Week 6 fantasy football rankings: PPR, half-PPR and standard leagues

elisha twerski, usa today

Sun, 13 Oct 2024, 5:15 am·6-min read

Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season is officially underway.

Week 5 was another doozy for fantasy managers. Joe Flacco and Bo Nix were top-eight quarterbacks. Josh Allen was the QB19. The top five running backs were Tank Bigsby, D'Andre Swift, Rico Dowdle, Kareem Hunt, and a supposedly benched Rhamondre Stevenson. Three of the top nine wideouts were Darnell Mooney, Darius Slayton, and Alec Pierce. And the list of top nine tight ends included Charlie Kolar (??), Mo Alie-Cox, and Brenton Strange. Strange indeed.

To assist with your most difficult lineup decisions, you’ll find my Week 6 fantasy football rankings below. Toggle between standard, half PPR (point per reception), and full PPR to see where players rank in your league’s format.

Our team at the USA TODAY Sports Network also has you covered for all your fantasy football needs. Looking for up-to-date player news? We’ve got it. Need to know who the best starts and sits of the week are? We have an article for that. We also have fantasy defense rankings, kicker rankings, and a trade value chart to help with all your trade decisions.

Given the volatility of this league and fantasy football in particular, these rankings will be updated up until a half hour before the Sunday afternoon games kick off. Let’s get to it.

Week 6 fantasy football quarterback rankings

STOCK UP: Caleb Williams is this week’s winner of the lucky Jacksonville draw. To date, the Jaguars are allowing 1.1 more fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks than any other team in the league. In fact, the last three passers to face this defense have posted QB1, QB7, and QB5 finishes, respectively.
STOCK UP: Daniel Jones gets perhaps the second-best matchup of the week in the Bengals. Since Week 3, the Bengals have allowed an average of 26.1 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. Meanwhile, Jones has been the QB10 in fantasy since Week 1.
STOCK DOWN: C.J. Stroud has finished as the QB15 or worse in three of his last four outings, and now he’ll be without his top weapon, Nico Collins, who was placed on IR with a hamstring injury. This game also has a projected point total of 38, which doesn’t help matters.
STOCK DOWN: Trevor Lawrence racked up 371 passing yards in a mouthwatering Week 5 matchup, and he still only finished as the QB10. He’s now ended up as the QB10 or lower in a whopping 17 of his last 20 games. He’ll go up against a Bears squad that’s allowing fewer than 10 fantasy points per game to the position.

Caleb Williams and the Bears take on the Jaguars in London this week.

Week 6 fantasy football running back rankings

STOCK UP: Tony Pollard has finished as a top 15 back in two of his four games this season, and now he gets a perfect matchup in Week 6. The Colts have ceded the ninth-most fantasy points to opposing backfields. More importantly, no team is facing more running back touches per game than Indianapolis. Given the uncertainty at quarterback for Tennessee, a run-heavy approach is all but certain.
STOCK UP: Tank Bigsby erupted for 129 yards and two touchdowns against the Colts in Week 5. The 23-year-old out-snapped Travis Etienne and logged seven more carries than last year’s RB3. As an added bonus, the Bears are a run-funnel defense, ranking 10th-worst against running backs this season.
STOCK DOWN: Travis Etienne’s stock is headed in the opposite direction of Bigsby’s. While Bigsby’s workload has increased in recent weeks, Etienne’s has decreased as a result. Like it or not, Bigsby has earned those touches. Last year’s RB3 has yet to finish higher than RB20 in 2024. Yikes.
STOCK DOWN: Javonte Williams totaled 111 yards on 18 touches in Week 5, resulting in an RB15 finish. It was the first time in 2024 that he'd ended higher than RB27. Week 6 is likely to bring about more struggles for the 24-year-old. This season, the Chargers are ceding the seventh-fewest fantasy points to the running back position. The activating of rookie Austin Estime could eat into Williams' workload as well, further impacting his upside.

Week 6 fantasy football wide receiver rankings

STOCK UP: Rome Odunze will face a Jaguars secondary that’s surrendering the most fantasy points and second-most receiving yards to opposing wideouts. While his stat line wasn’t all that impressive, Odunze did garner two red zone targets in Week 5. We’ve already seen one explosion from the rookie this season, and another one could be coming this week.
STOCK UP: Jalen Tolbert was peppered with 10 targets the first game following Brandin Cooks being placed on IR, including the game-winning touchdown and three red zone looks. He’s a top-40 play against a Lions defense that’s allowing the most receptions and yards per game to receivers in 2024.
STOCK DOWN: Garrett Wilson needed an absurd 22 targets last week to claw his way to 101 yards against a subpar Vikings secondary. That doesn’t bode well for his matchup with Buffalo, a team that’s giving up the fifth-fewest receiving yards and fantasy points to wideouts this season.
STOCK DOWN: Courtland Sutton has been relying on heavy target volume to get home this season, and when that hasn’t happened, he’s cratered. We could be looking at another dud against a Chargers team that’s fourth-stingiest versus wide receivers.

Week 6 fantasy football tight end rankings

STOCK UP: Tucker Kraft has outscored all other tight ends by 8.2 half-PPR points since Week 3. While we shouldn’t count on him housing 66-yard touchdowns every week, he has too much upside to ignore at such a thin position.
STOCK UP: Dalton Schultz was targeted a season-high six times last week, which is a trend that should continue as long as Nico Collins is out of the lineup. After all, Collins ranked fifth in the league through Week 4 with a 29.3% target share. New England has surrendered the eighth-most receiving yards to tight ends this season.
STOCK DOWN: Dallas Goedert racked up 19 targets over his last two games, but he’s about to come crashing back down to earth with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith expected back for the Eagles in Week 6.
STOCK DOWN: Cole Kmet has finished as the TE15 or worse in every game Keenan Allen has suited up this season. Chicago’s passing game is on the rise, but Kmet is nothing more than a TE2.