Winners and losers in fantasy football from Week 6

Now a third of the way through the season, Week 6 gave us some fireworks as the first round of bye weeks hit fantasy football managers.

As is the case every week in fantasy football, there were a number of winners at each position. Likewise, there were some noticeable losers that failed to live up to expectations. Some were a surprise while others may have been a bit expected.

Pending the Monday night game between the Titans and Bills, the majority of fantasy football managers know how their players performed.

So we’re here to take a look at the winners and losers in fantasy football from Week 6:

QB Winners

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Kirk Cousins | 28.5 fantasy points

Currently the QB1 on the week, Cousins came out firing against the Panthers completing 33 of 48 pass attempts (68.8%) for 373 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He connected with Adam Thielen, K.J. Osborn and Chris Herndon for touchdowns. It was an encouraging finish going into the Vikings bye week.

Tua Tagovailoa | 21.4 fantasy points

In his first start since going on the injured reserve list with fractured ribs, Tua showed some immense promise in fantasy football in Week 6 likely finished as a QB1 (top-12) for the second time in his career. He tossed 329 passing yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to rookie Jaylen Waddle, while adding three rushes for 22 rushing yards. Now, he’s got an enticing matchup with the Falcons coming up.

Dak Prescott | 26.8 fantasy points

Depending on where Josh Allen and Ryan Tannehill finish, it’s likely Dak got himself another top-three weekly finish in fantasy football. Prescott carved his way through the Patriots defense in Foxboro to the tune of 445 passing yards, three touchdown passes and one interception. He almost had a rushing touchdown added to that total, but the booth review couldn’t get a good angle.

Unfortunately, Dak and the high-powered Cowboys offense is entering their bye week.

QB Losers

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Taylor Heinicke | 9.3 fantasy points

It’s a rough look for all of us who expected much, much more from Heinicke as a streamer in a plus matchup against the Chiefs. Instead, he continued his struggles as a fantasy option for the second week in a row. Heinicke couldn’t even muster double digits in fantasy points, throwing for just 182 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also didn’t have any rushing attempts, which is concerning moving forward.

Lamar Jackson | 11.8 fantasy points

Coming off of one of the best games of his young career, we were all expecting a barn burner between the Ravens and Chargers. We didn’t get it and fantasy managers we left wanting more. Jackson will finish outside the top-12 at the position for the fourth time this season after throwing for 167 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Even his eight carries for 51 yards couldn’t help boost his fantasy finish. Don’t expect this to last.

Justin Herbert | 11.0 fantasy points

Like Jackson, we were expecting a ridiculous amount of scoring in this game. Herbert has been on fire as everyone’s favorite quarterback, torching defenses left and right over the last month. But he came back down to earth against the Ravens defense on Sunday. After three consecutive QB1 (top-12) weeks, Herbert threw up a dud by throwing for just 195 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He’ll have some extra time to think about it during his Week 7 bye ready to set the league on fire again.

RB Winners

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Jonathan Taylor | 28.3 fantasy points

There’s a good chance Taylor finishes as the RB1 on the week. And let me tell you, it didn’t look that way halfway through the game. At the half, Taylor had just two carries for six rushing yards. But then, he put the team on his back like Greg Jennings. Taylor finished the blowout win with 14 carries for 145 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns and one reception for 13 receiving yards.

Joe Mixon | 23.8 fantasy points

It was nice to see Mixon get to a dominating level coming off of the ankle injury. Even though Chris Evans did record a touchdown as well, it was Mixon’s backfield—much like as it’s been all season when he’s healthy. He took 18 carries for 94 rushing yards while adding five receptions for 59 receiving yards and a touchdown. He had a workhorse day with a 64.3% running back rush share and his six targets (20.7% share) were tied for the team lead with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Leonard Fournette | 27.7 fantasy points

It was on Thursday night, but we shouldn’t forget what Lenny did against the Eagles. It’s time we start treating regular-season Lenny as a top-end fantasy option at the running back position with three finishes inside the top-15 in as many weeks. Fournette has taken over as a true workhorse in Tampa Bay. He took 22 carries for 81 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns while adding six receptions for 46 yards. He saw elite usage with an 81% running back rush share and a 14% target share in Week 6.

RB Losers

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Antonio Gibson | 3.4 fantasy points

It’s a bit difficult to be too hard on Gibson considering his shin injury but it was still a tough pill to swallow for fantasy managers looking at his final line. Injury or not, the matchup called for an explosive game, and Gibson didn’t deliver. The second-year back took 10 carries for 44 rushing yards and couldn’t bring in either of his two targets. The latter is the biggest issue. Gibson isn’t being used in the passing game as much as we had hoped and hasn’t posted a target share above 9% since Week 1. Now, we may have to monitor this injury closely.

Austin Ekeler | 7.5 fantasy points

You’re going to find a lot of Chargers on this list because, man, did they throw up some duds on Sunday. Ekeler’s issue stemmed more from a lack of work on the ground and then inefficiency when he did get that work. He took six carries for just seven rushing yards but somewhat salvaged his day with four receptions for 45 yards. Fortunately, Ekeler saw 60% of the running back rushes and posted a team-high 17.9% target share. Unfortunately, he’s on a bye next week.

Chase Edmonds | 7.5 fantasy points

Edmonds didn’t crush your fantasy lineup in Week 6, but he hasn’t been helping either. This was another efficient day for Edmonds. However, his usage was alarmingly low. He took just four carries for 44 yards while catching three passes for just four receiving yards. What’s concerning is the 16.7% running back rush share, which was the lowest percentage of the season for Edmonds thus far.

WR Winners

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CeeDee Lamb | 31.6 fantasy points

This is the CeeDee we know. The guy just took over this game against the Patriots. Posting a line of 9-149-2 on 11 targets, Lamb is entering Monday night as the WR1 on the week. He was the only Cowboy to see double-digit targets and continues to show he has elite upside.

Jaylen Waddle | 24.0 fantasy points

Welcome to WR1 land, rookie. This performance marks the first time Waddle has finished inside the top-12. In fact, he hadn’t finished better than WR27 in a week this season. But on a team-high 13 targets going 10-70-2, the rookie wideout continues to flash upside in a thin Dolphins wide receiver room.

Marvin Jones | 19.5 fantasy points

This should hopefully become a trend in which Trevor Lawrence leans on the veteran wideout. Jones will finish inside the top-10 for the first time this season after posting 7-100-1 on a team-high 10 targets. Jones has the upside to be a strong WR2 in fantasy football so hopefully this gets things going.

WR Losers

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DeVonta Smith | 4.1 fantasy points

The rookie sensation didn’t get the week started right when he posted a dud on Thursday night. Smith is going to be volatile given the shakiness of Jalen Hurts in the passing game. He saw just four targets while recording two receptions for 31 yards. It’s probably best to rely on Smith as a weekly flex play rather than a locked-and-loaded WR2 until this passing game finds a groove.

Mike Williams | 3.7 fantasy points

Williams was battling through an injury but still got on the field enough to get chances. The entire Chargers offense struggled and Williams was no different. He caught just two of his five targets for 27 yards. It wouldn’t be a surprise if this performance helped result in a loss for some fantasy managers. Expect Williams to bounce back after the bye.

Tyler Lockett | 4.5 fantasy points

This is going to be rough. Lockett was already a roller coaster with Russell Wilson. Without him? There’s a chance Lockett should be considered a bench-able asset until fantasy managers see a decent target share. On Sunday night, Locket caught just two of seven targets for 35 yards. His second reception didn’t even come until overtime.

TE Winners

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Noah Fant | 20.2 fantasy points

These are the types of games that remind us why we were all intrigued by Fant as a fantasy asset. Entering Monday night, Fant is likely to finish as the TE1 on the week after posting a line of 9-97-1 on 11 targets in a Broncos blowout loss. It’s his fourth finish inside the top 10 and the third time he’s posted a target share above 22% in a single game.

Mike Geiscki | 15.5 fantasy points

Somewhat surprisingly, there was a lot of action in the London game. Gesicki was one fire posting nine eight receptions for 115 yards on nine targets. It’s encouraging to see a rapport with Tua now that the latter is back on the field so maybe Gesicki is showing off a bit higher of a ceiling in this offense.

Ricky Seals-Jones | 13.8 fantasy points

While Heinicke was certainly a dud, Seals-Jones made the most of his opportunities as one of the top streaming options this week. He posted a line of 4-58-1 on six targets. It was plenty considering he was a waiver-wire add earlier in the week.

TE Losers

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Dan Arnold | 3.7 fantasy points

It’s hard to really list Arnold as a dud but coming off of a six-reception game, there was hope that he might be carving out a role. It seemed that way, too, in London before a massive drop took away a potentially big play that would have helped those who streamed him. I still have hope that Arnold can turn into a solid asset at tight end, but this one probably hurt some fantasy managers.

Darren Waller | 8.4 fantasy points

The concerns are rightfully growing when it comes to Waller’s fantasy output this season. After that massive Week 1 outing, it hasn’t been pretty. Waller’s struggles continued by finishing outside the top-12 yet again for the third time in the last four weeks. The five targets he saw in Week 6 were the fewest he’s seen in a single game since Week 10 of the 2020 season.

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