Have you ever looked at your fantasy football league standings and wondered how some teams have such a good record early in the season? The Detroit Lions are looking up at others in the NFC North and feel the same way. Both for your fantasy team and the Lions, please remember that it is early with lots of football still to play.
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The toughest loss to accept in fantasy football is that one where it comes down to the final game of the week and your opponent has a player or two still yet to play, and they score just enough to beat you. This past week — with games on Monday and Tuesday — that factor was really in play. Many probably felt that heartbreak of a last-second loss in fantasy football, which is another feeling the Lions can relate with.
Let’s do, as many NFL head coaches often say, and put the past behind us. Onto the next week, Week 6.
There are lots of interesting matchups, waiver wire pickups to help with those injuries, and a Lions game in Jacksonville to put the spotlight on. We will do all of that and more in this week’s Fantasy Football Weekly.
Lions at Jaguars fantasy focus
A quality fantasy football offense often has a top-notch quarterback, a few dynamic wide receivers, a pass-catching tight end, and multiple complementary running backs. That represents the Lions much more than the Jacksonville Jaguars roster these days.
The Jaguars resemble a fantasy football team constructed via the waiver wire. They feature Gardner Minshew at quarterback, who was a very late draft pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Their receiving corps is filled with a bunch of names you won’t see anywhere near the top of the fantasy charts.
They do have Tyler Eifert at tight end. Yes, the same Tyler Eifert who blew up one year in fantasy football with 13 touchdowns, but that year was all the way back in 2015. The Jaguars cut Leonard Fournette before the season started and replaced him with an unknown, undrafted running back James Robinson out of Illinois State. This team the Lions are facing is filled with all the guys no one else wanted. That is what makes them so dangerous.
There are so many ways this game could go. The Lions could put up great fantasy statistics based on their talent and the number of points the Jaguars defense has given up on average so far this year (36.8 PPG). The Jaguars could show why they are underrated and run the ball all over the Lions defense, which has greatly struggled to stop the run. The final scenario is that it could just be a very ugly game across the board for both teams with poor play on both sides of the ball. For fantasy purposes, put in your fantasy players on both teams. It feels like points will be scored in this one regardless.
Start/Sit
Start
Ben Roethlisberger (QB Steelers)
Chase Edmunds (RB Cardinals)
Laviska Shenault (WR Jaguars)
T.J. Hockenson (TE Lions)
Sit
Matt Ryan (QB Falcons)
Jerick McKinnon (RB 49ers)
Brandin Cooks (WR Texans)
Tyler Higbee (TE Rams)
Top-3 projected players by position
Quarterbacks
Kyler Murray, Cardinals
Josh Allen, Bills
Lamar Jackson, Ravens
Running Backs
Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys
Derrick Henry, Titans
Mike Davis, Panthers
Wide Receivers
DeAndre Hopkins, Cardinals
Devante Adams, Packers
Adam Thielen, Vikings
Tight Ends
Travis Kelce, Chiefs
Mark Andrews, Ravens
George Kittle, 49ers
Team Defenses
Colts
Ravens
Dolphins
Kickers
Jason Sanders, Dolphins
Stephen Gostowski, Titans
Harrison Butker, Chiefs
Waiver wire options
Andy Dalton (QB Cowboys)
Derek Carr (QB Raiders)
Alexander Mattison (RB Vikings)
Justin Jackson (RB Chargers)
Chase Claypool (WR Steelers)
Travis Fulgham (WR Eagles)
Trey Burton (TE Colts)
Drew Sample (TE Bengals)
Intriguing games and players in Week 6
(Week 5 Bye Weeks: Seahawks, Saints, Chargers, Raiders)
Baltimore at Philadelphia, Sunday 1:00 PM, EST
- BAL: J.K. Dobbins (RB), Marquise Brown (WR)
- PHI: Zach Ertz (TE), Miles Sanders (RB)
Cleveland at Pittsburgh, Sunday 1:00 PM, EST
- CLE: Odell Beckham, Jr (WR), David Njoku (TE)
- PIT: JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR), James Washington (WR)
Green Bay at Tampa Bay, Sunday 4:25 PM, EST
- GB: Marquez Valdez-Scantling (WR), Aaron Rodgers (QB)
- TB: Cameron Brate (TE), Tom Brady (QB)
LA Rams at San Francisco, Sunday 8:20 PM, EST
- LAR: Cooper Kupp (WR), Cam Akers (RB)
- SF: George Kittle (TE), Deebo Samuel (WR)
Kansas City at Buffalo, Monday 5:00 PM, EST
- KC: Patrick Mahomes (QB), Mecole Hardman (WR)
- BUF: Stefon Diggs (WR), Zach Moss (RB)
Arizona at Dallas, Monday 8:15 PM, EST
- AZ: Kyler Murray (QB), Kenyon Drake (RB)
- DAL: Amari Cooper (WR), Ezekiel Elliott (RB)
Bottom Line
Could you imagine a fantasy football season where you start out with a big lead early on every week only to lose that lead throughout your matchup and ultimately get beat by your opponent at the very end?
Those losses week after week where you were ahead to start only to lose in the end would be crushing. Seeing losses like that pile up is demoralizing for any fantasy owner and the key is to try to stop the trend any way possible.
This is the situation facing the Lions and many fantasy owners out there right now. Those late losses seem to hurt more than others, but there is still lots of time left to turn the season around.
Try to go undefeated this week instead of focusing on one of those tough losses in the past. Winning each week and trying to put your best effort out there is the best strategy for your fantasy team and also for the Detroit Lions.