What to do with Jameis Winston in Week 6 fantasy football

Even after going home with a loss after not being able to beat a bad defense in New Orleans, I think we can be happy with Jameis Winston’s performance in Week 5. Why do I say that? Most of all, because he seemed to step out of his constant roller coaster and put on an “average” game of sorts. Winston had started the season with two 15-point performances and followed them with two 30-plus-points ones. Our beloved boom-or-bust Winston was at it again. But last weekend against the Saints he finished the game with 20 fantasy points, sitting right in the middle of the expectations. It wasn’t a superb game. He only completed 15 passes on 27 attempts for 204 yards, but at least he left town with two touchdowns and no interceptions—and Tampa Bay recovered his only fumble!

If you own Winston you already know how it goes. There is always a chance he lets you down big time if things don’t click for him. It is what happens when you throw balls with an Average Depth of Target of 10.4 yards (fourth-longest in the league) and have tossed 18 passes of 20-plus yards downfield already. But being fair, Winston has been more solid than ever during the first five games of the season. He has more touchdowns, yards, and a better completion rate than he had in the past four seasons at this point. The problem for Winston is that other than overall WR1 Chris Godwin, the rest of the weapons all seem to be on the low end. Mike Evans had a monster Week 3 but in his second-best fantasy performance so far he only scored 19 fantasy points. O.J. Howard is a thing of the past. And the only players performing near average are the Bucs running backs. Either Godwin keeps up his impossible pace and Evans comes back to his true level, or Winston’s upside will be cut super short going forward.

Fantasy football analysis, Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston

Perhaps playing in London helps Winston in reaching his season-highs again. What won’t help him is facing a great Panthers defense against quarterbacks. Yes, Minshew torched them through the air last week, but coincidentally only Tampa—led by our man Jameis Winston—has been able to pass for more than 186 yards against Carolina. Winston reached 208 yards back in Week 2 in one of his worst performances of the season to this point, completing just 16 passes and getting sacked three times. The situation is a little worrying for Winston, as the quarterbacks that have been limited by Carolina are no slouches when it comes to volume — Jared Goff, Kyler Murray, and Deshaun Watson. Tampa enters this weekend’s game as the favorite, and the game script might not favor Winston. On top of that, Mike Evans is underperforming, I doubt Chris Godwin will put up another 30-plus points game this week, and the TE game is non-existent in the Bucs offense. Not many options to exploit and rack up points for Jameis.

Start/Sit recommendation

Sit