Fantasy football stats: The sleepers of Week 6
The names below took a lot of different routes to success this week. Which ones could keep it going?
Thearon W. Henderson
Sometimes a big performance in a given week isn’t quite big enough to crack the top tier and get mentioned in the weekly best list. Sometimes it’s a matter of a one-time star reemerging. Sometimes it’s just a previous sleeper who popped like we thought he would.
Either way, the mid-level performers are the ones to watch going forward. Is the performance for real? Or is it a one-time deal? That’s what we’re looking at:
Sleeper quarterbacks in Week 6
Derek Carr, OAK (282 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, 1 interception, 2 rushing yards, 25 fantasy points)
Carr came into Sunday's game with only one game of more than 174 passing yards, with a 4:4 TD:INT ratio, with four losses in four tries, and with an injury that was maybe going to keep him out of the game altogether. Instead, he jumped out to a lead against one of the league's best teams in the Chargers, and did more than enough to win the game, if the team's defense had cooperated at all. Carr is someone to watch, at the very least.
Carson Palmer, ARI (250 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, -3 rushing yards, 18 fantasy points)
In his first game action since Week 1, Palmer led the Cardinals to a 30-20 victory over Washington. He connected for touchdowns with both Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd, and the team never turned the ball over as it got to 4-1 and first place in the NFC West. Basically, things went really well. And that was with Palmer admittedly at less than full strength. Now that Tom Brady and Cam Newton are looking strong again, the quarterback position is looking deeper than it did a week ago, but still, Palmer is a high-end QB2.
Sleeper running backs in Week 6
Theo Riddick, DET (6 rushing yards, 75 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown, 13 fantasy points)
It was Riddick, and not Golden Tate or Eric Ebron, whose usage really spiked in the absence of Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush for the Lions Sunday. The running back missed Week 5 with an injury, but Riddick was the team's leading receiver in Sunday's game, with five catches on six targets. It remains to be seen how long Johnson/Bush will be out, and Riddick himself left Sunday's game with a hamstring injury, but if and when he's ever there without the other guys, Riddick is a potentially very nice flex play.
Ronnie Hillman, DEN (100 rushing yards, 16 receiving yards, 11 fantasy points)
It's not exactly fair to call Hillman a "sleeper," as everyone went out and picked him up as soon as Montee Ball got injured. Still, he's here to highlight that he did produce a decent game in Ball's absence. Juwan Thompson had a third of the carries Hillman had, and C.J. Anderson didn't have a single touch, so Hillman is clearly the guy in Denver for the time being. That said, he did fumble once, though Denver recovered. Hillman has struggled with fumbles, and if he doesn't get that under control, his leash won't be long.
Sleeper wide receivers in Week 6
Larry Fitzgerald, ARI (98 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, 15 fantasy points)
Once again, not really a player you can call a “sleeper,” but after Fitzgerald had 13 fantasy points total in the Cardinals’ first four games, the return of Palmer and his return to usage needed to be highlighted. Fitzgerald might not be the every-week, top-of-the-line must-start he has been in the past, but he’s someone to definitely monitor, because if he and Palmer are in sync, he could get back to his old self quickly.
Louis Murphy, TB (72 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, 13 fantasy points)
Seriously, this guy was unemployed three weeks ago, and now he has 31 fantasy points in three games. Gotta be one of the most unexpected fantasy developments of the last month. Murphy's become a favorite target of quarterback Mike Glennon. Now, he did his damage Sunday while both Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans were playing injured (though both put up reasonable numbers as well), so we'll see what Murphy's usage looks like when those guys are fully healthy, but he has played himself right back into the middle of the map.
Sleeper tight end in Week 6
Scott Chandler, BUF (105 receiving yards, 10 fantasy points)
I've been the highest on Chandler the last couple weeks in our position rankings, under the thinking that a quarterback like Kyle Orton will want to lean heavily on his tight end. Even with that, I didn't expect a 100-yard game out of Chandler, the first of his career. He's not yet approaching starting territory among tight ends, but if Chandler can keep anything like this going, he'll find himself there soon.
