that ranks 29th by our numbers. Conveniently, they are also a pass-funnel defense, surprisingly ranking seventh-best against the run.

As a result, the Cards have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks. Seattle has a strong 24.5-point implied total, and this game has the second-highest game over/under of the week (51.5). This game will be featured throughout this column considering the total and its likely fast pace.

I'm starting Geno with confidence in season-long leagues and firing him up as a solid point-per-dollar value in DFS, as well.

Jimmy Garoppolo (26% | $7,100) - Jimmy G is nobody's idea of an exciting quarterback sleeper, but he checks enough boxes for those in desperation mode this week. We know his weapons arsenal of Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Jeff Wilson was built to create run-after-catch opportunities, which helps elevate his yardage and touchdown upside.

Garoppolo has been efficient himself this season, ranking seventh in Passing NEP per drop back. The matchup helps, too, as the Atlanta Falcons' pass defense unsurprisingly rates 22nd in our schedule-adjusted rankings. It should not come as a surprise, then, that Atlanta ranks dead last in both pressure rate and hurry rate (per Pro Football Reference). Even with an injured offensive line in front of him, Jimmy G should enjoy squeaky-clean pockets on Sunday.

Sometimes we don't need to make things too difficult. Garoppolo is the only streamer-worthy quarterback with an implied team total 25.0 or higher this week. He's a must-start in two-quarterback leagues with legitimate streamer appeal in one-quarterback formats.

Honorable Mentions: Justin Fields (28% | $6,600), Daniel Jones (23% | $6,800)

Running Backs

Kenneth Walker III (47% | $6,500) - This is probably cheating, because Walker will undoubtedly be higher than 50% rostered by the time you're reading this. But it's my column, and I make the rules.

This is more of a recommendation for those on the fence about picking up Walker (you must!) and starting him (you should!). Walker was a really strong running back prospect, and with the unfortunate Rashaad Penny injury (broken fibula), Walker is already staring at a massive workload this weekend. His workload was elite after Penny exited on Sunday, and pass-game specialist Travis Homer is still on IR.

As mentioned above, Arizona is not a scary matchup, and Seattle's offense is mixing a delicious fantasy cocktail each week. With Penny out for the season, it's possible Walker's managers don't yet realize the gold they've stumbled upon. Consider this your last chance to possibly buy low this season.

Eno Benjamin (13% | $6,300) - We've been fooled by Eno once before this season, but the situation is different this time around. With James Conner missing time in Week 5's game with a rib injury (and also dealing with rib issues last season) and Darrel Williams also leaving the game with a knee injury, the Cardinals brought in veteran running backs for workouts this week. At a minimum, that implies Arizona expects to be without one or both of Conner and Williams this week and subsequently is looking to shore up its depth in the backfield.

With those two exiting, Benjamin mustered eight carries for 25 yards and a touchdown and added an additional three catches for 28 yards through the air. Even if only one of Conner or Williams play, they'll likely be playing through injury, so it feels safe (this early in the week) to project Benjamin for a strong role this weekend.

Have we mentioned that Seattle has the worst defense in the league? Because Seattle has the worst defense in the league, literally grading last in our schedule-adjusted metrics. Benjamin is on the flex radar if one of Conner or Williams sits, and he enters must-start territory if they both are out for Sunday's game.

Honorable Mentions: Jaylen Warren (8% | $5,400), Jerick McKinnon (10% | $5,500), Mike Boone (35% | $5,600)

Wide Receivers

Rondale Moore (30% | $5,400) - Moore's roster percentage jumped 12 percentage points overnight, but it's still too low. At least until DeAndre Hopkins returns in Week 7, Moore is vying for second in the target pecking order on a team that leads the league in pass attempts.

Per Kyle Dvorchak of NBC Sports Edge, Moore ran 83% of his routes from the slot in Week 5. That's the same slot role that elevated Christian Kirk to WR2 status last year.

If you haven't figured it out by now, this Cards-Hawks clash is one of the premier games to target this week (the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills notwithstanding). I had to double-check this, but Arizona sneakily has the second-highest implied total (27.0) of the entire week.

Moore is playing in the coveted Cardinals slot role that made Greg Dortch a legitimate WR3 to start the season, and this week's game has shootout written all over it. He's a solid WR3 and DFS cash-game option.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling (39% | $5,800) - MVS is nobody's idea of optimal consistency, but his yardage totals have trended up (48, 63 and 90) over the last three weeks. Considering the complexity of Andy Reid's offense, it makes sense that it has taken MVS some time to get acclimated, but his recent results show a growing comfort in the system.

We know we want pieces of the Chiefs' offense, which ranks first in passing and first overall, per our schedule-adjusted metrics. Buffalo's O ranks 5th overall and 6th in passing, which is why this game's 53.5-point total is the highest of the week by a full two points.

There's not much more to it than that. Valdes-Scantling's production is growing in the league's best offense, and he's playing in a potentially massive shootout, putting him on the WR3/flex radar this week. Don't overlook MVS as a low-salary way to access the game in DFS stacks, too.

Honorable Mentions: Alec Pierce (27% | $5,900), Randall Cobb (8% | $5,700), Robbie Anderson (13% | $5,300)

Tight Ends

Evan Engram (28% | $5,200) - With Hayden Hurst and Taysom Hill finally across the 50% threshold, it's slimmer pickings for tight end streamers this week. Per Dwain McFarland's Utilization Report, Engram has run a route on 82% of drop backs this year, a very strong number at tight end. At a tough position to stream, it's a positive that Engram is at least running tons of routes.

The Indianapolis Colts are an appetizing matchup, permitting the fourth-most points fantasy points to tight ends this season. Aside from facing Travis Kelce, the Colts have played Engram, the Houston Texans, the Denver Broncos and the Tennessee Titans, so it's not like they've faced a bunch of great tight ends. The Colts also grade better against the run (7th) than the pass (15th), suggesting the Jags may have more success through the air this weekend.

Engram is a decent option for those missing T.J. Hockenson and Darren Waller this week.

Honorable Mentions: Cade Otton if Cameron Brate is out again (5% | $5,000), Will Dissly (19% | $5,000)

Eli Weiner is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Eli Weiner also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Eweiner2. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.