It’s a party this week! On Monday, we will officially be through the first third of the 2024 NFL Season! So, put on your party hats, grab some balloons and celebrate the victories, big or small, no matter the record.
As always, I’ll recap the previous week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers.” Week 5 happened to be a party pooper. Only one player scored over their projection, and quite fittingly, Keon Coleman happened to do that because his only reception was a 49-yard touchdown. Overall, It went so poorly that the total for last week was 23.3 points under projection.
Nobody likes a buzzkill, though. We are here to prepare for the celebrations over the weekend! With it being my birthday on Monday, all I am asking for is Week 6’s fantasy football sleepers to provide us with the gift of fantasy points!
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Consideration: Week 6 Sleepers
Quarterback
Jared Goff (Detroit Lions)
The last time we saw Jared Goff, he was perfect. I mean that literally, as he went 18-for-18, 292 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown on “Monday Night Football.” Now he’s coming off a bye week and is bringing a two-game streak of scoring 15+ fantasy points with him to Dallas.
The Cowboys are allowing the 14th-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, but those numbers aren’t what is screaming at me. Flashback to Week 17 of last season when the Lions went to Dallas. Goff struggled and only put up 12.8 fantasy points. However, since then, quarterbacks are having a field day at AT&T Stadium. The last three quarterbacks have averaged 261.3 total yards, 2.6 total touchdowns, 0.3 interceptions and 23.8 fantasy points per game, with the floor being 22.8 points. Another quirk to that is that the most pass attempts in those games were 21. Goff does not have more than 23 pass attempts in this two-game streak. That’s due to having the rushing attack of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
There’s no better birthday present for a 30-year-old than defeating “America’s Team” on Oct. 13 and celebrating your birthday the next day!
Running Back
Tyrone Tracy Jr. (New York Giants)
Tyrone Tracy Jr. stepped up in a big way last week. The only way it could have been better for this rookie running back was if he scored a touchdown. There’s no complaining, though, after he ran for 129 yards and scored 14 Points Per Reception (PPR) fantasy points against the Seahawks in an upset win!
He only carved out this big role due to Devin Singletary being inactive with a groin injury. Even though Singletary did log a limited practice on Wednesday, this matchup is too good for Tracy Jr., even if he is limited if Singletary returns! In two of the Giants’ last four games, a running back has rsuhed for 95 yards and scored at least 14 fantasy points.
While that’s great, look at what the Bengals’ defense has given up in their last two games. Cincinnati has allowed a running back to run for 92 yards and score a touchdown in consecutive games. I am not worried, even if Singletary returns when the Bengals have allowed anybody and everybody to run over them. Plus, why would the Giants sit the hotter and healthier running back after the performance he put up last week?
Justice Hill (Baltimore Ravens)
It’s usually hard to carve a role behind Derrick Henry when he takes all the carries. However, Justice Hill has done just with the Ravens, scoring at least seven PPR fantasy points in three of his five games this season. Hill might play the RB position, but for him, it stands for “Receiving Back.” This season, he is averaging 3.8 carries for 19 rushing yards per game but four targets for 33.8 receiving yards and 0.2 touchdowns through the air.
The matchup, the Washington Commanders, are smack-dab in the middle for receptions and receiving yards for the running back position. A closer at the statistics shows that the Commanders have allowed two running backs to have four or more targets this season. Those running backs averaged 101.5 scrimmage yards, with 57 of those being receiving; that’s 56% of the average! With all these averages, the most important is fantasy points, and that’s an astonishing 18.6 per game!
Wide Receiver
Michael Wilson (Arizona Cardinals)
Michael Wilson has quietly been putting up some decent numbers. In the last three games, he is PPR WR41 and his 22 targets are tied for the 29th-most among the position in that span. Wouldn’t you think that with the Cardinals drafting Marvin Harrison Jr. so early that he would take most of those targets? But Harrison Jr. only has 24 targets in that same span!
In two of his last three games, Wilson has gone over 60 receiving yards and scored at least 14 fantasy points. This week, the schedule brings him the matchup against the Packers. Even with Xavier McKinney getting an interception in every game this season, the Packers haven’t stopped the wide receivers lately. In their last two games, the Packers have allowed five wide receivers to score double-digit fantasy points.
Even with Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride stealing his target share, this Wilson is not a castaway.
Ja’Lynn Polk (New England Patriots)
This Patriots’ offense is struggling, and after five weeks of Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, Jerod Mayo decided he had enough and gave the keys to Drake Maye, the third-overall pick in this year’s draft. That’s where Ja’Lynn Polk fits in. In the past two games, this fellow rookie has also seen an uptick in targets. He only had six total targets in the first three weeks. In the last two games, he’s seen six or more targets!
I even went as far as to combine all of Maye’s pass attempts in preseason and regular-season games. Polk saw the second-most targets out of any player to have seen a target in every game they’ve played with that magic number: six. If you’ve followed along with any of the previous “Shore Thing Sleepers,” you know where this is heading.
An AFC rookie wide receiver drafted in the top 37 picks is facing the Houston Texans! This trend has hit in the past two weeks! In Week 4, Brian Thomas Jr. put up six receptions for 86 years and a touchdown. In Week 5, Keon Coleman scored that 49-yard touchdown. The Texans have allowed a wide receiver to score 11 fantasy points in every game this season, and eight wide receivers have hit the 11-point threshold.
Also, the Texans have allowed seven receiving touchdowns to the wide receiver position, which is tied for fourth-most! Considering all this, we might see another rookie connection blossom right in front of our eyes.
Tight End
Isaiah Likely (Baltimore Ravens)
This season has been grotesque for the tight end position, which is fitting because a star tight end does make an appearance in the FX show, “Grotesquerie.” If you need any more proof, look no further than Isaiah Likely. Five weeks into the season, the Ravens’ leader in receiving touchdowns is Likely. Although, his touchdown potential isn’t the thing that made me put him on this list.
We all thought Week 1’s stat line was a fluke, but he’s now gone consecutive weeks being the top-scoring Ravens’ tight end. The Commanders might have only allowed one touchdown to the position this season, but that was to a team’s TE2 last week! In addition, in their last three matchups against the AFC, the Commanders have allowed a tight end to score 7.6 or more fantasy points. This likely means that the Coastal Carolina product goes three straight weeks of being the leading tight end scorer for the Ravens.
Check out all of our Week 6 fantasy football content:
- PropKings: NFL Week 6 (2024)
- Week 6 In the Scope Targets (2024)
- Week 6 Shore Thing Sleepers (2024)
- Week 6 NFL DFS Picks & Lineup Advice (2024)
- Fantasy Football Trade Targets | Week 6 (2024)
- Week 6 Fantasy Football Advice Mailbag (2024)
- Fantasy Football Whiplash! | Week 6 News & Notes (2024)
Thanks for reading this week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers”! If you’re looking for more fantasy content like this or need help with the last-minute fantasy football start/sit decisions for your roster, you can find me on Facebook at “Fantasy Sports Start or Sit’Em Questions” or on Twitter/X @FSSOSEQ.
*Photo Credit: John Jones – USA TODAY Sports*