Los Angeles Rams vs New York Giants

Date/Time: Sunday October 17, 1:00pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Rams -9.5
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 48 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Rams 28.75, Giants 19.25

Quarterbacks

Matthew Stafford: Stafford has been handed a solid dose of reality here over the past couple of weeks after starting out the season on fire, but he’s still getting the job done for fantasy football. Through the first three weeks of the season, Stafford amassed 942 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and just one interception. Over the last two weeks though, Stafford has thrown for a solid 645 passing yards, but he has just three touchdowns to two interceptions over that period. While Stafford’s production has taken a dip here recently, he’s still captaining a top offense in the NFL and the scoring opportunities are plentiful. Now, he gets to take on the Giants defense that just got torched by Dak Prescott and the Cowboys for 9.43 Yards Per Attempt. Stafford belongs in your lineup every single week as a l0w-end QB1.

Daniel Jones: After taking a solid hit to the helmet in last week’s contest against the Cowboys – which was completely legal – Jones was seen stumbling and wobbling as he worked his way back to the line of scrimmage. It was a scary scene to witness and Jones was immediately put into the league’s concussion protocol. At the time of writing, all signs point to Jones being okay physically and Joe Judge is optimistic that he could potentially play this upcoming week against the Rams. While that seems a bit far-fetched for someone that was on the field just a few days ago barely able to walk under their own power, there’s always a possibility. However, even if Jones plays in this matchup, he’s not worth considering for our starting lineups in 1QB formats with the matchup against the Rams. He can be viewed as a low-end QB2 this week.

Running Backs

Darrell Henderson: Henderson is now in the conversation for a potential league-winner with the way that he is playing compared to where he was drafted. In the four games Henderson has played this season, he is averaging 15 rush attempts, 73.5 rushing yards, .75 rushing touchdowns, 2.5 receptions, and 22.5 receiving yards per game. He’s become one of the most consistent fantasy assets at the RB position this season and the schedule now opens up for him and the Rams rushing attack. Henderson has been putting up these types of numbers against Chicago, Indianapolis, Arizona, and Seattle and those are not easy matchups on the ground. The next three weeks, Henderson gets to take on the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions, and the Houston Texans. In a matchup against the Giants that just allowed the Cowboys’ RBs to rumble for 185 yards on the ground, Henderson’s a smash play. He can now consistently be viewed as a low-end RB1 with upside every single week.

Devontae Booker: With Saquon Barkley likely to miss the next couple of weeks with a left ankle sprain, Booker is going to assume the lead-back role in this offense. While Booker should see a minimum of 12 touches in this game, we shouldn’t exactly be expecting the same level of production as Barkley. Booker has stepped in on occasion as the lead back throughout his time in the NFL and he’s been able to be a fine fantasy asset in those performances, but the upside simply isn’t there. In this offense that may not even have its starting QB on Sunday, we shouldn’t be expecting much from Booker from a fantasy perspective. He can be viewed as a low-end RB2 simply based on volume.

Wide Receivers

Cooper Kupp: Cooper Kupp didn’t put up an out-of-this-world performance in week five, but he was still dominant on the field. Kupp saw 10 targets and he reeled in seven of them for 92 yards, yet fantasy managers are seemingly disappointed. With the historic pace that Kupp was on earlier this season, anything less than 150 yards and a touchdown seems like it’s falling short of expectations. However, he was still solid and there’s no reason why we should move off of valuing him as a top-5 option. Looking ahead to week six, Kupp will now get to take on the Giants secondary that is coming off of a rough performance against the Cowboys. New York just allowed both CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper to average over 20 Yards Per Reception and they each found the end zone in week five. Kupp belongs right back in your lineups as a top-5 WR in week six.

Robert Woods: Welcome back, Bobby Trees! After being one of fantasy football’s biggest disappointments over the first four weeks of the season, Robert Woods emerged in a big way on the national stage in week five. Woods saw a jaw-dropping 14 targets and he reeled in 12 of them for 150 receiving yards. There’s more than enough opportunity for both of these top-tier WRs to flourish from a fantasy perspective in this offense and Woods is now right back into the mid-range/low-end WR2 conversation. In a matchup against the Giants secondary that is struggling to contain opposing WRs so far this season, Woods has top-10 upside yet again.

Van Jefferson: Van Jefferson had been emerging as a viable fantasy option in this offense throughout the first four weeks of the season, but with Woods coming back to life and commanding the target share last week, Jefferson’s production fell off a cliff. He is still seeing some deep targets, which will have value and will hit from time to time, but those are better DFS bets than season-long investments. Jefferson’s merely just a bench stash in deeper formats for the time being. DeSean Jackson was able to make a big play last week against the Seahawks, but he is merely just a deep threat for this Rams offense that they’ll bring in occasionally. There’s very little predictability with Jackson’s usage and he shouldn’t be considered for starting lineups in any format.

Kenny Golladay: At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether or not Golladay is going to be able to suit up in this matchup due to dealing with a hyperextended knee injury that he sustained during last week’s game. He missed Wednesday practice this week, which is never a good sign. If he does play, he’s merely just a high-end FLEX option due to the matchup and the potential that he could draw coverage from Jalen Ramsey.

Kadarius Toney: What a breakout performance from Toney this past week! Toney ran just 24 receiving routes against the Cowboys, but he finished with an absurd 189 receiving yards. This equates to an unreal 7.88 Yards Per Route Run, which is insanely impressive. (For context, Mike Williams had a 4.23 YPRR metric from this past week on his 165 receiving yards) It feels like a star is being born right in front of our eyes and the temptation to go chasing after it wholeheartedly is absolutely there. However, there are plenty of reasons to be cautious with plugging Toney into our starting lineups this week. First off, we simply don’t know who is going to be throwing him the ball just yet at this point of the week. There’s the possibility that Mike Glennon is going to be tasked with keeping the offense on track against the Los Angeles Rams and that’s not exactly what fantasy managers want to hear. Additionally, we don’t know completely what Toney’s role is going to be when Shepard, Golladay, and Slayton are all in the lineup. All logic points to Slayton being the odd man out with Toney’s breakout, but NFL teams do weird things from time to time with their personnel packages. We could potentially see Toney moved back into a complementary role. If we know that Toney is going to be a starter in this offense for this week – and that Jones is playing QB – we should have no hesitation plugging him into our starting lineups as a high-end FLEX play with upside. However, if all three other WRs return to action and/or Glennon is playing QB, we should exercise caution and potentially think about looking elsewhere for our FLEX spot.

Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton: At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether or not Shepard and Slayton are going to be able to return this week. If they do return to the lineup, it’s likely best to look elsewhere just for the first week though so we avoid an issue of them potentially being on a snap count.

Tight Ends

Tyler Higbee: Higbee wasn’t exactly – how do we say – involved in week five, but he made his fantasy managers happy by finding the end zone on one of his two targets. Higbee has tremendous value in the red zone with his size and contested catchability, which is something no other receiving option on the Rams has. Stafford’s going to continue to look his way time and time again when they’re in the red zone and they should be there frequently in this upcoming matchup. He’s most likely going to have to find the end zone for you to feel satisfied that you started him, but that’s true of so many other TEs in the fantasy football landscape currently. Higbee can be viewed as a low-end TE1.

Evan Engram: Engram put together a solid fantasy outing this past week against the Cowboys with a 4-55-0 stat line, but it took essentially everyone but Engram and Toney going down with an injury for him to start seeing targets again. Unless every receiving option but Toney is out for this upcoming matchup against the Rams, we shouldn’t consider Engram for our starting lineups.

Houston Texans vs Indianapolis Colts

Date/Time: Sunday October 17, 1:00pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Colts -9.5
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 43 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Colts 26.25, Texans 16.75

Quarterbacks

Davis Mills: A 312-yard, three-TD performance against a good New England pass defense in Week 5 was a complete shocker from Mills, who had thrown one TD pass and four interceptions in his two previous starts. The highlight was a 67-yard TD pass to Chris Moore, with Mills rolling out to his right and finding Moore on the sideline between two defenders. Mills placed the ball perfectly despite being on the run, and Moore covered the last 40 yards on his own after making a leaping catch. Mills is preparing to face a Colts pass defense that now ranks near the bottom of the league in a number of categories after being torched for 442 yards and four touchdowns by Lamar Jackson on Monday night. Don’t bet on Mills stringing two big games together. He’s ranked QB28.

Carson Wentz: Wentz played his best game of the young season in Week 5, throwing for 402 yards and two touchdowns against the Ravens on Monday night and staking the Colts to a big lead that they would eventually blow. Wentz completed better than 70% of his throws for a second straight game and averaged 11.5 yards per attempt. I had my doubts about Wentz coming into the season. He looked awful last year, and though the Eagles’ injury-riddled offensive line had something to do with that, Wentz played poorly by any measure. So far with the Colts, he’s dealt with injuries to teammates and himself, toughing out the last couple of games on two sprained ankles, and has acquitted himself quite well. Wentz is on the verge of getting WR T.Y. Hilton back from IR, and all-pro guard Quenton Nelson is expected back soon as well, so things are looking up. Wentz checks in at QB21 in this week’s rankings and is a plausible streaming option in a decent matchup against the Texans.

Running Backs

David Johnson and Mark Ingram: Johnson has led the Houston RBs in snaps the last two weeks, catching 8-73-0 on 10 targets over that span. His role as the primary pass catcher in this backfield makes him roster-worthy in larger PPR leagues, especially with the Texans facing a season’s worth of negative, pass-heavy game scripts. But Johnson doesn’t have the burst he had in his heyday with the Cardinals and doesn’t get much usage as a runner, averaging 3.6 carries per game. Ingram had 16 carries against the Patriots in Week 5, the most he’s had since Week 1, but turned them into only 41 yards. Ingram hasn’t seen a target since Week 3 and only has four of them on the season. Johnson is ranked RB41 this week, Ingram RB42.

Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines: Taylor has the potential to go off this week in a home matchup against a Texans defense giving up 134.8 rushing yards per game, the seventh-highest total in the league. Houston has yielded nine TD runs. Taylor reminded us in Week 5 that he’s also dangerous as a pass-catcher. He took a screen pass 76 yards for a touchdown just two minutes into the Colts’ Monday-night game against the Ravens on the way to the first 100-yard receiving game of his career. Taylor is ranked RB4 this week. At $6,600 on DraftKings, he’s one of the best RB values on the board. Hines is coming off the rare game in which he was held without a reception. He’s had two or fewer catches in three games this season, which isn’t a good thing for a running back who rarely gets more than a half-dozen carries a game. Don’t bother with Hines until QB Carson Wentz starts looking his way again.

Wide Receivers

Brandin Cooks: Kudos to Chris Moore and Chris Conley on their touchdowns last week, but Cooks is still the only Texans receiver who matters for fantasy. The return of Nico Collins from a shoulder injury either this week or next could change that, but we’ll need to see something from Collins first. Cooks was held to 3-23-0 on five targets last week, and he’s been held under 50 yards in two straight. Is it really a surprise that Bill Belichick and the Patriots, notorious for scheming to erase an opponent’s top offensive weapon, chose to focus on Cooks? He’s the Texans’ most dangerous playmaker by far – their only one, really – and now he’s due to make some plays. Cooks will be facing a Colts defense that’s had trouble with small, fast receivers, giving up 4-100-2 to Tyler Lockett in Week 1 and 9-125-2 to Tyler Lockett in Week 5. Regard Cooks as a high-end WR3 this week. He’s worth considering in DraftKings contests at an affordable $5,800.

Michael Pittman: It’s been fun to watch Pittman assert himself as the Colts’ lead receiver. His 42-yard TD catch against the Ravens on Monday night was a beauty, with Pittman reaching back to pluck an underthrown ball from over the head of a defender who was interfering with him at the time, then keeping his balance and fighting off a tackle attempt as he navigated the final 10 yards to the end zone. Over his last four games, Pittman has averaged 9.8 targets, 6.5 receptions and 84.8 yards. T.Y. Hilton is due back from a neck injury soon, but make no mistake: Pittman is the main man in this WR corps now. He checks in at WR26 in the Week 6 rankings. Pittman’s price is up to $5,500 on DraftKings, but he’s still a value.

Zach Pascal: Credit Pascal for consistency: He’s had 31 to 48 receiving yards in all five of his games this year. But after scoring three touchdowns in his first two games, he’s endured a three-game TD drought. There’s just not enough here for a fantasy manager to hang his or her hat on, and the impending return of T.Y. Hilton from a neck injury will make Pascal droppable in many of the leagues where he’s rostered.

Parris Campbell: Campbell is coming off his best game of the season, a four-catch, 56-yard effort Monday against the Ravens in which he had a season-high six targets. But we’ve waited a long time for this egg to hatch, and it’s just not happening. T.Y. Hilton will return from a neck injury soon, further impeding a potential Campbell breakthrough.

Tight Ends

Pharaoh Brown and Jordan Akins: These two combined for 4-39-0 last week in a game where the Texans produced 312 passing yards and three TD passes. Even though the Texans’ opponents this week, the Colts, just gave up 147 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions to Ravens TE Mark Andrews, Brown and Akins aren’t playable in any fantasy league.

Mo Alie-Cox: Alie-Cox is starting to become a thing. After scoring a pair of touchdowns in Week 4, he had three catches for 50 against the Ravens in Week 5. Although he played 19 fewer snaps than fellow Colts TE Jack Doyle Monday night in Baltimore, Alie-Cox out-targeted Doyle 4-1. The Colts are about to host the Texans, who are giving up a league-high 13.6 points per game to opposing tight ends. Alie-Cox is a mid-range TE2 this week and usable if byes or injuries leave you short at the TE position.

Kansas City Chiefs vs Washington Football Team

Date/Time: Sunday October 17, 1:00pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Chiefs -7
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 55.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Chiefs 31.25, Washington 24.25

Quarterbacks

Patrick Mahomes: Well, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for Mahomes and the Chiefs offense this season. Kansas City is now 2-3 on the year, the Chiefs are sitting in 4th place in the AFC West, and Mahomes has struggled to come through in a couple of key matchups. Last week against the stout Bills secondary, Mahomes finished outside the top-12 QBs on the week as the Chiefs lost by a significant amount and the offense looked out of sync. With all that being said, Mahomes is still the QB1 in fantasy football through five weeks. While the offense might not be steamrolling every single defense it comes up against this year, we know that Mahomes has week-winning upside in plus matchups and that’s exactly what we have in front of us this year. Coming into the season, Washington appeared like it was going to be a top-5 defense on paper and that they were going to be able to keep nearly any offense in check. However, they have crumbled so far this season and they’re allowing a shocking 32.4 fantasy points per game to opposing QBs, which is the highest mark in the NFL. Washington isn’t going to stand a chance against the Chiefs passing game and we could see another five-touchdown performance from Mahomes in this one. Fire him up with full confidence this week against the Football Team.

Taylor Heinicke: Heinicke falls into the bucket that so many other QBs do in fantasy football and that’s simply a streaming option. In tougher matchups, he’s not worth considering, but in games against weaker defenses, he has the potential to finish as a top-12 option. That’s exactly what we have in front of us this week with Heinicke up against the Kansas City Chiefs defense. The Chiefs were expected to be a stout unit coming into the year, but they have been absolutely gashed by opposing passing games so far this season. Through five weeks, the Chiefs are allowing the second-most fantasy points to opposing QBs and they’re only in front of Washington in that category. This game is going to be an offensive fireworks show and it could easily hit the over on a 55.5 line. Kansas City is allowing 308.6 passing yards per game and 30.8 fantasy points. If you have Heinicke, make sure to plug him into your starting lineup as a low-end QB1/high-end QB2. If he’s available on your waiver wire still, he’s absolutely worth adding and playing here.

Running Backs

Darrel Williams: With Clyde Edwards-Helaire landing on Injured Reserve, Darrel Williams is the next man up to assume the starting job in one of the league’s most potent offenses. We’ve seen Williams be a factor for fantasy football – in some fashion – up to this point of the season, but he’s now going to be walking into the majority of the touches out of the backfield. While there’s the possibility that Williams surrenders some work to McKinnon, Williams is going to be guaranteed a minimum of 12-15 touches this week and moving forward until CEH returns. We know that he’s a capable receiver out of the backfield and that he has a nose for the end zone around the goal line. In a matchup this week against Washington, who is bleeding fantasy points to every position group this season, Williams is a locked-in RB2 with upside.

Jerick McKinnon: With CEH on IR for the next few weeks, McKinnon should see an uptick in work in this backfield. However, it’s unlikely to be enough to provide standalone value with Williams seeing the majority of the touches. With McKinnon’s injury history being taken into account too, it’s probably wise to let him sit on your bench for this first week to see what exactly the carry split looks like in this backfield. He shouldn’t be considered for starting lineups outside of a desperation play.

Antonio Gibson: With the news that Gibson was dealing with a stress fracture in his shin, fantasy managers and analysts alike bumped Gibson down in their rankings for week five. It seemed like a safe assumption that he wasn’t going to see his normal workload and he needed to be downgraded accordingly. Instead, Gibson saw 57% of the snaps and ended up with 22 total touches in Washington’s loss to New Orleans. While he only averaged a pedestrian 3.0 Yards Per Carry, the Saints defense is a tougher matchup and usually keeps opposing RBs in check. Those numbers don’t quite matter though when Gibson is able to find the end zone twice and double his touchdown production up to that point of the season in one game. Moving forward, it seems like Gibson is locked back into a massive workload in this offense and it could only continue to grow as he gets further and further out from this injury. Against the Chiefs defense that is allowing 19.8 fantasy points per game to opposing RBs this season, Gibson needs to be in your starting lineup as a high-end RB2.

J.D. McKissic: McKissic played 41% of the snaps in week five, but it only resulted in three total touches and seven total yards. The veteran RB will have big games here or there, but it’s nearly impossible to predict when exactly those are going to take place. Even in a plus matchup like this one against the Chiefs, McKissic needs to remain on your bench or on your league’s waiver wire.

Jaret Patterson: Patterson saw a season-high four carries in week five, but he only played 6% of the snaps. At this point, Patterson’s merely a bench stash in Dynasty formats.

Wide Receivers

Tyreek Hill: Hill was kept in check for the majority of week five, but that still resulted in a 26% target share and 14 total opportunities. He only finished the game with seven receptions for 63 yards, but the volume is encouraging for fantasy managers. Looking ahead to week six, Hill belongs in your lineup as a top-3 option yet again. Washington is currently allowing 15.8 receptions per game to opposing WRs – the highest total in the league – and 205 receiving yards on average. With Hill’s ability to get open deep downfield, he could be in line for a monstrous game here. Fire him up with full confidence this week.

Mecole Hardman: Hardman was able to step up last week in a negative game script and he finished with a shocking 12 targets. He reeled in nine of them for 76 yards, which is a solid fantasy performance, but he was unlikely in starting lineups if you rostered him. This week against Washington, there’s the potential that Hardman has a good game, but there’s also a strong possibility that he’s not needed much here in a game that Kansas City should be able to win fairly easily. If you do plug Hardman into your starting lineup, you’re going to be left hoping that he finds the end zone. Otherwise, we could be looking at a disappointing performance. He’s a low-end FLEX play in deeper formats only.

Josh Gordon: Gordon is currently rostered in 32% of Yahoo leagues at the time of writing. However, he only played nine total snaps in week five against the Bills. There’s a possibility that Gordon develops into more of a focal point for the Chiefs offense as the season progresses, but that’s not a guarantee. Even further from a guarantee is the possibility that Gordon turns into a viable weekly starter for fantasy lineups at any point this season. If you have Gordon on your roster and you need someone who is actually contributing right now, you can drop him onto your waiver wire. Otherwise, he’s merely just a bench stash in hopes that he sees his snap count dramatically increase.

Terry McLaurin: McLaurin didn’t put up necessarily impressive numbers in week five, but the Saints are one of the tougher matchups for opposing WRs this entire season. The encouraging takeaway is that McLaurin still saw a hefty 27.5% target share that resulted in 11 total targets. Through five games, McLaurin now has a 30.2% target share, which is the fifth-highest in the entire NFL. Looking ahead to week six, McLaurin now gets a matchup against the Chiefs defense that simply cannot stop opposing passing games. They’re currently allowing 26.4 fantasy points per game to opposing WRs and there’s the potential that McLaurin finishes the week as a top-5 WR because of the matchup and the projected over/under. Fire him up with full confidence this week.

Curtis Samuel: Samuel injured his groin again this past week and is now listed as week-to-week. It’s unlikely that he suits up in this matchup.

Tight Ends

Travis Kelce: Through five weeks, if you were to take Kelce’s fantasy points (75.8) and move them over to the WR position, he would rank as the WR12 just ahead of Terry McLaurin. Fantasy managers that rolled the dice on the TE position and didn’t want to pay up for Kelce are left with a massive headache trying to figure out what to do each and every week. Whereas managers that added Kelce couldn’t be happier with their investment and the security that he brings at the position. In this matchup against Washington, Kelce’s a top-2 option yet again.

Rickey Seals-Jones: Seals-Jones has emerged in Logan Thomas‘ absence as a reliable receiving option for Heinicke over the middle of the field. Jones saw a 20% target share last week and it resulted in a solid 5-41-0 stat line. While we shouldn’t view him as a trustworthy option in single TE formats, if you play in TE-premium leagues or deeper formats, Seals-Jones is worth considering due to the projected game script and the target volume he could see in this game. However, he’s nothing more than a low-end TE2.

This season, the Primer is presented by Pristine Auction. They are going to be providing giveaways throughout the season. See below for how to win a signed Najee Harris jersey!

Green Bay Packers vs Chicago Bears

Date/Time: Sunday October 17, 1:00pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Packers -4.5
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 45 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Packers 24.75, Bears 20.25

Quarterbacks

Aaron Rodgers: Sunday’s Packers-Bears game is a showdown for first place in the NFC North, and Rodgers comes in as the QB18 in fantasy scoring (though in fairness, he’s only 6.6 points out of QB1 range). The Bears’ pass defense has exceeded expectations so far, ranking fourth in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric. Chicago has allowed 16 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, the fifth-lowest total in the league. Rodgers’ fantasy finishes by week: QB34, QB5, QB17, QB8, QB14. The Packers and Bears have been two of the slower-paced teams in the league this season, both ranking in the bottom seven in seconds per play. It would be silly to say Rodgers has a low ceiling this week, because the future Hall-of-Famer is talented enough to blast through his perceived ceiling in any given week. But his matchup isn’t ideal, nor is the likely pace of this game. I have Rodgers ranked QB10, which might even be slightly optimistic, and I’m not touching him in DFS.

Justin Fields: Since Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor took over the play-calling duties from head coach Matt Nagy in Week 4, Fields has thrown just 37 passes. He threw for 209 yards and no touchdowns in Week 4, then produced 111 passing yards and one touchdown in Week 5. His fantasy finishes the last two weeks: QB32 and QB31. Fields hasn’t had a big rushing day yet, but that day is surely coming – he’s an exceptional runner. It wouldn’t be a complete shock if Fields wound up having a big game against a Green Bay pass defense that’s missing stud CB Jaire Alexander and top edge rusher Za’Darius Smith. But with Lazor taking such a conservative approach with his rookie quarterback, Fields could produce a point total in the single digits. He’s my QB17 this week and not a consideration in DFS.

Running Backs

Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon: Since Week 2, Jones has averaged 20 touches a week and has logged no fewer than 18 touches in each of those games. He’s been the RB5 in fantasy scoring over that span, and he’s the RB7 on the season if we include the Packers’ Week 1 debacle against the Saints, in which Jones had seven touches and 22 yards from scrimmage. It goes without saying that Jones is a weekly must-start, and at a DraftKings price of $7,300, he worth considering for cash games. Dillon’s snap share has inched up into the 30%-40% range the last two weeks. After getting eight or fewer touches in his first three games, he’s averaged 14 touches in his last two. Dillon saw only two targets his entire rookie season, but he was targeted four times last week and caught all of them for 49 yards and a touchdown. The usage in the passing game is encouraging for Dillon investors, and so are the overall usage trends. Through three games it looked as if Dillon was strictly a backup. But the last two weeks, Dillon has been the 1b to Jones’ 1a, playing a role similar to the one Jamaal Williams played for the Packers in recent years. It makes Dillon potentially startable now that the bye weeks have hit. He’s my RB38 this week.

Damien Williams and Khalil Herbert: With Williams landing on the reserve/COVID-19 list, his status for Sunday is very much in doubt. We can probably assume that he’s going to be out, which will push Herbert into mid-RB2 range. But beyond this week? It’s hard to decipher the way these two were used in the Bears’ first game without the injured David Montgomery. Williams made the start against the Raiders in Week 5 and had all but one of the RB touches on Chicago’s first three drives. Herbert got more involved in the second quarter and was in the Bears’ backfield to open the second half. On their final two drives of the game, when the Bears were in clock-killing mode, Herbert out-touched Williams 7-2, but Williams took the majority of snaps inside the Raiders’ 10-yard line throughout the game and had a 4-yard TD run. Williams finished with 16-64-1 rushing and 2-20-0 receiving on three targets. Herbert had 18-75-0 rushing and wasn’t targeted in the passing game. Herbert had a 34-31 edge over Williams in total snaps. Herbert gets the green light for this week against a middling Packers run defense, and he’s a solid DFS play.

Wide Receivers

Davante Adams: Over the last three weeks, Adams has averaged 15 targets, 9.7 catches, and 134 yards per game. He smashed the Bengals for 11-206-1 last week, posting the highest single-game yardage total of his career. Adams is PFF’s top-graded wide receiver this season, and it would be hard to make the case for anyone else being the most valuable wide receiver in fantasy football. The Bears have one high-quality cornerback, Jaylon Johnson, and while he’s likely to cover Adams at times Sunday, he isn’t likely to shadow Adams on every snap.

Randall Cobb: Fans of the Bears and Packers will forever remember Cobb’s game-winning TD catch against the Bears in the final game of the 2013 regular season, allowing the 8-7-1 Packers to squeak into the playoffs and knocking out the 8-8 Bears. After going for 69 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Steelers in Week 4, Cobb had a 2-30-0 day against the Bengals in Week 5. Davante Adams takes up so much of the oxygen in the Green Bay passing attack that there might not be enough left for a secondary target. Cobb had six targets against Pittsburgh two weeks ago, and the injured Marquez Valdes-Scantling had seven targets in Week 1, but no other Green Bay receiver has seen more than four targets in a game this season. Even with the bye weeks upon us, Cobb is merely a desperation play in fantasy.

Allen Robinson: For A-Rob investors seeking comfort, we can only offer this: Robinson finished as the fantasy WR6 in 2015 with Blake Bortles as his quarterback in Jacksonville, and he was a top-12 quarterback each of the last two years with Mitch Trubisky as his primary quarterback. Justin Fields is almost surely going to be a better NFL passer than either Bortles or Trubisky, and the chemistry between Fields and Robinson could develop quickly. But it’s hard to stick with Robinson when he has 17-181-1 through five games, and with the Bears having attempted just 37 passes in their last two games. Robinson checks in as a low-end WR3 this week. His outlook brightens a bit with the absence of the Packers’ best outside cornerback, Jaire Alexander, but Robinson is an undeniably risky play in season-long leagues. I’m sort of attracted to him as a $5,300 GPP play on DraftKings, since there may be some sneaky upside here.

Darnell Mooney: Mooney’s results in the two games since Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor took over the play-calling duties from head coach Matt Nagy: 5-125-0 and 3-35-0. Fields attempted only 37 passes in those two games, and Mooney was the target on 12 of those throws. Mooney has paired better with rookie QB Justin Fields than fellow WR Allen Robinson has thus far. Consider him a high-end WR4 this week. Mooney’s $4,300 price tag on DraftKings makes him an attractive cost-cutting option, particularly when the Packers are without ace CB Jaire Alexander due to a shoulder injury.

Tight Ends

Robert Tonyan: The most pleasant TE surprise of the 2020 fantasy season has been held under 10 yards in four of his five games this season and is currently the TE33 in fantasy scoring, just behind MyCole Pruitt. In Week 6, Tonyan faces a Bears defense that is allowing 4.8 fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends. Consider him a mid-range TE2 at best.

Cole Kmet: Kmet has played 83% of Chicago’s offensive snaps and has run an average of 20 routes per game, but the usage hasn’t translated into usable fantasy production. Kmet has 10-81-0 this season and has logged just one top-24 fantasy week. Even with the byes kicking in, he’s no better than a low-end TE2.