Fantasy Football Week 6 Rankings: Complete Guide to Top Players

Week 6 will test your fantasy football expertise.

Guys like Drew Brees, Brandon Marshall, Maurice Jones-Drew and Cam Newton are on the bye, but bye weeks are a cinch for you.

You planned your draft around the bye weeks of your top players and selected backups accordingly.

Let's hope you did. 

The real issue with Week 6, something we don't see often, is the exceptionally difficult matchup for many of the league's most productive fantasy stars. 

Tom Brady is in Seattle to face a stingy Seahawks secondary and an underrated pass rush. Aaron Rodgers takes a trip to Houston. Eli Manning flies westward to take on the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC title game rematch. 

Interesting, right?

As you can imagine, the top of the rankings are slightly altered this week. 

Many surprises. 

Quarterback

Matt Ryan

Ryan, still the MVP front-runner, returns home after a victory over the Redskins in Washington to take on a rather abysmal Oakland Raiders team. 

Oakland is allowing a league-high 113.4 QB rating in 2012, and the Falcons quarterback is second in the league with a 106.1 QB rating. 

Yeah, a fine matchup. 

Peyton Manning

With the other "elite" quarterbacks either on a bye (looking at you, Drew Brees. Yes, you're undeniably still elite) or facing stout secondaries, Manning draws a favorable matchup against the San Diego Chargers. 

Norv Turner's group isn't especially susceptible to the pass, but they allow 260 yards through the air per game. 

Oh, and Manning's averaging 301.4 yards and over two touchdown tosses a game. 

Christian Ponder

Welcome to the club, Christian. Your eyes are fine. They're not deceiving you. Ponder is my No. 3 QB in Week 6 for a few reasons. 

Firstly, he has a good matchup. More than Brady, Rodgers or Eli can say. The Redskins allow 329 passing yards a game. Secondly, his QB rating is a solid 95.5. I know that doesn't factor into fantasy, but it means he's efficient, and you know what you'll get with him. 

Got to love Ponder against Washington. 

Running Back

LeSean McCoy 

Shady McCoy has Barry Sanders like juking skills. Yeah, I said. His lateral cutting ability is violent and slippery and typically leaves defenders moving in the wrong direction.

Although he only totaled 53 yards on the ground against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he caught four passes for 27 yards and found the end zone.

The Detroit Lions allow 102.8 and 4.1 yards per carry.

Just feed him, Andy Reid.

Arian Foster 

Is anyone more steady the Arian Foster? Nope. He faces a Green Bay Packers defense allowing 4.3 yards per carry, and his team is dedicated to running the football.

Another big day for the Texans' deceptively fast and powerful feature back. 

Frank Gore

Gore was fantastic against the Bills in Week 4, but no, he won't rush for 106 yards on 14 carries every week. 

However, his 49ers appear to be one of the NFL's most efficient teams on offense. The New York Giants will pose a formidable test, but their run defense is allowing 4.5 yards per carry. 

Wide Receiver

Roddy White

Roddy White or Julio Jones. Roddy White or Julio Jones—a weekly conundrum for millions of fantasy football owners. 

Here's what I don't understand. 

Jones has five receptions for 44 yards with no scores, AT HOME?!

Meanwhile, all of White's three touchdown grabs have come in Atlanta. 

A.J. Green 

Yes, Joe Haden is back, and Cleveland's stud corner will shadow Green all afternoon. 

That won't matter. 

Green is totally locked in with quarterback Andy Dalton (36 receptions, 493 yards and four scores), and the Bengals will be looking to rebound after a surprisingly disappointing effort against the Miami Dolphins. 

Reggie Wayne

Reggie Wayne, future Hall of Famer? Eh, his candidacy is improving every week. He faces a New York Jets defense without Darrelle Revis and is clearly Andrew Luck's go-to and most productive target. 

The consummate professional should piece together another great outing. Maybe not 13-catch, 212-yard great, but you get it. 

Tight End

Vernon Davis

This is simple. Davis is a great tight end. He has great hands, is super speedy and is a physical freak. Also, the 49ers love featuring him in their offense.

Davis has four touchdowns on the year and had three grabs for 112 yards in last year's NFC title game against the G-Men. 

Suddenly, Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham aren't the top fantasy tight ends anymore. 

Tony Gonzalez

It was old-timers day in the NFL on Sunday. Reggie Wayne and Tony Gonzalez both caught 13 passes. Good for them. Gonzo faces off against a porous Raiders secondary. 

Sure, Julio Jones will probably have a big day, but so will the entire Falcons offensive attack. 

Fantasy points galore. 

Brent Celek

Celek is the second-most productive tight end through five Weeks, trailing only Gonzalez in receiving yards at his position. 

He has been targeted a respectable 34 times and carries a nice 15.4-yards-per-catch average. 

Against the Lions, a team that allows a 101.3 QB rating to opposing signal-callers, Celek will again be a major contributor for the Eagles. 

Kickers

Alex Henery

Henery is 12-of-13 on field goal attempts this year, and he's hit 6-of-7 from beyond 40 yards. Should be plenty of scoring opportunities in Detroit.

Ryan Succop

The Chiefs have trouble scoring, often settling for field goals. Succop hasn't been asked to kick from 50-plus yet, but he's 4-of-4 from the 40-49 yard range. The Redskins' abysmal secondary should allow KC to move the ball. 

Justin Tucker

Tucker took over for Billy Cundiff in Baltimore, and the Ravens have to be happy with his steadiness to start the year. He's 11-of-11 on the season and 3-of-3 from 50-plus. 

Defense

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens get the turnover-happy Dallas Cowboys in Week 6, and their vast array of blitz packages should lead to a few Tony Romo interceptions, don't you think?

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans, a team that's scoring only 17.6 points per game in 2012. If Troy Polamalu's out, that certainly won't help, but expect Dick Lebeau's crew to stifle. 

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins defense is underrated. It is allowing 20.6 points per game and has registered 15 sacks. With St. Louis coming to town, it should have a solid outing.