Hungry for More: The Fantasy Footballers’ Predictions for Week 6
Finding players who are ready to take a step up at this point in the season can be the difference between making the playoffs or sitting on the sidelines when the title is decided! Ahead of Week 6, now is the time to get back into the kitchen to whip up that perfect dish to finish off your appetite!
Each week the Ballers will pick a player who super-sized their game in the past week and decide if they’ll continue to eat at the big guy’s table or go back to the kid’s table. Of course, I’ll give you an extra side dish or two to go along with Andy, Mike, and Jason’s main course! Let me know if you think we’re cooking up a high-end meal or if it’s more like gas station sushi!
TE – Logan Thomas (WASH)
| Week 5 | ||
| Receptions | Receiving Yards | TDs |
| 9 | 77 | 1 |
The TE landscape has been an absolute wasteland, but Andy argues that Logan Thomas might be one of the midseason saviors that fantasy managers need. After nearly two years of irrelevance in the fantasy world, Thomas has started 2023 with top-six TE finishes in two of his first four games. While there has been inconsistency in the distribution of targets among the Washington offense, Thomas has been a contributor each week and as a bonus is seeing red zone targets which he’s turned into two of his TDs.
Week 6 may be a great opportunity for Thomas to continue his march in the top-10 TEs against Atlanta. The Falcons are currently allowing the second-most points to opposing fantasy TEs and have given up 10+ to the position in four of five weeks. As long as the Commanders continue to throw the ball at one of the highest rates in the league, Thomas can continue to be an option for fantasy managers.
RB – Rhamondre Stevenson (NE)
| Week 5 | ||
| Receptions | Receiving Yards | TDs |
| 8 | 24 | 0 |
Jason may be left starving on this one, but he’s asking for more from Rhamondre Stevenson heading into Week 6. The offseason hype for a top-10 RB season from Stevenson was heard loud and often after the Patriots moved on from Damien Harris and waited until right before the season started to add Ezekiel Elliott. Unfortunately, Stevenson hasn’t cracked the top-30 RBs in the last three weeks after starting the season giving fantasy managers some juicy top-20 finishes.
If Stevenson is going to start cooking with grease again, he’ll need to take advantage of the sweet schedule that’s being served up to him over the next several weeks. That tasty treat starts with the Las Vegas Raiders who have allowed the 10th-most rushing yards on the season and have only kept opposing teams’ RBs from scoring 20 or more fantasy points once this season. It doesn’t help that the Patriots have only scored three points over the last two games and have scored the fewest TDs in the league, but Stevenson stands a chance to still be relevant for fantasy managers.
WR – Jordan Addison (MIN)
| Week 5 | ||
| Receptions | Receiving Yards | TDs |
| 6 | 64 | 1 |
The Fantasy Hitman brings a dish called opportunity for Vikings rookie Jordan Addison after Justin Jefferson was placed on IR. Through his first five NFL games, Addison has been extremely effective in Minnesota’s offense, finishing in the top 24 three times. It’s no coincidence that all of those top-24 finishes came whenever he caught a TD. Addison has seen his snaps increase gradually and saw nine targets in Week 5, so a huge bump could be coming for the first-round pick.
The Vikings’ offense has thrown the ball more than any other team in the league so far this season, so Addison will have plenty of chances to get more involved in their passing attack. It does help that Minnesota heads to Chicago to take on a Bears defense that has allowed the most passing yards in the league through five games. If you were willing to hold on to Addison as a flex play, there could be plenty of payoff in the coming weeks or even the rest of the season depending on the length of Jefferson’s IR stay.
WR – Rashee Rice (KC)
| Week 5 | ||
| Receptions | Receiving Yards | TDs |
| 4 | 33 | 1 |
I’ll bring up another rookie WR that should see increased opportunity heading into Week 6 in Rashee Rice. Rice plays in the very crowded Kansas City WR room, but as a rookie he’s been able to make the most of his opportunities, already posting two top-30 finishes in very limited snaps. Jason noted on Tuesday’s show that Rice is seeing a target per route run at one of the highest rates in the league, so any increase in snap count could mean much bigger things for his fantasy output.
The opportunity in the Chiefs’ offense comes with Travis Kelce’s injury in Sunday’s win against Minnesota. Since Kansas City has a short week due to playing on Thursday night, it lowers the chances that Kelce will suit up, and if he does, it won’t likely be at his full speed. When you add on top that Denver’s defense is allowing the second-most passing yards in the league and the most passing TDs, I’d be willing to get Rice in as a flex play (in your WR spot of course) to try and capitalize on his upside.