Week 6 Fantasy Football Quarterback Start/Sit: Kirk Cousins, Caleb Williams, Anthony Richardson and More

With bye weeks now in full swing, weekly streamers and matchups matter more than they did during the first month (especially as injuries also add up). Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, and Sam Darnold are all off this week, and Tua Tagovailoa would be joining them if he weren’t on IR.

That’s four guys who will otherwise be considered for fantasy lineups every week, so there are plenty of opportunities for the players who are active, especially as we learn more about which teams are best to target with opposing players.

Let’s look at three quarterbacks to start and three to consider sitting in Week 6. I used NFL defensive passing stats and our FantasySP defensive rankings to help determine which teams were best and worst to target, and I will reference those numbers often.

Start

Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons @ Carolina Panthers

Cousins had between 230 and 241 passing yards in three of his four games over the first month. Then he racked up 509 yards and four touchdowns in Week 5 against Tampa Bay. A big part of that was his 58 attempts, but Cousins also had his highest completion percentage (72.4%) and yards per attempt (8.8) of the season.

Cousins has otherwise played like a middling quarterback. That’s a great way to look at his career: Cousins has had big highs, but he also sees the bottom fall out at times. While he’s never been considered among the best at his position (despite some big stats with Minnesota), Cousins is a capable fantasy player in the right situation.

Carolina presents that situation. They’ve allowed the third-most yards per pass attempt, an easy stat, but here’s something I found more interesting: The Panthers are tied for the ninth-least pass attempts against them, but they’ve allowed the ninth-most passing yards. Despite QBs not dropping back often, they shred Carolina when they do.

Cousins is a good fantasy option this week. He’s not going to top 500 yards again (probably), but teams have been super effective throwing the ball against the Panthers, and Cousins has the pedigree and the weapons for another big day.

Will Levis or Mason Rudolph, Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts

This is more of a desperation streaming option than a player(s) to seek out, but Tennessee quarterbacks have a great matchup this week against Indianapolis. Levis was injured in Week 4 and gave way to Rudolph, who led the team to their first victory of the season.

Levis will try to practice but is experiencing pain, according to coach Brian Callahan; that makes it risky to trust Levis if he does play, as he could aggravate the injury and is maybe more likely to be pulled if he or the team struggle.

Rudolph is actually the safer play if Levis is out because he’d be in line to play the whole game. Rudolph has had stretches of successful play in the past, but he’s a career backup for a reason: there’s not a high ceiling to his performance. The matchup is the only reason he is fantasy relevant.

The Colts have given up the fourth-most passing yards and second-most yards per attempt. They’re also in the top five in completion percentage and quarterback rating allowed. After reaching 200 passing yards just once in his first four games, Trevor Lawrence ripped through the Indy defense for 371 yards on nearly 11 yards per attempt.

Every quarterback has fantasy value against Indianapolis. This is a case of low-level value, but that’s sometimes enough when desperation calls. Feel cautiously optimistic about the Titan quarterbacks this week and be sure to monitor the injury news around Levis.

Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (in London)

Jayden Daniels’ big start for Washington has people questioning whether the Bears should have drafted Williams; can we give it more than a minute to play out? Williams has experienced big ups and downs, but his worst games came against tough defenses in Tennessee and Houston.

Williams looked much better against the Colts and Panthers, the other two teams highlighted in this article to target, and was efficient with lower volume against the Rams. The matchup dictates a lot of Williams’ value, the way it does for most rookies.

I could give you all kinds of numbers to prove that Jacksonville has been bad against the pass; want to see a list?

• First in most fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks
• Second-most passing yards allowed
• Fourth-most yards per attempt allowed
• Third-most touchdown passes allowed
• One of three teams with no interceptions

We haven’t got all day, so suffice to say that the Jags have had one of the worst pass defenses through the first five weeks. This game is in London, Jacksonville’s unofficial overseas home. It won’t matter.

Williams is set up for another big day. The good matchups will continue for the next month, so Williams is a guy to hang onto and consider each week unless you have a QB you’ll never bench.

Sit

Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers @ Denver Broncos

Herbert suffered a high ankle sprain a few weeks back and is now coming out of the bye, giving him a little extra rest. He’s likely still dealing with effects from that injury, as it’s notorious for lingering after players return, bringing down Herbert’s value and reliability a little bit.

His performance hasn’t been great, but this is more about the matchup than anything else. While Denver might be in the worst shape offensively of any team, that hasn’t leaked into the defense. The Broncos have only given up 20 points once in five games, holding the Bucs and Jets to single digits along the way.

Pat Surtain II leads what has been a devastating unit, as Denver has allowed the sixth-least passing yards and third-least yards per attempt. They rank in the top six in sacks and interceptions and generally just shut down passing games.

A Chargers team that wants to control the ball with the run game is unlikely to find major success through the air, and this possibly low-scoring game lines up better for the defenses.

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Chicago Bears (in London)

Take everything I said in the Caleb Williams section and flip it. Instead of a poor pass defense giving up top-five numbers, the Bears have a stout group putting up their own top-10 defensive numbers. Chicago has carried over their positive performance on D from the end of last season.

And unlike Williams, who is showing flashes, Lawrence has been unable to move the ball consistently. Lawrence’s big game mentioned above (371 yards, two touchdowns) put his numbers back in line with the last few seasons. His first month was worse than maybe any stretch since his rookie season.

Lawrence has the matchup against him this week, and his own middling (and worse) performance gives him the danger of a low floor without many paths toward a high ceiling. This isn’t a good play.

Anthony Richardson or Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts @ Tennessee Titans

Another situation where we don’t know who is playing and it probably doesn’t matter. As opposed to the other side of this matchup, where the quarterbacks have a great outlook, the guy who starts for the Colts will be looking at a tough group coming off a bye.

Tennessee is 1-3, but it’s the offense letting the team down, not the D (that’s likely to be the story all season). After adding starters at every level in the offseason, the Titans have coalesced quickly and shut teams down through the air.

Even before their bye, the Titans had already allowed the least passing yards in the league through four weeks. They are also best in the league in yards per pass attempt and haven’t relied on turnovers to be successful, instead consistently winning on defense against both the pass and the run.

That just doesn’t line up well for opposing quarterbacks to find success. Flacco has played most of the past two weeks: He put up modest numbers in Week 4 against Pittsburgh after replacing the injured Richardson (168 yards, two touchdowns) then had a huge Week 5 against the Jaguars, going 33-44 for 359 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.

We talked above about how bad the Jags are against the pass, and Flacco was the beneficiary. He’s not going to play that well against a tougher opponent, even if he finds some success.

If Richardson is in the lineup, it will be more of a run-centric attack with Richardson expected to do a lot of that damage. Jonathan Taylor missed last week with an ankle sprain but sounds optimistic about playing; his presence would make a difference.

While Richardson has a higher fantasy ceiling than Flacco, there is the worry of re-aggravating his oblique injury and having to come out of the game. That brings risk to starting Richardson and makes it worth seeing if you have a safer option. The tough defense just adds another layer to it.

Start Richardson with caution and only if you don’t have another way to go.