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NFL Week 6

The Hard Bargain: Safety at Any Cost

by Dave Stewart

“The Hard Bargain” is a year-round column by Dave Stewart offering parenting advice and weekly fantasy football advice for deeper (16+ team) leagues. Dave brings over a year of experience writing this column to NFL Week 6 and will be here to help provide lineup recommendations throughout the fantasy football season.


Minimizing Risks & Avoiding Danger

What a week for fantasy football! Several of the top fantasy stars hit season highs in scoring. Numerous players, including a few unlikely candidates, scored multiple touchdowns. It truly was a fantasy bonanza.

Now NFL Week 6 looms with the bye weeks commencing, making the fantasy landscape even more scarce. To put your mind at ease, we are not losing a lot of high-end fantasy talent with the first round of bye weeks. Still, if you are missing a starter, you will want to find a way to protect yourself. Minimizing risk and avoiding danger is critical and not just in fantasy football.

Safety Is a Necessity

Safety is a necessity for everyone. As parents, it is our foremost charge to protect our children. Conversations about safety begin at the earliest ages and will continue throughout much of your child’s life. As a child grows and matures, different risks present themselves. Teaching children to recognize danger is the first step in keeping them safe. We teach them to look both ways before crossing a street. At the swimming pool, we remind them not to run to avoid slipping on the wet surface. It is ingrained in a parent to not only keep their child safe but to educate them on how to best protect themselves. We cannot always be there to keep our kids safe.

The first pedestrian crossing signal was put up in 1868 in Westminster, London.

This morning, I got an email from my children’s school informing us of an upcoming safety drill. The school will conduct a lockdown drill in conjunction with local law enforcement. They will be practicing their response to a potential active shooter situation.

In the email, their principal made obligatory statements about opportunities to increase awareness and how to respond. She mentioned that practice drills allow personnel to evaluate their plans and skills.

The principal also mentioned that it may be appropriate to talk with your student ahead of the procedure. Personally, I find it a real shame that such rehearsal is necessary, but here we are. Whether your solution to the situation revolves around gun reform, increasing armed personnel on school campuses or anything else for that matter, this is not the forum for that conversation. 

A Delicate Balancing Act

Talking to my daughters, I did not know what to say to them. I cannot imagine how training of this nature could be anything less than traumatic. Still, I did not even have to start the conversation. As I was writing, one of my daughters started telling me about their procedures. Apparently, they have practiced already, just without the police force.

Many schools begin practicing active shooter drills as early as kindergarten.

They both gave me detailed descriptions of the plan. It includes teachers locking and barricading the doors with furniture while the children take cover in silence far from the windows. One of my daughter’s teachers takes a post beside the door with a baseball bat in hand.

The details have been dealt with. The school has not informed the students what a threat outside the school might entail. They only know the lockdown occurs when something is happening outside the classroom. Candidly, I am terrified of my children being killed in their school. I seriously considered never sending them and homeschooling them, largely due to this concern. 

I am of two minds in this situation. Naturally, I am saddened that my children have to be put through this exercise, yet I am relieved that there is a plan in place for dealing with such a threat. Sometimes being safe requires acceptance of unpleasant circumstances. I feel like any parent considering both the expense of keeping my child safe and the cost of not properly doing so. Like so many things in life, it is a delicate balancing act.

Walking the High Wire in NFL Week 6

Winning in fantasy football often requires a balancing act, as well – particularly if you dare to walk the high wire that is a 16+ team league. There often is no safety net on the waiver wire. Filling voids on your roster caused by injury or bye weeks must often be done from the bench. Identifying those key deep league starts for NFL Week 6 is why we are here.

Last week I uncovered Zach Wilson, who managed to turn in a QB15 performance. Mike Boone reached double-digit Points Per Receptions (PPR) fantasy points. I also recommended Isaiah McKenzie and Logan Thomas, who were both inactive. However, I mentioned teammates to pivot to. Rookie Khalil Shakir collected 75 yards and a touchdown starting in place of McKenzie. John Bates, starting for Thomas, had a season high but still only totaled 39 yards. Here are my NFL Week 6 selections. 

Daniel Jones (QB, New York Giants)

If you do not like taking risks, you probably are not playing in a 16+ team league. Daniel Jones might be a bit of a risk, but it makes sense. Allow me to explain. The Giants host the Baltimore Ravens, who have allowed the most passing yards in the NFL through five weeks. Jones is coming off his most efficient performance of the year. He completed nearly 78 percent of his passes and totaled 217 passing yards against Green Bay in Week 5.

The Ravens have allowed a completion percentage north of 65 and are averaging more than 42 pass attempts against them. Their opponents average more than 27 completions per game, which is the second-highest amount in the NFL. Jones has been scoring with his legs as well. He is third among quarterbacks in rushing yards this year. Furthermore, the Ravens have allowed a rushing score to a quarterback in each of their last three games.

Mike Boone (RB, Denver Broncos)

The first game following Javonte Williams’ injury saw Melvin Gordon lead the team in running back touches. Gordon saw 18, while Boone saw 10. However, Boone was more productive in the rushing game, gaining 5.4 Yards Per Carry (YPC). The two backs were essentially even in the passing game. Both caught each of their three target,s with Boone gaining 47 and Gordon earning 49 yards.

Denver heads to Los Angeles to face the Chargers, who have allowed the most fantasy points to running backs in 2022. The Broncos are likely to lean on the run game, considering Russell Wilson has struggled and is dealing with an injury. Wilson reportedly has a partially torn right lat. Boone should see a decent share of the rushing work, given his efficiency and role in the passing game were encouraging.

Jakobi Meyers (WR, New England Patriots)

We all might be sleeping on Jakobi Meyers. The fourth-year wide receiver is quietly making waves this fantasy season. In Week 5, he amassed a season-high 111 yards and found the end zone for the first time this year. He also had an 88 percent catch rate against Detroit.

Meyers missed two games with a knee injury, but he has earned 20 targets through three games played. Despite playing with different quarterbacks, he has seen an amazing 38 percent target share in each of his last two contests. Whether Mac Jones returns or rookie Bailey Zappe makes his second start, Meyers should see plenty of targets against Cleveland in NFL Week 6.

Will Dissly (TE, Seattle Seahawks)

Quarterback Geno Smith has developed an eye for his tight end. In four of five games played in 2022, Will Dissly has seen at least three targets. It is not only the number of targets, but the quality of targets that have mattered. Dissly has seen three red zone targets, converting all of them into touchdown catches.

The Arizona Cardinals have been an inviting matchup for tight ends this season. Only Seattle allows more points to the position than the Cardinals. Arizona has allowed the most receptions to tight ends to date. Look for Dissly to be involved in the Seahawks’ passing attack, which has been more effective than expected so far.


Life is hard, but it gets a little easier when we learn to lean on each other. Find me on Twitter @DaveFantasy for more life and fantasy sports content for NFL Week 4 and beyond.

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