A.J. Brown, Mason Taylor And More

Everyone has crucial start or sit decisions in Week 6, and we’re here to help with that. You can find my top 50 flex rankings below, but in this article, we’ll be diving beyond the obvious names.

ForbesFantasy Football Week 6: Flex Rankings (RB,WR,TE)By Steve Bradshaw

In order to do that, this article will only look at wide receivers outside of the top 36 and running backs out of the top 24 per the Fantasy Pros Week 6 expert consensus rankings for our start of the week.

At quarterback and tight end, that number drops down to the top 12. To switch things up, we’ll be referring Half-PPR rankings and points but there’s not a massive change for PPR leagues.

Start Wide Wide Receiver Chris Godwin (WR36)

If Mike Evans doesn’t play in Week 6, you should feel great about starting Chris Godwin. The situation just has very little clarity right now. Even if Evans does play, Godwin is a fine start, given that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might not want to give the 32-year-old receiver a full workload right away.

When Godwin returned from his own injury in Week 4, he drew 10 targets right away, leaving many hopeful. Although Godwin would only have four targets last week, that initial sign was enough to give me a ton of confidence.

Sure, Godwin might not be the same player after his injury now that he’s 29 years old. However, if Godwin can give you even part of that 16.1 PPG season (Half-PPR) from seven games in 2024, he’s a must-start. The 10 targets were a sign that it could be possible.

In Week 6, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the San Francisco 49ers as three-point favorites per FanDuel, but the over/under is 47.5. With a solid game script, Godwin is a solid flex option for Week 6

Sit Wide Wide Receiver A.J. Brown (WR17)

This season, we’ve seen A.J. Brown score more than 10 points once. Brown is a great player, but this situation has not been beneficial for him to score fantasy points.

Brown is at the stage where you need to see him prove it for two weeks in a row. One of the main problems is that the Philadelphia Eagles have the 8th most rushing attempts in the NFL (per TeamRankings).

Now they take on the New York Giants as 7.5-point favorites, which means they should be able to lean on the run all day. Not only that, but the over/under is very low at 40.5. This is not the game environment you want to see for a struggling receiver.

Start Running Back Jaylen Warren (RB25)

If Jaylen Warren plays in Week 6, he should be in your starting lineup as an RB2. Warren has scored at least 12 points in two of his three games.

Despite running for 99 yards in Week 4, Kenneth Gainwell shouldn’t steal any of the work. Gainwell is a 5th-year back who has shown he works well in a committee, never running for over 400 yards.

Nothing is official yet, but the reports around Warren seem positive. The Pittsburgh Steelers are also 5.5-point favorites over the Cleveland Browns, which should allow them to run the ball a ton. Even in a 38.5 over/under, Warren is a great RB2 play when healthy.

Sit Running Back Kenneth Walker (RB21)

Since Week 2, Kenneth Walker has seen his fantasy points decline each week. Now that Zach Charbonnet is back, it’s best to leave Walker on the bench.

Walker is coming off a game with only 10 carries, even though he turned that into 86 yards. Even with 8.6 YPC, Walker only had 9.1 points because he had one target, and Charbonnet had nine carries.

In Week 6, it’s not a great game script for Walker either. The Seattle Seahawks take on the Jacksonville Jaguars as 1.5-point underdogs with an over/under of 46.5. It’s not a bad situation by any means, but since Walker is splitting the backfield, it’s not enough to justify starting him.

Start Quarterback Justin Fields (QB14)

Regardless of what you think about Justin Fields as an NFL quarterback, his upside in fantasy football is undeniable. Regardless of the matchup, you shouldn’t sit a player who’s averaging 21.6 PPG on the year, which includes the Week 2 game where Fields went down (four points).

Outside of that, Fields has gone over 25 points in every single game. This week, the New York Jets take on the Denver Broncos as seven-point underdogs, which should cause the Jets to abandon the run game early.

The over/under isn’t great at 43.5 points, but given how good Fields has played to start the year, there’s no reason to bench him.

Sit Quarterback Jordan Love (QB9)

Jordan Love is coming off a 26.3 point game, but he’s averaging 18.6 points on the year with only two games over 16 points. In Week 6, the Green Bay Packers take on the Cincinnati Bengals as 14.5-point favorites.

That game script alone scares me away from Love, and the over/under is 44.5. Josh Jacobs is a great running back, and this spread tells you that the Packers will almost never need to pass the ball.

Start Tight End Mason Taylor (TE13)

It’s just a one-game sample size, but seeing a rookie tight end draw 12 targets is extremely exciting. Mason Taylor is coming off a game where he had 12 targets for nine catches and 13.2 fantasy points.

There are two reasons why we should expect this trend to continue. Typically, rookies see a larger workload as the year goes on, and Taylor has seen his targets increase each week. On top of that, Taylor was drafted with the 42nd overall pick, and the Jets don’t have much target competition outside of Garrett Wilson.

In a game where, as we mentioned, the Jets are going to be seven-point underdogs, this is a great game script for Taylor. Expect a ton of dropbacks from Fields, which should turn into a lot of targets for Taylor.

Sit Tight End Dallas Goedert (TE10)

Last week, Dallas Goedert made this list, and he had a slightly better day than expected with 9.4 points. That doesn’t mean that Goedert isn’t going to be on the start or sit list once again.

Despite drawing nine targets, Goedert scored most of his points from a touchdown. Based on what we know about being able to predict touchdowns, this hot streak will wear off soon enough.

For the same reason that we’re sitting Brown, this applies to Goedert as well. In a game where the Eagles are heavy favorites, don’t expect much passing volume. Despite having a few solid weeks prior, this is a fairly easy start or sit decision.