In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Knockaround:
The 49ers have made a habit of blowing double-digit leads this season. San Francisco made sure it didn’t happen on Thursday night.
The 49ers got 3 touchdown passes from Brock Purdy, with 2 going to George Kittle and forced 3 turnovers to win on the road, 36-24, against the Seahawks. Here is the Friday FAQ.
What happened to Jordan Mason?
The 49ers running back was on his way to a big game and injured his left shoulder in the first half. He returned to open the second half and had the first carry, left the game and never returned. He was seen flexing his shoulder numerous times on the sidelines. Christian McCaffrey is expected to return in November. If Mason were to miss time, Isaac Guerendo would get most of the touches with Deebo Samuel getting more carries. Guerendo had 9 carries for 100 yards, including a 76-yarder that iced the game.
Is there concern about DK Metcalf after another down game?
Not at all. Metcalf had 3 catches for 48 yards one week after 4 catches for 55 yards against the Giants. It could have been a much better game for Metcalf. He made a great catch in the corner of the end zone, but his toe was narrowly on the line and was out of bounds. In the fourth quarter, Metcalf had a long touchdown called back due to an illegal motion penalty. Those 3 catches came on 11 targets.
Is Kenneth Walker a must-start each week?
He definitely is. Even without big yards on the ground the last two weeks, Walker had a good fantasy game. The Seahawks talked about running the ball more this week, but it didn’t happen. Walker had 14 carries for 32 yards with a touchdown and caught 8 passes for 37 yards. He has 19 receptions in the last three games.
What else is in today’s newsletter?
- Start/Sit Decisions for Week 6: RBs to start and a surging WR to sit
- Watercooler: Matthew is back with Love/Hate for Week 6
- Throwing Shade: Everyone knows this fantasy football manager …
Sit A Surging Terry McLaurin In Week 6?
- By Gene Clemons and John Laghezza
Welcome to Fantasy Life's Start/Sit column, where John Laghezza and Gene Clemons dig a little deeper to offer some non-obvious, outside-the-box lineup advice. John's a numbers guy, Gene is a literal football coach — what more could you ask for?
We'll kick it off with John's “start” recommendations, check in on Gene's bold calls, move to the sits, and wrap it all up with a final thought from each.
Good luck! Enjoy the column! And to fill in any players we didn't cover here, check out our premium set of expert fantasy football rankings.
John’s Week 6 RBs To Start: Justice Hill and the Bengals
Using a weighted mix of over a dozen different advanced stats on each side of the balI, I reverse-power-ranked every defense in the league—all to point fantasy gamers of any league size toward the right start/sit answers this weekend.
- Ravens (vs. WAS) — No sane person’s ever benching Derrick Henry at peak powers but this week even backup Justice Hill earns the nod.
- Bengals (vs. NYG) — Cincinnati’s backfield is becoming a perpetual committee-based source of frustration. Enjoy playing NYG when both earn the green light.
- Jets (vs. BUF) — Breece Hall’s fantasy GMs continue to express visible frustration and rightfully so. Given byes and the matchup. The time’s come when both Jets RBs should be starting Sunday.
Gene’s Bold Prediction — Sit Terry McLaurin
I know the Ravens gave up a gazillion fantasy points to receivers last week against the Bengals, but the worst thing you could do is to overreact to individual performances in a given week. Most of those yards came via a game script that forced Cincy into opening the playbook and throwing the ball around. Also, Terry McLaurin is not Ja’Marr Chase and he does not have a Tee Higgins rolling with him.
Do you want to know who understands how bad the Ravens secondary was last week against the Bengals? The Ravens secondary! They will be looking for retribution.
In week three, CeeDee Lamb managed four receptions for 67 yards, and in week four Khalil Shakir caught four passes for 62 yards. The Ravens will be fixated on taking McLaurin away. Other receivers may have success, but he will not. If you can help it, let him chill this week.
More Start/Sit Answers for Week 6
RELATED CONTENT:
- More Answers to Week 6 Questions: Kyle Pitts, Rico Dowdle, and more.
- NFL Pigskin Pick’em: Picking every winner for Week 6.
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The latest analysis and insights from our merry band of football nerds:
👀 It’s time for Matthew Berry’s WEEK 6 LOVE/HATE, sharing a personal open that’s impacting millions.
🪓 Draft season never ends … paid public leagues are now available on GuillotineLeagues.com!
🚑 Gearing up for the slew of Friday injury news? Our rankings will be updated as news comes in.
✅ We’re banking on these players to find the end zone in Week 6 … are you in?
🤷🏼♂️ Wait, Josh Allen is ranked where in Week 6?
Throwing Shade … At The GM Who Dials Out In Week 4
By Nando Di Fino
Throughout this season, we’ll be “throwing shade” at some of the elements of fantasy that we could do without. Today’s topic: the GM who dials out in Week 4.
And this week we’ll be rocking the Commanders frames in honor of Laghezza’s super-sleeper above, Olamide Zaccheaus.
Subject: The GM Who Dials Out In Week 4 and Back In Around Week 10.
Identifying Traits: At least one starter on IR; DST is seemingly on bye every week; this team wins every week by 3-4 points anyway in frustrating fashion.
Brief Synopsis: This GM is consistently late to the draft and has at least three players autopicked; we would throw more shade here but their saving grace is never asking for roll-backs—they’re generally amused at who they got and shrug. But once the season starts, this team will have little to no free-agent movement and will consistently have injured players or stars with bye weeks in starting lineups. Around mid-November, this team will re-engage, realize they are in the playoff hunt, and become a power player, somehow making the playoffs and knocking out a team that has meticulously crafted their roster all season long and likely has a jersey of each player on their team. The GM Who DIals Out In Week 4 and Back In Around Week 10 will lose in the semi-final and disappear until the week before next week’s draft, when the league will get an email asking when the draft date is, if it’s PPR or not, and “do we have keepers?”
What to do if you see a GM Who DIals Out In Week 4 and Back In Around Week 10 in the wild: This GM will likely send you an email after discovering on LinkedIn that you know someone at a job they’re applying to; you will have to explain that you really don’t know them, you worked together 14 years ago, and haven’t spoken to them since.
You may also get an email asking for “the password to the league” at some point, and have to explain that each individual team creates their password. Approach this GM with caution, as you may get sucked into a one-sided and labyrinthine conversation about why NFTs are the future of everything.
