10 Things to Know For Week 6: The Joe Flacco Effect, Buying Low on A.J. Brown and More

Week 6 is upon us. Reminder: Friends and family come and go, but fantasy football championship banners hang forever.

This brings us to today's goal: 10 mostly fantasy-relevant things to know ahead of Week 6 that ideally will help make you both a better fantasy manager and overall person.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

1. Should we really expect Joe Flacco to save the day in Cincinnati?

The Bengals decided to do all of us a favor and rid themselves of the Jake Browning Experience by trading a fifth-round pick for Flacco + a sixth-round pick. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Bengals would like Flacco to be ready to play Sunday at Green Bay.

Yes, the 40-year-old Flacco was quite bad in his encore for the Browns this season.

Flacco among 34 QBs with 100-plus dropbacks:

EPA per dropback: -0291 (34th)
PFF pass grade: 60.2 (26th)
Completion percentage over expected: -4.3% (30th)
Yards per attempt: 5.1 (34th)
Passer rating: 60.3 (34th)

Also yes, it's fair to say that getting to throw to Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins will be more fun than Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman. There's reason to believe that Flacco was still giving his guys a chance in Cleveland despite the rough results. Obviously the Bengals offensive line is pretty far from ideal; just realize their allowed pressure rate (42%) and average time to pressure (2.43 seconds) isn't catastrophically worse than what the Browns have given up this season (41%, 2.5 seconds). Reminder: Flacco did indeed lead the NFL in passing yards per start during the 2023-2024 campaigns with the Browns and Jets.

Could this simply go horribly and Flacco continues to function as one of the league's worst QBs? Sure, but the bar couldn't be lower in Cincy at the moment, so at a minimum the change gives fantasy managers a rare glimmer of hope for this otherwise downtrodden passing game.

I'm continuing to rank Chase as a top-10 WR and Higgins as a boom-or-bust WR3 ahead of Sunday's rough matchup in Lambeau BUT have more optimism here moving forward. Things do lighten up in Weeks 7-9 with matchups against the Steelers, Jets, and Bears.

Here's to hoping Flacco can party like he's 38 again and help the Bengals at least be more of a fun bad team until Joe Burrow is ready to suit up.

2. Have some clear-cut pass and run funnel defenses emerged this season?

A funnel defense is a group that is so good against the pass or run that they persuade opposing offenses to consistently attack (and rack up production) vs. their weakness. A team with a really good secondary is more likely to see opponents try to establish the ol' run, while for years offenses facing Vita Vea and the Bucs have found that sometimes it's better to simply try to pick up yards through the air.

Anyway: Yes, there are several defenses that have been really good vs. one facet of offense and quite bad vs. another.

Pass funnel

Five defenses have a significantly better ranking in EPA per rush allowed compared to EPA per dropback:

Buccaneers (27th in EPA per dropback, 1st in EPA per rush): Week 5 against the Seahawks ended the Bucs' 13-game streak of holding opponents under 100 rushing yards. Accordingly, I wouldn't expect Christian McCaffrey to have much running room this Sunday–good thing he's basically an RB3 and elite WR1 anyway.
Patriots (26th in EPA per dropback, 4th in EPA per rush): These numbers are a bit skewed from missing No. 1 CB Christian Gonzalez during the first three weeks of the season. Still, this group has been vulnerable against tight ends–only the Bengals and Panthers have allowed more PPR points per game to the position than the Patriots. The Week 6 beneficiary: Saints TE Juwan Johnson.
Raiders (28th in EPA per dropback, 7th in EPA per rush): It hasn't been easy to run on Maxx Crosby and company. Perhaps this will help lead to another plus performance from Cam Ward and Calvin Ridley, who managed to display some route-running goodness on his way to racking up 131 yards against the Cardinals last week.
Seahawks (22nd in EPA per dropback, 3rd in EPA per rush): Injuries to cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon (knee) and Riq Woolen (concussion) as well as safety Julian Love (hamstring) have hardly helped here. Their respective returns would certainly help matters in slowing down Trevor Lawrence and company this Sunday.
Browns (20th in EPA per dropback, 2nd in EPA per rush): Trying to run on this Myles Garrett-led front-seven has not been wise this season. While testing Denzel Ward also isn't usually a great idea, he spends the heavy majority of his time on the left side of the field, meaning Steelers WR DK Metcalf could have a nice opportunity for a blowup spot this Sunday.

Run funnel

Four defenses fit our criteria as being far better against the run than the pass through five weeks of action. Note that generally in the year 2025 we see more good overall defenses in this group; smart teams know that it's better to be great against the pass than the run thanks to the ability to load up the box when necessary

Vikings (1st in EPA per dropback, 25th in EPA per rush): Brian Flores' group ranks first in overall EPA allowed per play, reflecting the reality that it's tougher to feel overly great about attacking perceived on-paper weakness in the run game. Still, they have allowed the sixth-most rushing yards to opposing RBs–we'll see if Saquon Barkley can find some success against this group following their Week 6 bye.
Jaguars (3rd in EPA per dropback, 24th in EPA per rush): Getting EDGE Travon Walker back would certainly help the Jags' efforts in slowing down Kenneth Walker and company this Sunday.
Chiefs (10th in EPA per dropback, 31st in EPA per rush): Will really be put to the test on Sunday night against Sonic and Knuckles AKA Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
Bills (11th in EPA per dropback, 28th in EPA per rush): Getting a bit healthier with the return of LB Matt Milano last week (hopefully DT Ed Oliver is next). Still, Bijan Robinson has been so productive as a pass-catcher that even a (Ned) stark improvement wouldn't be too much to worry about ahead of next Monday night.

An additional shoutout to the Cowboys, Jets, Dolphins, Ravens, Bengals, Titans, and Giants for managing to simply be bad against the pass and run alike. Your opposing fantasy managers appreciate your service.

3. What have been the league's best and worst offensive lines?

It's tough to fully isolate offensive line performance because QBs and RBs can have major impacts on how plays wind up going, but that doesn't mean we can't try!

The below chart reflects every offense's RB rush yards BEFORE contact per carry (to quantify run blocking performance) as well as pressure rate allowed (pass blocking ability). Note that we do often see more mobile QBs like Justin Fields and Lamar Jackson have higher pressure rates since they tend to hold the ball longer, so I wouldn't completely freak out about the Jets and Ravens standing below.

I'm most impressed with the Cowboys' standing here considering they've had to deal with injuries to each of C Cooper Beebe (ankle, IR), LT Tyler Guyton (knee), and RG Tyler Booker (ankle) this season. Obviously having a veteran QB like Dak Prescott helps matters; just realize the NFL's fourth-ranked scoring offense could be even more efficient down the stretch if/when their offensive line heals up.

As for the yikes group: The Injury gods really are cruel, man.

Browns: OT Dawand Jones (knee/hamstring, IR) was lost for the season in Week 3.
Packers: Each of OT Zach Tom (oblique), OT Anthony Belton (ankle), G Aaron Banks (ankle, groin) have missed early-season time, while depth pieces Jacob Monk (hamstring, IR), G John Williams (back, IR), and Travis Glover (shoulder, IR) have been out of the picture all season.
Raiders: Lost LT Kolton Miller (ankle) to IR prior to last week.
Bengals: Starting guards Lucas Patrick (calf, IR) and Cordell Volson (shoulder, IR) have combined to play *one* game this season.
Chargers: Starting tackles Rashawn Slater (torn patellar tendon, IR) and Joe Alt (ankle, out) are both out of the picture for the time being. G Mekhi Becton (hand) also got banged up last week.

Here's to hoping these offensive lines get healthier, but in the meantime I'd be careful about expecting too high of highs from their respective key playmakers in matchups with tougher front-sevens. This week that warning certainly seems more applicable to the Browns (vs. Steelers), Bengals (vs. Packers), and Chargers (vs. Dolphins) as opposed to the Packers (vs. Bengals) and Raiders (vs. Titans).

4. Week 5 RB Report: Hell yeah Rachaad White and Rico Dowdle!

As always, we invite you to check out Fantasy Life's AMAZING suite of Utilization Tools (you can get a FREE FantasyLife+ 12-month subscription by following just a few steps) for the most in-depth usage information in the entire universe, but for today's purposes we'll sum up Week 5 backfield usage in a bit broader light.

Workhorse alert: Kyren Williams (91% snaps), Christian McCaffrey (89%), De'Von Achane (87%), Rachaad White (81%), Kenneth Gainwell (77% pre-bye), Javonte Williams (76%), Jonathan Taylor (75%), Tony Pollard (72%), Saquon Barkley (71%), James Cook (70%), and Jordan Mason (70%) were the only 11 RBs to play at least 70% of their offense's snaps in Week 5. All should be auto starts in pretty much fantasy lineups of all shapes and sizes with the only three real exceptions being Gainwell (Jaylen Warren is expected to return), Pollard (it'd make sense if Tyjae Spears continues to see more work), and Mason (on bye, so yeah, definitely don't start him). Even then, I typically let a workhorse RB's volume win as the tiebreaker over WR3 types in close start/sit decisions.

Still a bell-cow, wouldn't sweat it: RBs who didn't quite rack up a near every-down role in terms of snaps, but continued to dominate their backfield's overall touches and should be continued to be relied on in fantasy lineups of all shapes and sizes include: Bijan Robinson (duh), Jahmyr Gibbs (duh), Cam Skattebo (still trusting him as a low-end RB2 even with Tyrone Tracy back), Rico Dowdle (weekly starter as long as Chuba Hubbard is out), Derrick Henry (please get healthy, Lamar), Josh Jacobs (dawg), Travis Etienne (especially given Bhayshul Tuten's … vision display), Breece Hall (got his explosion back!), Ashton Jeanty (just would be cooler if the rest of his offense could help even a little bit), JK Dobbins (continues to be THE running back in Denver, y'all), Michael Carter (especially with Emari Demercado a strong doghouse candidate), and Quinshon Judkins (absolutely balling).

What do we make of the Chiefs?: This has been a muddled three-way committee all season long. Kareem Hunt leads the way in carries (43 vs. 39) and has been getting the goal line work, while Brashard Smith has also been just involved enough in the passing game to help limit the upside of both early-down options. While many fantasy nerds are hopeful of Smith carving out a Jerick McKinnon-esque pass-game role, I'm fairly dubious at this point due to his current gadget role. For now, I'll continue to answer the heavy majority of start/sit questions involving a Chiefs RB with the other guy.

Those damn Injury gods: Omarion Hampton (ankle, IR) will miss at least the next four weeks, leaving Kimani Vidal and Hassan Haskins as the next men up. Ultimately, we're doing some guesswork trying to figure out who will emerge as the best option without the benefit of any sort of relevant sample size here, but it's probably not wise to expect any party involved to have the same sort of workhorse role as Hampton. After all, neither Vidal (53 career touches) nor Haskins (79) have exactly proven much at the NFL level. That said: The former has more of the explosive/pass-catching skill-set we look for in fantasyland inside an offense that ranks third in dropback rate over expected and hasn't been able to run the ball very well at all behind this banged up offensive line. It would make sense if Harbaugh's Michigan Man Haskins is the preferred option around the goal line and perhaps on early downs. For now, give me Vidal, but the decision to sign Nyheim Hines does make this a legit coin flip. I'll be answering the heavy majority of close start/sit questions involving either Charger RB with the other guy for Week 6 before we get a better read on the situation.

Those damn Injury gods Part II: Patriots RB2/3 and kick returner Antonio Gibson is out for the season with a torn ACL. Pain. I was really hoping the ex-Commander would get a chance to be traded and take over a backfield somewhere; he really has played some damn good ball in New England over the last two seasons. Of course, his absence does open up the door for TreVeyon Henderson to see more work, particularly if Rhamondre Stevenson continues to fail to hold onto the football (league-high 10 fumbles since last season). The problem is that Henderson has largely not made much out of the (few) opportunities he's had: The rookie ranks 32nd in yards per carry (3.8) and 30th in yards per receptions (6) among 43 qualified RBs. Not fumbling is a great start in this backfield, but yeah, c'mon man!

A changing of the guard in New Orleans? Not really; Alvin Kamara will in all likelihood remain the clear-cut starting RB as long as he wants to remain in New Orleans. That said: Three consecutive finishes outside the position's top-24 PPR backs reflects the reality that he's hardly the same fantasy star these days, particularly with Kellen Moore's offense affording the 30-year-old veteran a career-low 3.4 receptions per game. Again, don't expect Kamara to be phased out of the offense or anything absurd like that … BUT if we did see an injury or trade go down, Kendre Miller would be on the cover of every waiver wire article out there. And for good reason: The dude has made the most out of his opportunities all season. That's him all the way up in the top right corner of the below chart alongside Bijan Robinson!

The workload is there, but the efficiency and/or scoring upside is not: Guys who you generally will probably still start in fantasy, but maybe you don't NEED to if you can help it feature Chase Brown and D'Andre Swift. I'm a little bit more optimistic about Swift given he's managed to return RB24 production this season in PPR points per game. As for Brown? I don't know, man. The speedster has an unfathomable 83 touches without a single 15-plus yard gain this season. The next-closest player has … 31.

Concerns, but I'm generally pushing through them: Feature Kenneth Walker and David Montgomery. Would it be a lot cooler if both had more consistent workloads and didn't have to cede so many touches to their offense's other RB? Of course, but life isn't fair, and you probably don't have any better RB options on your roster, so fire up these talented real-life RBs and hope for the best. Maybe call your Mom and say hello while you're at it you selfish piece of shit (just kidding, kind of).

BILL! BILL! BILL!: Bill Croskey-Merrit the running back guy turned 16 touches into 150 yards and a pair of scores during the Commanders' Week 5 win over the Chargers, continuing to demonstrate all sorts of burst and big-play ability. The man leads the NFL in yards per carry at 6.6! Unfortunately, it's tough to sky-rocket Bill TOO high up the ranks because despite the positive momentum, the Commanders continue to insist on keeping Chris Rodriguez and Jeremy McNichols plenty involved as well. That said: I'm firing up Croskey-Merritt ahead of inefficient volume-hogs/losers like D'Andre Swift and Chase Brown thanks to this week's pristine matchup against the Bears' league-worst defense in RB rush yards allowed before contact per carry.

5. Are there any cornerbacks we should be actively targeting in fantasy land?

I generally believe WR/CB matchups are overrated; it's rare to see individual matchups exceed a 50% route rate on any given Sunday, so trying to make big-time takeaways based on a small-sample size of occurrences just doesn't seem overly wise.

That said: There are exceptions to every rule, and it would make sense if offenses are going out of their way to target No. 2 corners on defenses with a clear-cut No. 1 alpha. After looking at the performances from No. 2 WRs against a handful of the game's highest paid and best players at the position, two defenses stand out as worth attacking with future No. 2 WRs:

New York Jets: CB Sauce Gardner rarely left his spot as the defense's left cornerback during the early portions of his career, but he's made more of a habit of traveling with the opponent's No. 1 WR this season. Accordingly, we've seen some pretty great No. 2 WR performances: Calvin Austin (4-70-1), Emeka Egbuka (6-85-0), and Ryan Flournoy (6-114-0) have each put up some big-time numbers mostly against Gang Green's complementary corners.

Up next is a matchup with the Broncos that figures to see plenty of Gardner on Courtland Sutton. Sean Payton has always been a bit wonky with his WR rotations, but Troy Franklin's full-time usage has stabilized–I like the second-year WR's chances of putting up a boom spot in this matchup despite a few quiet weeks in a row.

Denver Broncos: CB Patrick Surtain needs no introduction, and accordingly we've seen opposing offenses rather ruthlessly target No. 2 CB Riley Moss. In fact, only Giants CB Andru Phillips (41) has been targeted more often than Moss (39) this season. Notable No. 2 WR performances against the Broncos this season include:

Eagles WR DeVonta Smith: 8-114-0 (10 targets)
Bengals WR Tee Higgins: 3-32-0 (6) – note that Higgins went 11-131-3 in this matchup with Joe Burrow under center back in Week 17, 2024
Chargers WR Keenan Allen (7-65-1, 11) and Ladd McConkey (4-41-0, 7) – Surtain shadowed Quentin Johnston in this matchup.
Colts WR Alec Pierce (4-68-0, 5) and Josh Downs (6-51-0, 8) – Surtain shadowed Michael Pittman in this matchup.
Titans WR Elic Ayomanor: 2-23-0 (7)

Unfortunately, the Jets don't exactly boast a No. 2 WR across from Garrett Wilson who looks at all capable of taking advantage of this matchup. Rather, TE Mason Taylor profiles as the likely beneficiary this week, although credit to Denver for working as one of just eight defenses allowing under double-digit PPR points per game to the position. Guys like Tyler Warren (4-79-0), Oronde Gadsden (5-46-0), and Dallas Goedert (3-19-1) were still fine, but I still hesitate to call this a "smash" spot given Justin Fields' obvious limitations as a passer.

6. Who have been NFL's most productive WRs by route?

TruMedia and PFF have some pretty awesome per-route data that can allow us to filter passing games based on the specific routes being run.

Go routes: Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba (151) has been the NFL's No. 1 WR when it comes to running go-associated routes down the field. Overall, he's racked up this production on just seven targets!

The actual target leaders on these downfield routes haven't been nearly as efficient, as neither Cowboys WR George Pickens (3/11) and Bengals WR Tee Higgins (2/10) have managed to come down with many of their deep ball opportunities so far.

Slant: Nobody has racked up more yards on slants than Steelers WR DK Metcalf (111). Of course, the heavy majority of those came on one (awesome) 80-yard catch-and-run, but hey, kudos to Metcalf for making the play. Cowboys WR George Pickens (6-72-0 on 9 targets) has been the next-most productive WR here.

Out-breaking routes: This encompasses several categories like whip routes and corners in addition to more traditional out routes, but yeah: Nobody has racked up more yards on out-breaking routes than Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka (128) this season. An additional shoutout to Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, who has caught all 11 of his out-breaking route targets for 114 yards and a pair of scores.

In-breaking routes: This also features multiple route types, but yeah: Rams WR Puka Nacua has caught all 13 of his in-breaking targets this season for 150 yards. Pretty, pretty, pretty good–also shoutout to Jaxon Smith-Njigba (145) and Justin Jefferson (143) for racking up yards over the middle of the field.

Hitch/comeback: Jets WR Garrett Wilson (101) is the NFL's only WR with triple-digit yards on hitches and comebacks this season. The efficiency has been pretty great, as he's caught nine-of-10 such targets this season. Broncos WR Courtland Sutton (9/10) and Chargers WR Ladd McConkey (10/10) are the only other WRs with that sort of high-end catch rate here.

WR screen: Broncos WR Troy Franklin leads the way in receptions (10) and yards (73), which is pretty surprising considering Marvin Mims got most of these opportunities last season. The two-worst high-volume performers have pretty easily been Giants WR Wan'Dale Robinson (4.5 yards per screen reception) and Dolphins WR Malik Washington (4.2).

7. Two key Week 6 ranking questions and answers

I'll be publishing an early rankings column midday Monday throughout the season that gives my top-12 QB/TE and top-24 RB//WR alongside some honorable mention picks while also answering a handful of questions regarding some of the week's biggest storylines. You can read the full Week 6 piece here, but I also wanted to highlight the two biggest questions and answers I had.

*Law and Order Music*

These are their stories.

Is it time to buy low on A.J. Brown?

It's been a ROUGH start to the season for the longtime stud WR.

Week 1: 1 reception-8 yards-0 TD (1 target), PPR WR99
Week 2: 5-27-0 (8), WR67
Week 3: 6-109-1 (10), WR5
Week 4: 2-7-0 (9), WR91
Week 5: 5-43-0 (8), WR43

Not great! And while some of the blame certainly deserves to be placed on the Eagles' play-calling and at-times erratic passing from Jalen Hurts, there was nobody to point the finger at but the man in the mirror for Brown slowing down on what had the potential to be a long TD in Week 5.

All that said: I'm willing to buy low on the man who has been everyone's idea of a legit top-five real life WR over the past half decade. We're still looking at a good-not-great 122-target pace here, and the Eagles' banged-up/underwhelming offensive line/defense has prevented them from building and maintaining their usual gaudy leads in recent weeks.

Every fantasy league is different, but some of these confirmed trades on Yahoo on October 6 reflect the reality that the price point here is rapidly dropping. A few that I would certainly be fine with committing:

Brown for DeVonta Smith
Brown for Chuba Hubbard
Brown for Alvin Kamara
Brown for Jerry Jeudy/Kyle Pitts
Brown for Keenan Allen/TreVeyon Henderson

**Who was this close to having a much bigger Week 5?**

The following players were tackled at the one-yard line and did NOT score a TD on the same drive last week:

Rams RB Kyren Williams (x2, separate drives, lost a fumble on one)
49ers RB Christian McCaffrey
Cowboys RB Javonte Williams
Jets RB Breece Hall
Browns RB Jerome Ford
Chargers RB Kimani Vidal
Cardinals RB Emari Demercado (dropped ball and lost fumble. Sheesh!)
Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
Panthers QB Bryce Young
Giants TE Daniel Bellinger
Titans TE Gunnar Helm

The rich could have been even richer at the top, while we should probably cut Breece Hall just a bit of slack for the good-not-great performance that also featured a loss fumble. After all, the fourth-year talent is actively playing some of the best football of his career at the moment.

Breece Hall this season (among 33 qualified RBs):

Yards per carry: 5.3 (5th)
Yards after contact per carry: 3.5 (11th)
Explosive run rate: 19.7% (1st)
Yards per route run: 1.81 (7th)
Yards per reception: 8.8 (10th)

The explosive run rate is especially awesome–we haven't seen Hall break big runs (12+ yards) at this rate since his injury-shortened rookie campaign (15%)! Here's to hoping Hall can eventually remove his name from the short list of having the most carries WITHOUT a rushing TD this season.

8. The DST corner: We ride with the Patriots

Last week's advice to ride with the Browns (DST8) as a one-week filler for the Patriots was fine … except for New England (DST7) surprising everyone and somehow limiting Josh Allen and company to a season-low 20 points while forcing three turnovers IN Buffalo!

Annoying, but honestly the performance should give us even more confidence in riding things out with Christian Gonzalez and company through the team's Week 14 bye. A reminder of just how awesome this schedule is:

Throw in an offense that is suddenly playing great (AKA limiting turnovers and bad field position) as well as a lethal return game led by Marcus Jones and TreVeyon Henderson, and you have my favorite DST pickup–and they're very much available on Yahoo (16%) and to a lesser extent ESPN (42%)!

A solid consolation prize if not: The Packers, who in addition to being a great real-life unit (when not facing the Cowboys) get the Bengals, Cardinals, Steelers, and Panthers over the next four weeks. They're available in 44% of Yahoo leagues and 46% of ESPN formats largely due to their Week 5 bye.

9. Subjectively ranking every game from an entertainment perspective

Bad football will always be better than no football. That said: We obviously are more excited for certain games over others, so every week I'll take a few minutes to rank the upcoming matchups due to subjective, at times stupid and silly reasons.

KC-DET: Two of the NFL's four-most winning teams square off in a heavyweight fight on Sunday night football featuring the week's highest game total (52.5). Hell yeah, man.
BAL-LAR: This is assuming Lamar Jackson finds a way to suit up for the 1-4 Ravens. Otherwise I'd slot this one in around No. 12.
WAS-CHI: A rematch from last year's epic Hail Mary conclusion on Monday night football. This Bears offense is close to being a LOT of fun.
TB-SF: Two of the NFL's top-six offenses in both passing yards and TDs square off. It'd be a lot cooler if the 49ers get some of their top WRs back, but then again we saw last Thursday night how capable Kyle Shanahan and company still are at putting up points regardless.
CAR-DAL: We know the Cowboys are going to score a lot of points. We also know the Cowboys are going to give up a lot of points. You know what that makes for? Great weekly television.
ATL-BUF: My official stance on Monday night doubleheaders: I like them, just as long as the second game starts by the usual 8:15pm ET kickoff (shoutout East Coast Dads)
JAX-SEA: Both the Jaguars (4-1) and Seahawks (3-2) have been relatively pleasant surprises given their lackluster preseason expectations. This one would be pushing for top three status *if* I had more confidence in the Jaguars actually featuring their pair of stud WRs.
IND-ARZ: The clock has yet to strike midnight on Daniel Jones' fairytale 2025, while the Cardinals have largely refused to play a normal football game all season long. Consider: Each of Arizona's first five games have been decided by seven or fewer points!
NYG-PHI: Watching the Giants' big-name rookies grow up in real time is fun, while every week we seem to be itching closer and closer to A.J. Brown starting a fist fight with Jalen Hurts and/or Nick Sirianni. Get your popcorn ready for Thursday night!
NO-NE: Watching Drake Maye play football has always been fun for better or worse, and guess what: It's been a lot more of the "better" side of the equation this year! That said: Don't sleep on Spencer Rattler and company, who might be bad, but they've at least managed to keep five of their last six games dating back to 2024 competitive into the 4th quarter.
MIA-LAC: The Dolphins offense is generally shallow and pedantic, while Justin Herbert and company have been forced to play with one arm tied behind their back due to their banged-up offensive line and RB room.
PIT-CLE: The only Week 6 matchup with a game total south of 40 points.
GB-CIN: It would be hilarious if Joe Flacco earns his second win against the Packers in under a month.
LV-TEN: Many comped Cam Ward to (the good version) of Geno Smith during the pre-draft process. There's an outside chance both defenses are bad enough to bring out the best in their counterparts, but the more likely scenario is 60 minutes of mostly bad football.
NYJ-DEN: London. 9:30am ET. Lame. Get those fantasy lineups set on Saturday night!

10. Three Bold Calls for Week 6

And I'm talking BOLD. No predicting Derrick Henry to have a big game, or Nico Collins to have 100 yards: We're dumpster diving here in the pursuit of glory, but I swear there's legit reasoning to the madness (usually based around the week's biggest on-paper mismatches).

1. Davante Adams cooks the Ravens to the tune of 120 yards and 2 TD. Fantasy Life Director of Analytics Dwain McFarland and I discussed Adams' buy-high potential on the Tuesday edition of The Fantasy Life Show. Basically: This lethal Matthew Stafford-led passing game is almost entirely condensed around Puka Nacua and Adams, making the overqualified WR2 a de facto WR1 in fantasy land. The ceiling is the roof in this spot against a banged-up Ravens defense that has allowed the second-most PPR points per game to opposing WRs this season.

2. Tetarioa McMillan finds the end zone AND clears 100 yards for the first time as a pro. I have no doubt that T-Mac is an awesome WR, so what better time to finally put together a true breakout performance than against the Cowboys' sad excuse for a professional defense? The Bryce Young dumpster fire possibility always looms, but the Panthers' rookie WR is too damn good to stay this silent for too much longer.

3. The Brian Thomas Jr. cold streak ends via a blistering 7-135-1 performance. We've started to see some chemistry between BTJ and Trevor Lawrence over the past two weeks, as the duo has connected on 9 of 13 targets (nice%) following their miserable 7 for 25 start (28%). As Baker Mayfield and company proved last week, this Seahawks secondary can be had–particularly when both Devon Witherspoon (knee) and Riq Woolen (concussion) are out of the picture. This could very well be your last chance to truly buy somewhat low on Thomas this season.

Last week: Mason Taylor didn't find the end zone, but his 9-67-0 performance was still good for PPR TE9 status on the week, Josh Downs (6-54-0) didn't get the breakout I was hoping for, and David Montgomery did find the end zone twice (once as a passer) and turned in a top-20 PPR finish, although he did fall short of the advertised 100 yard mark. As always: We'll watch the film and get better.

Thank you all for reading and best of luck in Week 6 and beyond!