It is always important to survey the DFS landscape each week and determine potential building blocks, which are the core plays and the foundation for most lineup types. The popular options are rising to the top for good reason more often than not, but there also are overlooked plays at every position, usually only a couple names down the rankings list. In this post, we’ll be making our best NFL DFS Week 6 picks on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Stokastic provides a variety of tools for all DFS sports that can help sort through the large NFL feature slate player pool. These were utilized in coming up with the recommendations in this article and include, but are far from limited to the NFL DFS Top Stacks tool, player projections, the Boom/Bust tool, and of course the proprietary Lineup Generator which incorporates all the tools and date, including tournament field popularity and of course simulations of the slate and how that impacts the potential ROI for your lineups and those of the field.
All tools are available for the DraftKings and FanDuel main slates each week. Additionally, multiple tools are also at your disposal for the sub-slates as well as the primetime “island games” which have turned into one of the most popular DFS offerings on DraftKings and FanDuel.
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NFL DFS Week 6 Picks for DraftKings & FanDuel
This week there are 11 games on the Sunday featured slate. Early birds can get in on the London action with the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans facing off in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, at 9:30 a.m. ET. The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers are the only teams on bye this week.
Best NFL DFS Week 6 Picks and Building Blocks: Quarterbacks
Justin Fields (Bears-Vikings): DraftKings ($7,300, 6.7% ownership), FanDuel ($8,500, 5.9% ownership)
Chicago last played on Thursday, when Justin Fields dismantled the Washington Commanders with his second consecutive four-touchdown game. The worry is that the extra time may have allowed the clock to strike midnight on this Cinderella success story. In these two outings, Fields had a career high 335 passing yards against Denver and then 282 yards in Washington, which was his fourth best mark.
On tap is a matchup with the Minnesota which will be visiting the Windy City for this grudge match. The Vikings have allowed three opposing quarterbacks to throw for multiple touchdowns and of course Jalen Hurts passed for one and ran for two in the second game of the season. Minnesota is in the bottom-third of the league against the pass and they have just one interception on the season, though the 13 sacks are semi-respectable.
Fields may have to do everything this Sunday with rookie running back Roschon Johnson in the concussion protocol and starter Khalil Herbert on the injured reserve with an ankle issue. Travis Homer (hamstring) has already been ruled out so D’Onta Foreman should be seeing his first action since Week 1. Fields has 47 or more rushing yards in three of his games, including 11 carries for 57 yards on Thursday Night Football.
Foreman can be sprinkled across tournaments, but even at his discounted salary on DraftKings ($4,400) and FanDuel ($6,000), playing him is more about the potential upgrade to another position than his actual fantasy upside. DJ Moore looks phenomenal on DraftKings ($6,500) and can be considered in all formats with or without his quarterback. FanDuel ($8,000) has assigned an appropriate salary, so he is more of a tournament option on the blue site, as part of a stack or a solo option.
Matthew Stafford (Rams-Cardinals): DraftKings ($6,100, 15.6% ownership), FanDuel ($7,200, 14.0% ownership)
Now the main knock against Matthew Stafford last year was that he was dealing with various neck and arm injuries, that put the kibosh on his accuracy and distance. This season he is healthy, has a full complement of pass-catchers now that Cooper Kupp (hamstring) has returned and this Sunday he is going against the third-worst passing DVOA.
That still does not help Stafford and his lack of rushing upside, but that is clearly factored into his salary. While his 49 yards on the ground this season are just four short of his total over the last two, that still does not move the needle, at just a fantasy point per game.
The real value with Stafford is that he consolidates the entire passing game, which looks like an aerial circus at this point with everyone healthy. Last week, Kupp played on 95% of the snaps, with Puka Nacua getting 100% and Tutu Atwell seeing action on 89% of the offensive plays. That gives Stafford three strong pass-catchers and doesn’t even include tight end Tyler Higbee who is on the field 90% of the time. This is a consolidated crew and Stafford has shown he can still push for 300 yards per game and multiple touchdowns. Stafford looks good in stacks and he warrants mild consideration in “cash games” (H2Hs, 3-mans, 50/50s, etc.) as he is a strong fantasy point per dollar play.
Best NFL DFS Week 6 Picks and Building Blocks: Running Backs
Raheem Mostert (Dolphins-Panthers): DraftKings ($6,400, 26.3%), FanDuel ($8,500, 19.4%)
Rookie De’Von Achane is on the injured reserve after tweaking his knee last week, so it will be veteran Raheem Mostert continuing with the lead backfield role. Jeff Wilson Jr. is expected to be limited to around 20 plays, if he is actually activated from the injured list after returning to practice this week. Then there is also Salvon Ahmed who will probable play around a dozen snaps if Wilson is active and double that if he is not.
Aside from a drubbing at the hands of the Bills in Buffalo during Week 4, Mostert has seen double-digit carries and he leads the backfield with 17 targets. Achane has gotten by on big plays and impeccable efficiency, but Mostert has been no slouch either. He already has eight touchdowns in just five games, which is the second most of his career. The Dolphins are unlikely to overwork Mostert as they are favored by two touchdowns, but he should get the high value touches until there is a multi-score cushion.
Carolina has allowed three 90-yard rushing performances this season and eight opposing running backs have at least 46 or more combined yards. Three running backs also have multi-touchdown games and the Panthers have allowed nine scores to this position.
Josh Jacobs (Raiders-Patriots): DraftKings ($6,100, 20.5%), FanDuel ($7,500, 19.1%)
The Patriots are in such shambles, head coach Bill Belichick has said he is resetting the season. This is on the heels of the team being outscored by the Saints and Cowboys, 72-3 over the last two weeks. This should still be a hard-fought affair with the Raiders favored by just a field goal at home. Of course, with Josh Jacobs having 17 carries in four of five games, as well as having 30 targets, which is the third most on the team. He is active in all facets of the game with 16 targets coming in the last two weeks as well as a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Keep in mind that the New England secondary will be without Chris Gonzalez and Marcus Jones who are out with shoulder injuries and Jonathan Jones has only seen action in one game while dealing with an ankle issue. To try and shore things up, the Patriots traded for J.C. Jackson, who starred with them for several seasons, including an All-Pro campaign, before signing a 5-year for $82.5 million to play for the Chargers. Injuries and ineffectiveness led to Jackson being benched several times with the Chargers, who were so ready to get rid of this sunk-cost albatross, they converted most of the remaining contract to a signing bonus and moved a 2025 seventh-round pick along with Jackson to New England, in return for a 2025 sixth-rounder.
This is all to point out that the Pats will have to deal with old friends Jimmy Garoppolo and Jakobi Meyers, in addition to Davante Adams. That should mean less stacked fronts for Jacobs, with the thinking being him getting five or six yards is far better than Meyers and Adams getting 15-plus. This trio did not quite make the cut for their own writeup, but they are a solid stacking foundation for tournaments. The likely slower pace of this game does get offset by the consolidation of production in this highly concentrated offensive scheme.
Chuba Hubbard (Panthers-Dolphins): DraftKings ($4,300, 17.5%), FanDuel ($5,500, 15.6%)
Suddenly Chuba Hubbard has become the punt du jour at the running back position with Miles Sanders out with a shoulder injury. For the season, Hubbard has been on the field for just over 50% of the snaps the last two weeks, plus on the season, only he and Sanders have taken snaps at this position, let alone had touches.
The Miami defense is not particularly stalwart, but it would be hard to envision more than a dozen carries for Hubbard in what is likely to be a “catch up” situation for most of the game. He could be in line for half a dozen targets and something along the lines of a 70%-to-80% snap share is in play.
Joe Mixon (Bengals-Seahawks): DraftKings ($6,300, 21.3%), FanDuel ($7,500, 25.6%)
Interestingly enough the Stokastic Lineup Generator is rather high on Joe Mixon for both DraftKings and FanDuel tournaments. The Lineup Generator is a simple way to craft lineups, which also incorporates all of the other Stokastic tools including the Boom/Bust, Top Stacks, Player Fantasy and Popularity, Leverage, Synergy and it also utilizes the Simulations as a foundation.
My initial lean was that while Mixon looked like a decent play, to my “old guy” brain, he seemed to be appropriately represented in tournaments. In a Lee Corso “Not so fast… ” moment, after generating 20 lineups (all-stack types, chalky builds), Mixon showed up as the most used player at 55% on DraftKings and he was the third-most utilized option option at 30% on FanDuel.
What this is demonstrating is that even at the healthy projections of the Cinci running back being in nearly a quarter of all lineups, the savvy play is to be above the field and rather significantly on DraftKings.
Jacobs (45%) and Mostert (35%) were the most used players in the 20 roster sample on FanDuel, but while Jacobs maintained a top-two 35% share of the player portfolio, Mostert dropped to 25%, with the Lineup Generator basically pushing his shares over to Mixon.
For the season, Mixon has 328 of the 362 (91%) rushing yards and 17 of the 24 (71%) targets to the position. While he has just one touchdown, that is already two below his “expected rate” based on his opportunities for the season and that could easily course correct against the Seahawks.
Best NFL DFS Week 6 Picks and Building Blocks: Wide Receivers
Ja’Marr Chase (Bengals-Seahawks): DraftKings ($8,300, 22.2%), FanDuel ($9,300, 16.2%)
Tee Higgins may return from his rib injury, but we have seen him be used as a decoy and limited to just a few snaps when previously not at full health. More importantly for Ja’Marr Chase, is quarterback Joe Burrow looking mostly healthy after a calf issue cost him most of training camp and clearly was limiting him for the first month of the regular season.
Chase is the second most expensive wideout on FanDuel, behind Tyreek Hill ($9,800) on FanDuel and he is third on DraftKings, with Kupp also ahead of him. The Seahawks have been employing more of a bend-don’t-break philosophy for their defense, which bodes well for Chase racking up the catches and yards. This is more of a luxury play, but if he continues to project for below a 25% representation in tournaments, the savvy gamer will be looking to exceed those projections with a raw 5%-to-10% cushion.
K.J. Osborn (Vikings-Bears): DraftKings ($4,400, <5.0%), FanDuel ($4,800, <5.0%)
Justin Jefferson is leaving behind a chasm that needs to be filled in the Minnesota passing game. Though the Vikings will be playing outdoors in Chicago and there is a chance of inclement weather, it looks like more of a nuisance than anything remotely nasty, that weather will be coming around the holidays, but not this week.
While Jordan Addison is arguably the “best” receiver now for the Vikings, that is where The Masses are landing as well. K.J. Osborn projects for about 15% fewer fantasy points from a median perspective, but that is basically one 15 yard catch. He also has the advantage of two more training camps and 34 regular season games in the Minnesota system, over his talented, but still a rookie, counterpart.
Jefferson had 53 of the 115 (46%)Â targets to this position and 571 of 1,034 (55%) of the yards. Clearly there is not going to be a one-for-one replacement, but there are major opportunities that will be redistributed to the pass-catchers in his absence.
Best NFL DFS Week 6 Picks and Building Blocks: Tight Ends
T.J. Hockenson (Vikings-Bears): DraftKings ($6,600, 9.4%), FanDuel ($6,700, 13.6%)
Grouping in all the tight ends and wide receivers, T.J. Hockenson has the sixth best median fantasy projection on DraftKings, with the 14th highest salary. On FanDuel he ranks seventh and 24th. The current projections seem low for his tournament representation as it would seem that the “optimizers” and “simulations” will likely push his popularity towards 25% when all is said and done.
This is more of a feeling of having played NFL DFS for well over a decade and even if this does not come to fruition, that is the representation I will be looking for with my tournament portfolio.
Evan Engram (Jaguars-Colts): DraftKings ($4,500, 13.7%), FanDuel ($5,500, 13.4%)
After two consecutive games in London, the Jaguars are back home in Jacksonville and on the main slate. It will be interesting to see how many gamers realize that Evan Engram has 37 targets, which is behind only Hockenson (39) and Travis Kelce (46) for targets after each has appeared in five games. Heck, Engram has six more yards than Hockenson, but the difference is that his Viking counterpart has a pair of touchdowns, while Engram is looking for his first score of the year. Looking at the sizeable discount between this duo is one more thing in Engram’s favor.
Best NFL DFS Week 6 Picks and Building Blocks: Defense/Special Teams
Miami Dolphins vs. Carolina Panthers: DraftKings ($3,500, 9.3%), FanDuel ($4,800, 8.4%)
Despite recording seven sacks last week against the new York Giants, the Miami D/ST received a $100 salary drop on both DraftKings and FanDuel. They will be facing a Panthers team that is struggling and missing the lead running back and left guard, as well as both starting safeties on defense. Carolina has allowed 15 sacks which is the 10th most in the league, while the Dolphins have the third most with 17. The Panthers have eight turnovers, while Miami has a mediocre five takeaways, but that should change on Sunday.
San Francisco 49ers at Cleveland Browns: DraftKings ($4,000, 13.5%), FanDuel ($5,000, 14.4%)
Deshaun Watson missed Week 4 and has been ruled out for Week 6 as apparently his shoulder issue was more significant than the team first indicated and he was not able to get healthy enough to play, even with the bye week. Enter former Carolina Panther and XFL signal-caller P.J. Walker to make his first start for the Browns.
The Browns are allowing four sacks per game and left guard Joel Bitonio is out, along with a couple key reserve linemen and center Ethan Pocicis questionable. This is not a recipe for success against the 49ers, which is one of the best defensive teams in the league. Looking at Walker’s career numbers as a proxy, he has a 7.3% sack rate and a 4.8% interception rate. Even with Cleveland looking to make this an ugly game and try to keep the clock moving, we should consider a baseline of something approaching half a dozen combined sacks and turnovers being recorded by San Francisco.
Keep in mind that Nick Chubb is of course lost for the season, so the running game is now powered by Jerome Ford and the previously released and the begrudgingly resigned Kareem Hunt.
As you get your NFL DFS Week 6 picks and lineups prepped on DraftKings and FanDuel, Stokastic can help. We have more free DFS content on the NFL homepage, premium DFS software including NFL Sims and the Lineup Generator, and the best live shows and videos from your favorite analysts on our YouTube channel.
You can also talk NFL DFS picks and strategy with the team and the rest of our sharp community on the Stokastic Discord!
