Week 6 Fantasy Recap

Alright, Sunday Night is in the books. Thursday was Seattle at Denver. Commanders-49ers is tonight, so I’m skipping it. This is Week 6 through Green Bay’s 23–13 win.

Six weeks is a role. Health is still doing most of the rest-of-season work. Also the Chargers are 0-6, Jalen Hurts is on IR with a blood clot in his calf, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba just posted another 12-catch night in a 14-point game. That’s a sentence.

Minnesota, Detroit, Cincinnati, and Miami were on bye. Jahmyr Gibbs can sit this one out. 105-504-7 plus 27-243-2 through five did not go anywhere.

Stock up: Kenneth Walker III, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Drake Maye, Matthew Golden, Chuba Hubbard, Malik Nabers, Isaiah Likely, Caleb Williams, Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III, D'Andre Swift, Bhayshul Tuten, James Cook, CeeDee Lamb, Germie Bernard, Carnell Tate, Xavier Worthy, Woody Marks, Jaylin Noel, Trevor Lawrence

Stock down / caution: Ladd McConkey (concussion), Justin Herbert and the Chargers, Jalen Hurts (IR), Saquon Barkley (hamstring), MarShawn Lloyd, Brian Thomas Jr., Bijan Robinson’s carry count, Ashton Jeanty’s rushing efficiency, Bo Nix and Jaylen Waddle, Kyren Williams’s split, A.J. Brown (rust), Romeo Doubs (shoulder), Tyler Warren (groin), Marvin Harrison Jr.’s snaps, Cam Skattebo, Harold Fannin Jr.’s box score, Dalton Kincaid (ribs)

The scoreboard, real quick

SEA 14–17 DEN (Thu). HOU 34–31 JAX (London). TEN 26–20 IND. NE 26–19 NYJ. NO 34–27 NYG. CAR 25–14 PHI. CLE 13–10 BAL. CHI 31–23 ATL. PIT 26–19 TB (OT). ARI 18–16 LAR. BUF 33–30 LV. KC 22–6 LAC. GB 23–13 DAL.

Monday: Commanders at 49ers, later.

Sticky things (the ones that might actually last)

Walker off a bye is still the Chiefs offense. 19-128-2 plus 2-11, 74% of the snaps, two scores, and Kansas City won 22–6 without Rashee Rice. That’s 106-665-6 rushing plus 14-95-2 receiving through five games. I floated this as “Andy Reid with a real lead back.” Six weeks in (one bye), that’s what it looks like. Patrick Mahomes went 23-of-30 for 272 and zero passing scores. Xavier Worthy was 7-73 on 7 (24.1%). Emmett Johnson got 18 snaps. He’s still the handcuff. He’s not stealing this.

JSN with another 100-yard night in a 14-point loss. 12-134 on 16 targets (34.8%), 92% of the snaps. Sam Darnold went 27-of-51 for 278, zero scores, two picks. That’s six interceptions in four games since the glute. JSN is 49-717-7 through six. Two quarterbacks. Same alpha. I said the role holds even if Seattle’s passing game gets worse. It got worse on Thursday. JSN is still the Seahawks offense. He’s also the PPR WR1 on the board.

Maye just did the building-block tape a third time. 18-of-32 for 235, 3 passing scores, zero turnovers. That’s 4, then 3, then 3. DeMario Douglas scored again (7-86-1 on 8, 26.7%). A.J. Brown came off IR and saw 10 targets (3-27, 33.3% of the looks, 76% of the snaps). That’s the process I wanted. The 27 yards are rust. Hunter Henry scored (4-48-1). I was not starting Maye as a weekly QB2 after seven turnovers in three games. Three clean-ish weeks later, I am.

Golden is not the sleeper piece anymore. 6-104-1 on 13 targets (32.5%), 84% of the snaps. Jordan Love went 23-of-41 for 276, a passing score, a rushing score. Christian Watson was 3-64 on 8. I was really high on Watson in the auction plan and I’m not backing off. Six weeks: 29-538-6. Golden just took the volume crown for a night. You can like both. I would rather have Watson’s explosives and Golden’s target share.

Hubbard was the entire Panthers run game in Philadelphia. 28-120-1, 94% of the snaps. Bryce Young went 20-of-39 for 281 and 2 scores. Tetairoa McMillan was 6-86 on 9 (25.7%). Jalen Coker saw 13 looks (6-97, 37.1%). Tommy Tremble punched in two (4-46-2). Carolina is 3-2 and just beat an Eagles team starting Tanner McKee. Hubbard’s 28 carries are the sticky part. That’s a workhorse on a team that will throw too.

Nabers and Likely survived a quarterback change in real time. Jameis Winston went 14-of-26 for 152, a score, two picks, and got benched down 34–10. J.J. McCarthy then threw for 243 in about 11 minutes (11-of-21, a score, a pick). Nabers was 12-165 on 15 (34.9%). Likely was 6-99-1 on 11 (25.6%). Two weeks of WR1 volume for Nabers. A locked-in TE1 for Likely. John Harbaugh would not name a Week 7 starter after the game. Start both either way.

Caleb is back, and Chicago looked like Week 1 again. 30-of-36 for 305, a score, zero picks. Michael Penix Jr. played through the ribs and threw 3. Swift went 16-44-2 plus 4-26 (58% of the snaps). Loveland finally has a Caleb box score: 6-65-1 on 7 (21.2%), 88% of the snaps. Burden was 8-95 on 8 in 39% of the snaps. That’s efficiency, not a full-time role. Kyle Monangai sat (thumb). Roschon Johnson mixed in (13-51-1, 40%). I raised the Bears’ scoring environment after 59 points, then they scored 3 and lost the quarterback. This was the version I drafted.

Tuten keeps finding the end zone even when the rushing line is ugly. 12-39 plus 4-48-2 on 4 targets. Two receiving scores. 58% of the snaps. Chris Rodriguez Jr. mixed in (11-55, 30%). Trevor Lawrence went 24-of-41 for 306 and 4 scores in a 34–31 London loss. Parker Washington saw 11 targets (4-64, 26.8%, 73% of the snaps). Jakobi Meyers was 5-83 on 10. Brian Thomas Jr. played 15 snaps (0-for-2). Two years of this is still a role change. Start Tuten. Start Parker. Stream Strange (5-44 on 7, 76%). Sit BTJ.

Cook is the volume I was skeptical about in August. 22-95-1 plus 3-58, 66% of the snaps. Josh Allen went 23-of-33 for 255 and 2 scores and ran for 1 yard. That’s the passing-game version of Allen. Cook still finished as an RB1. Buffalo is 5-1. The third-down work keeps showing up. I’m raising it again.

Lamb’s quad was a bruise, and then he saw 18 targets. 9-70, 33.3% of Dak’s looks, 88% of the snaps. Dak Prescott went 34-of-54 for 258, a score, two picks. George Pickens was 6-73 on 11. Volume is sticky. 70 yards on 18 looks is not the 189-yard Week 4. Bank Lamb.

Injuries that actually change rest of season

Hurts is on IR. Blood clot in the calf, out Week 6, placed on injured reserve Saturday. That’s a four-game minimum and it is not a “he’ll be back after the bye” sentence. McKee started (26-of-45, 215, a score). DeVonta Smith still ate (7-75-1 on 14, 31.8%). Dallas Goedert was 6-61 on 8. Dameon Pierce played 95% of the snaps (12-35-1 plus 4-15) because Saquon Barkley sat a second straight week (hamstring) and Will Shipley is still out (plantar fascia). Tank Bigsby is on IR. Philadelphia is 2-4. DeVonta is the Eagle you start. Pierce is a volume RB2/flex with no efficiency. I’m not sitting Goedert. I am not rostering three Eagles skill players and hoping McKee turns into Hurts.

Ladd finally played, then he didn’t. 8 snaps, 1-17, concussion, out. The Chargers scored 6 at Kansas City. Herbert went 22-of-37 for 204, zero scores, a pick. Omarion Hampton was 50% of the snaps (7-18 plus 4-21). Kimani Vidal and Keaton Mitchell mixed in again. Tre Harris sat (hamstring). I was on the McDaniel hype train all summer. Ladd is still my highest best-ball exposure. I’m not selling him for peanuts. I’m also not starting him, Hampton as an RB1, or Herbert as a weekly QB2. Next is a bye. That’s the nicest thing I can say about 0-6.

Doubs scored on a 42-yarder and then the shoulder ended it. Two offensive snaps. Kyle Williams and Douglas are the Patriots WRs you actually have if Brown’s rust lasts and Doubs sits. Protocol is protocol for Ladd. Shoulders linger for Doubs. Have a backup for both.

Kincaid went 7-38 on 8 (26.7%), 72% of the snaps, and then the ribs were a “questionable to return.” He finished the box score. I’m not walking back the top-5 tight end thing. Buffalo is on bye in Week 7, so he gets extra days. Ribs on a tight end are still ribs.

Tyler Warren was a late-week groin and then he sat. Keenan Allen led Indianapolis (8-82 on 11, 28.9%). Josh Downs was 4-40 on 8. Jonathan Taylor went 21-94-1 plus 2-57. Volume RB1, and the passing game without Warren and Alec Pierce is Allen and Downs. Stream Allen if you need a WR3. Don’t pay TE1 money for Mallory.

Lamar Jackson sat a second straight (ankle). Tyler Huntley went 19-of-31 for 165 and Baltimore scored 10. Zay Flowers still saw 11 targets (6-66, 35.5%, 88% of the snaps). Derrick Henry was 17-58 on 58% of the snaps. Rashod Bateman left with a shoulder. Flowers stays in. Henry stays in as a volume RB2 with a shrinking ceiling until Lamar actually practices. Huntley is a Superflex dart, not a 1QB start. Cincinnati visits Baltimore next. That’s a different game if Lamar is back.

Breece Hall sat a third straight (quad). Braelon Allen went 17-78 plus 2-26 on 87% of the snaps. That’s the 20-touch smash two weeks running. Miami visits the Jets next. If Hall sits again, Allen is an RB2. If Hall practices, scale it.

Quinshon Judkins was questionable (ankle, the boot from last week) and then he sat. Jaleel McLaughlin led Cleveland’s backfield (9-41 plus 4-14, 62%). Audric Estimé punched one in (9-19-1). That’s a dartboard. Fannin played 89% of the snaps and caught 1-9 on 3. Snaps are sticky. Production is not. Tennessee is next. Sit Judkins until the boot is a rumor.

Jeremiyah Love sat (ankle). Bam Knight went 15-80 (44% of the snaps) and Tyler Allgeier was 18-38 (56%). Trey McBride still ate (7-53 on 9, 97% of the snaps). McBride is the only Cardinals skill player I’m starting every week. Knight is the add if Love sits again at Denver.

Monangai sat. Montgomery sat. Rice sat. David Montgomery’s groin is still week-to-week. Marks played 78% (15-56 plus 2-25) and Jawhar Jordan stole a score (6-43-1). Marks is the Texans back. Don’t bid like 2023 Achane. Do start him against the Giants.

Chris Olave was questionable with an illness and then played 58% of the snaps (4-43-1 on 7). That’s the lowest share of his season. Tyler Shough still threw 3 scores and ran one in (16-of-30, 144, plus 5-32-1). One illness game is not a fade.

Mike Evans is questionable (ribs) for tonight. Deebo Samuel Sr. is out (hamstring). I’ll leave San Francisco’s passing game for later. Jayden Daniels is the other half of Monday. Jacory Croskey-Merritt is out (groin).

Trending up (raise the rest-of-season number)

Walker, JSN, Maye, Hubbard, Cook, Lamb. The roles did not blink. Raise all six.

Golden. 13 targets, 104 yards, a score. Raise him into the weekly WR2/3 tier. Watson stays in on explosives.

Nabers and Likely. Winston, McCarthy, doesn’t matter. Raise both until New York remembers how to run. They currently do not. Cam Skattebo played 6 snaps after a string of fumbles. Tyrone Tracy Jr. scored twice on 6 carries. I said I was avoiding Tracy at all costs. Two scores on 29 snaps is noisy. Skattebo’s snap count is the tell.

Caleb, Loveland, Swift. One clean 305-yard game is not 59 points. It is the first actual step back toward it.

Tuten’s receiving work. Two scores through the air. The passing-down usage is the projection change.

Bernard. 11-87-1 on 12, 94% of the snaps, DK Metcalf next to him at 11-93 on 15. I told you to add Bernard last week. Raise both. Jaylen Warren kept 75% of the snaps even with Rico Dowdle back (27%). Warren is still the Steelers back.

Worthy with Rice out. 7-73 on 7. That’s the Chiefs WR you start until Rice practices.

Marks. 78% of the snaps, Montgomery still out. C.J. Stroud went 24-of-34 for 312 and 3 scores. Jaylin Noel popped (4-107-1). Nico Collins was 3-74. Nico is the one you don’t overthink. Noel is a deep-league dart. Harrison Jr. debuted at 12 snaps (3-34). I’m not dropping him in best ball. I’m also not starting him in redraft.

Tate in a Titans win. 6-70-1 on 7. He’s the Titans WR I’d actually roster. Omar Cooper Jr. went 6-103-1. Deep-league add. Garrett Wilson is still the Jets WR1 job.

Kyle Pitts scored twice. That’s noisy. London’s 10 targets (4-62, 100% of the snaps) are not. London has 550 yards and zero touchdowns through six games. That’s a fun sentence. It’s also a rest-of-season WR1 with a TD drought, not a fade.

Trending the wrong way

Herbert and McDaniel. 0-6. Six points. A concussion for Ladd on the one week he was finally active. Next is a bye, then the Rams. I am lowering every Chargers passing projection until Ladd clears protocol and somebody blocks. Hampton’s 23-carry week looks like 2024. Six weeks of a three-man committee is 2026.

Lloyd. I put him back on the flex radar last week after two punch-ins. Then Pierre Strong out-snapped him (55% to 40%), caught 5-39, and Lloyd went 8-10. Josh Jacobs is still on the commissioner’s exempt list. Watson and Golden are the Packers fantasy players. The backfield is Strong on passing downs and Lloyd as a committee. I’m out on Lloyd as a weekly start again. I keep doing this. The tape keeps winning.

BTJ. Fifteen snaps. Zero catches. Parker and Meyers ate. I thought Brian Thomas Jr. would be a stud last year too. Six weeks of this is a depth chart, not a slump.

Bijan. Nine carries. 78% of the snaps, 61 rushing yards, minus-8 receiving. Atlanta trailed. I faded him all summer because I thought this offense might be bad with Tua Tagovailoa. Penix is back and the passing game works (London, Pitts, Jahan Dotson 3-87-1). Nine carries is still a yellow flag for a back I had in the 1A tier. Don’t sit him. Do notice that Brian Robinson is still stealing the short ones, and the Falcons will throw when they’re behind.

Jeanty. Six games. One rushing touchdown. 10-22 on Sunday (2.2 a pop) plus 4-36 on 6. Volume is sticky. Efficiency is still not. Brock Bowers played 98% and saw 9 targets (4-70). Michael Mayer saw 9 too (7-95). Bowers is a locked-in TE1. Tre Tucker went 5-97-2. That’s the Raiders WR I’m interested in while they play from behind. Jeanty’s receiving work is the standalone piece. The rushing scores are still a billboard.

Waddle and Nix. Thursday was 107 passing yards. Waddle was 4-24 on 7. J.K. Dobbins got the early downs (17-41-1). RJ Harvey scored (6-25-1 plus 3-31). Don’t panic-sell Waddle. Don’t auto-start him over actual WR2s. Nix is a Superflex start, not a 1QB one.

Kyren’s split is back. 10-50 plus 3-17, 72% of the snaps. Blake Corum went 9-42 plus 2-18-1 on 28%. Same yellow flag. Puka Nacua was 6-80 on 7. Davante Adams was 3-39. I’m not dumping Adams. I am treating him as a WR2/3 with Puka healthy.

A.J. Brown’s return was volume without the juice. Ten targets, 27 yards. That’s not a fade. That’s a “he just got off IR” box score. One week. If Doubs sits, Brown’s target share is the Patriots passing game. Douglas still scored. You can start both for a week.

Harrison Jr. in Houston. Twelve snaps. I told you a second-round pick does not magically fix the tape. Nico, Noel, Hutchinson, Boutte, then Harrison. That’s a committee. Patience in best ball. Bench in redraft.

Henry with Huntley. 17-58, no score, 58% of the snaps. That’s Henry in a 10-point game. The 144-and-3 opener was the ceiling. The role is the floor when Lamar is out there. Until then, he’s a volume RB2 you start because the alternative is McLaughlin.

Fannin. 89% of the snaps, 1-9. I treated him like a TE1 after the 30% share in Week 3. Snaps are the sticky part. Two quiet games in a row is a reminder that Deshaun Watson is still Deshaun Watson. Stream if you have to. Don’t pay Bowers money.

Bucky Irving went 19-46 on 85% of the snaps. Volume RB2 with a shrinking ceiling. Emeka Egbuka saw 16 targets (7-48-1). That’s the process I wanted. Baker Mayfield is still out. Start Irving. Start Egbuka. Sit Jalon Daniels.

Darnold’s turnovers. Two more. Seattle scored 14. JSN is fine. Everybody else in that passing game is a guess. Emanuel Wilson was 14-52 on 32% of the snaps. George Holani scored (5-20-1, 58%). That’s a committee with Zach Charbonnet still out. Wilson is a dart. Holani is a dart. Kansas City on Sunday Night is not the week you find out.

League-winner watch

Walker, if 19-plus carries and a couple of scores is just a week off a bye. That’s a top-5 RB profile and the Chiefs are 5-0.

JSN. Six weeks. Two quarterbacks. Still the WR1 on the board in PPR even on a 12-134 night in a loss.

Maye, if zero-turnover Maye is the new normal. That’s how QB2s become championship-roster QB1s.

Golden if 30% of Love’s looks sticks. That’s the cheaper version of the Watson sentence. Watson is still the big-play WR who just reminded everyone he is big and fast, on a team that will throw. Golden is the volume.

Hubbard, because 28-carry games on a 3-2 team are how late-round RBs become season-long RB1s.

Nabers. 15 targets, 165 yards, a quarterback change in the fourth quarter, and he still finished as the week’s PPR WR1. That’s an alpha.

Gibbs is still in this conversation from the bye. I’m not walking that back because Sunday happened without him.

Tuten if the receiving scores are a role. Not a first-round league winner. A “Liam Coen will throw it to the running back” one. Those count too.

Caleb’s stack, if 30-of-36 is the floor of the return and not the ceiling of one afternoon. Loveland is the tight end version of that sentence. Tight end is where seasons get won because everybody else is streaming.

A few more notes

Justin Jefferson was on bye. I’m not moving him. Chase and Higgins too. Ollie Gordon II can wait a week. Aaron Jones is the sell-high before Jordan Mason is eligible, if you can get an actual RB2 back. Same sentence as last week.

Keon Coleman scored again (4-59-1) with DJ Moore still sitting (shoulder). Coleman is still the Bills receiver I’d rather have if Moore sits through the bye.

Denzel Boston played 92% of the snaps and caught 1-15 on 5. I’m not dumping him in deep leagues. I am not starting him at Tennessee.

Foster Moreau scored twice on 2-7. That’s a button, not a role. Dalton Schultz played 40%. Don’t.

Kendre Miller went 20-70. Alvin Kamara was 26% of the snaps and still scored. Kamara is a dart. Miller is the volume.

Javonte Williams punched one in (11-41-1, 73%). Goal-line work is sticky. 3.7 yards a pop is not.

What I’m watching

Tonight is Commanders-49ers. If you have Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Evans, Daniels, Terry McLaurin, or Rachaad White, you already know. Deebo’s hamstring and Evans’ ribs too. I’ll leave it. Buffalo, the Chargers, Jacksonville, and Washington are on bye in Week 7. Plan the bench accordingly.

Thursday is New England at Chicago. Maye versus Caleb. Brown’s rust. Doubs’ shoulder. Loveland with a full week of “the starter is back.” That’s a points-over game waiting to happen if both quarterbacks play.

Ladd’s protocol. Herbert on a bye. That’s the rest-of-season fulcrum of the week for half my best-ball teams.

Hurts’ IR clock. Saquon’s hamstring. Dallas visits Philadelphia on Monday Night in Week 7. That’s a lot of injuries pointing at one game again.

Lamar versus Cincinnati. If he sits, Huntley is not the same offense. Flowers stays in.

Harbaugh’s quarterback. Nabers and Likely are starts. Winston versus McCarthy is a Superflex headache at Houston.

Walker at Seattle on Sunday Night. JSN versus that Chiefs secondary. I’m not sitting either one.

And then we can talk about the rest of Week 7 after the Sunday slate. Cowboys-Eagles on Monday can wait.