Week 6 is upon us, and with some big teams on bye and major injuries, I bet most managers are looking way down the rankings for starters. If that sounds like you, welcome to another edition of Sneaky Starts for Week 6.
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We had another great set of calls in Week 5, with 3 of our 4 players getting us a W!
David Montgomery shook off his bust game in Week 4, and scored us a win by netting two touchdowns: one on the ground, and one passing! He’s always going to be a big part of the Lions’ game plan. If you don’t believe me, just go watch Coach Dan Campbell’s postgame interview.
Keon Coleman didn’t have an amazing game on Sunday night, but still caught four passes with a touchdown, enough to net him double-digit points in both PPR and Half-PPR and a Win in our books. He had a number of other big redzone targets and seems to be heating up a little moving forward.
Darren Waller showed that his first game back wasn’t a fluke, and followed it up with 5 catches for 72 yards and a touchdown. All of his production came in the first half, so just imagine what could happen if he’s scripted for all four quarters.
Our lone bad call came from Elic Ayomanor. Perhaps we were a little early to call Calvin Ridley cooked, but then again, one big game does not make a season. I wouldn’t expect any consistency from either moving forward.
Sneaky Start Season Tally: 11-8
Now let’s see if we can build off our impressive Week 5 with some more great calls in Week 6!
Check out all of our Week 6 Rankings: Flex Rankings | QB Rankings | RB Rankings | WR Rankings | TE Rankings
Week 6 Sneaky Starts
Chase Brown, Cincinnati RB @ Green Bay Packers
Well, I definitely didn’t have Chase Brown making an appearance in the Sneaky Starts on my 2025 NFL Bingo card, but here we are. Although he was drafted to be most teams’ RB1 this season, Brown has been nearly unusable. So why would I recommend him in what appears to be a terrible matchup?
Answer: Joe Flacco.
Flacco is taking the short drive from Cleveland to Cincinnati to be the Bengals’ new starter. While I don’t think this is going to be particularly effective at saving the Bengals’ season, I do think he will provide more value to the skill players than Jake Browning could.
Chase Brown particularly stands to benefit. In his four starts for the Browns this year, Flacco averaged 9 pass attempts per game to the running backs. The Bengals offensive line is still trash, and the 40-year-old QB is going to be under pressure A LOT from Micah Parsons and company. Expect him to check it down to Brown quickly and often.
Brown will probably still have a hard time doing much with the opportunities, but in a PPR or Half-PPR league, he should get plenty of empty catches to keep him in the RB2 ranks. This really won’t change things much for managers in standard scoring leagues, but for everyone else, finally feel confident in playing Brown.
Tyquan Thornton, Kansas City WR vs. Detroit Lions
This one still feels sneaky, but really shouldn’t at this point. He’s averaging 5 targets and nearly 55 yards per game. He’s also scored in three of the first five weeks.
A big reason that Thornton is still flying under the radar is that fantasy managers want to write off any Chiefs’ pass catcher who stepped forward in the absence of Rashee Rice. That doesn’t really make sense in Thornton’s case though, as he is strictly a downfield threat, and his role shouldn’t change upon Rice’s return. That is, of course, unless Xavier Worthy gets pushed into Thornton’s spot, but I don’t really expect that.
Regardless, this game will still be the last until Rice comes back, and the team has shown that they intend to throw more deep passes this year. Mahomes has also shown much more of his rushing skills this year, which forces defenses to compensate, and leaves more space for Thornton to operate downfield.
The matchup with the Lions is expected to be one of the highest over/unders of the week, and the Chiefs are likely going to need to score to keep up. Thornton is a big play waiting to happen, and it only takes one bomb touchdown to make his week.
Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay WR vs. San Francisco 49ers
Godwin has put up identical production in the past two weeks: 3 catches for 26 yards. The difference is that he received 10 targets in Week 4, but only 4 in Week 5. You would have hoped that in a game where the offense scored 38 points that Godwin would have gotten a bigger part of the pie, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
I don’t think that’s going to be predictive moving forward.
Godwin is still ramping back up in his return from injury, and the team is going to need him more often than not. Baker has been on a tear and while I don’t see the 49ers being the ones to end his hot streak, I do think that they will be able to scheme out Egbuka more than their past few opponents, which should mean more looks going to Godwin.
Once Mike Evans returns, the receiver room is going to be a bit crowded. In the meantime, Godwin should be a reliable start, especially in PPR. Hope that the 49ers can keep it interesting against a Bucs defense that’s been struggling, and this one could turn into a high-scoring affair.
Jake Tonges, San Francisco TE @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I could’ve gone with the low-hanging fruit and picked the Jets’ Mason Taylor as my TE selection (and if I’m being honest, he’s probably the better play if he’s still available in your league), but I decided to try and pick someone even more buried in the rankings: Jake Tonges.
Similar to how Thornton isn’t getting enough praise because of the impending return of Rashee Rice, Tonges is receiving little to no buzz, likely because he will be an afterthought once George Kittle returns.
That shouldn’t affect how you look at him in the meantime though. Tonges has performed admirably in Kittle’s absence. He’s averaged 6 targets per game in his four starts this season. In the last two games, he’s finished as the TE6 and TE9, respectively. That last game against the Rams also included 11 targets!
Tonges was likely never part of the passing game plan for the Niners in the offseason, but with all of their injuries, here we are. Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall could both miss another game, and the team has been totally mum on Kittles’ status, which could mean an even more extended absence is impending.
The TE is a huge part of the San Francisco offense, so as long as Tonges has the primary role, he should be a usable starter.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 6 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!
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