It’s hard to know what a sleeper even is anymore when it comes to Fantasy Football, but, for the purposes of this article, we’ll use the term to mean an asset that’s likely to be undervalued heading into a given week. A player that’s going to be overlooked when it comes to ownership, yet one that has a reasonable path to make people regret that decision. Someone who might set your lineup apart from the pack in a GPP, if you will.
With that in mind, let’s go position-by-position for an early look at Week 6’s slate on DraftKings.
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QUARTERBACK
Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions at Jacksonville Jaguars, $6,300
It’s a bit of a peculiar week at quarterback. Aside from maybe Ben Roethlisberger ($6,700), it’s difficult to really see any expensive asset at the position drawing a whole lot of attention; especially when you have pivots like Kirk Cousins ($6,100), Ryan Fitzpatrick ($5,900) and Ryan Tannehill ($5,900) all sitting with great matchups around $6K. I’m also hoping its this trio of QBs that draws attention away from the slightly more expensive Stafford. It certainly helps matters that the veteran hasn’t exactly done anything overly noteworthy so far in 2020. Coming off a bye, Stafford’s only managed to exceed 19.0 DKFP in one of his four starts and he’s yet to eclipse the 300-yard passing bonus. Still, for what he’s lacked in ceiling, he’s made up for in floor, as Stafford’s thrown at least 30 passes in every Lions game this season. Considering Jacksonville’s allowing an NFL-worst 8.7 yards per opponent pass attempt, expect that volume to be a little more impactful in Week 6.
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RUNNING BACK
Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts, $6,200
Simply put, this is not going to be a matchup that many people are looking to exploit. Indianapolis’ defense has been sturdy all year, not only ranking as the No. 1 overall unit in the NFL by DVOA, but by also surrendering the third-fewest rushing yards per game (86.4) and the fourth-fewest DKFP to opposing RBs. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like people are going to be benching Mixon in season-long formats, but it’s easy to see how the likes of Ronald Jones ($6,000), David Montgomery ($5,800) and Antonio Gibson ($5,500) will be more popular in DFS with lower price tags. In any case, I’m not going to make the mistake of ignoring Mixon’s volume. We’re now up to three-straight contests where the veteran’s seen at least a 70.0% snap share and that includes last Sunday’s 27-3 loss to Baltimore — a script that used to spell disaster for Mixon’s workload. In fact, Mixon leads all players with 80 touches dating back to the beginning of Week 3, a span that’s also seen the bell cow register 14 receptions. If this is how Mixon’s going to be utilized going forward, he’s matchup-proof and almost an automatic start whenever his salary drops below $7K.
WIDE RECEIVER
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns, $6,600
This is an interesting spot of contrasting trends. As mentioned above, there’s a good chance Roethlisberger is a popular QB pick this week, as Cleveland’s defense has conceded 29.8 points per game so far this season. However, the question of who people will choose to stack Big Ben with is slightly more complex. Chase Claypool ($5,200) is a the flavor of the week after managing to find the end zone four times in Sunday’s win over the Eagles, but, if Diontae Johnson ($4,900) is back and healthy, much has been made of his team-leading target share through the first month of the season. Notice how I haven’t said the name “JuJu” yet? Smith-Schuster has failed to crest even 50 yards receiving in three-straight games and I have my doubts anyone will be jonesing to get the struggling wideout into their lineup with the Steelers possessing much cheaper options at WR. Still, Pittsburgh has one of the highest implied team totals on the main slate and the Browns are giving up the sixth-most DKFP to opposing wide receivers. Smith-Schuster’s exceeded 100 receiving yards in eight of his 22 career contests with Roethlisberger starting under center. There are definitely outcomes where he scores north of 25.0 DKFP this weekend. Even if it’s more likely he remains in his slump, I’ll take my chances with a high-upside asset in a great matchup.
TIGHT END
Trey Burton, Indianapolis Colts vs. Cincinnati Bengals, $3,100
Maybe Burton’s notoriety goes up slightly this week in a great matchup and with Mo Alie-Cox ($4,100) currently nursing a knee injury; however, at the end of the day, we’re talking about someone who was hovering around 1% ownership last Sunday and only managed to score 8.3 DKFP. Don’t let that perception detract from Burton’s actual value, though. Despite logging just 61 offensive snaps in the Colts’ last two games, Burton’s sits second on the team in targets (11) and catches (7) since returning from a calf issue. He should get a chance to add to those totals in Week 6, as the Bengals have funnelled 29% of opponent targets towards TEs — the highest rate of any team in the AFC this season.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is theglt13) 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.