RADIO
The byes are here, but so are the booms and busts!
Drew Brees will not be breaking any more records this week as he and his New Orleans Saints are on bye, along with Matthew Stafford and his Detroit Lions. So do not look for Tre’Quam Smith or Kerryon Johnson to make the columns as under-the-radar booms or busts. No worries, fantasy football fans! There are still plenty of other under-the-radar booms and busts to peg.
Here are some under-the-radar booms and busts for the sixth week of NFL action to help you set a winning lineup. Good luck RotoBallers!
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Week 6 Under-the-Radar Booms
Jameis Winston (QB, TB) at ATL
Football’s favorite crab legs connoisseur is back at the helm of Tampa Bay’s offense, and it could not come at a better time for his fantasy owners. Ryan “Fitzmagic” is back to being Ryan Fitzpatrick and back on the bench after a couple of mediocre outings. Fitzpatrick should also lose the Conor McGregor look, especially since McGregor was pounded on by Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Winston is slated to throw against an Atlanta defense that is allowing 277 passing yards per game and is missing its top two safeties. Even better, Winston has owned the Falcons in recent games, throwing for 10 touchdowns over his past three contests against them. Look for Winston to hook up a lot with Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson and Cameron Brate this weekend and for him to toss 40 passes due to the virtually nonexistent Buccaneers running game.
Carlos Hyde (RB, CLE) vs. LAC
Cleveland for some reason has ignored Duke Johnson after lavishing him with multimillions in the offseason. It makes no sense; there is little the Browns have done over the past decade that has made any sense. Whatever the case, this has been great for Hyde, who has 106 touches so far compared to Johnson’s 27.
The Chargers defense has been above-average against the run (10th) this season, but it is hard to count on them when Joey Bosa is not on the field. I would bank on Cleveland keeping the offense close to the vest after Baker Mayfield’s spotty performance last week and for Hyde to do a lot with his 20 touches. This is not shaping up like a week where Hyde only has 10 carries for 20 yards, that’s for sure.
Quincy Enunwa (WR, NYJ) vs. IND
Enunwa was shut out as if he was covered by Champ Bailey versus Denver last Sunday – five targets, zero catches, zero yards, zero fantasy impact. After being Sam Darnold’s top target over the first month of the season, he was an audience member of the Robby Anderson show as Anderson hauled in two long touchdown passes from New York’s rookie quarterback. Anderson was due to finally have a big game, and Enunwa was due to have a bad one.
Enunwa is not going to have back-to-back fantasy zeroes. Indianapolis’ banged-up secondary is ranked 28th in pass defense and has allowed over 700 passing yards in the last two weeks. Expect Darnold to reacquaint himself with his favorite receiver and throw to him 10-12 times and for Enunwa to end up with eight catches for 95 yards and a TD or two.
Week 6 Under-the-Radar Busts
Kenyan Drake (RB, MIA) at CHI
I am sticking my hand into the blender again when it comes to putting Drake in this column. He made me look as foolish as Antonio Brown sounds when he opens his mouth when I predicted Drake would be an under-the-radar boom versus Oakland and he blessed fantasy owners with five rushes for three yards and two receptions for seven yards.
So I am trying with Drake again, this time as a bust. Even though he is coming off his best game of the short season (115 total yards and a TD), he is running smack into Chicago’s top-ranked run defense after the Bears are coming off a bye week. Drake is also still splitting time and touches with Frank Gore, so it is hard to pencil Drake in for more than 60 yards this week.
Christian Kirk (WR, ARI) at MIN
Is Kirk the heir apparent to Larry Fitzgerald? The second-rounder has done well fantasy-wise two of the past three weeks and is showing big-play ability after scoring his scintillating 75-yard touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers this past Sunday. Kirk has lots of upside and Arizona will be throwing lots this year due to trailing in most of their games, so he will be a decent fantasy force.
Kirk will be hard-pressed to have 80-100 receiving yards this week, however. Minnesota appears to have ironed out the issues in its secondary (hint – do not have linebacker Anthony Barr covering players that are faster than he is). The Vikings are also not going to lose a second straight home game to a terrible team after being embarrassed by Buffalo a couple weeks back. Kirk might get 50-70 garbage yards, but he will not be a boom in Week 6.
C.J. Uzomah (TE, CIN) vs. PIT
With Tyler Eifert out with another season-ending injury, Uzomah has assumed the starting tight end role on Cincinnati’s surprising 4-1 squad. Uzomah already has a couple 40-yard games to his credit and scored a touchdown a couple weeks ago, so fantasy owners who unfortunately had Eifert have probably been picking Uzomah up as an emergency replacement.
Uzomah is a block-first tight end who is getting his hands wet with the whole pass-catching thing. The truth is that Tyler Kroft is the better pass catcher at the position on the Bengals and might start getting more looks from Andy Dalton as soon as this weekend. Do not be fooled into using Uzomah because he is facing Pittsburgh’s underwhelming secondary. There are better low-cost options at tight end this week.
That's it for me, Rotoballers! Follow me on Twitter at @craigrondinone!
