Fantasy Football Pickups for Week 6
Yahoo Fantasy analysts Matt Harmon and Andy Behrens explain why three players to add ahead of Week 6.
Video Transcript
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MATT HARMON: All right, Andy, we're coming out of week 5. Things are serious now in the NFL. We got to be very serious with the players that we are telling people out there to pick up. Is there a running back that might be rising out of Arizona, just in case there is an event of a James Conner absence here soon?
ANDY BEHRENS: Yeah, I think we have to talk about Emari Demercado. He played well in week 5, right? 45 rushing yards, had an 11-yard touchdown, broke a few tackles on his way to the end zone too. That was exciting to see. I think the important thing here is to note that Demercado actually played quite a bit in week 4, so he was already part of the game plan for Arizona.
Keaontay Ingram is dealing with an injury right now, so it's Demercado right now. And James Conner suffered a knee injury. James Conner, by the way, has been the centerpiece of a surprising Arizona offense. Suffered a knee injury in week 5. If he misses any time at all, then Demercado is definitely-- the worst case scenario, he's the head of a committee. And again, he looked really good in week 5. He's got the Rams coming up.
This is a guy who was not-- personally, not on my radar at all until the national semifinal against Michigan last year when he filled in for Kendre Miller, had 150 yards against a really good defense. So he's got a little juice to him, bruising runner. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. I'm not going to try to say that he's future Hall of Famer Emari Demercado, but he's pretty good. And he might be coming into a hefty workload,
MATT HARMON: No, it's a really good call. It kind of strikes me a little bit similar to the Jaleel McLaughlin situation we talked about last week where-- who is this guy? Where did he come from? But he might have some juice.
You look at his RASP profile, relative athletic scoring here for Emari Demercado, and he's kind of got a little juice to him, despite being-- I mean, he's certainly not as undersized as Jaleel McLaughlin. But again, this is a Cardinals blank slate coaching staff, essentially. So I'm interested to see if Demercado can stick there even if and when James Conner is back out there.
I'll talk about a rookie who is on the other end of the pedigree scale, Josh Downs, second-round pick out of the Indianapolis Colts. Andy, I love this player. I just think he is so fun. He is a really good route runner, works inside for the most part as the Colts' slot receiver, has over 90 yards in a lay-up matchup against the Tennessee Titans. And during bye week fill-in time, you really can't turn your nose up at a guy who almost never leaves the field. Because they mostly just play 11 personnel.
And we know this is a team looking for receiving options beyond Michael Pittman. Alec Pierce really hasn't stepped up. It's kind of a committee approach at tight end. I think Josh Downs is, right now, their second-best pass-catching option on the team. And he's only going to get better and better throughout the course of the season.
So I'm not even ruling out that this is a guy we are considering starting by the end of his rookie season because I believe in the player that much. And I think he actually fits quite functionally well with either Anthony Richardson or Gardner Minshew, since we're probably going to get Minshew here for a at least four-week stretch.
ANDY BEHRENS: Downs is such a good call-out. He was-- I'm not saying that you slept on him in the draft process, but he was kind of slept on over the summer, right? Everybody was interested in JSN and Jordan Addison. Downs was monstrously productive at the collegiate level. And as you mentioned, the Colts just threw him out there right away. He played almost 80% of the snaps in week 1. He has rarely left the field. So that's a great name here.
I'll just throw one more name out there. I don't know if it's a great name, but he's kind of fun to watch if you're not actually rooting for the Washington Commanders. Sam Howell has been OK, up and down. His worst moments have been some pretty bad moments, but he's also got a pretty fantasy-friendly game. He's coming off a game in which he attempted over 50 passes against Chicago when they fell behind on Thursday night.
He's got great receivers at his disposal. He's got a little bit of rushing ability. He is fearless, for better or worse, right? So he's coming off a 300-yard effort, almost 400 yards, a couple of touchdowns. Again, there's always the possibility of a rushing score. And we're coming in two bye weeks. We've got some quarterback injuries. So take a look out there for Sam Howell. He's available in about 2/3 of Yahoo leagues.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, I'll say Sam Howell is sort of, kind of, sometimes fun to watch. Not all the time, especially if you happen to have some of these receivers. You mentioned great receivers at his disposal that aren't always getting utilized.
ANDY BEHRENS: Right.
MATT HARMON: All right, those are three players you can pick up and keep on marching towards that fantasy championship.