Week 6 IDP Fantasy Football Rankings

Chris Gregory gives his IDP rankings and the top streamers to start along with defensive players to sit for Week 6 of the 2021 fantasy football season.

It is officially the beginning of bye weeks in the NFL, which means your set-it-and-forget-it defensive lineups are about to be tossed like a salad. Times like these often force you to make adjustments you don't like, take risks, and get creative. Sometimes creativity can be great, too, like when Caleb Oreo decided to glue his chocolate cookies together with a magical paste he later called “frosting.” That said, sometimes creativity isn't so great, like when a gas station runs out of toilet paper so the attendant just puts a jar of peanut butter on the back of the bowl with a note that reads, "Out of TP use this instead.”

With so many options during bye weeks, the goal of fantasy managers should be to trend towards the good creative and away from the bad. One good way to get creative with your bye week replacements is to identify whether you might be able to trade away a starter who is on bye and replace him with serviceable knock-off on waivers. An example of this strategy might be if you could add Darrell Taylor or Matthew Judon off waivers, and flip Nick Bosa to a 49er fan for an underperformer like Jaylen Waddle. Utilizing your bye week players in a trade, or knowing exactly how to replace them on waivers, will be key for many of you in the coming weeks.

Don’t get greedy, don’t get overly sentimental, and don’t play it too safe. Take some risks, or don’t, depending on what you need, and always keep in mind what your replacements’ matchup looks like… and with that covered, let’s get to our Weekly IDP Rankings!

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Top-30 Fantasy Defensive Linemen of the Week

DL Streamer of the Week: Gregory Rousseau, Buffalo Bills

Despite crossing the 60% snap threshold in just one of his five games as a pro, Rousseau is making an early impact on a revitalized Bills defense. Through their first five contests, the rookie has given Buffalo three sacks, four tackles for loss, an interception, and he’s averaging 3.6 tackles per game. That production is incredible when you consider how difficult it is for rookie pass rushers to acclimate to the NFL and how few snaps Rousseau is currently getting.

This week provides a particularly juicy matchup for the former Hurricane, too, as Buffalo travels to Tennessee to take on a porous Titans offensive line. The Titans have given up the most sacks in the NFL this season, and they rank third-worst in terms of Adjusted Sack Rate. What’s worse, only three Tennessee Titans have earned an above-average pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus this year, and two of those players are backup tight ends with 31 snaps total between them.

Since the Titans pass-blocking unit is awful and Rousseau is playing very well, you have to like the rookie’s fantasy upside in Week 5. Given his low snap rate, he isn't a safe play, but the upside is there for Rousseau to be a cheap and impactful bye week fill-in.

DL Fade of the Week: Washington’s Pass Rushers

Washington’s first-round pass rushers (Chase Young, Jonathan Allen, and Montez Sweat) are too talented to bench in most fantasy formats. Regardless of whether they are off to a slow start or if Washington faces a tough opponent, fans aren't going to want to bench Young or Sweat for fear they'll miss out on a huge play. It's a fair concern and a good reason to play these elite talents every week… but you should be aware of just how tough their matchup is this week.

This season the Kansas City Chiefs are allowing less than one sack per game, at a rate of just 4%. Across five games, PFF has assigned only eight negative pass-blocking grades to starters on the Chiefs' offensive line. In short, this is an underrated pass-blocking unit that will have a chip on its shoulder after a 2-3 start, and their quarterback can do his part in avoiding the pass rush as well. Manage expectations for Washington's defensive linemen this week.

Top-30 Fantasy Linebackers of the Week

LB Streamer of the Week: Tremaine Edmunds, Buffalo Bills

No, not every linebacker going against the Tennessee Titans will produce elite fantasy numbers. The Jaguars are a prime example of this fact, as their unit failed to provide a single fantasy-relevant linebacker last week despite Derrick Henry giving them 29 opportunities to do so. Not all teams are as inept as Jacksonville appears to be, however. Like the Bills, competent teams with real game plans and engaged players will usually collect quality fantasy production against the Titans' offense.

For his career, Edmunds is a traditionally strong run defender. While he can be inconsistent in the passing game and a frustrating fantasy asset, he generally earns positive grades in run support. The hope here is that Edmunds will continue to be the leader of this defense, especially if Matt Milano is out, which should lead to many licks on Henry. The Titans are the fifth-most run-oriented offense in the NFL this year, and they should run through Edmunds with some regularity. Consider the Virginia Tech product a high-end LB2 this week and a viable streamer for those whose starter is on bye.

LB Fade of the Week: Myles Jack, Jacksonville Jaguars

Since the Urban Meyer scandal broke last week, some Jaguars players have anonymously leaked their concerns that Meyer has lost the players’ respect. After these player concerns were leaked, Meyer announced that Jack would no longer be calling plays for his defense. The timing of these two things could be a coincidence, and we could be wildly speculating here, or it could be that Jack’s loss of leadership is related to issues with his coach. If there is any fire with this smoke, we could see Jack's involvement in this defense start to decline.

On top of worries about Jacksonville’s leadership and cohesion, there are also concerns about Jack’s health heading into Week 6. Jack is currently struggling with a back injury that took him out of the Titans game last week, and it is impacting his practice schedule right now. There is a chance Jack will not play due to this injury, and it seems probable that his playing time will be limited even if he does play. Either way, consider the UCLA product a fade this week, despite a premium matchup with a struggling Miami offense.

Top-30 Fantasy Defensive Backs of the Week

DB Streamer of the Week: Jaylon Johnson, Chicago Bears

This one doesn’t take a lot of deep thought or explanation. The Bears utilize shadow coverage when necessary, like against Green Bay in 2020 and Cleveland this year. Johnson looks to be their primary shadow guy this year, and that means he should draw lots of Davante Adams this week.

Shadow coverage of Adams is incredibly valuable for any fantasy corner, especially one who gets his hands on passes as Johnson does. With Adams earning looks on 38% of his routes and claiming 37.4% of Aaron Rodgers’ total throws this year, that means a lot of opportunities will come Johnson's way. Consider him a very high-upside streaming DB this week.

DB Fade of the Week: Landon Collins, Washington Football Team

On the season, Landon Collins has spent 60.3% of his snaps in coverage. In those coverage snaps, the former Crimson Tide has allowed a 68.8% completion percentage, an average of 16.8 yards per reception, and he’s gotten his hands on exactly zero balls. When you consider that Collins is frequently asked to do something he isn’t good at, it isn’t surprising that he has zero turnovers, sacks, or PDs and just one tackle for a loss in five games this year. You shouldn’t expect Collins’ big plays to start flowing against Patrick Mahomes, either.

Andy Reid and the Kansas City coaching staff have to be aware that Washington’s defense has forced just two interceptions all year while allowing a 67.7% completion rate and 528 yards after the catch. With that kind of abysmal coverage unit across the field and a lack of Clyde Edwards-Helaire in their backfield, you have to expect the Chiefs to run their offense through Tyreek Hill and the deep passing game this week. Expect them to take numerous shots with Hill and Mecole Hardman, and expect that game plan to limit Collins' fantasy upside. He should get you six to eight tackles while covering Travis Kelce, but nothing more.

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