Week 6 inactives, injury updates

Some notable injuries impact some of the decisions below. Alvin Kamara and David Johnson are both active, but look for Latavius Murray and Chase Edmonds to cut into their workloads. In traditional fantasy you start Kamara and Johnson, but in DFS you fade them. Rashaad Penny is inactive, which makes Chris Carson that much better a start. He’ll be plenty busy vs. the Browns. Jalen Ramsey is inactive with his back injury, so Michael Thomas is a monster option against the Jaguars defense. We’re still awaiting word on George Kittle’s status.

You’ll find all kinds of DFS fantasy rankings, values, best/worst plays on DK Nation, but what about just identifying the good chalk? I play almost completely in cash games during NFL season, and it’s really important to know who we can trust, and who we can’t.

New to the cash game scene? Cash games on DK refer to double-ups, 50-50s and head-to-heads — all of which roughly the top half of the field doubles its money.

I’ve had a good 4-1 season so far in cash games, going a little off the radar in terms of ownership the week I lost (Week 2). Here are the core plays that I’m considering this week, on the 10-game DK main slate only.

Quarterbacks

Lamar Jackson ($6,900) vs. CIN — Jackson’s coming off his worst game of the season, but his rushing ability constantly keeps his floor high. He has a great matchup at home against the Bengals, who just let

Deshaun Watson ($6,700) @KC — Watson’s coming off a 45-DKFP performance at home, and will now face a sketchy Chiefs defense with a 55.5-point total. Keeping up with Patrick Mahomes always helps score fantasy points.

Matt Ryan ($6,400) @ARI — The safest QB on the board. Averaging over 44 pass attempts per game. Lack of run game and defense keep him throwing. Perfect road matchup against Arizona.

Running Backs

Fades: Alvin Kamara and David Johnson are in good spots, but the questionable tags have me fading them. Even if they do play, their workloads could be limited, and I’m not willing to risk getting re-injured. If either weren’t to play Latavius Murray and Chase Edmonds would be great value plays.

Ezekiel Elliott ($8.500) @NYJ — Even when it’s a rough day for the Cowboys, ‘Zeke seems to save his fantasy day somehow. As seven-point favorites, he should be the focal point of the offense here.

Leonard Fournette ($6,700) vs. NO — Way too cheap for one of the only guys in the NFL that handles all of the backfield touches. He has 58 total touches over the last two weeks.

Le’Veon Bell ($6,400) vs. DAL — Jets are priced as if they’re still playing a backup QB, but Sam Darnold is back. Bell is $1,300 cheaper than he was in Week 2, and scored a season-high 23.2 DKFP with Darnold in the lineup in Week 1.

Chris Carson ($6,000) @CLE — Was on the brink of being benched, but now has 25 touches in consecutive games (20-plus DKFP in both). Faces a Browns defense that was gashed on MNF, and ranks 27th in DKFP allowed to RB.

Malcolm Brown ($4,300) vs. SF — Todd Gurley (quad) has been ruled out. Tougher matchup against SF, but this is the lead RB for a huge discount. Eat the chalk.

Wide Receivers

Michael Thomas ($7,800) @JAX — Hasn’t taken a hit with Teddy Bridgewater at QB. Coming off best game of the season — 11-182-2 (44.2 DKFP).

DeAndre Hopkins ($7,400) @KC — Finally sees his salary decrease, having not topped 100 yards or scored a touchdown in a game since Week 1. Huge breakout spot on the road against the Chiefs.

Cooper Kupp ($7,100) vs. SF — Kupp’s been the most consistent WR in football. He has 29 or more DKFP in three straight games, with at least 12 targets in each. No Gurley could mean even more looks.

Larry Fitzgerald ($6,100) vs. ARI — Fitz will get to face an Atlanta defense that just gave up a historic day to Will Fuller. He’s at home, and should see plenty of targets.

Dede Westbrook ($5,100) vs. NO — D.J. Chark should draw some tough coverage at this point. While Chark’s a fine play, Westbrook should be free to roam against a terrible New Orleans’ secondary.

Jameson Crowder ($4,000) vs. DAL — Crowder’s been completely off the radar since Week 1, but let’s not forget what he was able to accomplish with Darnold. Darnold targeted Crowder 17 times in Week 1, completing 14 of them for 99 yards against a stingy Buffalo defense.

Tight Ends

George Kittle ($5,200) @LAR — Make sure Kittle plays through a questionable tag, but he’s fully expected to. Kittle’s salary is inexplicably down $1,600 since Week 2, despite a pair of solid games.

Austin Hooper ($5,000) @ARI — Hooper’s been a huge beneficiary of Ryan’s high volume passing the ball. He’s now averaging 17.5 DKFP this season, and only busted in one of five games. He’s seen 20 total targets in the last two games.

D/ST

Washington ($3,200) @MIA — This defense has been solid enough, with 14 DKFP combined in the last two games. They were good enough to score 5.0 DKFP against the Patriots, so should be able to bring some upside into this matchup in Miami.

Jets ($1,500) vs. DAL — I mean, you can’t beat the price here, and the Jets are at home with a low projected total against a Cowboys offense that made a lot of mistakes last week. This is purely just going for value, but really opens up the rest of your salary.

I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is jedlow) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.