Fantasy football quarterback rankings in Week 6 for 2-QB and Superflex leagues.
Is Lamar Jackson still an elite fantasy football player? Will Cam Newton actually be available when New England finally returns to the field? Who is going to start for San Francisco and Denver? What can Andy Dalton deliver in Dallas, and how much passing volume will the team retain without Dak Prescott? Is Matt Ryan even playable if Julio Jones continues to sit out?
These are just some of the quarterback questions around the league entering NFL Week 6. On top of all that uncertainty, the schedule is in flux as we lose a Thursday game and gain Monday and Tuesday games. Postponements continue to push around the future of the schedule, and yet real byes pick up this week as well.
We will definitely be without Derek Carr, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, and Justin Herbert. All four now appear like stalwarts in the fantasy football two-QB rankings after their teams return from their bye, but they limit the Week 6 options in a major way.
Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate Fantasy Football in today’s NFL Sports Debate.
Fantasy Football QB Rankings for Week 6
Top 12: Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Deshaun Watson, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, Matthew Stafford, Ben Roethlisberger, Jared Goff, Cam Newton, Gardner Minshew, Ryan Fitzpatrick
Every week we have one or two players dominate from the depths of our rankings, but that does not mean our top is truly in jeopardy. When consistency is considered, there is little debate on which players will pull their weight in your fantasy lineup.
13: Matt Ryan
Todd Salem: Who do you trust more at this point, Matt Ryan or Fitzpatrick? It has to be the latter, even if Julio Jones finally returns healthy to the lineup for Atlanta. Fitzpatrick has been a top-12 performer for a month straight, and now faces the worst team in the league. Meanwhile, Ryan has been scuffling and needs to turn things around this week. He’s already borderline droppable in standard leagues.
Dan Salem: I don’t trust Ryan because his team has fallen apart, but he does have great receivers to work with. Even without Jones, Calvin Ridley has been producing for the Falcons. Unfortunately, this does little to guarantee Ryan’s success, as he needs more than one player to perform.
14: Ryan Tannehill
Todd Salem: Unexpected delays didn’t slow down Tennessee in Week 5. Thanks to his rushing, it was actually Tannehill’s best fantasy output of the year thus far. Though the rankings get hairy a little later, Tannehill at 14 actually speaks to the quality at the top even with passers like Wilson and Prescott not in action.
Dan Salem: Tannehill has consistency issues, but when he puts up the numbers, they are great. I expect him to keep rolling this week.
15: Tom Brady
Todd Salem: Brady has looked good against the weaker defenses and just okay against stronger opponents. Green Bay qualifies as a strong opponent but has not been good on the defensive side of the ball. There may be an additional lift here if Brady feels something trying to go toe-to-toe with Rodgers, but he can’t hang at this stage of his career.
Dan Salem: Brady is matchup dependent and the Packers have been giving up a lot of points. This will be another one of those “great” weeks for Tom.
16: Kirk Cousins
Todd Salem: Atlanta is really bad defensively. I’m not sure that elevates Cousins all that much. His ceiling remains low regardless, especially with Dalvin Cook sitting this one out. Cousins has had two pretty good games, yet he barely cracked the top 12 those weeks. Even his best, at this point, is limited.
Dan Salem: If not for playing Atlanta, I would be scared of Cousins. But he is playing the Falcons, so win win.
17: Carson Wentz
Todd Salem: Wentz continues to put up fantasy points in losing and shaky efforts. Expect multiple turnovers here and another top-20 fantasy outing.
Dan Salem: Wentz keeps pulling twenty fantasy points out of his butt, so he’s solidified in our rankings. Without weapons, his ceiling is very limited.
18: Andy Dalton
Todd Salem: How much more will Dallas run the ball without Prescott? We need to see whether the constant passing was because of game flow or because of Prescott. Dalton’s presence will tell us. I’m assuming that the Cowboys really pick up the volume of running plays, which means Dalton will need to be efficient to put up great numbers.
Dan Salem: The Cowboys seemed to be winning because of Dak, meaning Dalton has big shoes to fill. This is a bad team that needs a spark to push towards being good. I don’t expect Dalton to do it, but he can at least tread water in fantasy circles.
19: Teddy Bridgewater
Todd Salem: Carolina continues to roll. Enter a top-five defense to try to slow down Teddy Two Gloves. Things will be much harder than facing Atlanta last week, but Bridgewater has something going as the Panthers patiently await the return of Christian McCaffrey.
Dan Salem: I’ve been very impressed with Bridgewater and would rank him higher, if not for a tough matchup this week. He’s been consistent and should be relied upon in two-QB leagues until proven otherwise.
20: Nick Foles
Todd Salem: After playing arguably the two best defenses in the league in his first two starts, Foles finally gets a reprieve. Carolina has been hot, but there should be much more space to find yardage than what Indianapolis and Tampa Bay offered the previous two games.
Dan Salem: This is where I draw a thick line in the sand because no one ranked below Foles is a guarantee to produce. Even Foles is rather iffy, but at least he has a decent matchup.
21: Baker Mayfield
Todd Salem: The Browns are playing really good football, but it hasn’t been because of massive production from Mayfield. He has yet to have a top-15 fantasy week. The mistakes are low, which keeps his floor kind of high. We need him this week regardless, because of absences from better producers.
Dan Salem: One would think Mayfield’s numbers would be better, but his team is winning because of its balance. This won’t change, because the approach is working. Expect a hard cap on Mayfield’s fantasy ceiling for the rest of the season.
22: Joe Burrow
Todd Salem: Coming off the worst game of his young career, Burrow now faces the best defense in the league. He may have fallen out of the top 24 if more options were available this week. It’s hard to trust him in this spot.
Dan Salem: Burrow was great until he had the expected rookie hiccups. I believe he bounces back and produces at a high level once again, it’s just uncertain when that will occur. Don’t count on it this week.
23: Jimmy Garoppolo
Todd Salem: Well, last week sucked. Kyle Shanahan said Garoppolo did not suffer any injury setback, but he obviously wasn’t healthy yet. Another week hopefully gets him there. It would be impossible to trust Garoppolo after that performance…unless you would rather turn to the other dregs left to start this week at quarterback.
Dan Salem: Consider this the lesser of a few evils, because you don’t want to start anyone at the bottom of our list. The way the 49ers showed up last week, who knows what you’ll get from Jimmy G.
24: Kyle Allen
Todd Salem: Unless you’d rather roll the dice with a Drew Lock return, Allen is the best option left. Daniel Jones, Joe Flacco, and Philip Rivers are the only other quarterbacks set to start this week. In my mind, they are all unusable. Jones had the perfect setup last week and shit the bed yet again. Flacco doesn’t have the pieces or the skill set to perform anymore. And Rivers has just one top-24 week this season: Week 1, he squeaked to 22nd. Since then, he’s been almost as bad as Jones. Meanwhile, Allen had a good spurt last week before getting hurt. He’ll get a chance for a longer spurt of success this week against the 0-5 Giants.
Dan Salem: Fill in name here. Allen has the most upside, but you may want to consider a wide receiver or running back if left to choose.