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Week 6 of the 2023 fantasy football season features a Sunday Night Football showdown between the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills. While each team has plenty of relevant options to plug into lineups potentially, most of them must be closely analyzed first.
Blindly starting players in fantasy football can often be a recipe for missing out on optimal lineups, except just a few elite weekly options, regardless of specific matchups. Managers should instead pay close attention to the specific situation of each of their fantasy options each week before finalizing their lineups. The following breakdown can help them do that.
Sunday Night Football Week 6 Start 'Em & Sit 'Em fantasy football
The Start/Sit Optimizer is one of the most valuable tools every fantasy football manager should use before finalizing any lineup decisions. The tool breaks down every factor for any given player, such as recent individual performances, injury situations, and direct weekly matchups, among many others. It consolidates all variables to generate player projections and lineup suggestions, potentially giving the user an edge over the rest of their league.
The Optimizer was utilized to help produce the following list of players to target and others to avoid for this Week 6 SNF showdown between the Giants and Bills. Managers should use this to their advantage while also always paying close attention to the official injury report each week before making final lineup decisions on certain players.
This Week 6 matchup has several important injuries to key players to keep an eye on. The Bills' top two tight ends, Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox, each carry a questionable injury designation after being limited in practice all week. Kincaid has yet to clear the official concussion protocols, while Knox is dealing with a wrist issue.
Also Read: Buffalo Bills Week 6 injury report
The Giants will unfortunately be without starting quarterback Daniel Jones. So, he will be replaced by Tyrod Taylor. They could also be without Saquon Barkley once again, but he has a chance to make his return. He's listed as questionable with his ankle injury after being a limited participant in practice this week. Darren Waller is also officially listed as questionable, though he's reportedly expected to be available.
Also Read: Darren Waller injury update
The Giants will enter this game with a long list of injuries, making an already challenging matchup even more difficult. The injuries also have a major impact on fantasy football lineups, especially considering the late starting time for Sunday Night Football.
A potential fantasy starter ruled out prior to kickoff will give managers slim replacement options, so planning to start a questionably injured player on SNF always comes with additional risk than in the earlier scheduled games. Just one additional game follows this one in Week 6, severely limiting alternative options if one of these players is ruled out closer to kickoff.
This puts managers in a potential dilemma with some players, especially Barkley, one of the best fantasy football running backs when healthy. Leaving them on the bench if they do end up playing could result in missing fantasy points, but so could attempting to start them, only for them to later be ruled out. This type of gamble must always be debated for fantasy football.
All of these factors have been carefully considered, in combination with utilizing the Optimizer, to generate the following list of starts and sits for Sunday Night Football in Week 6 of the 2023 fantasy football season.
SNF Week 6 Fantasy Football Start 'Em Picks
Josh Allen
There are few quarterbacks who should be started every week in fantasy football, regardless of their matchup. Josh Allen is an elite member of that rare list. His unique combination of passing and rushing not only makes him a special NFL player but also consistently one of the best fantasy quarterbacks. He has finished each of the last three seasons among the top five highest-scoring players, earning him weekly auto-start status.
James Cook
While James Cook is coming off his worst performance of the year last week, he has still been solid in fantasy football this season. He has quietly recorded three finishes among the top 20 running backs in his first five games. He also gets an excellent matchup against the Giants defense, allowing the second-most fantasy points per game to the position.
Stefon Diggs
Much like his quarterback Allen, Stefon Diggs is also an automatic lineup staple during every week of the fantasy season. He has consistently ranked among the top wide receivers every year since joining the Bills and appears well on his way to doing so again in 2023. He was a first-round pick in most fantasy drafts this year for good reason, and he's again proving it.
Gabe Davis
Gabe Davis has been the true definition of a boom-or-bust option in fantasy football over the past two years. His rare upside is a WR1 in many weeks, as he's done so before, but he also has dangerous weekly bust potential, something he has also done plenty of. The Giants allow the eighth-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers, so managers can gamble on this being one of his boom weeks.
Darren Waller
While Darren Waller is listed as questionable to play in Week 6 after a limited week of practice, multiple reports suggest that he's expected to be available for the contest. The Bills are a difficult matchup for him, ranking third in limiting fantasy points to tight ends, but he should still be started. The position lacks legitimate fantasy options, and Waller is coming off a solid TE7 finish in PPR leagues.
Managers looking to acquire any of these Week 6 targets should consult the fantasy football trade analyzer first.
SNF Week 6 Fantasy Football Sit 'Em Picks
Tyrod Taylor
While Tyrod Taylor is widely considered one of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL, he's not a starter for a reason. He's more of a game manager than anything else, severely limiting his fantasy upside. He's rarely a starting option in fantasy lineups in any week, especially not in a challenging matchup against the Bills' elite defense.
Saquon Barkley
It's unclear whether or not Saquon Barkley will be available in Week 6, as well as how healthy he is even if he does play. This makes him too risky to trust in fantasy lineups unless managers have a legitimate backup plan of players from either Monday or Sunday Night Football.
Matt Breida
If Barkley makes his return, Matt Breida will fall completely off of the fantasy radar. Even if Barkley misses another game and Breida is named the starter again, he should still be left on the bench in fantasy football. So far, he has failed to rush for more than 30 yards in any of his three starts for the Giants, with Barkley missing each of the past three games with an ankle injury.
Giants WRs
The Giants may be relatively deep at wide receiver, but all of their options are mediocre at best. None provide enough fantasy upside to trust in starting lineups; all are droppable. This is especially true with Taylor replacing Jones at quarterback and even more so against the Bills' top-ten passing defense.
Bills TEs
Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox have been sharing the tight-end duties for the Bills this year. While this is a luxury for the team, it hurts both of their fantasy outlooks. They are also each listed as questionable on the official injury report, further decreasing their Week 6 values. They should be left on the fantasy bench despite a favorable matchup against the Giants.
