Fantasy Football Re-Rankings at Week 6: Falcons’ Roddy White New Top WR

Who should I trade for in fantasy football? Who should I get rid of?

Aside from asking which player should start from week to week, these are the two most commonly asked fantasy football questions during the season.

Re-ranking the players every week isn’t something that is commonly done, but that’s exactly what this article is for. The following rankings can best be described as saying that they are “now through the end of the season” rankings.

As fantasy football owners, we need to look at the current situation as well as the future. Though a player may have had a poor game one week, it does not necessarily mean that the trend will continue. In fact, in many cases, a big game or a bad game can be a key time to either acquire or sell off a player to uneducated fantasy owners.

So where do your players rank now? Whose value is up, whose is down? Read on to find out.

Quarterback Rankings: Week 6 Through Week 17

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PITTSBURGH - SEPTEMBER 02: Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks up at the scoreboard after his final drive against the Carolina Panthers during the preseason game on September 2, 2010 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo

A concussion to 2009 quarterback points leader Aaron Rodgers has the Green Bay Packers passing game in serious question. Currently listed as questionable, the Packers’ offensive leader took a helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked him out of the game (though he didn’t miss any time because the Redskins kicked a game-winning field goal on the ensuing drive). If Rodgers is unable to go, the Packers will turn to Matt Flynn until he gets back. It’s uncertain if Rodgers will miss any time, but his value takes a slight hit due to the uncertainty.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger makes his 2010 debut this week against the division rival Cleveland Browns. Though the Steelers have struggled to pass the ball this season, Roethlisberger is a significant talent and morale boost from the previous arms of Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon. Though he’s not an elite fantasy quarterback, he tends to be one of the more reliable ones, and fantasy owners will certainly be happy to have him back.

After his fourth straight 300+ yard game, Kyle Orton of the Broncos continues to move up to eighth among quarterbacks. This has to be considered one of the most surprising starts to the 2010 fantasy season. Originally drafted as the 28th quarterback on average, Orton has impressed everyone—probably even himself—and moved up 20 spots in just five weeks. He is currently the third-highest scoring quarterback behind just Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers, and while it’s hard to believe that he’ll remain that high, there’s no reason to believe that he can’t be an every-week fantasy starter.

Jay Cutler slides a bit further this week, as we don’t know that he’s going to play in Week 6. The Bears desperately need him after the absolute disaster that happened at the quarterback position with Todd Collins last week. Though the Bears won the game easily, Collins threw for just 32 yards, had zero touchdown passes and threw four interceptions. Collins’ days of fantasy relevance are behind him (not that he ever really had many), as the Bears will turn to Caleb Hanie if Cutler is unable to go this Sunday.

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	PREVIOUS RANK	MOVEMENT
1	Peyton Manning	IND	1	0
2	Drew Brees	NO	3	1
3	Aaron Rodgers	GB	2	-1
4	Philip Rivers	SD	6	2
5	Tony Romo	DAL	5	0
6	Matt Schaub	HOU	4	-2
7	Tom Brady	NE	7	0
8	Kyle Orton	DEN	10	2
9	Joe Flacco	BAL	9	0
10	Brett Favre	MIN	8	-2
11	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	11	0
12	Matt Ryan	ATL	12	0
13	Eli Manning	NYG	13	0
14	Carson Palmer	CIN	14	0
15	Mark Sanchez	NYJ	18	3
16	Donovan McNabb	WAS	17	1
17	Mike Vick	PHI	16	-1
18	Jay Cutler	CHI	15	-3
19	Vince Young	TEN	19	0
20	Kevin Kolb	PHI	21	1
21	Chad Henne	MIA	20	-1
22	Josh Freeman	TB	22	0
23	Matthew Stafford	DET	24	1
24	Matt Hasselbeck	SEA	25	1
25	Sam Bradford	STL	23	-2
26	David Garrard	JAC	27	1
27	Matt Cassel	KC	29	2
28	Ryan Fitzpatrick	BUF	32	4
29	Bruce Gradkowski	OAK	26	-3
30	Jimmy Clausen	CAR	30	0
31	Shaun Hill	DET	31	0
32	Alex Smith	SF	28	-4
33	Max Hall	ARI	34	1
34	Jason Campbell	OAK	36	2
35	Jake Delhomme	CLE	33	-2
36	Caleb Hanie	CHI	41	5
37	Seneca Wallace	CLE	35	-2
38	Kerry Collins	TEN	37	-1
39	David Carr	SF	NR	5
40	Matt Moore	CAR	38	-2
41	Derek Anderson	ARI	39	-2
42	Josh Johnson	TB	40	-2
43	Todd Collins	CHI	41	-2
44	Matt Flynn	GB	NR	1

Running Back Rankings: Week 6 Through Week 17

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DENVER - JANUARY 03: Jamaal Charles #25 of the Kansas City Chiefs rushes through the defense of the Denver Broncos for a 56 yard fourth quarter touchdown during NFL action at Invesco Field at Mile High on January 3, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dou

The top four running backs remain the same this week with Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, Frank Gore and Michael Turner all turning in solid performances in Week 5. These players, along with Rashard Mendenhall, Ray Rice, Arian Foster and Matt Forte, are the every-week starters in fantasy football at the moment.

Unlike the players ranked above him, Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew has turned out to be one of the most disappointing players in 2010. After a nice performance against the Colts in a big Jacksonville win, Jones-Drew had a less-than-stellar performance against the 32nd-ranked Buffalo Bills fantasy defense. Though 93 yards isn’t terrible, it’s a lot less than what fantasy owners had to have been hoping for against such a bad defense in one of the few blowout games that Jacksonville could hope to have this season.

LaDainian Tomlinson continues his rise up the ladder. Though he failed to score a touchdown while backup Shonn Greene did, Tomlinson received 25 total touches to Greene’s 10. It looks like there has been a complete resurgence for “LT” in New York, and he is making a case as an every-week fantasy starter.

Cleveland’s Peyton Hillis is currently nursing a quadriceps injury, and head coach Eric Mangini has made no indication as to whether he will be available for Monday’s big inner-division game against the Steelers. It may actually be best for the Browns to rest Hillis this week against an excellent Steelers run defense in order to get him healthy for the rest of the season. He has been one of 2010’s nicest surprises so far, but that won’t continue if he’s missing practice every week.

Felix Jones made a big jump for the Cowboys and fantasy owners last week, becoming the first Cowboys running back to go over 100 yards in 2010. Jones finally received the majority of the Cowboys’ touches, 19 of them to be exact, to Marion Barber’s six. Though neither of them scored a touchdown, Jones certainly made the case for continuing to get the majority of the carries going forward. Dallas’ offense has struggled to score this season, and they did lose again, but they seem to rack up the yardage pretty easily on a weekly basis—there’s nothing wrong with having the top running back in this offense on your fantasy roster.

The running back situation in Kansas City just got a whole lot more confusing. After Thomas Jones received about two-thirds of the carries through the Chiefs’ first three games, that ratio suddenly flipped in Jamaal Charles’ favor last week. Though Charles was more effective with the carries he was given and we all had to assume that this switch was going to happen at some point, it was a bit surprising to see it happen so quickly. Jones’ value takes a slight hit while Charles’ obviously goes up going forward, but it will be interesting to see if the Chiefs continue this two-thirds ratio for Charles and also if they decide to give him the goal-line carries.

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	PREVIOUS RANK	MOVEMENT
1	Adrian Peterson	MIN	1	0
2	Chris Johnson	TEN	2	0
3	Frank Gore	SF	3	0
4	Michael Turner	ATL	4	0
5	Rashard Mendenhall	PIT	6	1
6	Ray Rice	BAL	8	2
7	Arian Foster	HOU	7	0
8	Matt Forte	CHI	10	2
9	Maurice Jones-Drew	JAC	5	-4
10	Steven Jackson	STL	9	-1
11	DeAngelo Williams	CAR	11	0
12	LeSean McCoy	PHI	13	1
13	Ahmad Bradshaw	NYG	15	2
14	Cedric Benson	CIN	17	3
15	LaDainian Tomlinson	NYJ	19	4
16	Beanie Wells	ARI	12	-4
17	Jamaal Charles	KC	25	8
18	Ryan Mathews	SD	16	-2
19	Pierre Thomas	NO	14	-5
20	Jahvid Best	DET	18	-2
21	Peyton Hillis	CLE	20	-1
22	Ronnie Brown	MIA	21	-1
23	Shonn Greene	NYJ	24	1
24	Joseph Addai	IND	22	-2
25	Thomas Jones	KC	23	-2
26	Knowshon Moreno	DEN	26	0
27	Felix Jones	DAL	36	9
28	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	29	1
29	Darren McFadden	OAK	27	-2
30	Mike Tolbert	SD	34	4
31	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	28	-3
32	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	NE	32	0
33	Ricky Williams	MIA	31	-2
34	Ryan Torain	WAS	33	-1
35	Michael Bush	OAK	39	4
36	Fred Jackson	BUF	40	4
37	Brandon Jacobs	NYG	35	-2
38	Cadillac Williams	TB	38	0
39	CJ Spiller	BUF	30	-9
40	Brandon Jackson	GB	43	3
41	Clinton Portis	WAS	41	0
42	Willis McGahee	BAL	45	3
43	Justin Forsett	SEA	42	-1
44	Marion Barber	DAL	37	-7
45	Tim Hightower	ARI	44	-1
46	Ladell Betts	NO	48	2
47	Laurence Maroney	NE	49	2
48	Bernard Scott	CIN	46	-2
49	Mike Hart	IND	NR	19
50	Rashad Jennings	JAC	47	-2
51	Jerome Harrison	CLE	50	0
52	Donald Brown	IND	51	0
53	Tashard Choice	DAL	52	0
54	Reggie Bush	NO	53	0
55	Darren Sproles	SD	62	8
56	Mike Bell	PHI	54	-1
57	Chris Ivory	NO	55	-1
58	Chester Taylor	CHI	56	-1
59	Fred Taylor	NE	60	2
60	Leon Washington	SEA	57	-2
61	John Kuhn	GB	58	-2
62	Derrick Ward	HOU	59	-2
63	Correll Buckhalter	DEN	61	-1
64	Steve Slaton	HOU	63	0
65	Kareem Huggins	TB	64	0
66	Toby Gerhart	MIN	65	0
67	Kevin Smith	DET	66	0

Wide Receiver Rankings: Week 6 Through Week 17

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 11: (L-R) Brett Favre #4 and Randy Moss #84 of the Minnesota Vikings talk on the sideline against the New York Jets at New Meadowlands Stadium on October 11, 2010 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty

Consistency has made Atlanta Falcons WR Roddy White into the top-ranked fantasy wide receiver for the remainder of 2010. While all of the other receivers have question marks surrounding themselves, their quarterback, or their teams’ offense in general, Roddy White has none of those concerns. His 58 targets through the first five games puts him second in the league and nearly one-third of the Falcons’ pass attempts go his way—more than any other receiver in the league. White is the only wide receiver this season who has produced double-digit points every week, and although he may not put up the 30-point games that other guys will, he also won’t throw in many 2-point stinkers. He’s the kind of receiver you play regardless of matchup and that’s something that is an extremely valuable commodity.

So maybe it’s not as simple as “throw it deep and he’ll go get it,” but Randy Moss has made the entire Vikings offense better simply by stepping on the field. Perhaps no player benefits more from Moss’ presence than second-year receiver Percy Harvin, who caught five passes for 97 touchdowns and two touchdowns in Monday’s loss to the Jets. Certainly that kind of production can’t be expected on a weekly basis, but Harvin has the ability to absolutely terrorize defenses over the middle if they key in too much on Moss’ deep ball ability.

The Giants’ Hakeem Nicks has produced back-to-back 100-yard games, including a two-touchdown performance in Week 5 against the Texans. Nicks is now the top-scoring fantasy wide receiver in the league and with upcoming games against the Lions, Cowboys and Jaguars, he could increase that lead.

It’s almost becoming a joke at this point, but Calvin Johnson has once again found himself on the injury list for the Detroit Lions. Though Johnson’s freakish physical talent makes him an every-week must-start when he’s healthy, it seems like he continues to get hurt year after year. This time Johnson’s shoulder has head coach Jim Schwartz saying that he is, “very concerned about his shoulder” and that it is, “too early to make any determinations.” An injury like this would drop your regular receiver down pretty far, but Johnson takes just a four spot fall this week due to his unbelievable talent—if he doesn’t miss any time, it’s really not unrealistic to think that he could continue to dominate. Johnson could miss this Sunday’s game and could miss additional games down the road depending on how quickly his shoulder recovers.

Brandon Lloyd. Really? Yes—Brandon Lloyd. After a career filled with disappointment, somehow this guy has come out of nowhere to be the second-leading fantasy wide receiver in the league. He already has four 100-yard games this season, including a Week 5 performance against the top-ranked Baltimore Ravens pass defense where he caught five passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Lloyd gets the Jets and Raiders in back-to-back games where he will likely get lots of attention from All-Pro cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Nnamdi Asomugha—but if he makes it through those two games and is still moderately productive, he may very well finish as a top-10 fantasy wide receiver in 2010. Unbelievable.

Carolina’s Steve Smith falls further down the list this week, down 11 spots to 29th among wide receivers going forward. Look, no one is doubting the guy’s talent or determination—it’s simply a horrible situation in Carolina. Smith missed Week 5 with a sprained ankle, and while the Panthers are off this week, it looks increasingly likely that he will miss Week 7 as well. Even if he does get back that early, he’s still being thrown to by Jimmy Clausen, who has done very little to prove that he can get the ball to Smith on a regular enough basis to make him fantasy-relevant.

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	PREVIOUS RANK	MOVEMENT
1	Roddy White	ATL	2	1
2	Andre Johnson	HOU	1	-1
3	Miles Austin	DAL	3	0
4	Brandon Marshall	MIA	4	0
5	Randy Moss	NE	5	0
6	Anquan Boldin	BAL	6	0
7	Reggie Wayne	IND	9	2
8	Greg Jennings	GB	8	0
9	Austin Collie	IND	7	-2
10	DeSean Jackson	PHI	11	1
11	Hakeem Nicks	NYG	14	3
12	Wes Welker	NE	12	0
13	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	13	0
14	Calvin Johnson	DET	10	-4
15	Malcom Floyd	SD	16	1
16	Donald Driver	GB	15	-1
17	Chad Ochocinco	CIN	17	0
18	Jeremy Maclin	PHI	22	4
19	Michael Crabtree	SF	21	2
20	Percy Harvin	MIN	31	11
21	Steve Smith	NYG	20	-1
22	Braylon Edwards	NYJ	23	1
23	Mike Wallace	PIT	25	2
24	Terrell Owens	CIN	30	6
25	Brandon Lloyd	DEN	37	12
26	Santana Moss	WAS	28	2
27	Marques Colston	NO	19	-8
28	Dez Bryant	DAL	26	-2
29	Steve Smith	CAR	18	-11
30	Eddie Royal	DEN	24	-6
31	Hines Ward	PIT	29	-2
32	Mike Williams	TB	32	0
33	Santonio Holmes	NYJ	33	0
34	Mike Sims-Walker	JAC	43	9
35	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	34	-1
36	Mike Thomas	JAC	39	3
37	Lance Moore	NO	40	3
38	Roy Williams	DAL	46	8
39	Pierre Garcon	IND	41	2
40	Johnny Knox	CHI	36	-4
41	Dwayne Bowe	KC	38	-3
42	Sidney Rice	MIN	27	-15
43	Jabar Gaffney	DEN	42	-1
44	Kevin Walter	HOU	44	0
45	Lee Evans	BUF	48	3
46	Kenny Britt	TEN	55	9
47	Legedu Naanee	SD	47	0
48	Steve Johnson	BUF	59	11
49	Davone Bess	MIA	NR	22
50	Derrick Mason	BAL	49	-1
51	Louis Murphy	OAK	50	-1
52	Brandon Tate	NE	51	-1
53	Mario Manningham	NYG	45	-8
54	Danny Amendola	STL	57	3
55	Deion Branch	NE	NR	17
56	James Jones	GB	NR	16
57	Devin Hester	CHI	53	-4
58	T.J. Houshmandzadeh	SEA	54	-4
59	Josh Cribbs	CLE	56	-3
60	Nate Washington	TEN	61	1
61	Laurent Robinson	STL	66	5
62	Jacoby Jones	HOU	52	-10
63	Steve Breaston	ARI	60	-3
64	Josh Morgan	SF	62	-2
65	Vincent Jackson	SD	58	-7
66	Chris Chambers	KC	63	-3
67	Robert Meachem	NO	64	-3
68	Mohamed Massaquoi	CLE	65	-3
69	Devery Henderson	NO	67	-2
70	Chaz Schilens	OAK	68	-2
71	Bernard Berrian	MIN	69	-2
72	Mardy Gilyard	STL	NR	1

Tight End Rankings: Week 6 Through Week 17

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LANDOVER, MD - OCTOBER 10: Tight end Jermichael Finley #88 of the Green Bay Packers leaves the game on a cart after injuring his knee against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on October 10, 2010 in Landover, Maryland. The Redskins won the game in ov

After a great finish to the 2009 season and a red-hot start to the 2010 season, Green Bay Packers tight end Jermichael Finley has been ruled out for 3-6 weeks following knee surgery. Though Finley could make a full recovery and still be a big-time fantasy asset when he returns, the potential of him missing six weeks of action is enough that he can likely be dropped in many leagues that don’t have an IR roster spot. It’s disappointing for all of us, but it’s also the painful truth.

Lance Moore isn’t the only player who has benefitted from Reggie Bush being injured. In fact, it has been tight end Jeremy Shockey, who has seen additional targets with Bush on the sidelines, particularly in the red zone. Though Shockey has caught only two touchdown passes this season, he is currently the ninth-ranked tight end and is in a groove with quarterback Drew Brees. The Saints’ passing offense is too unpredictable to make Shockey a great every-week starter, but he certainly deserves a roster spot in most leagues.

Jacksonville’s Marcedes Lewis is fresh off his second two-touchdown performance of the 2010 season and moves up six spots to 18th on the tight end rankings list. Though the Jaguars have long been a run-first offense in the red zone, this season it appears that they are making use of Lewis’ unique skills to create matchup problems for opposing defenses in the red zone. Lewis trails only San Diego’s Antonio Gates for touchdowns in 2010, and as long as Garrard continues to look his way near the goal line, he remains a viable, albeit hit-or-miss fantasy option.

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	PREVIOUS RANK	MOVEMENT
1	Antonio Gates	SD	1	0
2	Dallas Clark	IND	2	0
3	Vernon Davis	SF	4	1
4	Chris Cooley	WAS	5	1
5	Brent Celek	PHI	6	1
6	Dustin Keller	NYJ	8	2
7	Zach Miller	OAK	10	3
8	Aaron Hernandez	NE	9	1
9	Visanthe Shiancoe	MIN	7	-2
10	Tony Gonzalez	ATL	11	1
11	Kellen Winslow	TB	12	1
12	Jason Witten	DAL	13	1
13	John Carlson	SEA	14	1
14	Tony Moeaki	KC	16	2
15	Brandon Pettigrew	DET	17	2
16	Jeremy Shockey	NO	21	5
17	Jermaine Gresham	CIN	15	-2
18	Marcedes Lewis	JAC	24	6
19	Jermichael Finley	GB	3	-16
20	Greg Olsen	CHI	18	-2
21	Heath Miller	PIT	19	-2
22	Rob Gronkowski	NE	20	-2
23	Tony Scheffler	DET	22	-1
24	Todd Heap	BAL	23	-1
25	Benjamin Watson	CLE	25	0
26	Anthony Fasano	MIA	26	0
27	Bo Scaife	TEN	27	0
28	Kevin Boss	NYG	28	0