Week 6 Fantasy Football Rankings: Position-by-Position Breakdown

The fifth week of the 2016 NFL season wrapped up on Monday night when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers knocked off the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.

Monday’s game capped a wild week of football action—one that included blowouts, upsets and numerous fantasy surprises. Guys who have been fantasy stars this season such as Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones and Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell were essentially shut down.

Meanwhile, young players such as Chicago Bears running back Jordan Howard and Minnesota Vikings receiver Adam Thielen continued their rise to fantasy stardom.

Week 5 also saw injuries keep Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer and Panthers signal-caller Cam Newton off the playing field. It also brought the return of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, which caused the value of Patriots pass-catchers such as Martellus Bennett and Chris Hogan to jump.

How does this last week of action—along with what we’ve learned over the first month of the season—impact the fantasy landscape moving forward? Well, that’s what we’re going to examine. We’ll be going through Week 6 positional rankings and examining some risers and fallers at each skill position.

Up: Brian Hoyer, Chicago Bears

Brian Hoyer has gone from injury replacement to potential job-stealer at quarterback for the Chicago Bears, and he has also emerged as a respectable fantasy option.

Hoyer is completing 71.4 percent of his passes, has thrown for 1,094 yards and has six touchdowns and zero interceptions in just over three games. He holds an impressive passer rating of 108.5, and he is rated 10th overall among all quarterbacks by Pro Football Focus.

If Hoyer continues playing this well, the Bears will have little reason to turn things back over to Jay Cutler once he is 100 percent healthy.

“Hoyer might not be the future, but he has proved to be the best current option to run the offense,” Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com recently wrote. “Going back to Cutler would only stunt the growth the Bears have experienced since their dreadful 0-3 start.”

This week, the Bears host the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have an improved defense but not a great one. Pro Football Focus rated the Jaguars 16th overall in pass coverage. Don’t be surprised if Hoyer reaches the 300-yard passing mark for the fourth consecutive week.

Down: Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins

There’s really no pleasant way to put it. Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill is not playing good football right now. He is completing 64.1 percent of his throws, but he has also turned the football over nine times to go with his six touchdowns.

Last week, Tannehill had a dismal outing against the Tennessee Titans. He threw for just 191 yards with two interceptions and zero scores. The Dolphins, though, have expressed confidence in the former Texas A&M standout.

“He’s not coming out,” Dolphins head coach Adam Gase said, per Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. “You can ask me 100 times, he’s going to be in there the rest of the season.”

This means Tannehill will be under center when the Dolphins host the Pittsburgh Steelers this week. This is a decent matchup for Tannehill—the Steelers are rated just 23rd in pass coverage by Pro Football Focus—but until he learns to limit mistakes, he is only worth a desperation start in the deepest of leagues.

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