Are you a helpless, unhinged sports fan?
Do you stomp, scream, and swear because your godforsaken team forgot how to tackle? Does losing a fantasy matchup make you want to walk over hot coals, barefoot, and straight into the arms of the devil himself?
Well, saddle up and join me in the hot seat, my friend! Because I’m right there with you. And honestly, who cares if it costs us our relationships, friendships, or our general sense of sanity? Folks like us, we’re living in the moment. And when we get heated, baby, we BURN. So, whatever, you know? Let it rage. Sports. Fantasy sports.
Yep, we run hot. Almost as hot as these Week 6 surprises who are fresh out of the fryin’ pan and into the fire. Should they continue to pop? Or will they flop?
Let’s try to be cool as we look at the cold hard facts in this week’s Heat Index.
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Marcus Johnson (WR – IND)
“Marcus Johnson, who are you?” I ask as I pound my ninth Miller High Life to the table in scorn. Welp, he’s a real-life football player who caught five of eight targets for 108 yards for the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6. Maybe he was on your radar. He certainly wasn’t on mine. Now he is. But not for long.
Marcus Johnson played only 56% of the Colts’ snaps in Week 6 — in a game where his team went down 21 to nothing real quick. Did he lead the Colts in targets? Yes, he did. Oddly, a player who lined up on barely more than half of his offense’s snaps secured the most targets on the team with eight. As impressive as that is in this league, it seems like more of an outlier than it does an indication of what’s to come.
Chalk this up as one of those anomalous types of games for Johnson and the Colts. As fellow receivers T.Y. Hilton and Zach Pascal resume their top spots in quarterback Philip Rivers’ pecking order (tight ends notwithstanding), and the Colts continue to lean on a strong running game and short passing attack, Marcus Johnson will probably be one of those guys who falls by the wayside as the season continues.
Week 6 Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥
Rest-of-season Heat Index: 🔥
Keelan Cole (WR – JAC)
Raise your hand if you were going to pick up Keelan Cole and flex him, but you didn’t because you’re a beta human who hates yourself and refuses to win. Yep, right here. Totally blew it. Having to roll the dice with D.J. Chark didn’t help — and the emergence of rookie Laviska Shenault was blinding science — but gosh dang-it, the door was open for Cole to barge through, and he finally did so in Week 6. What a time to be alive.
In Week 6, Keelan Cole had his best game of the season, reeling in six of nine targets for 143 yards. Granted, the performance was against one of the league’s worst secondaries in the Detroit Lions, but those numbers are still too hot to ignore. And the heat is right around the corner, too, as they say. Or at least in that movie… what’s it called. Oh yeah. “Heat.”
The Jaguars will be facing the Chargers and Texans with a bye week sandwiched in between for the next three weeks. The Chargers are giving up 273 passing yards per game, the fourth-most in the league. The Texans give up 245.5 pass yards per game, the 13th most. After that, the Jags play four of the worst fantasy football defenses (PIT, CLE, MIN, and TEN). That bodes well for Cole, a definitive pass-catching weapon on a Jags team that’s averaging the fourth-most pass attempts per game (40).
Week 6 Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥
Rest-of-season Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥
Anthony Firkser (TE – TEN)
Anthony Firkser? I hardly knew her! The name-game could go on and on, but for fear of being terminated permanently, I’ll stick to sports. In Week 6, Tennessee Titans tight end Anthony Firkser caught eight of nine targets for 113 yards and one touchdown against the Houston Texans. This is one of those situations where the backup player fills in for the starter and blows up in the limelight. The Titans’ starting tight end and fantasy football sleeper sweetheart, Jonnu Smith, exited this contest early with an ankle sprain, paving the way for the unknown Firkser to take the lead as one of Ryan Tannehill’s most trusted targets.
Jonnu Smith’s ankle injury is already reported to be “minor,” but if he misses the team’s Week 7 tilt against the Steelers, Firkser could be in for a decent number of targets — the Steelers D/ST is giving up eight receptions per game to the position. Beyond that, though, Firkser’s usage will rely solely on Smith’s absence, which, at this point, does not seem to be long withstanding.
Week 6 Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥
Rest-of-season Heat Index: 🔥
Darren Fells (TE – HOU)
Darren Fells has caught two touchdowns in as many weeks. His most recent score came against the Tennessee Titans in a shootout loss in Week 6.
In Week 6, Fells caught six of seven targets for 85 yards and a touchdown. With the barren tight end market, that’s pretty good. In fact, it’s better than good — it was good enough for the TE5 finish in Week 6, according to NFL.com. But can we expect more of the same from Fells moving forward? Eh, I don’t think so.
Let’s not forget that Fells is a touchdown-dependent tight end who’s averaged barely more than two targets per game since the start of the season. And he’s not even the go-to tight end in Houston! Jordan Akins is the other tight end in town, and while he’s no monster at the position, there just doesn’t seem to be much space for any tight end in Houston. Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is targeting his top-three wide receivers (103 targets) far more than his two tight ends (34 targets) this season.
Darren Fells is nothing more than a desperation play in the majority of fantasy football leagues or a punt play in DFS. Nevertheless, he should be there if you need him.
Week 6 Heat Index: 🔥🔥
Rest-of-season Heat Index: 🔥
Some like it hot. Others like to keep it cool. Where do you stand? Where did I go wrong? Where am I right? Feel free to tell me how stupid I am on Twitter, or hey, tell me you love me. Either way, this steak sandwich isn’t going to eat itself. Peace!
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Jim Colombo is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Jim, check out his archive and follow him @WideRightNBlue.