Fantasy Football sleepers, Week 6: Chase Edmonds leads group of 5

Five fantasy football sleepers that deserve consideration for your Week 6 lineup.

This past week may have been the most hectic yet in the 2020 NFL season. Multiple COVID-19 scares led to the postponement of the Patriots vs. Broncos game and the first Tuesday Night game since 2010. From a fantasy football perspective, it was also an extremely peculiar week, with various unsuspecting players putting up top weeks while seemingly great starts put up duds.

Chase Claypool, Travis Fulgham and Brandin Cooks finished as the top three receivers, Ryan Fitzpatrick finished as the QB2, and Myles Gaskin finished as the RB8; that’s just the type of week it was for fantasy football scoring. We also witnessed a heartbreaking injury to Dak Prescott, a tragedy for both the NFL and fantasy managers everywhere as he was on a historical pace through the first four weeks.

With the Chargers, Raiders, Saints and Seahawks on bye in Week 6 and schedules seemingly changing by the minute, fantasy football managers are going to be without plenty of key players this week. Here are five major sleepers with tasty matchups that can perform in your starter’s absence.

Note: All fantasy stats and info via Fantasy Pros.

Fantasy football sleeper No. 5: QB Kirk Cousins, Minnesota (vs. Atlanta)

This is the second week in the row that Kirk Cousins has had a cakewalk of a matchup, and even though he was not able to deliver in fantasy against Seattle in Week 5, the Vikings still nearly pulled off the victory. Lucky for Cousins, Atlanta’s defense is a different story.

Fresh off the firing of their head coach and off to an 0-5 start, this Falcons team has been bleeding fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, and with Dalvin Cook likely sidelined, the Vikings will rely heavily on Cousins to send the Falcons to 0-6.

Fantasy football sleeper No. 4: RB Chase Edmonds, Arizona (vs. Dallas)

Even though Chase Edmonds is still the RB2 on his team’s depth chart, he is outperforming Drake in nearly every way and currently sits as the RB28, two spots ahead of Drake. More importantly, however, he looks quick and nimble and is the recipient of all the targets out of the backfield.

Meanwhile, Drake looks like he is running in quicksand and his 3.7 yards per carry reflect that. You can confidently start Edmonds in any PPR leagues, where he should provide a steady floor with big-play upside.

Fantasy football sleeper No. 3: WR Justin Jefferson, Minnesota (vs. Atlanta)

Justin Jefferson is one of those players that should have performed on paper last week but only finished with three receptions for 23 yards. This was likely due to the Vikings electing to run the ball 41 times, and the times that Cousins did drop back to pass, Adam Thielen was open every single time.

Even though Alexander Mattison is a strong backup, they will likely rely much heavier on the pass against Atlanta. Jefferson should be in line for more targets and with the ability to break a big play at any time, he should be slotted in as many lineups as possible in Week 6.

Fantasy football sleeper No. 2: WR Laviska Shenault Jr., Jacksonville (vs. Detroit)

Laviska Shenault Jr has actually put up a respectable year thus far, he just has not had a big blowup game yet. His time could be coming though, with D.J. Chark Jr. suffering an injury late in their Week 5 game. He has proven to be incredibly effective, catching 82 percent of the targets he has received.

Now he draws a matchup with Detroit, who has allowed the eighth-most points to opposing wide receivers this year. He has a good chance to see 10+ targets if Chark Jr misses making him a must-start in PPR formats everywhere.

Fantasy football sleeper No. 1: TE Jordan Akins, Houston (vs. Green Bay)

Jordan Akins missed the past week with a concussion and an ankle injury and Darren Fells put up a big week in his absence, finishing as the TE5 on the week. He gets a matchup against Green Bay, who has been stout against the tight end position but Houston should be playing from behind and relying heavily on the pass, giving Akins a good chance at five targets and a few red-zone looks.

If you have Jared Cook, Hunter Henry, or Darren Waller as your starting tight end and the waiver wire is looking dry, look for Akins, who is only owned in 8 percent of Yahoo! leagues, or Darren Fells if Akins has not recovered from his ankle injury.