Fantasy Football Week 6 Rankings: Top 50 Wide Receivers

Calvin Johnson isn’t atop the rankings?!  That’s just the start of what is an interesting week for the wide receiver position.  Let’s take a look at how everything shakes out for Week 6:

1. A.J. Green – Cincinnati Bengals – at Cleveland
2. Percy Harvin – Minnesota Vikings – at Washington
3. Julio Jones – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Oakland
4. Calvin Johnson – Detroit Lions – at Philadelphia
5. Roddy White – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Oakland
6. Mike Wallace – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Tennessee
7. Larry Fitzgerald – Arizona Cardinals – vs. Buffalo
8. Demaryius Thomas – Denver Broncos – at San Diego
9. Dwayne Bowe – Kansas City Chiefs – at Tampa Bay
10. Victor Cruz – New York Giants – at San Francisco
11. Wes Welker – New England Patriots – at Seattle
12. Reggie Wayne – Indianapolis Colts – at New York Jets
13. Andre Johnson – Houston Texans – vs. Green Bay
14. Antonio Brown – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Tennessee
15. Eric Decker – Denver Broncos – at San Diego
16. DeSean Jackson – Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Detroit
17. Vincent Jackson – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. Kansas City
18. Miles Austin – Dallas Cowboys – at Baltimore
19. Torrey Smith – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Dallas
20. Malcolm Floyd – San Diego Chargers – vs. Denver
21. Jordy Nelson – Green Bay Packers – at Houston
22. Michael Crabtree – San Francisco 49ers – vs. New York Giants
23. Steve Johnson – Buffalo Bills – at Arizona
24. Dez Bryant – Dallas Cowboys – at Baltimore
25. Andre Roberts – Arizona Cardinals – vs. Buffalo
26. Brian Hartline – Miami Dolphins – vs. St. Louis
27. James Jones – Green Bay Packers – at Houston
28. Brandon Lloyd – New England Patriots – at Seattle
29. Andrew Hawkins – Cincinnati Bengals – at Cleveland
30. Domenik Hixon – New York Giants – at San Francisco
31. Pierre Garcon – Washington Redskins – vs. Minnesota
32. Jeremy Maclin – Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Detroit
33. Mike Williams – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. Kansas City
34. Anquan Boldin – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Dallas
35. Kenny Britt – Tennessee Titans – vs. Pittsburgh
36. Josh Gordon – Cleveland Browns – vs. Cincinnati
37. Golden Tate – Seattle Seahawks – vs. New England
38. Denarius Moore – OaQkland Raiders – at Atlanta
39. Kendall Wright – Tennessee Titans – vs. Pittsburgh
40. Brandon Gibson – St. Louis Rams – at Miami
41. Jeremy Kerley – New York Jets – vs. Indianapolis
42. Mario Manningham – San Francisco 49ers – vs. New York Giants
43. Randall Cobb – Green Bay Packers – at Houston
44. Nate Washington – Tennessee Titans – vs. Pittsburgh
45. Sidney Rice – Seattle Seahawks – vs. New England
46. Robert Meachem – San Diego Chargers – vs. Denver
47. T.Y. Hilton – Indianapolis Colts – at New York Jets
48. Darrius Heyward-Bey – Oakland Raiders – at Atlanta
49. Davone Bess – Miami Dolphins – vs. St. Louis
50. Nate Burleson – Detroit Lions – at Philadelphia

Thoughts:

• Both Greg Jennings and Hakeem Nicks have been left off the rankings, for now, as their status for Week 6 is completely unknown.  However, if either play they should be considered, at worst, WR2.  We’ll just have to wait and see how things progress over the next few days.
• It is extremely rare that Calvin Johnson is not sitting atop our wide receiver rankings, isn’t it?  This is the perfect storm of squaring up against a tough secondary, his QB struggling and others having favorable matchups.  However, does anyone really want to bet against him?
• Percy Harvin has only scored one receiving TD this season, but he has a date with the Washington Redskins, who have allowed 13.  Would anyone be surprised to see him light it up?
• The 49ers defense is tough, but Victor Cruz has proven that he can make plays against them.  In two matchups last season he had 16 catches for 226 yards.  Obviously, things will be significantly different if Hakeem Nicks is unable to suit up (something that is completely unknown at this point).  If he doesn’t play, I would expect San Francisco to focus on shutting down Cruz, forcing the other young receivers to beat them.  That would knock him down a few pegs, but he is going to be usable regardless.
• After being a forgotten man early on, Wes Welker has 35 catches for 470 yards over the past four games.  At this point it doesn’t really matter who is healthy and who isn’t, Welker is going to be a major force in the Patriots’ offense moving forward.  However, despite all the catches and all the yards, he has only scored one TD.  That is going to limit his upside compared to some of the other options.
• Dwayne Bowe may not have the best QB throwing him the ball, but he is clearly the top receiver for Kansas City and has a favorable matchup against Tampa Bay (345.2 passing yards per game).  Granted, they have only allowed four passing TDs, but given the yards that is a little bit fluky.  It’s hard not to consider Bowe a WR1 this week, no matter who is throwing him the football.
• Sure, Antonio Cromartie played well against Houston but with the way Reggie Wayne is playing right now it seems hard to imagine him being stopped.  Wayne torched the Green Bay Packers for 13 catches for 212 yards and a TD in Week 5 and hasn’t had fewer than six receptions or 71 yards in a game yet this season.
• Can Dez Bryant hold onto the football?   He showed how good he could be in Week 4, picking up eight catches for 105 yards, but he has also shown how bad he can be (three catches for 17 yards in Week 2).  He has not yet found the end zone, and has now gone six straight games without a TD dating back to 2011.  The only other time in his career that he went more than two games without a TD was to start his career (he went four straight games without scoring).  It’s obviously only a matter of time and I would almost be willing to bet that he scores this week.
• Is Pierre Garcon going to be able to perform like he did early in Week 1?  Fantasy owners have been waiting patiently for him to get healthy, but despite being on the field the past two weeks he has just four catches for 44 yards.  We all know his upside, but until he shows consistency he can’t be considered more than a WR3.
• The Buffalo Bills have allowed 12 passing TDs this season and Andre Roberts has scored four for the Cardinals.  With the Buffalo defense likely focusing on trying to stop Larry Fitzgerald and an Arizona running game that is completely in question, it seems like a perfect formula for success.  Roberts is a borderline WR2 and worth using in all formats.
• Denarius Moore hasn’t been overly impressive, yet, but he does have at least 65 yards in two of his three games played and could be the go to receiver in Oakland.  He’s a borderline WR3.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 6 rankings:

• Top 25 Quarterbacks
• Top 40 Running Backs
• Top 25 Tight Ends
• Top 15 Defenses