Week 6 is in the books in the world of fantasy football. For most of us, that means the regular season is about halfway over. At this point in the season, whether you’re in first place or near last, the playoffs are a possibility for just about everyone.
But if you’re in panic mode and worried about your team, there are a couple of things you can do. First, scour the waiver wire. Right now, there are very few good running backs to pick up (unless you’re in a thin league), so look to receivers. Big-play guys pop up out of nowhere all the time at the WR slot. Another thing you can do to try to win a matchup is to routinely swap kickers and defenses. Play off the matchups; if you grab someone with an expectantly soft matchup, you could roll the dice and get double-digit points out of it. Those little pieces can help a lot, because nothing hurts more than losing a matchup by one or two points when your defense got you negative points. Don’t be afraid to swap those positions regularly; they could potentially pick your team up if your position players have a rough day.
Now, onto my fantasy advice for Week 6.
RONNIE BROWN ‘ What a great skill set Brown has, but this season he has been extremely mediocre as a fantasy back. He scored once in the first game of the season, but has had no touchdowns since and hasn’t had more than 80 rushing yards in a game yet. On top of that, he’s only averaging 13.4 attempts per game, and considering Ricky Williams hasn’t been particularly stellar, this is a troubling stat. He’s been quite a disappointment, but don’t write him off just yet. Keep starting him for now, but don’t expect miracles.
MIKE WALLACE ‘ Wallace had one big week before the return of Big Ben, but now that he’s back, you should be able to expect that more often. He won’t catch many balls (he has only eclipsed four receptions in a game once in his entire career), but his long-ball explosiveness makes him a potential fantasy force. He was a popular preseason breakout pick, and you should treat him as such from this point forward.
DEION BRANCH ‘ Interesting acquisition by the Patriots to replace Randy Moss with Branch. I grabbed him off waivers in one league, and I’m glad I did; he caught nine balls for 98 yards and a score. The key here isn’t the yards or even the touchdown ‘ it is the targets. He was targeted 12 times by Tom Brady, more than anyone else on the team (including Wes Welker), and Brady looked his way a lot in crunch time and had great success. Pick him up right now, and if you don’t have any other great options, start the hell out of him. Remember, he was a Super Bowl MVP once upon a time.
BEANIE WELLS ‘ Beanie will certainly be in the discussion for the most disappointing fantasy player of 2010 if he doesn’t pick it up. So will he? Honestly, I don’t think so. A look at last year’s stats leads us to a grim conclusion. Stat 1: he never eclipsed 17 carries in any game last season. Stat 2: he hit triple-digit yardage just once. Stat 3: Tim Hightower had eight touchdowns to Wells’ seven. The conclusion is that Wells was the recipient of the fruits of a high-octane offense (which we already knew), but coupled with this season’s stats, it tells us that he’s not one of those fantasy players that can make something out of nothing. The Cards clearly have nothing this year, so unless Max Hall leads a dramatic reversal of circumstances, Wells WILL continue to disappoint.
GREG JENNINGS ‘ Another annual disappointment, but his Week 6 stat line jumps off the page: 133 yards and a score. But take away his 86-yard touchdown grab and he has another pedestrian day: 47 yards on five catches. Jennings will continue to disappoint despite the presence of Aaron Rodgers. Jennings was coming off three straight two-catch games, and even though he managed two touchdowns during that span, scoring single-digit fantasy points is mediocre for his talent level. Don’t expect him to be a consistent breakout fantasy points scorer anytime soon. The only standout performances he’ll ever have are if he scores more than once or if he gets lucky on a really long TD like he did Sunday. That’s not very promising.