Poor week last week. I was right there in the top 30 of this thing a week or two ago, and now I'm barely clinging into double-digits. Faith in Derrick Henry was a clear mistake. Time to make up some ground with an aggressive yet a little bit safer lineup.
In this competition, each week's high score (standard scoring) will win a $25 Fantasy Index gift certificate, and the season champ will win an enviable prize package, which may be delivered to your door if you happen to live near me.
How to play: Sign into your Fantasy Index account and click the blue "Your stuff" button in the top right corner. Then look for the link to Fantasy Index Blackout on the right side of the page. Pretty simple.
Here's my Week 6 lineup.
Quarterback: Matt Ryan and Tom Brady. Falcons-Bucs and Pats-K.C. are going to be wild shootouts, the only question is which quarterbacks will be better. I guess the Belichick mystique has me choosing Brady over Mahomes, and the sheer awfulness of Tampa Bay's defense has me choosing Ryan over Winston.
Running back: Ezekiel Elliott and Kareem Hunt. If I'm thinking New England causes some problems for Mahomes, Hunt will need to do more, just as he did in Week 1 a year ago. I know Dallas won't pass on Jacksonville, and if they do, Elliott will probably be their leading receiver anyway. Christian McCaffrey and Melvin Gordon are also strong choices.
Wide receiver: Julio Jones, Davante Adams and Mike Evans. I don't expect any of these players have much chance of being covered by the defenses they're facing (Packers are home against San Francisco on Monday night). Jones and Evans have monster games against each other in the last couple of years.
Tight end: Rob Gronkowski and George Kittle. It's honestly a little depressing looking at the tight end position these days. Gronkowski has certainly been a letdown and it's telling that New England tried to trade him in the offseason. But Kansas City doesn't have much coverage people available and it's a spot for him to have a good game. Kittle is the present/future of a position that has a lot of injured players, and he's on a team with some banged-up/not good wide receivers.
Kicker: Justin Tucker and Mason Crosby. Tucker doesn't have a choice matchup but I'm not sure it matters with him. Crosby comes off one of the all-time bad games for a kicker but I'm doubling down on him with the thought that he'll bounce back and get on the field plenty for Green Bay at home against San Francisco.
Defense/Special Teams: Chicago and Houston. The Bears look like one of the all-time great defenses and they're in Miami facing an opponent it's difficult to think won't shoot itself in the foot time and time again. Houston hosts Josh Allen and talent-thin Buffalo.
Good luck to the rest of you.