Fantasy football 2024: One QB, RB, WR and TE primed for huge Week 6 performances

Week 5 of NFL action is now behind us, which means that it’s time to look ahead to Week 6. We had a pretty solid week last week if you followed this advice. Jordan Love was the QB14, which isn’t great, but D’Andre Swift was the overall RB2 and Xavier Worthy found the end zone again.

And then there was Evan Engram. I really thought it was a good spot for Engram, but the Jaguars chose to hold him out again with his hamstring injury. Brenton Strange finished as a fantasy TE1 in Week 5, so I’m pretty confident Engram would have been up there if he played. It is what it is though, right?

Let’s take a look at one player at each skill position who is set to have a strong 2024 Week 5 performance for fantasy football.

Quarterback: Kirk Cousins - Atlanta Falcons

No, I don’t expect Kirk Cousins to go out this week and look like he did in Week 5, when he threw for over 500 yards in a Thursday night win against the NFC South rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Quick digression: that game ruled, didn’t it? I usually zone out on Thursday night — I’ll watch the first part of the game on mute because it’s live eviction night on Big Brother — but this one had my full attention.

I don’t think Cousins is going to be a weekly QB1 play considering he had as many touchdown passes on Thursday as he had all season coming in, but I do think he proved that in the right matchup, he can still be an extremely productive quarterback.

And this week’s game against the Panthers feels like the right kind of matchup for Cousins and the Falcons.

Carolina has allowed the ninth-most passing yards and the most passing touchdowns in the NFL this season despite not facing a murderer’s row of QBs. Sure, Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow have been on the schedule, but so have Derek Carr, Gardner Minshew and Caleb Williams.

Williams was especially effective a week ago. In fact, Carolina’s three worst games in passing yards allowed are the team’s three most recent games. This pass defense is getting worse at the perfect time for Kirk Cousins to go out and drop 300 yards on it. 

Running Back: Tony Pollard - Tennessee Titans

We’re five weeks into the season and the AFC South already feels decided. The Texans lead at 4-1, with the Colts 2-3 and the Titans and Jaguars both sitting on just one victory.

That makes this divisional contest between the Colts and Titans a big one. A Colts win could keep them in touch with Houston. A loss gives the Texans a commanding lead after six games.

If the Titans want to get the upset here, the team needs to take advantage of Indianapolis’s issues in defending the run game. The Colts have allowed 785 rushing yards this season, the second-most in the NFL and just three yards back of the Rams,

Despite concerns that Tyjae Spears would take snaps away from Pollard this year, the former Cowboys running back saw a season-high 22 carries last time out against the Dolphins, finishing with 88 yards and a touchdown as well as two receptions for 20 yards.

Pollard has 16 or more carries in three of Tennessee’s four games and has two top-15 fantasy finishes so far on the season. He really just has one bad game on his resume, as he was held to 14 rushing and 15 receiving yards against the Packers. He should be poised for another strong showing.

Wide Receiver: Zay Flowers - Baltimore Ravens

Is there a name for the Commanders/Ravens game? I suppose I could Google it, but it feels like a game that needs a name. The Battle of the DMV? The I-95 Game? I don’t know.

Anyway, games between these two sides have been fairly low scoring. In seven previous meetings, the losing team hit the 20-point mark just one time. I don’t think that’s the case this week. The Ravens lead the NFL in total yards, while the Commanders sit third in that stat. These are two very good offenses.

Additionally, Washington has shown some improvement defensively, but has still allowed the most passing touchdowns in the NFL. Baltimore is allowing the 12th-most yards in the league.

I’m firing up all my top Ravens and Commanders, including Baltimore wide receiver Zay Flowers. Flowers was a disappearing act in Week 3 against Dallas and Week 4 against Buffalo, but he bounced back against the Bengals in Week 5, catching seven of his 12 targets for 111 yards.

Flowers is a little more volatile than you want, but he has double-digit targets in three of the five games so far. When he has a plus matchup like he has this week, he’s absolutely worth playing.

Tight End: Tucker Kraft - Green Bay Packers

I don’t consider Taysom Hill a tight end.

Why do I mention that? Because if we take Hill out of the data, Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft has been the overall TE1 in two consecutive weeks. Kraft is now up to the overall TE3 spot on the season and the TE4 spot in fantasy points per game.

Remember last season when Trey McBride was making his run up the rankings? It seemed surprising at first, but at some point we all just started accepting that McBride was one of the NFL’s best tight ends.

That’s where we should be on Kraft right now.

With tight end being a shallower position than ever, Kraft’s performance since Jordan Love took back over at quarterback in Green Bay is 100% notable and a sign that he’s a fantasy TE1 play going forward.

This week, the Packers take on the Arizona Cardinals, which has been a fairly neutral matchup for tight ends this season. I’ll take neutral when Kraft has been playing as well as he has been.