Fantasy Football: Week six position by position rankings
After a crazy week five of Fantasy Football that saw record high scorers left and right, let’s take a look at the best starting options for week six.
Fantasy Football can be a crazy thing. Week five of the NFL season saw many outstanding performances from players and fantasy lineups everywhere. From Aaron Jones and his four touchdowns against the Cowboys to Deshaun Watson and Will Fuller teaming up to light up the Falcons, week five was a high-scoring week for most fantasy teams.
In this column we will recap some notable rankings from the week prior to see how accurate the rankings were and what we all learned from that week of play. Then we will dive right into the rankings and analysis for the current week to help you set your lineup.
Let’s begin talking about arguably the most important position in football, and typically the highest scoring position in fantasy football: Quarterback.
Quarterback
In week five, Deshaun Watson stood alone as the only quarterback to score over 40 ESPN fantasy points, coming in at the top quarterback with 41.7 points. The top nine quarterbacks this week scored over 20 fantasy points, with that list including some surprises such as Teddy Bridgewater, Gardner Minshew, and Kirk Cousins.
Jamies Winston, Lamar Jackson, and Baker Mayfield are among the QBs who were disappointing in week five, finishing well below their predicted rank. Watson, Tom Brady, Kyler Murray, Chase Daniel, and Kyle Allen were all guys that I ranked very accurately in week five.
I had Watson ranked towards the top of my list at number three ahead of his breakout performance against Atlanta. Consensus number one Patrick Mahomes had a bit of an off week, finishing as QB11 in week five as the Chiefs fell to the Colts. These two 2017 first-round quarterbacks will face off this week in what could prove to be the most fantasy relevant game on the week six slate. Will this game make the duo the top two fantasy quarterbacks for week six.
- Deshaun Watson HOU vs KC
- Patrick Mahomes KC vs HOU
- Matt Ryan ATL vs AZ
- Kyler Murray AZ vs ATL
- Russel Wilson SEA vs CLE
- Lamar Jackson BAL vs CIN
- Gardner Minshew JAC vs NO
- Tom Brady NE vs NYG
- Aaron Rodgers GB vs DET
- Kyle Allen CAR vs TB
- Dak Prescott DAL vs NYJ
- Carson Wentz PHI vs MIN
- Jameis Winston TB vs CAR
- Teddy Bridgewater NO vs JAC
- Kirk Cousins MIN vs PHI
- Philip Rivers LAC vs PIT
- Matthew Stafford DET vs GB
- Jared Goff LAR vs SF
- Joe Flacco DEN vs TEN
- Sam Darnold NYJ vs DAL
- Baker Mayfield CLE vs SEA
- Jimmy Garoppolo SF vs LAR
- Case Keenum WAS vs MIA
- Andy Dalton CIN vs BAL
- Marcus Mariota TEN vs DEN
- Daniel Jones NYG vs NE
- Devlin Hodges PIT vs LAC
- Josh Rosen MIA vs WAS
Notice something about the top four quarterbacks? That’s right, they are playing in the same two games. Watson and Mahomes are the cream of the crop when it comes to fantasy quarterbacks and were likely the first two QBs off the board in your fantasy draft. Facing off against each other this week should lead to insane fantasy numbers for both. They are both clear must-starts in season-long, but may even be worth the price this week in DFS.
The next two on the list are also playing against each other. Matt Ryan is facing a Cardinals that is in the bottom three in the NFL against opposing quarterbacks. Kyler Murray is going up against the same Falcons D that made Watson the number one QB a week ago. This should be an offensive shootout, and should lead to a ton of fantasy points.
Lamar Jackson, Gardner Minshew, Kyle Allen, and Case Keenum all have solid matchups this week. Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Baker Mayfield, and Daniel Jones all have very tough opponents this week, and should be on the bench if you have any other legitimate options.