Week 6 Fantasy Football Rankings: Position-by-Position Breakdown

Fantasy football seems to be taking place in some sort of parallel universe this season, where formally reliable players are tanking, studs have emerged in unexpected places, conventional wisdom seems like folly and the Seattle Seahawks apparently traded for Jimmy Graham with the intent of transforming one of the most dynamic offensive weapons in football into a disgruntled blocker. 

Seriously, what is going on?

Wacky or not, we still have to try to predict what might be coming next. So we'll take a deep dive into this alternate dimension, projecting the Week 6 fantasy rankings. And if anybody has the fantasy equivalent of a sonic screwdriver or portal gun to traverse the madness, well, please let me know. 

Schedule

Day	Matchup	Time	Watch
Thursday, Oct. 15	Atlanta at New Orleans	8:25 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 18	Denver at Cleveland	1:00 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 18	Chicago at Detroit	1:00 pm	FOX
Sunday, Oct. 18	Houston at Jacksonville	1:00 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 18	Cincinnati at Buffalo	1:00 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 18	Washington at N.Y. Jets	1:00 pm	FOX
Sunday, Oct. 18	Kansas City at Minnesota	1:00 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 18	Arizona at Pittsburgh	1:00 pm	FOX
Sunday, Oct. 18	Miami at Tennessee	1:00 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 18	Carolina at Seattle	4:05 pm	FOX
Sunday, Oct. 18	Baltimore at San Francisco	4:25 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 18	San Diego at Green Bay	4:25 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 18	New England at Indianapolis	8:30 pm	NBC
Monday, Oct. 19	N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia	8:30 pm	ESPN

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Aaron Rodgers, GB	SD	25
2	Tom Brady, NE	IND	23
3	Andy Dalton, CIN	BUF	22
4	Carson Palmer, ARI	PIT	20
5	Eli Manning, NYG	PHI	20
6	Matt Ryan, ATL	NO	18
7	Drew Brees, ATL	ATL	18
8	Philip Rivers, SD	GB	17
9	Cam Newton, CAR	SEA	16
10	Russell Wilson, SEA	CAR	15
11	Tyrod Taylor, BUF	CIN	14
12	*Andrew Luck, IND	NE	14
13	Joe Flacco, BAL	SF	13
14	Sam Bradford, PHI	NYG	13
15	Peyton Manning, DEN	CLE	13

Ladies and gentleman, Andy Dalton and Carson Palmer are matchup-proof QB1 options. You didn't see that one coming before the season began, right?

Dalton has been fantastic this year and just threw for 331 yards and two touchdowns in a comeback win against the Seattle Seahawks and the Legion Boom. His 26 fantasy points are even more impressive when you consider that the Seahawks came into the game having sacrificed just 29 total fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks not named Aaron Rodgers this season.

Palmer's major concern coming into the year wasn't so much his production, rather, it was his health. So far, so good. He now has 16 or more fantasy points in 10 of his last 11 games dating back to last year, and he has a full complement of weapons to work with as well. Keep him in those lineups.

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Devonta Freeman, ATL	NO	20
2	Matt Forte, CHI	DET	18
3	Adrian Peterson, MIN	KC	17
4	Le'Veon Bell, PIT	ARI	15
5	Mark Ingram, NO	ATL	15
6	Carlos Hyde, SF	BAL	14
7	DeMarco Murray, PHI	NYG	14
8	Arian Foster, HOU	JAC	13
9	Dion Lewis, NE	IND	12
10	Marshawn Lynch, SEA	CAR	12
11	Justin Forsett, BAL	SF	12
12	Chris Ivory, NYJ	WAS	11
13	Chris Johnson, ARI	PIT	11
14	Giovani Bernard, CIN	BUF	10
15	Jeremy Hill, CIN	BUF	9
16	Frank Gore, IND	NE	9
17	Rashad Jennings, NYG	PHI	9
18	Eddie Lacy, GB	SD	8
19	Isaiah Crowell, CLE	DEN	8
20	T.J. Yeldon, JAC	HOU	8
21	Danny Woodhead, SD	GB	7
22	LeGarrette Blount, NE	IND	7
23	Ameer Abdullah, DET	CHI	7
24	Andre Ellington, ARI	PIT	7
25	Matt Jones, WAS	NYJ	6

Devonta Freeman is for real. After three weeks of 25 or more fantasy points, it's pretty hard to make an argument for Freeman's production taking a dip. 

Is Tevin Coleman going to eat into his touches? Probably not, seeing as Freeman out-touched him 34-2 on Sunday. If that isn't a vote of confidence for a player after his backfield mate returned from injury, I don't know what is.

Does the Falcons offense appear likely to suddenly feature Coleman less going forward? Not likely, seeing as he's proved to be a weapon in the run game, pass game and by the goal line. 

Are the Falcons going to slow down anytime soon? I don't think so. Their offense is humming along right now, Matt Ryan is playing well and Julio Jones is a matchup nightmare for teams.

Until he hits a slump, Freeman has to be considered a locked-and-loaded RB1. His recent performances aren't a fluke, they're a trend. If you managed to scoop him up at any point, well, good for you. He's the type of player that fantasy championships are built upon.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Julio Jones, ATL	NO	20
2	*Odell Beckham Jr., NYG	PHI	19
3	DeAndre Hopkins, HOU	JAC	18
4	Brandon Marshall, NJY	WAS	17
5	Larry Fitzgerald, ARI	PIT	15
6	A.J. Green, CIN	BUF	15
7	Keenan Allen, SD	GB	14
8	Randall Cobb, GB	SD	13
9	Julian Edelman, NE	IND	12
10	Jeremy Maclin, KC	MIN	12
11	Emmanuel Sanders, DEN	CLE	11
12	Demaryius Thomas, DEN	CLE	10
13	Antonio Brown, PIT	ARI	10
14	James Jones, GB	SD	10
15	Calvin Johnson, DET	CHI	10
16	T.Y. Hilton, IND	NE	10
17	Travis Benjamin, CLE	DEN	9
18	*Steve Smith, BAL	SF	9
19	Brandin Cooks, NO	ATL	9
20	Allen Robinson, JAC	HOU	8
21	Allen Hurns, JAC	HOU	8
22	Jarvis Landry, MIA	TEN	8
23	Eric Decker, NYJ	WAS	7
24	Leonard Hankerson, ATL	NO	7
25	Jordan Matthews, PHI	NYG	7

Is it time for fantasy owners to give up on Calvin Johnson? Well, no, probably not. At least not completely.

But Bleacher Report's Matt Camp isn't exactly optimistic about his potential going forward, either.

Megatron has cracked 10 or more fantasy points in standard leagues just once this season and has scored just one touchdown. He has yet to accumulate 100 receiving yards in a game, which is mind-boggling for the player once considered the best receiver in football. 

This week will be an interesting litmus test for Johnson. If he produces, it's safe to keep him in the WR1 or WR2 category. But if he can't take advantage of a shaky Chicago secondary, it's time to consider Johnson a shaky flex option at best going forward. 

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Rob Gronkowski, NE	IND	15
2	Tyler Eifert, CIN	BUF	12
3	Travis Kelce, KC	MIN	11
4	Charles Clay, BUF	CIN	10
5	Greg Olsen, CAR	SEA	10
6	Gary Barnidge, CLE	DEN	10
7	Jimmy Graham, SEA	CAR	7
8	Martellus Bennett, CHI	DET	6
9	Larry Donnell, NYG	PHI	6
10	Jordan Cameron, MIA	TEN	6

What a dreadful year for tight ends.

Julius Thomas spent the early part of the season hurt. Jordan Reed, Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Eric Ebron started started strong but ended up injured. Antonio Gates was suspended to start the year. Zach Ertz has been a bust. Jordan Cameron has been mediocre in Miami. The Seahawks continue to drastically underutilize Graham.

Ugh.

It's enough to force a guy to start Gary Barnidge. And you know what? That's not such a bad idea, given his 20 receptions for 319 yards and three touchdowns in the last three weeks. Numbers that would be solid even without the touchdown production, which likely will tail off a bit. 

Folks, in a season full of surprises, I'm about to say the weirdest thing yet: Gary Barnidge is a weekly TE1. 

We really are through the looking glass, huh?

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	DEN	CLE	15
2	*ARI	PIT	14
3	NJY	WAS	13
4	MIN	KC	12
5	ATL	NO	11
6	WAS	NYJ	10
7	GB	SD	10
8	SEA	CAR	9
9	CAR	SEA	9
10	CIN	BUF	8

For all we know, Peyton Manning's arm may be held together by linguine noodles at this point, but Denver's defense has been awesome this year. While the Broncos struggle on offense, the defense is averaging 17.6 fantasy points per week and is the primary reason the team has started 5-0 this year. 

Don't expect the good times to come to a halt against Cleveland, even against a Browns team that has actually outscored the Broncos this season (118-113).

Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, we're definitely trapped in some sort of alternative dimension. Somebody call for help.

Kickers

Rank	Player	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Brandon McManus, DEN	CLE	15
2	Stephen Gostkowski, NE	IND	14
3	Justin Tucker, BAL	SF	13
4	Steven Hauschka, SEA	CAR	13
5	Adam Vinatieri, IND	NE	12
6	Josh Brown, NYG	PHI	12
7	Robbie Gould, CHI	DET	12
8	Chandler Catanzaro, ARI	PIT	11
9	Mason Crosby, GB	SD	10
10	Josh Lambo, SD	GB	10

By this point, you should have identified a reliable kicker and locked him into your starting spot. Don't rock the boat too much—playing matchups with kickers is futile, as the position's production is simply too fickle to risk dropping a reliable player at the position.  

All fantasy stats and points against numbers via ESPN standard leagues.