The bye weeks are finally here. And it’s extremely appropriate that they come in the spookiest month since they give us frights and chills. As an aside, it’s incredibly nice of Yahoo! to highlight your Bye weeks, but less good that it’s a bright red. Like someone shanked your fantasy football roster. And in one IDP league, I have 5 of my 6 IDP players on Bye next week, so it’ll feel like someone shanked my roster next week. Anyway, it’s time to figure out how to fill those gaps. Let’s start with the weekly running back sleepers (or weekly streamers, whatever you want to call it). These are running backs rostered in fewer than 50% of leagues, to help you fill the gaps. For those of us in deeper leagues, there’s also one running back available in at least 90% of leagues!
Fantasy Football Week 6 Sleeper Running Backs
Marlon Mack versus Houston (29% rostered)
Marlon Mack quietly had himself a pretty good game on Monday Night Football. Quiet because he didn’t turn around anyone’s fortunes or have one of the greatest tight end performances of all time. But, he ended the day with 5 carries for 47 yards. The Colts seem determined to keep Jonathan Taylor healthy and in a timeshare, so that means more Marlon Mack going forward. I can’t say that I trust this yet, but if you’re desperate, he’s an option.
The Texans are middle-of-the-pack against opposing tight ends (fifth), but through five games, six different running backs have at least 9 half-PPR points against them. Two weeks ago, both Zack Moss and Devin Singletary pulled off the feat, so players can do it in reduced or shared time. I’d rather the other two guys than Mack, but he’s worth a shot in case he falls into a touchdown.
Giovani Bernard at Philadelphia (TNF) (19% rostered)
I hope you see this before Thursday Night Football! The Eagles are dreadful against running backs this season, giving up the tenth-most fantasy points to the position this season, and the third-most to running backs over the last three weeks. In that timeframe, they’ve yielded three 100+ yard games and four touchdowns. That isn’t what Giovani Bernard is likely to do, but he’s likely to end up with 5-6 targets and a good shot at a touchdown. He has touchdowns in two straight games, and 12 targets over his last two games.
Jerick McKinnon at Washington (8% rostered)
With everyone flocking to Darrel Williams, Jerick McKinnon (who was actually fantasy-relevant last season) quietly flew under the radar, as a post-waiver pickup. Now he sits with a sub-10% rostership in what is a good matchup for running backs. The Washington Football Team sits as the fourteenth-best matchup against running backs on the season, in half-PPR leagues. That hides the six touchdowns they’ve given up to running backs in the last two weeks, with Cordarrelle Patterson scoring three and even backup Mike Davis (yea I said it) getting in on the act in week four. McKinnon is a touchdown-dependent guy down here, but then again, he could take over for Darrel Williams? It’s worth a shot to add him, for free, in either case.
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