In this age of legalized insider trading, you might think that I had some kind of undercover agent embedded in the New York Giants that told me the Giants would only play Cam Skattebo six snaps and that’s why I told you on Thursday to SIT Skattebo in fantasy football in last week’s edition of this article. Unfortunately for whoever is writing the definitive biography of me in 200 years and is combing through my columns from the 2026 NFL season, I am not a spy nor a financial criminal, and so that was just a mix of dizzying intellect, intuition and blind luck. 

But hey, maybe I’ll absolutely drill a pick again this week? With injuries everywhere, offenses falling apart and fewer quarterbacks than we’d like that we can trust, we’re very much in the splitting-hairs part of the fantasy football season. First: this week’s intro gimmick — I want to give you the tools to make some start-sit decisions without me in case my blurbs do not contain every single decision you have in your 11 re-draft leagues, 4 dynasty leagues and 2 superflex guillotine leagues. A bit of under-the-hood mechanical knowledge about how I do what I do; because a good teacher always wants their students to eventually replace them.

When I make start/sit advice, the first thing I look at is snap counts, because (and this may shock you) it is really difficult to score fantasy points when you’re not on the field. Cam Skattebo, for example, played only 63 percent of snaps in Week 5, down from a 77 percent high in Week 3, which is where my concern came from (he then played 8 percent in Week 6). Snap share data is available for free at Football Guys here, sorted by team and position conveniently and updated pretty quickly after each week. Other analysts will talk about things like route participation or other tracking data, but the raw data for those metrics is often paywalled. Snap counts, meanwhile, is free and super easy to read and understand! On with the blurbs for Week 6!

Start: QB C. J. Stroud, Houston Texans

Stroud was available on waivers in a majority of ESPN leagues and even made my waiver wire column after last week but was added in a whopping 30 percent of them given his undeniably favorable matchup against the New York Giants and his undeniably baller resume of being the QB5 in fantasy this season. With Jayden Daniels, Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence all on bye this week, you’re very unlikely to do better than Stroud at quarterback, and should have no hesitation firing him up in whatever spot — he’s scored 20-plus fantasy points in three-straight games. 

Sit: QB J.J. McCarthy, New York Giants

I would perhaps show moderate hesitation with McCarthy, though, who was just named the Giants’ Week 7 starter after an interesting second-half performance that saw him chuck bombs to Isaiah Likely and Malik Nabers after Jameis Winston was benched for being lore-accurate Jameis Winston. But that was a weird game, and McCarthy benefited from an already-bad Saints defense that basically stopped playing for 20 minutes after they felt they had salted the game away. Now it’s onto the Texans, who have been remarkably terrible given their pedigree but have way more talent than New Orleans.

Do you want to lose your fantasy matchup because you started J.J. McCarthy, a top-10 pick who was traded for nothing after one season, against Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter? He may … look like Jaxson Dart, but he’s not Jaxson Dart, and isn’t an especially great runner even if he’s more mobile than Winston. I would really try to avoid McCarthy this week.

Start: WR Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers*

*monitor injury status (concussion/foot)

It was pretty over, but now we’re pretty back. It’s looking like the Bucs get Baker Mayfield back under center on Sunday, in which case we would be even more back with Emeka Egbuka, who has turned in back-to-back 17-point weeks in fantasy after seeing 16 targets last week. He’s clearly the top receiver in the offense, and can play for you in Week 7 for sure if he’s healthy — the Panthers defense has been stingy on paper versus wideouts, but they’re too thin at the position without Mike Jackson and Jaycee Horn to keep that up forever.

Start: RB Ollie Gordon II, Miami Dolphins

Oh, did you forget Ollie Gordon and the Miami Dolphins existed while they were on bye? So did everyone else, but they’re back, and you can start Gordon against the Jets because no matter how crap this offense is Gordon has been objectively playable ever since I told you to blow all your FAAB on him back in Week 2. He is unquestionably the lead back, looks like a shoe-in for double-digit carries every game and runs really well — there’s a reason he’s found the end zone in his last three games. 

You could also go out and try to trade for Gordon, since trading for players who have already had their bye for players who haven’t is one of those sneaky edges in fantasy football that most people don’t think about. You’re essentially just getting an extra week of a player that you wouldn’t otherwise get, meaning you could “overpay” slightly and still win the deal. Something to think about.

Sit: WR Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts

This man made my start list multiple times and let me down both times. And while I’m sorry to say it … he has been demoted to the sit list. The volume is still there, the snap share is still there, the efficiency in the offense just isn’t. I don’t know what’s wrong with the Colts, they’re startlingly incompetent on offense for the amount of their players I like, but it seems that without Alec Pierce or Tyler Warren there just aren’t enough needle-movers so everything just collapses. 

I can no longer in good conscience recommend you start Downs even if he should project enough volume to work every week — that’s three-straight weeks of single-digit points. And you know what we say, kids: “If you don’t score double digits in three weeks, hit the bench!” That’s right!

Sit: RBs Zach Charbonet, Emanuel Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

If there’s one truism to live by in fantasy football, it’s this one: “stay away from committee backfields with an unclear starter returning from serious injury.” I can tell you with 100 percent confidence we do not know who will lead the Seahawks backfield in Week 7, and perhaps Charbonet will go nuts in his first game without Kenneth Walker III on the roster … or perhaps he will be in a limited role and both Wilson and George Holani will continue to play a major role, which seems more likely. In any case, you should stay far, far away from this backfield until we’re absolutely clear who is in charge here. I figure it will be Charbonet soon, but I don’t know if it will be this week.

Sta…start. Yeah, start him, do it. Start: WR Omar Cooper Jr., New York Jets

Okay, this might be a little bold, and you can tell I’m not fully sure of this call from my phrasing, but Omar Cooper Jr. wen’t bananas last week against the New England Patriots — let’s try to figure out why that was. Was it Option A: Garrett Wilson had to deal with Christian Gonzalez and Cooper could just run around freely with Carlton Davis missing the game? Or was it Option B: Cooper was a first-round pick who the Jets immediately vaulted to number two on their depth chart and want to make a big part of their high-volume passing offense?

I want it to be the latter, and because the Jets are playing the Dolphins this week and thus might actually have the ball a lot, go ahead and start Omar Cooper Jr. if you’re down for a good time. I watched every second of that Patriots-Jets game and Cooper was gnarly; if this is a disaster, I’m sorry.

Sit: RB RJ Harvey Denver Broncos

I feel like RJ Harvey is a Ponzi scheme in which fabricated returns are tricking people into thinking they should keep starting him — eventually, this whole sha-bang is going to come crashing down and everyone is going to lose their RJ Harvey-backed homes. Harvey has scored cheap fantasy points on ridiculousness like 10 catches in Week 4 or a random touchdown in Week 6, but only plays 40 percent of snaps on an offense that isn’t good and he doesn’t get any carries. You’re basically investing in a glorified pass-blocker who you’re begging to get a bunch of dump-offs. Don’t trick yourself into this.

Speed Round

Start: WR Michael Wilson, Arizona Cardinals

The Broncos secondary is scary in theory but not in reality with how injured it is. Wilson has been moderately disappointing recently, but don’t go nuts and bench him.

Start: RB Aaron Jones, Minnesota Vikings

Coming off the bye and even with Jordan Mason returning, you can still start Aaron Jones, who has been great in 2026.

Sit: WR Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings

I don’t know what it would take for me to want to start Jordan Addison going forward, but I would probably have to be out of other options. 

Sit: WR Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders

Tucker is ostensibly the “WR1” but actually the second option in this passing game; he’s going to be super boom-or-bust, and I wouldn’t chase the boom against the Rams this week.

Start: WR Denzel Boston, Cleveland Browns

Keeping the tradition of putting my money where my mouth is, I will be starting Denzel Boston in my flex this week — the matchup is great against the Titans, and Boston’s usage is excellent.