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

Week 6 on the 2018 fantasy football slate could be one continuous offensive eruption.

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are locking horns with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Ditto for the top-five scoring offenses of the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers, plus the combustible aerial attacks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons.

It wouldn't be surprising if multiple owners in your leagues posted their season-high point totals this weekend, so arrange your roster accordingly.

This position-by-position breakdown will help simplify the task.

Quarterbacks

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1. Patrick Mahomes, KC (at NE)

2. Tom Brady, NE (vs. KC)

3. Aaron Rodgers, GB (vs. SF)

4. Deshaun Watson, HOU (vs. BUF)

5. Cam Newton, CAR (at WAS)

6. Matt Ryan, ATL (vs. TB)

7. Kirk Cousins, MIN (vs. ARI)

8. Jared Goff, LAR (at DEN)

9. Philip Rivers, LAC (at CLE)

10. Russell Wilson, SEA (at OAK)

Forget about Brady's relatively slow start. This offensive might've lacked firepower before, but the arrival of Josh Gordon, return of Julian Edelman and emergence of Sony Michel have all put the Patriots back in elite company. Brady is coming off a 341-yard, three-touchdown week, and he could clear both marks against a Kansas City defense allowing the fifth-most points to quarterbacks.

Staying in that matchup, Mahomes found a way to deliver value against Jacksonville's vaunted defense. It was still his lowest point total so far, but it's hard to complain about 313 passing yards and a rushing touchdown. The Patriots aren't a porous pass defense, they just look that way in relation to the Jags—New England has surrendered eight more touchdown passes and an extra 61 passing yards per game.

Ryan had an X-ray on his foot after being sacked six times Sunday, but the results were negative, and he's "good to go" against a Bucs defense that's been more generous than anyone to opposing quarterbacks.

Running Backs

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1. Todd Gurley, LAR (at DEN)

2. Melvin Gordon, LAC (at CLE)

3. Kareem Hunt, KC (at NE)

4. Saquon Barkley, NYG (vs. PHI)

5. Christian McCaffrey, CAR (at WAS)

6. Joe Mixon, CIN (vs. PIT)

7. Sony Michel, NE (vs. KC)

8. David Johnson, ARI (at MIN)

9. James Conner, PIT (at CIN)

10. Ezekiel Elliott, DAL (vs. JAX)

Trusting a Patriots running back is never a comfortable proposition, but it looks really good on paper this week. Michel is rolling into this matchup (43 carries for 210 yards and two scores the past two weeks) against a defense allowing an NFL-worst 5.8 yards per rush. He also has virtually no competition for carries with Rex Burkhead and Jeremy Hill on injured reserve, plus the coaching staff seems to trust him.

"I like the way he finishes runs, and he's a tough guy to bring down," Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels told reporters. "His run style, I think, fits what we try to do here, and hopefully he'll continue to improve and get better and make progress as we go forward."

Elliott is coming off his lowest scoring week of the season (20 carries for 54 yards, no scores), and he'll be fighting an uphill battle against Jacksonville. The Jaguars have yielded the sixth-fewest points to opposing running backs.

Wide Receivers

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1. Julio Jones, ATL (vs. TB)

2. Antonio Brown, PIT (at CIN)

3. A.J. Green, CIN (vs. PIT)

4. Mike Evans, TB (at ATL)

5. Odell Beckham Jr., NYG (vs. PHI)

6. DeAndre Hopkins, HOU (vs. BUF)

7. Tyreek Hill, KC (at NE)

8. Adam Thielen, MIN (vs. ARI)

9. Keenan Allen, LAC (at CLE)

10. Davante Adams, GB (vs. SF)

Sunday can't get here fast enough for Jones, who's coming off a season-low 62-yard week and still has yet to find the end zone. But his matchup is almost as favorable as they come (Tampa allows the second-most points to wideouts), and his coach is eager to increase his volume.

"Just have to make sure he gets as many touches as we can in the game," Falcons head coach Dan Quinn said. "He's one of our best and most explosive players so every game, we want him involved."

For all the off-field talk around Beckham, his on-field work was tremendous in Week 5. He had a season-high 131 receiving yards, his first scoring grab of the campaign and the first touchdown toss of his career. He could be looking at another bit outing Thursday night against an Eagles defense that's been the fifth-worst against fantasy receivers.

Tight Ends

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1. Rob Gronkowski, NE (vs. KC)

2. Travis Kelce, KC (at NE)

3. Zach Ertz, PHI (at NYG)

4. Jimmy Graham, GB (vs. SF)

5. Jared Cook, OAK (vs. SEA)

Gronkowski vs. Kelce might be even better than Mahomes vs. Brady. If you haven't already cleared your Sunday schedule to watch Pats-Chiefs, you're doing it wrong.

Graham just had his most targets as a Packer with 11 in Week 5 (which produced six grabs for 76 yards). He could potentially increase that number Monday against a San Francisco defense allowing the fifth-most points to tight ends.

Defenses

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1. Houston Texans (vs. BUF)

2. Minnesota Vikings (vs. ARI)

3. Chicago Bears (at MIA)

4. Los Angeles Rams (at DEN)

5. Jacksonville Jaguars (at DAL)

No disrespect to these defenses, but the rankings have as much to do with the opposing quarterbacks as they do the stoppers themselves.

Buffalo's Josh Allen passed for 82 yards (!!!) this weekend. Arizona's Josh Rosen just completed 40 percent of his passes. Miami's Ryan Tannehill has been held below 200 yards in three of the last four weeks. Denver's Case Keenum just threw his first scoring passes since Week 1. And Dallas' Dak Prescott is averaging only 192.2 yards and one passing touchdown per week.

Kickers

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1. Matt Bryant, ATL (vs. TB)

2. Stephen Gostkowski, NE (vs. KC)

3. Harrison Butker, KC (at NE)

4. Justin Tucker, BAL (at TEN)

5. Jake Elliott, PHI (at NYG)

We're banking on busy days from Bryant, Gostkowski and Butker, perhaps with quantity compensating for a lack of quality scores (i.e., more extra points than long field goals). For Tucker, it's different. He couldn't subsist off extra points alone, but he's usually good for at least one long-distance boot (four 40-yarders and three from 50-plus so far).

Also, keep an eye on the status of the Rams' Greg Zuerlein. He hasn't played in four weeks, so an impatient owner may have cut him loose. If so, pounce on the All-Pro as quickly as you can. When healthy, he offers accuracy, distance and a high volume of opportunity.

Statistics used courtesy of ESPN.com and NFL.com. Fantasy scoring info via Yahoo Sports.