Over the past few years during the NFL season, Ted Schuster and I have been doing a segment on the SiriusXM radio show called “Right, Wrong or Indifferent.” Basically what this means is a scorecard for all of the predictions, rankings and recommendations we gave out during the previous week for fantasy football.

I feel very strongly about users (readers, listeners, customers, etc) holding fantasy analysts responsible for the information and advice they pass along. To be honest, its way too easy for us to disguise our analysis on a week in and week out basis because there are thousands of excuses to be made. After all, we aren’t the ones playing the game, right? Well, nah, eff that. We need to be held accountable. If we aren’t then its too easy to become soft and not pay as much attention or not watch the games that we are trying to make sense out of. You guys deserve better.

Thus, I will be putting our radio segment down on paper and posting it right here each week on the Fantasy Alarm site. I encourage you to help be hold myself (and Ted!) accountable for the information that we provide. Now be careful here because if you are going to try and come at me with blame for something I didn’t say or take my thoughts out of context than I reserve the right to fire back at you. And you had better believe that I will. Just stick to the actual things that I say and we should have no problems.

This is a good spot to post your submissions for our Haterade segment on the SiriusXM show as well. Just light me on fire in the most negative way possible in the comments section, on the Fantasy Alarm Forums or on Twitter (@Jeff_Mans).

Here is my Right, Wrong & Indifferent for Week 6:

RIGHT

Cam Newton, QB, Panthers

There was some hesitation by folks to start Cam Newton in his first week back from a concussion. Those people are either homeless or about to be because it was nonsense. The Panthers had put up 41 points in New Orleans in back to back seasons and they almost got there again. Don’t let the fact that the Panthers are no longer a Super Bowl contender take you away from the fact that Cam Newton is one of if not the best player in the NFL.  

 

Tyrod Taylor, QB, Bills

Taylor didn’t light the world on fire this week but he far outproduced his season average and DFS salary against the weak 49ers. In fact, my projection for him of 200 yards passing and 60 yards rushing was almost a dead on hit. Tyrod is an interesting play in certain matchups where he can use his legs to rack up the points for us.

 

Alex Smith, QB, Chiefs

How many analysts touted the ever loving hell out of Alex Smith this week? Way too many. Alex Smith is a non-starter in fantasy football and that is never going to change. I get that there are some occasions in which he runs for a TD and happens to toss another pair but these instances are completely random. Smith should just be forgotten in all forms of fantasy.  

 

Lamar Miller, RB, Texans

I will never be afraid to play a running back who plays 80%+ of his teams snaps, has a 30%+ touch percentage and has elite level skills. Miller is all three wrapped up in a delicious fantasy football nugget. The lack of TDs was not a concern either because with this kind of volume the TD will inevitably come. Maybe that is something I know from experience but it certainly eases the mind when filling out your lineup each week.

 

Chris Ivory, RB, Jaguars

T.J. Yeldon, RB, Jaguars

I wasn’t clear on this one to be honest and I believe I was clear about that all week long. But something told me that Ivory would be back on top of the Jaguars depth chart this week after suffering from knee and ankle injuries throughout the early part of the season. Yeldon was on the field more on Sunday but he clearly was playing behind Ivory especially in the red zone where points are most fruitful.

 

Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Cowbosy

I only put Zeke in here because I want to tell everybody that you can take your “Green Bay Packers are great against the run” rhetoric and stick it up your ass. They had played NOBODY and we explained this throughout the week on the Fantasy Alarm Show. Always be aware of these teams who seemingly are “great” at something that doesn’t make a lot of natural sense. Do your research and understand why they have been effective.

 

Jonathan Stewart, RB, Panthers

Stewart was one of my favorite plays this week though I seriously considered putting him in the “Indifferent” pile because I didn’t play him nearly enough in DFS nor did I expect a top six performance. But a guy like Stewart is a true workhorse back in a very heavy rushing offense. Consider that Cam Newton has been told to skim down on the running that means more of the read option opportunities for Stewart this season.

 

Brandin Cooks, WR, Saints

I thought this was absolutely obvious but I guess not. Cooks was just 7% owned in DFS this week which is astonishing. He has had struggles this season but most of those are road games which he rarely has a great game. But at home against an inferior opponent, this was and is money in the bank.

 

Terrelle Pryor, WR, Browns

It feels good to be on this side of the Terrelle Pryor big game for a change. I have been very vocal about my anti-Pryor feelings in fantasy football this season. I won zero shares in seasonal fantasy football as a result and that is on me. Pryor has made great strides as a receiver but I am still not buying in most weeks. This week though, he was high in my rankings and in the DFS NFL Playbook giving us another great mid-tier WR to choose from.   

 

Torrey Smith, WR, 49ers

Jeremy Kerley, WR, 49ers

Smith was not in the DFS NFL Playbook this week though he did come close. I stuck to my formula though instead of pulling a wild card with him though it would have worked out well. Every time there is a QB change in the NFL we as fantasy players absolutely must reconsider the hierarchy of the wide receivers. Kerley was Blaine Gabbert’s guy and that was fine. But with Colin Kaepernick, he just isn’t the guy to throw a bunch of six yard slants to slot receivers. Kerley could have some decent games here and there but he lost most of his fantasy value the minute the QB switch in San Francisco was made.

 

Jimmy Graham, TE, Seahawks

I thought that Graham would have a better day actually but the weather concerns in Seattle did cause me to scale back my projection for him this week. Graham didn’t have a good week but he did have a great week for what the TE position dealt us in week six.

 

Vernon Davis, TE, Redskins

A QB that is used to throwing so much to his tight end will likely not lose that tendency even if the actual guy is no longer there. This is a system factor that we constantly talk about in every bit of fantasy advice we ever give. Davis is not Jordan Reed, but he can make the loss of Reed slightly more tolerable than it would have been without him.

 

Others I Was Right About

Drew Brees, QB, Saints

Colin Kaepernick, QB, 49ers

LeSean McCoy, RB, Bills

Arian Foster, RB, Dolphins

Randall Cobb, WR, Packers

Jarvis Landry, WR, Dolphins

Dennis Pitta, TE, Ravens  

 

WRONG

Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Steelers

This one really chaps my hide because I was shouting about Roethlisberger’s home/road splits all week long. I didn’t have him in the DFS NFL Playbook or any of the Optimal Lineups this week either. Still, I didn’t expect the egg that he laid against the Dolphins either. I’ll take the hit on Big Ben this week but rest assured that I am not happy about it.  

 

Eli Manning, QB, Giants

I had to cut ties with Eli Manning a couple of weeks ago because I simply couldn’t keep up with his huge ups and downs every week. I look for consistency at the QB position and Eli hasn’t given that to us in quite a while. There will be weeks like this for Manning but somebody else is going to enjoy them because I can’t be in that business.

 

Jay Ajayi, RB, Dolphins

In full disclosure, I do own Ajayi in one league and actually started him this week. Now, I didn’t start him because I wanted to rather because I had ZERO other options at the RB position. I gave up on all of the Dolphins RB’s weeks ago but have advised many others against Ajayi in the meantime. I though Arian Foster would have been the lead back this week but he was not even close. Ajayi racking up 200 yards rushing only magnifies this miss even more.

 

Jamaal Charles, RB, Chiefs

Spencer Ware, RB, Chiefs

I have to admit that I was really surprised at the backlash on the Charles/Ware breakdown that I had a week ago. All week I said that it was time to promote Charles to the lead Chiefs RB spot and move Ware down to the handcuff position. Obviously, Ware was the better fantasy RB this week but people have to understand why that was. The Chiefs blew out the Raiders on Sunday and with that came a much more limited role for the veteran RB. Charles hardly played in the second half of this game because the outcome was in hand. Ware got 68% of his production in the second half of this ballgame. It’s great for those that started Ware but the trouble comes in believing that this is the new norm for Kansas City. Andy Reid has 18 years of head coaching experience in which only once has he ever used a backfield committee. Ware isn’t going to go away, but the healthier that Charles is the more he will carry the load. After all, he is being paid $18 million to do this job and there is a very good reason for that.

So, I will take the hit this week that I was wrong about Charles and Ware. But I am very satisfied with what Charles provided us this week. He outscored Melvin Gordon, Devonta Freeman, Gio Bernard, Eddie Lacy, Mark Ingram, Ryan Mathews, Carlos Hyde, Jeremy Hill and Tevin Coleman this week.

 

Chris Hogan, WR, Patriots

I felt as though there were a couple big plays in the Brady/Hogan combo this week and we got one but that was about it. Hogan caught a crossing route and took it 39 yards almost to the endzone before being knocked out of bound toward the end of the first half. I bought in this week and I got burned.

 

Kenny Britt, WR, Rams

I’ll never own Kenny Britt and I doubt that I will ever use him in DFS. No, I don’t hate him or anything I just don’t believe in the offense, the QB, his hands, his running after the catch ability and his baseline fantasy potential. If Britt continues to prove me wrong, god bless him. You can’t like everybody in fantasy football because it will make you sick to your stomach every week. Britt is an ongoing “no” for me now and in the foreseeable future.  

 

Delanie Walker, TE, Titans

I really hope that a better Marcus Mariota doesn’t mean a worse Delanie Walker. Walker had 94 catches a year ago but is only on pace for 55 here in 2016. We are going to have to start projecting Walker at somewhere between 50-60% of what we thought coming into the season if he doesn’t pick it up soon.

 

Others I Was Wrong About

Case Keenum, QB, Rams

Todd Gurley, RB, Rams

Matt Jones, RB, Redskins

Justin Forsett, RB, Lions

Breshad Perriman, WR, Ravens

Eli Rogers, WR, Steelers

Hunter Henry, TE, Chargers  

 

INDIFFERENT

Russell Wilson, QB, Seahawks

I was on Wilson coming into the week but the weather really helped me stay away from him when push came to shove. I did have him in the DFS NFL Playbook but sent out plenty of messages over the weekend informing you of my concern over his prospects.  

 

Ryan Mathews, RB, Eagles

Mathews was a concern to me all week as I just didn’t like using him coming off of that terrible fumble last week in Detroit. I started buying in to how bad the Redskins defense was later on in the week and then did put him in the Playbook this week. That was not a good move but the low ranking on the seasonal side balanced this move out enough to keep him in the middle.

 

DeMarco Murray, RB, Titans

There were a lot of elite level running backs to choose from this week in DFS. Murray was definitely one of my favorite though he didn’t make it into the Optimal Lineups like Gurley and McCoy. He had another very solid game but given the matchup against the Browns there should have been a lot more here.

 

Cameron Meredith, WR, Bears

Last week I was on Meredith when nobody else was. This week I told everybody to cool their jets and that he was a matchup play only. This was a calculated move by me in that I needed everybody to slow their roll on Meredith because he is not going to be an every week starter in fantasy football. But I did have him in the Playbook once again and he was the FLEX play in my Draft Kings cash game Optimal Lineup this week.

 

Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Panthers

Everybody in the Carolina/New Orleans game was in play this week and just about every single one of them produced for us. Kelvin Benjamin hauled in seven catches for 81 yards which by this games standards wasn’t great. But he actually had a TD that was overturned by review because it was determined that he was out of bounds. Overall, Benjamin was solid but unfortunately not spectacular for us in week six.