Fantasy Football: Thursday Night Football Starts and Sits

Week Six of the NFL regular season will bring some terrific matchups for fantasy football owners. Here is a preview of what should be a terrific contest.

Week Six of the NFL regular season cannot get here fast enough and there are a multitude of favorable fantasy football matchups. Week Five saw several of the most productive players in football go down with serious injuries so fantasy football owners may start to be feeling a bit anxious.

On Thursday Night Football the Philadelphia Eagles will face off against the Carolina Panthers. This should be a hard-hitting matchup between two teams with a 4-1 record that goes down to the wire. Which fantasy football players will be productive? Let’s take a look.

Philadelphia Eagles

Carson Wentz (Quarterback): This will be a tough matchup for Wentz as the Carolina Panthers have only allowed seven passing touchdowns during the 2017 regular season. This means the Eagles may need to find another way to win in this contest, most likely by controlling the clock.

Wentz has at least one interception in three of the last five games but has multiple touchdowns in most of those contests. He is averaging around 35 passing attempts a game and played in mostly close games so far.

Wentz will try to keep the Panthers guessing, however, will be hard-pressed to have a performance like he did last week.

LeGarrette Blount/Corey Clement (Running Back): The Eagles running back situation has been a nightmare for fantasy owners. Carolina has given up the 12th fewest fantasy points to running backs this season and this is not exactly an elite group.

Clement may be able to break out bigger runs thanks to his passing down/receiving role but Blount will likely get the most carries. Blount is a low-end RB2 while Clement is a low-end flex option for this tough matchup.

Alshon Jeffery (Wide Receiver): I would not walk into this matchup assuming Jeffery will have an incredible game. The Panthers secondary has improved since last year and protecting quarterback, Carson Wentz could be an issue.

Jeffery is averaging anywhere from 4-13 targets per game and has been pretty inconsistent. The preferred option for touchdowns in this offense seems to fall with Zach Ertz as he has been Wentz’s security blanket for most of the season.

Zach Ertz (Tight End): Ertz is the most consistent tight end in fantasy football so far this season. He has seen 8-12 targets per game and while he has not passed 100 yards in any of his contests he has gotten pretty close to it in the majority of games this season. He only has two receiving touchdowns on the season and that should continue into Week Seven as the Panthers are extremely tough on opposing tight ends.

The Panthers have given up the 7th fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends and while that does not eliminate Ertz from a starting role on your roster, it definitely makes the situation a little less desirable.

More from Dallas Cowboys

• West coast, Texas coast, burnt toast: Cowboys don’t need more runs
• Brandin Cooks will change the way defenses play the Dallas Cowboys
• Why the Dallas Cowboys defensive X-Factor is EDGE Sam Williams
• Dallas Cowboys: 3 head coach options if McCarthy fails in 2023
• Dallas Cowboys: Is CB Jourdan Lewis a tradeable asset?

Carolina Panthers

Cam Newton (Quarterback): The Eagles are an excellent matchup for Newton as their defense has not been as tough as they were during the 2016 season. Newton may have underperformed early on during the season however he is coming off of two 300 plus yard games in which he threw three touchdowns apiece.

The Eagles give up the 11th most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season and should struggle to deal with a healthy Newton as he looks to give the Panthers their fifth win of the season. He is a strong QB1 this week.

Kelvin Benjamin (Wide Receiver): One touchdown on the season is wildly disappointing however Benjamin has been making some noise for the past two weeks. In Week Four Benjamin had his first 100-yard game while in Week Five he got into the red zone for the very first time this season.

The Eagles give up the second most fantasy points to wide receivers so Benjamin should be looked at as a WR1 this week. He could possibly have his first breakout game of the fantasy football season.

Ed Dickinson (Tight End): I would start Dickinson this week with confidence even though this matchup is not the best available. He clearly has become a favorite target of Cam Newton and while not scoring a touchdown is looking like another deep threat option in this offense.

Will he have another 175 yard performance (the best in his career), probably not, but he still has TE1 projections going into Week Six.

Next: Fantasy Football top waiver wire pickups for Week Six

Christian McCaffrey/Jonathan Stewart (Running Back): This is where the Philadelphia defense excels, run stopping. McCaffrey is a shifty speed back so he may be able to find some space against the Eagles powerful defensive line, but in all likelihood, the Eagles are going to make the Panthers beat them through the air.

Stewart is also a less tantalizing option especially after averaging 1.2 yards per carry in Week Five. Ultimately any stacked boxes both of these backs will face should soften after Newton connects with one of his big bodied receivers down the field. McCaffrey is a low-end RB2 and Stewart is a risky flex play this week.