Week 6 Picks!

A big 6 - 1 week brings me up to 22 - 13. But I’d like to start this picks article off with a mini-rant.

The latest trend (or new to me, at least) in sports social media seems to be people recording themselves reacting to big plays. I should have seen. this coming after reaction videos to songs and trailers became popular, and - to be fair - these videos are probably more useful as content than people filming the play itself, a video they will probably never watch in their lives - but I’m really hoping that we’re a generation away from people actually enjoying living in the moment and not filming everything. That being said, I still take photos of my food when I go out to eat so who the hell am I to talk?

Let’s get to the games.

GAME OF THE WEEK

JOHNNY vs RAHUL
As the only game of the week to feature two winning records, this could have serious playoff implications. FantasyPros still ranks Rahul as the #1 team in their Rest of Season rankings but nothing has changed my thinking that this team only goes as far as Lamar Jackson takes it. Normally, I’d say that Lamar will definitely sit since the Ravens have a bye next week but with the team sitting a 1 - 4; they might risk him playing to save the season.
Johnny, meanwhile, has a stack of the #3 QB (Baker Mayfield) and the #3 WR (Emeka Egbuka) yet he has somehow managed to never play them at the same time. One would think he might finally make it happen this week with Justin Fields facing Denver in London. Either way, I think the matchups favor Johnny, who will continue to ascend the standings.
PICK: JOHNNY

UPSET OF THE WEEK

BRENDAN vs THE GENTLEMAN
Obviously, the game after I trade away Caleb Williams, Kyler Murray gets dinged up. And Garrett Wilson will probably be shadowed by Patrick Surtain II, which doesn’t bode well for his fantasy prospects this week. On the bright side, I won the FA bidding for everyone’s favorite nepo baby, Mason Taylor, and he should probably benefit if Justin Fields can’t get the ball to Garrett. (How did I end up with three Jets on my team?!) I have the edge in the flex spots but I have a concern with my supposedly top notch IDPs.
Brendan has the tougher matchups on paper but but I feel like he’s going to have the TD luck on his side. Dak should light up Carolina, I could see Cook outscoring Bijan in their head-to-head matchup, Seattle just got lit up by Emeka Egbuka so maybe Brian Thomas Jr. might break out against them. I also could see Goedert, Tucker, and Shahid outplaying their matchup rankings.
And probably the biggest issue - The Gentleman is the home team this weekend where we’re only 1 - 1 this season. Sitting alone in our apartment on gameday does nothing for the team morale so we’re real road warriors (3 - 0) this season.
PICK: BRENDAN

THE REST

ELI vs DEREK
This is a true Best of Times, Worst of Times matchup. I don’t want to steal the podcast’s thunder so I’ll just solemnly acknowledge Derek’s lost weekend and move on. Help is on the way but that help (for Ja’Marr Chase, at least) is Joe Flacco, who I think is going to get mauled behind that Cincy offensive line so there’s a real chance for a Grand Opening, Grand Closing once Off-Broadway Joe gets in there for the Bengals. Derek’s RB situation is a mess and, as much as he wants to stand by his original squad, he’s already waived 8 of the 17 guys from his week 1 roster so why not make a trade?
Honestly, not much to report on the Borts side of things besides the ruthless “You get an 0, you gotta go!” move as veteran Zach Ertz dropped a goose egg last week and was waived in favor of Eli’s top FA choice and fantasy podcast favorite Harold Fanning Jr. Even Jonathon Gannon thought Eli was being overly harsh after one bad game and the league hopes for another heartfelt apology from Eli to kick off the podcast this week.
PICK: ELI

JUSTIN vs PLAYER #14
At first I was stunned to see that The Champ was favored but then I realized this was Minnesota’s bye week so our local Viking fetishist is short-handed this week. Facing the prospect of starting Jakobi Meyers and both Chuba Hubband AND Rico Dowdle, Player #14 decided to only add AJ Barner on the offensive end. I assume his only research was making sure Barner’s first initial didn’t stand for “Antifa”.
The Champ has good matchups and Touchdown Terry McLaurin could be back to shore up his flex spot. Justin gave up $43 free agent dollars so off-brand superhero Hassan Haskins (who Player #14 is already labeling a DEI hire) can sit on the bench. Still, this could finally be the week in which the Travis Hunter gambit pays off.
PICK: JUSTIN

DANA vs BERNIE
The Caleb Williams Era begins and I think we’ll see another big week from Ashton Jeanty. And then, uh, yeah. Congrats on getting Kareem Hunt, I guess.
The one thing going for Dana is that Bernie doesn’t have the greatest of matchups although I’m not buying Arizona’s #5 against QBs ranking since Sam Darnold is the best QB they’ve faced this year. I don’t think this will be as big of a blowout as Watson is predicting but I’m still giving the nod to Bernie.
PICK: BERNIE

BRETT vs COLIN
Again, this is a game between the Haves and the Have Nots. Only 2 of Colin’s players are outside of the top ten ranking of their position and only 3 of Brett’s players are inside the top 10 and he has four guys who can’t even make the Top 40. That being said, I like the matchups for Brett’s main guys so an upset is not out of the realm of possibility. The Isiah Pacheco/Malik Washington flex spots, however, are keeping me from making the bold prediction. Javonte Williams vs. Carolina could double up their combined score. I’d definitely take the points on this one though.
PICK: COLIN

MARK vs ANDY
The McBarge has had this game circled on the schedule for weeks! All of Andy’s trash talk and now his team is in the basement and Mark is putting up one huge score after another. I was going to joke that Mark has a bye week this week but, you know what, the Madre Sucia does have some nice matchups this week. Unfortunately, Mark also has some potential boom spots in his lineup so I’m still not sure it matters. Mark spent $35 on Kimani Vidal, which I believe is an all-natural hair treatment. If you look good, you’ll play good! (Bernie snaked my joke on the WhatsApp chat but I’m leaving it in!)
PICK: MARK