Thursday night’s Week 6 NFL matchup will feature two QBs, Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix and Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold, who are coming off Week 5 games where they both ranked outside the top 20 QBs for fantasy points.
While they both had down games, they still have the potential to be top-performing fantasy QBs week in and week out—both have ranked inside the top five in a week for fantasy points by a QB this season. With that, here is a breakdown of who fantasy managers should play between the two in Week 6 in fantasy football.
Sam Darnold
Darnold in Week 5 had his bad outing against one of the best passing defenses in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers. Against them, he went 18-of-29 and had 195 passing yards with a 1-2 TD-to-INT ratio. He was QB25 in fantasy for the week. For Week 6 against the Broncos, he will not get the benefit of playing a bad passing defense, but they should be a slightly more ideal opponent than the 49ers were.
The Broncos are currently allowing the ninth-fewest passing yards per game in the NFL, 202.2. They are giving up the 14th-fewest fantasy points per game in the league to opposing QBs. The 49ers are giving up the fourth-fewest.
The last three opposing QBs that have faced the Broncos averaged 222.0 passing yards per game and had a combined TD-to-INT ratio of 5-3. Two of the QBs they faced ranked inside the top-10 for fantasy points for the week–each ranked as QB9.
Bo Nix
Nix last week took on the winless Los Angeles Chargers and helped the Broncos escape with a win. He went 16 of 27 for 123 passing yards and had a 1-0 TD-to-INT ratio. It is his fourth game of five where he has thrown for just one TD this season and his third game of five where he has thrown for under 200 passing yards. He will now take that poor fantasy play into a matchup against arguably the best defense in the NFL.
Seattle is allowing the fewest passing yards per game in the NFL: 150.8. They are also allowing the eighth-fewest fantasy points to opposing QBs per game.
The last three QBs to face the Seahawks are averaging 168.3 passing yards per game and have a combined TD-to-INT ratio of 6-3. Over that span, the highest rank a QB had against them in a week for fantasy points was QB13.
Final Verdict
When it comes to who should start in fantasy football in Week 6 between Darnold and Nix, Darnold is a better option.
With Nix consistently putting up fantasy duds, his outlook against an elite passing defense is poor. Darnold also does not have an ideal matchup, but there are QBs recently against Denver who have had fantasy success, helping him be a better play.
Even though Darnold is the better starting decision in this debate, there are a couple of better options widely available on waivers that fantasy managers could look at—Pittsburgh Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers and Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson.
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