Fantasy Football Week 6 Rankings: Updated Overview for All Positions

Fantasy football is the delicate art of balancing what has traditionally happened with what you project will happen next. It's the careful and often painful act of deciding when the historical trend will give way to an increase or decrease of productivity in the future. 

It's gambling. It's the stock market. Sometimes, it's just blind luck.

But one of the secrets of fantasy success is banking on what should happen, not on the best possible outcome. It's about being smart over being hopeful. Keeping this in mind, my rankings attempt to grade which players are the smartest starts for your team this week rather than simply guessing how many points they'll score. It's a small distinction but an important one.

And as always, may the fantasy points be with you! 

Notes: For a full explanation of the rankings, go here. Abridged version: "Ability" measures a player's overall talent, proficiency at his position and ability to produce fantasy numbers. "Offense" measures how much that team's offense improves his fantasy stock. The overall "startability" grade is weighted. All point totals and points-against statistics via ESPN standard scoring leagues. 

Schedule

Thursday, Oct. 9	Time (ET)
Sunday, Oct. 12	Time (ET)
Monday, Oct. 13	Time (ET)
Indianapolis at Houston	8:25 p.m.
Jacksonville at Tennessee	1 p.m.
Baltimore at Tampa Bay	1 p.m.
Denver at NY Jets	1 p.m.
Detroit at Minnesota	1 p.m.
New England at Buffalo	1 p.m.
Carolina at Cincinnati	1 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Cleveland	1 p.m.
Green Bay at Miami	1 p.m.
San Diego at Oakland	4:05 p.m.
Chicago at Atlanta	4:25 p.m.
Dallas at Seattle	4:25 p.m.
Washington at Arizona	4:25 p.m.
NY Giants at Philadelphia	8:30 p.m.
San Francisco at St. Louis	8:30 p.m

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	Peyton Manning	50	22	15	10	A+ (97)
2	Philip Rivers	45	15	12	9	A (81)
3	Andrew Luck	48	10	13	9	A (80)
4	Aaron Rodgers	49	7	14	9	A (79)
5	Matt Ryan	46	13	12	8	A (79)
6	Eli Manning	40	23	9	6	A- (78)
7	Jay Cutler	41	15	13	7	B+ (76)
8	Russell Wilson	44	12	10	8	B (74)
9	Matt Stafford	48	10	8	7	B (73)
10	Colin Kaepernick	43	13	10	6	B- (72)
11	Nick Foles	40	12	14	6	B- (72)
12	Andy Dalton	40	14	11	6	C+ (71)
13	Tony Romo	42	12	11	6	C+ (71)
14	Ben Roethlisberger	41	16	6	5	C (68)
15	Kirk Cousins	38	13	11	6	C (68)
16	Joe Flacco	39	16	8	4	C (67)
17	Tom Brady	44	9	8	5	C (66)
18	Cam Newton	47	5	7	7	C (66)
19	Mike Glennon	35	10	9	4	D+ (58)
20	Ryan Tannehill	36	6	7	5	D (54)

There aren't really many surprises at quarterback this week, as most of the top options have fairly favorable matchups. But two players are worth looking at a bit closer.

There's Eli Manning, who rather quietly has scored 15 or more fantasy points in four straight weeks and is the No. 8 quarterback in standard leagues to this point in the season. Against a horrific Philadelphia Eagles secondary giving up 21.2 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks per week, 31st in the NFL, he should have a field day.

Elsa/Getty Images

And then there's Tom Brady, fresh off of his 20-point performance. Does that make up for averaging 8.7 fantasy points in the first four weeks?

No, I don't think it does, especially against a Buffalo defense giving up just 13.6 points per week to opposing quarterbacks, tied for seventh in the NFL. If you are in a deeper league or two-QB format and you don't mind a big risk to accompany a pretty solid upside, give Brady a shot. Just know that I'll be staying away from him until we see a bit more consistency from the New England passing attack.

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	Matt Forte	48	24	14	10	A+ (96)
2	Le'Veon Bell	47	20	13	9	A (89)
3	Marshawn Lynch	49	11	15	10	A (85)
4	Arian Foster	45	15	13	8	A (81)
5	Giovani Bernard	44	17	12	8	A (81)
6	LeSean McCoy	48	15	10	6	A (79)
7	DeMarco Murray	48	3	14	10	A- (75)
8	Frank Gore	42	12	12	8	A- (74)
9	Chris Ivory	38	20	9	7	A- (74)
10	Eddie Lacy	43	12	10	6	B+ (71)
11	Alfred Morris	44	5	13	9	B+ (71)
12	Andre Ellington	43	11	10	6	B (70)
13	Andre Williams***	37	17	12	4	B (70)
14	Ahmad Bradshaw	39	12	11	8	B (70)
15	Branden Oliver	36	21	10	3	B (70)
16	Darren Sproles	41	15	9	5	B (70)
17	Lamar Miller**	39	18	8	5	B (70)
18	C.J. Spiller	43	15	7	4	B- (69)
19	Reggie Bush*/Joique Bell*	40	17	7	4	B- (68)
20	Fred Jackson	38	15	8	6	B- (67)
21	Ben Tate	38	10	10	6	C+ (63)
22	Justin Forsett	35	15	7	6	C+ (63)
23	Matt Asiata	33	9	14	7	C+ (63)
24	Chris Johnson	35	20	4	4	C+ (63)
25	Ronnie Hillman	37	6	12	5	C (60)
26	Trent Richardson	35	12	8	4	C (60)
27	Jeremy Hill	35	17	4	3	C (59)
28	Zac Stacy*	38	4	9	7	C- (58)
29	Doug Martin	40	5	8	5	C- (58)
30	Bishop Sankey	32	22	2	2	C- (58)
31	Shonn Greene	28	22	3	3	D+ (56)
32	Stevan Ridley	36	3	8	4	D (53)
33	Shane Vereen	36	3	7	4	D (52)
34	Darren McFadden	35	10	4	3	D (52)
35	Steven Jackson	31	11	4	3	D- (49)

Folks, I honestly don't know what to tell you about LeSean McCoy. I mean, I'm generally torn here. 

On one hand, as a Philadelphia Eagles fan I've watched just about every snap in his career. I know, from a truly unbiased place, how special he is (I stopped thinking players on the Eagles were amazing by default sometime in high school). I watched him dominate last season as the NFL's rushing leader and, from a fantasy perspective, he seemed to be picking up where he left off a year ago with back-to-back double-digit performances to open this season.

But since then, things have fallen apart. The team's offensive line is missing key starters, the Eagles have struggled to run the ball and Shady has looked, well, less than confident in recent weeks. Fantasy owners are in a full-blown panic, and for good reason—a player many people selected No. 1 overall has scored a total of nine fantasy points in the past three weeks. 

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

I truly believe he'll bounce back and finish the season as an RB1. There's too much evidence of his talent to think otherwise. But I also understand why people are ready to jump ship. I wouldn't advise doing so, and I still think he has to be considered an RB1. Stay the course, folks, and I believe you'll be handsomely rewarded.

So thin is running back that in a week when DeMarco Murray has a really brutal matchup and his head coach has come out and said his touches need to monitored more closely, he's still a no-brainer RB1. Such is madness of running back this season.

Here's what Jason Garrett told Todd Archer of ESPN Dallas on Monday:

"

DeMarco was out there and we think that's probably too many carries in the game, week in and week out. He ended up with 31 so we'd like to get that number lower. We'd really just like to get the other guys an opportunity. I don't see any wear and tear in DeMarco but having said that, we want to make sure we create a rotation and we'll focus on doing that in the next few weeks.

"

Rotation or not, there aren't many running backs you can trust more than Murray right now. His fantasy points will probably be a bit more modest this week against a tough Seattle defense, but if you own him, can you really afford to sit him?

No, no you can't.  

Finally, monitor the status of Reggie Bush and Joique Bell closely. If one plays and the other can't go, the player starting has legitimate RB2 upside this week. If both play, they're each high-upside RB3s this week. If neither can go, George Winn is a sneaky flex play this week.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	Demaryius Thomas	47	20	14	8	A+ (89)
2	Julio Jones	49	17	13	8	A+ (87)
3	A.J. Green	49	15	13	10	A+ (87)
4	Antonio Brown	47	16	12	10	A (85)
5	Victor Cruz	43	24	10	7	A (84)
6	Steve Smith	41	23	12	8	A (84)
7	Brandon Marshall	48	15	12	8	A (83)
8	Jordy Nelson	48	12	14	8	A- (82)
9	Emmanuel Sanders	40	20	15	7	A- (82)
10	Dez Bryant	49	10	13	9	A- (81)
11	Randall Cobb	45	12	13	8	B+ (78)
12	Alshon Jeffery	44	15	12	6	B+ (77)
13	Jeremy Maclin	42	12	14	8	B (76)
14	DeSean Jackson	45	16	10	5	B (76)
15	Vincent Jackson	44	15	10	6	B (75)
16	Mike Wallace	44	11	12	8	B (75)
17	Pierre Garcon	40	16	11	6	B- (73)
18	Golden Tate	39	16	11	6	B- (72)
19	Michael Crabtree	40	16	10	4	B- (70)
20	Wes Welker	38	20	8	5	C+ (69)
21	Reggie Wayne	40	14	8	6	C+ (68)
22	Percy Harvin	44	8	10	5	C (67)
23	Terrance Williams	40	10	10	7	C (67)
24	Roddy White	38	17	8	4	C (67)
25	Rueben Randle	30	24	9	4	C (67)
26	Kendall Wright	36	20	5	5	C (66)
27	DeAndre Hopkins	43	4	10	7	C (64)
28	Kelvin Benjamin	40	7	10	7	C (64)
29	Julian Edelman	37	11	10	6	C (64)
30	T.Y. Hilton	37	14	8	4	C (63)
31	Keenan Allen	38	10	10	4	C- (62)
32	Michael Floyd	40	13	5	3	C- (62)
33	Larry Fitzgerald	40	13	5	3	C- (61)
34	Brian Quick	36	8	7	6	D+ (57)
35	Allen Hurns	33	14	5	4	D+ (56)
36	Sammy Watkins	41	3	5	5	D (54)
37	Andre Johnson	38	4	5	6	D (53)
38	Eddie Royal	30	10	10	3	D (53)
39	Cordarrelle Patterson	42	5	3	2	D- (52)
40	James Jones	37	5	4	6	D- (52)

They say bad things come in threes. Percy Harvin owners can attest to that.

On Monday night against Washington, Harvin had not one...

... And not two...

... But three touchdowns taken off the board due to a penalty. Three!

The first two were on back-to-back plays, meaning those cancel out, but taking that into consideration, Harvin still had about 17 fantasy points wiped off the board. 

Yeesh.

Here's a positive sign for his owners, however—he was clearly a major part of the game plan again in Week 5. He's been erratic on the year, yes, and in 10-man leagues he's probably still just a flex consideration, but the fantasy points should start flowing with more regularity for Harvin soon.

One player who probably won't be swimming in the fantasy points this week is Calvin Johnson, who I left out of these rankings because I doubt he'll play after leaving Sunday's game to injury. And honestly, even if he does play, he'll likely be in decoy mode again. Megatron is hurting, folks—until he gets healthy, stay away.

And then there's Brandon Marshall, who appeared healthy last week but wasn't a major factor. Expect that to change this week, however, if Marc Trestman is to be believed, per Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Chicago:

Jay Cutler already loves him some Marshall, so if the game plan is to get the ball in Marshall's hands even more, he could be in line for a gigantic week.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	Julius Thomas	47	18	14	10	89
2	Rob Gronkowski	47	13	12	8	80
3	Delanie Walker	39	22	9	6	76
4	Greg Olsen	42	15	11	8	76
5	Jordan Cameron	42	15	10	7	74
6	Antonio Gates	39	12	12	6	69
7	Jordan Reed*	37	20	8	4	69
8	Martellus Bennett	41	5	13	7	66
9	Jason Witten	40	14	5	6	65
10	Owen Daniels	36	16	8	5	65
11	Larry Donnell	37	7	13	7	64
12	Dwayne Allen	37	6	12	7	62
13	Vernon Davis*	35	9	10	8	62
14	Zach Ertz	40	5	9	5	59
15	Heath Miller	35	10	7	4	56

Tight end is perhaps the position hit hardest by the byes this week, as both Jimmy Graham and Travis Kelce are weekly TE1 considerations.

But fear not, for the position is surprisingly deep this year as well. Maybe you can nab Jordan Reed—assuming he plays and assuming someone in your league dropped him—a TE1 this week against an Arizona defense that struggles against tight ends, giving up 11.3 points per week to the position, 27th in the NFL.

Or maybe you can snag Owen Daniels, a player coming off a five-catch, 70-yard performance and one who is a sneaky play against a Tampa Bay defense giving up 9.2 points to the position per week, 24th in the league. 

In other words, fret not, Graham and Kelce owners—help is readily available. 

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Team
1	Detroit Lions
2	San Francisco 49ers
3	San Diego Chargers
4	New England Patriots
5	Cincinnati Bengals
6	Seattle Seahawks
7	Green Bay Packers
8	Baltimore Ravens
9	Denver Broncos
10	Tennessee Titans

Kickers

Rank	Player	Team
1	Nick Novak	San Diego Chargers
2	Cody Parkey	Philadelphia Eagles
3	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens
4	Matt Bryant	Atlanta Falcons
5	Brandon McManus	Denver Broncos
6	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots
7	Adam Vinatieri	Indianapolis Colts
8	Phil Dawson	San Francisco 49ers
9	Shaun Suisham	Pittsburgh Steelers
10	Josh Brown	New York Giants

Hit me up on Twitter—I'll answer your fantasy questions and make some corny jokes, too. It's more fun than Russell Wilson imitating a chicken with its head cut off.