Week 6 OL/DL Matchups to Target and Avoid

• Bigsby tankThe company’s shares continue to rise: Not only is he more involved in the offense, but a favorable matchup and elite numbers should be enough to keep him in the starting lineup this week.

• Returning to the well with Dontayvion Weeks: The underlying numbers and positive matchup give reason to continue to have faith in Weeks after his disappointing Week 5 performance.

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Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Whether you’re looking for some important tiebreakers in fantasy start/sit decisions or an edge in DFS, knowing which players have the most and least advantageous matchups each week can help.

Understanding which teams have the advantage in the trenches can be key to weekly fantasy football results. As fantasy managers head into Week 6, these are some of the most important matchups to know about.

Click here to see the entire offensive and defensive line comparison tool this week on PFF.

Matching offensive lines with a target

Green Bay Packers against Arizona Cardinals

• The Packers offensive line has the best pass blocking rate (84.6) in the league this season, allowing only 21.1% of pressures, which ranks in the top 10 in the league.
• Arizona Cardinals The defensive line ranks 29th in pass rush rating (57.2), 27th in pass rush win percentage (29.7%) and 28th in pressure rate (23.0%).

Key Player to Target

WR Dontayvion Weeks, Green Bay Packers

• Weeks let down the fantasy community last week when everyone touted him as a must-start option as he caught just two catches for 20 receiving yards, finishing as the PPR WR73 for the week.
• It’s clear that not many will be confident enough to return to play Weeks in Week 6, but there are still reasons to be excited about his potential to become a fantasy starter despite his poor performance in Week 5.
• In non-pressure dropbacks, Weeks leads the team with a 29.6% target rate and trails in second. Jayden Reed with 2.35 YPRR in such situations.
• Jordan Love wasn’t the best quarterback when kept clean this year, but he threw six touchdowns passes in those situations, which ranks top five in the league despite missing two games.
• The Cardinals also rank third in the team’s coverage rate this season (52.6), allowing 8.14 passing yards per attempt, third-worst in the league.

Indianapolis Colts against Tennessee Titans

• The Colts have the second-best pass blocking rate (82.7) this season, allowing them to pressure at just 18.7%, also second-best in the league.
• The Titans’ defensive line ranks just 27th in pass rush this season while producing its worst pressure rate (19.3%) of the year.

Key Player to Target

WR Josh Downes, Indianapolis Colts

• This may seem fairly obvious given that Downs has been building a decent fantasy starter for weeks on end, but there has been some hesitation in fully realizing his potential, which Anthony Richardson returns this week.
• The encouraging signs for Downs’ confidence are quite strong as his role in this offense should replace that of a rotational quarterback.
• Downs has established himself as a quarterback-friendly target who can work in the middle of the field, get open and become a primary option in this offense.
• This is highlighted by his incredibly high target rate of 42.6% on unpressured tackles, which is not only the best mark for the Colts, but also the second-best mark among all receivers in the league, second only to Cooper Coup.
• Downs should continue to get a lot of attention while his quarterback stays clean, keeping his fantasy value high in Week 6.

Jacksonville Jaguars against Chicago Bears

• The Jaguars’ offensive line allows 1.5 yards to contact per attempt, eighth-best in the league.
• The Bears’ defensive line is on the opposite end of that spectrum, allowing 1.6 yards to contact per attempt, which ranks 25th on the season.

Key Player to Target

RB Bigsby tank, Jacksonville Jaguars

• It seems strange to call last week’s overall RB1 this week’s start again, but there are concerns about Travis Etienneparticipation, provided that he is healthy.
• Even if Etienne plays in this game, Bigbsy stands out as a strong flex option in a favorable matchup this week.
• With at least one yard before contact, Bigbsie has a 91.3 grade this season, fifth-best at his position (min. 15 attempts).
• Using the same qualifying metrics, Bigsby is averaging 11.5 yards per carry, which tops the league.
• He also adds 0.59 forced misses per attempt in those situations, which is also the best among running backs.
• With Bigsby’s drive to the goal line, short yardage and early work in Jacksonville’s backfield, he may be too good to sit this week.

Offensive Lines to Avoid

Los Angeles Chargers against Denver Broncos

• It is possible that the start of attacking tackles Rashawn Slater And Joe Alt are back after missing Week 4, but even with them included, the Chargers’ offensive line has a 51.2 pass-blocking rating, which ranks 28th in the league.
• The Broncos’ defensive line generated a pressure rate of 36.9%, best in the league heading into Week 6.
• Denver had one of the league’s lightning-fast defenses (48.3%), and the Broncos had significant success with it.

Key Player to Avoid

QB Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

• Under pressure, Herbert has a 29.3 passing grade this season, which ranks 29th among the 33 qualifying quarterbacks.
• Herbert’s 9.8% completion rate ranks third among qualifying quarterbacks.
• Herbert’s yards per attempt also drops slightly under pressure, from 7.2 to 4.5, which ranks 25th among the 32 quarterbacks who qualified under pressure.
• With several starting quarterbacks available for the bye week, Herbert could be a tempting broadcast option, but this matchup doesn’t inspire much optimism that he will be much better this season than he already is, i.e. a backup for the season . single QB formats.

New Orleans Saints against Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• The Saints offensive line has the second-worst pass blocking rate of the season (38.9) while allowing a pressure rate of 33.8% (fourth-worst).
• Tampa Bay has the second-best blitz defense in the NFL, which has resulted in an above-average team pass rush.

Key Player to Avoid

WR Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints

• While there is a major question mark at the Saints quarterback position this week, that’s not the only thing holding back Olave’s Week 6 potential.
• Even with Derek Carr As a quarterback, Olave earned just an 11.5% target rate on pressure tackles, which ranks fifth on his own team (minimum 10 routes).
• On unpressured throws, Olave leads the team’s receivers with a 25.9% target rate and 2.69 yards per carry.
• Expect the Saints’ starting quarterback to be under a lot of pressure this week given how bad the offensive line has been as they try to handle Tampa Bay’s frequent blitz attempts. Someone who starts at quarterback is unlikely to do it as well as Derek Carr available this season. Carr has his best passing grade (79.1) of the season when he’s under pressure.

Denver Broncos against Los Angeles Chargers

• The Broncos’ offensive line has allowed just 0.8 yards before contact per attempt, which ranks 28th, while their overall run-blocking rating (61.2) ranks 26th.
• The Chargers’ defensive line ranks seventh in run defense rating (63.6) this season while allowing just 1.2 yards to contact per attempt (12th).

Key Player to Avoid

RB Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos

• Williams delivers his best fantasy performance of the season in Week 5, finishing with an overall PPR RB12 against Las Vegas Raiders, who have scored the seventh most fantasy points per game among opposing running backs.
• Williams faces a tougher matchup this week against the Chargers, especially due to his disadvantage in the trenches, but the Chargers are also allowing the seventh-most points per game to a running back.
• When making contact with the line of scrimmage for two yards or less, Williams has a run rate of just 46.7, which ranks 61st among 68 qualifying running backs.
• In the same qualifiers, Williams has a first down/touchdown rate of just 9.8%, which ranks 46th, and his 2.0 yards per carry ranks 54th.
• When it comes to Williams’ role as a receiver, the Chargers are allowing the fewest yards per target at the running back position (3.5) and the second-best first down/touchdown rate (13.3%) for running backs this season.

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