Fantasy Football Week 6 Recap
Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season brought dramatic highs and lows for fantasy football managers, as several standout performances and significant injuries impacted lineups.
Caleb Williams, is emerging as a star in his rookie season in Chicago. Williams broke out in London on Sunday morning showcasing poise and strong playmaking abilities in a solid showing against the Jaguars. The former Trojan finished the game with 226 yards passing, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for an additional 56 yards. He edged out Baker Mayfield as the QB1 in week 6, and is the QB6 over his past three games. He was dropped in many leagues after a slow start to the season, but has slowly become a must start player.
Running backs in 2024 continue to be game changers in fantasy football. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers put up 51 points against what was considered to be a strong New Orleans defense. With Rachaad White sitting due to injury, Bucky Irving looked to be a must start. He finished as the RB10 on the week, but his nice performance was overshadowed by third stringer Sean Tucker who became the RB1 out of nowhere.
Joe Mixon returned from a four week absence to have a monster game in New England, Derrick Henry continues to find the end zone for Baltimore, and the Charger’s J.K. Dobbins continues to turn in top fantasy performances due to his high volume, finishing the game with 25 carries against the Broncos. Dobbins’ explosive running style and versatility in the passing game were on full display, making him a potential fantasy anchor as long as he can stay healthy.
Wide receivers continue to be one of the more unpredictable positions in fantasy football. The recent integration of quarterback Drake Maye into the Patriots offense not only elevated him to QB9 for the week but also boosted receiver production. This was especially beneficial for young wideout DeMario Douglas, who saw more targets and yards, making him an increasingly attractive flex option for managers moving forward.
Unfortunately, there were also some significant disappointments. Saints receiver Chris Olave exited early with a concussion, leaving New Orleans with limited options in the passing game and causing him to finish the week with negative fantasy points. Marvin Harrison Jr. also left the Cardinals game with a concussion and was quickly ruled out. Calvin Ridley’s struggles also continued, as Tennessee’s ongoing quarterback issues cast a shadow over his future outlook.
Interestingly, a few unexpected players joined the top 10 wide receivers for Week 6: Chris Godwin, Gabe Davis, Romeo Doubs, and Diontae Johnson, along with Douglas. None of these players were high-priority picks at the start of the season, highlighting the volatility of the position week to week.
Looking ahead, fantasy managers should keep an eye on the potential coaching changes rumoured for teams like the Jaguars and Raiders after multiple disappointing performances from their respective teams. New coaching leadership could alter offensive schemes and impact player values, particularly for skill players like Travis Etienne and others who are rumoured to be on the trading block.
Another wild, and somewhat confusing week in the NFL. Here are the Studs and Duds from week 6.
Studs of the Week
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a whole were fantasy studs after dropping 51 points against the Saints. The game was one of the streakiest I can remember in the NFL. Tampa took an early 17 – 0 lead, but the Saints stormed back in the second quarter as Spencer Rattler led New Orleans to a 27 point quarter, entering the half with a 27-24 lead. That would be the end of the Saints offensive scoring, as the Bucs scored 27 unanswered points of their own, dominating the second half. Baker Mayfield finished as the QB2, Chris Godwin continued his resurgent season as the WR1 overall, and Sean Tucker exploded for 136 yards on the ground and 56 yards through the air to finish as the most unexpected RB1 on the week. While they’re all clearly all Studs of the week, we’ll try and highlight some players outside of the Bucs locker room.
Quarterbacks:
- Caleb Williams – Chicago Bears: Outside of the four passing touchdowns, Williams stats didn’t jump off the page in week 6, but watching him orchestrate the offense it’s obvious that he’s adapting to the speed and physicality of the NFL. Williams now has seven touchdowns and just one interception over his last three starts, and the increase in rushing yards this week (a career high 56 yards against the Jaguars) shows that there’s still more untapped potential for the Bears new franchise quarterback.
- Jordan Love – Green Bay Packers: Jordan Love had a shaky week 5 performance against the Rams in his return from injury, but was terrific against the Cardinals in week 6. The former first round pick threw for four touchdowns and 258 yards in the win, including two touchdowns to Romeo Doubs who was coming off a team issued suspension. Jayden Reed looks like a top ten receiver in the league, meanwhile with Doubs back in the fold and Christian Watson apparently suffering no ill effects from his injury last week, Love is absolutely slinging the ball all over the field.
Running Backs:
- Joe Mixon – Houston Texans: The Texans clearly designed their running game around Mixon’s strengths as he’s finished as the RB2 in both the games he played in this year. Mixon rushed for 102 yards on only thirteen carries and a touchdown, and also had two catches for 30 yards and another touchdown. He can do it all offensively, and with defenses being forced to focus on trying to shut down the explosive passing game, there will continue to be rushing lanes for Mixon going forward.
- Bijan Robinson – Atlanta Falcons: Robinson is finally starting to show the explosiveness that made him an early first round pick in fantasy. He finished the game with 95 yards on fifteen carries and found the end zone twice. His production in the passing game was disappointing, catching three of his four targets for just ten yards, but his 6.3 yards per carry are an improvement over his past three games. Robinson did yield a red zone touchdown to Tyler Allgeier, and that problem doesn’t seem to be going away considering Allgeier had a team high 18 carries in week 6. But if Robinson can maintain that type of efficiency with his touches, he’ll be a fine fantasy option.
Wide Receivers:
- Terry McLaurin – Washington Commanders: Terry McLaurin has clearly become the favorite target for rookie Jayden Daniels. Daniels looked human in the Commanders tough matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, but McLaurin still found the end zone twice with two elite level catches. He tied Noah Brown for the team lead in targets with eight and is clearly the focal point of this offense once the team enters the red zone.
- A.J. Brown – Philadelphia Eagles : A.J. Brown has missed each of the last three Eagles games with a hamstring injury, but was able to play 90% of the team’s snaps as they came off their bye. In his first action since week one, Brown caught five passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. The stat line isn’t amazing, but the catches he made were essential. He finished the game 19.3 yards per reception to help the Eagles escape with a narrow win over the Browns.
Tight Ends:
- Cole Kmet – Chicago Bears: While tight end production has been lacking this season, Cole Kmet has slowly become a must start option now that Williams is getting things figured out at quarterback. Chicago’s offensive coordinator tried to bury Kmet on the depth chart by signing Gerald Everett and limiting his snaps in week one. Since then Kmet is the TE2 from weeks 2-6. He punched in two touchdowns in London, finished with 70 yards on five catches and had two catches that went for more than 20 yards. With the state of the tight ends so far this season, Kmet is joining his quarterback as a weekly must start.
Duds of the Week
Not everyone lived up to the hype in Week 6. Removing the likes of Olave and Harrison who left their respective games early due to injury, here are the three players who were highly rostered and still let us down.
- Kyler Murray – Arizona Cardinals: Murray has always been a boom or bust quarterback in fantasy, and this week was definitely a bust, finishing as the QB23. Murray is one of eight quarterbacks who’s had two 24-plus point games this season, yet he’s also had four games with 15 or fewer points. Murray is supposed to have a higher upside thanks to his rushing ability, but he’s only averaging 5.0 points per game on rushes, which is tied for eighth amongst all quarterbacks. While we expected that number to be higher, it’s still palatable. However, Murray just hasn’t been getting it done through the air. Outside of the one impressive quarter in week 2 where Marvin Harrison scored two touchdowns, Murray has been a disappointment as a passer, and that really showed against what was expected to be a shootout in week six against the Packers.
- Saquon Barkley – Philadelphia Eagles: In Week 6, Saquon Barkley had a challenging fantasy outing against the Cleveland Browns, as his performance was hamstrung by the Eagles’ conservative game plan and strong Browns defense. Barkley posted 18 carries for just 47 yards and managed only two receptions for seven yards, totaling 54 yards from scrimmage without a touchdown. This marked the first game of the season in which he failed to reach 100 scrimmage yards. The Eagles’ offensive strategy leaned on A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, limiting Barkley’s workload as they prioritized quick passes to counter the Browns’ pass rush. While Barkley’s fantasy production was underwhelming this week, he remains a high-usage player and will likely return to better fantasy results in matchups that are more favorable to the run game.
- Mike Evans – Tampa Bay Buccaneers: When you’re the leading receiver on a team that scores 51 points on offense, you would expect a better stat line than two catches for 34 yards on six targets. Evans has notoriously been shut down by cornerback Marshawn Lattimore in the past. And while he was able to keep his cool in this head to head matchup, the rest of his offense was able to flourish while his production was limited. While Lattimore wasn’t shadowing Evans as much as he has in the past, Evans was also dealing with an apparent injury that sent him to the locker room after trying to make a tackle on a Mayfield interception. He was able to finish out the game, and, knowing Evans, he’s likely in line for a major bounce back game next week.
Fun Stat from the Weekend
The Eagles – Browns week 6 matchup was must miss TV. Philadelphia continues to start slow, and are the only team left in the NFL who hasn’t scored in the first quarter. For their part, the Browns are the first team in ten years to not score more than twenty points in any of their first six games.
Bonus Stat – Somehow the statisticians gave Calvin Ridley 8 targets during the Tennessee Titans week 6 game. The video below is…not flattering for Will Levis.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.