There are still two games to be played on Monday night, and it already feels like Week 6 of the NFL season might have been the wildest week yet for fantasy. And not for good reasons, mostly.
Injuries to some of the most exciting players in the league put a damper on things to start. Many of the reliable top fantasy football performers were anything but this week. If you put up over 100 fantasy points this week, consider yourself lucky.
But it’s after weeks like this one, where you are searching for answers, not sure if you’ll be able to field a lineup with all the injuries, where unexpected lessons in a down week can help elevate your strategy for the future.
Here is what we learned in Week 6 of the 2025 NFL season:
Ramifications of Egbuka Injury
There’s no way to sugarcoat this one — Emeka Egbuka‘s hamstring injury was a brutal blow for fans of the game. Take fantasy out of it for just a moment, Egbuka was one of the most exciting rookies we’ve seen in recent years. The young WR is getting an MRI this week, but is expected to miss a few games. Hopefully, he’ll have a speedy recovery and come back and dominate, but this muddies up an already jumbled situation. Mike Evans has missed the last three games, Chris Godwin is dealing with a fibula injury, and Bucky Irving is slated to miss his third game coming up. When Egbuka exited the game in the second quarter, Cade Otton, Kameron Johnson, and Tez Johnson became the main beneficiaries. Otton caught five of six targets for 51 yards, Kameron caught all four targets for 64 yards, and Tez caught a 45-yard bomb TD pass from Baker Mayfield. Speaking of which, Mayfield has been playing at an MVP level. There is fantasy goodness to be had in this offense, but who will receive the bulk of it? For my money, it will be Otton, who always fills in admirably when the team is dealing with injuries. But as we saw Sunday, both Kameron and Tez can’t be ignored.
BTJ is Back
Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Welcome back to the party, Brian Thomas Jr. Last year’s electric rookie was destined for a sophomore breakout, or so we thought. He started the season slowly, and that’s being generous. BTJ averaged 38 receiving yards through the first three weeks and was the WR51 through that span. But over the last three weeks, BTJ has averaged 73 receiving yards per game and scored his first receiving TD of the season on Sunday. He even had an improbable catch and a second TD, but it was called back due to a penalty. He also set season-highs in receptions, yards, and catch rate. It seems like the Trevor Lawrence to BTJ connection is finally flourishing, giving hope to fantasy managers who invested an early draft pick on him.
Steelers Backfield Shaping Up
Jaylen Warren returned from his one-game absence, plus some extra rest from the bye week, and backfield responsibilities shifted around once again. The star of Week 4, Kenneth Gainwell, went back to playing about 1/3 of the RB snaps, and Warren received the majority of the RB shares. The former did finish second on the team in targets, however, catching all six, albeit for just 14 yards. And Kaleb Johnson made an appearance, rushing six times for 15 yards. He had a couple of opportunities that came in the first half, too. All in all, it’s starting to look like with a healthy Warren back, he will be the main RB and maintain his weekly low-end RB2 value. But Gainwell offers high-value insurance, while Johnson remains a hopeful dynasty stash.
Free Breece
Poor Breece Hall. He’s been one of the few bright spots on a dismal Jets’ offense, playing for a franchise that doesn’t even act like they want him in town. Once again, he shouldered the load for his team, rushing for 59 yards on 22 carries in the Jets’ loss to the Broncos in London. Despite the obstacles he faces weekly, Hall has managed to stitch together consistent RB2 numbers, and he’s currently the RB20 on the season. The Jets need to do us all a favor, including Hall himself, and trade the talented RB to a team that will appreciate his greatness.
Cardinals Backfield Mess
Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Hopefully you tuned into Mike on Sunday morning and learned about the new starting RB in Arizona per Adam Schefter’s surprising tweet, but does anything the Cardinals do really surprise us nowadays? Reports were that Bam Knight was going to start on Sunday over Michael Carter, much to the chagrin of fantasy managers who had Carter locked in their lineups. Funny enough, Carter got the start and the first opportunities, and even Emari Demercado saw a carry before Knight. Bam did enter the game and score from the goal line, and ended up seeing the most carries and playing the most snaps (Demercado left with an injury). If he wasn’t added before Sunday, Knight becomes a waiver target this week, but this backfield remains subject to the whims of Arizona’s coaching staff.
Viva Vidal
Another RB room that came into question this weekend, because of injuries, appeared to give us more answers than we got in Arizona. The Chargers deployed two RBs on Sunday in Omarion Hampton‘s stead, but Kimani Vidal was given the lead-back duties and absolutely wrecked. It was the Miami Dolphins defense, so we can’t get too overhyped, but Vidal sure did look efficient and explosive to the tune of 124 rushing yards on 18 attempts. He also caught a receiving TD. In just one week, it’s looking like Vidal is going to be the Chargers’ bell cow until Hampton returns, while Hassan Haskins will be relegated to the backup role.
Hill, Moreau Dampen Johnson’s Outlook
Juwan Johnson was the TE4 through the first three weeks of the season, seeing upwards of a 20% target share. His numbers have taken a tumble over the last three weeks, culminating in a season-low 7.7% target and 71% snap count (he played 90% or more of the snaps the first four weeks). He’s the TE43 over that timeframe. And now he has to contend with Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau, who both played in their second game of the season. Johnson was one of Spencer Rattler‘s preferred targets, especially near the end zone, but that relationship is vanishing. Hill went back to scoring in the red zone in a wildcat formation, just like he’s been doing for nearly a decade. We may have reached the end of Johnson’s fantasy relevance for the 2025 campaign.
It’s Going to be Maye
Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
Drake Maye has been stellar so far this season and is on pace for over 4,500 passing yards and 30 passing TDs. He’s also on pace for over 400 rushing yards and six TDs on the ground. He’s the QB5 on the season, and the Patriots are winning. But much like his conference counterpart, Josh Allen, it’s hard to predict who will be the main recipient of Maye’s fantasy production each week. One week, it can be Hunter Henry or Kayshon Boutte. Stefon Diggs was seeing an uptick in production the last two weeks before coming back down to a three-catch for 28 yards outing on Sunday. DeMario Douglas, who had been relatively quiet this season, popped off for 71 yards and a TD this weekend. It’s going to be frustrating at times this season because Maye and the offense will put up points, but you could start a Patriot who puts up minimal numbers. Diggs, Boutte, and Henry are all rosterable, but the weekly start/sit question could lead to some headaches. As for Maye, he should be locked in as a QB1 the rest of the way.
Ravens Can Still Be Fantasy Relevant
Last week, I put into words what all of us were thinking: the Baltimore Ravens look like a shell of themselves. I wanted to remain positive, though, knowing that after the bye week and the return of Lamar Jackson, the Ravens could return to their winning ways. After Sunday’s 17-3 loss to the Rams, I’m still not panicking. Derrick Henry had his best game since Week 1, despite not scoring a TD. Zay Flowers caught six of 10 targets thrown to him by Cooper Rush and Tyler Huntley. Jackson appears on track to return after next week’s bye. Things will get better. Four out of the next six games are against the Bears, Dolphins, Jets, and Bengals. And despite a 4-1 record, the Steelers still have to play the Ravens twice and are a long way from clinching the AFC North. I’m not ready to throw the towel in on the Ravens. There is still fantasy gold to be mined from this team.
Overall WR1 Season Incoming for JSN
We saw the boom games from Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the past, but with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett alongside him in Seattle, we didn’t get the consistency we knew he was capable of. But this season, he’s putting up a consistent 10-plus fantasy points a game, while still getting week-winning performances like he did on Sunday. So not only is he giving you boom games, he’s still giving you WR1 numbers when he isn’t having his “best” game. His trajectory is pointing sky high, he’s got a QB who is playing great in Sam Darnold, and there’s nothing slowing down JSN from ending the year as the overall WR1 in fantasy.
from Fantasy Footballers Podcast https://ift.tt/BjRWSI8
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