Week 6 NFL Fantasy Football Rankings: Geno Smith Arrives as a Top Option

Bye weeks are here and we lose Detroit, Tennessee, Las Vegas, and Houston this week. All four are pretty fantasy friendly as far as attacking them and all have pieces that have been useful offensively as well. With the bye weeks here there is no better time to check out John Daigle’s Waiver Wire Watch for Week 6. As Daigle pointed out if Ken Walker is somehow available run, don’t walk, to go grab him and while he doesn’t quite make our list here, he’s definitely someone with flex appeal this week. As always, these rankings and projections are courtesy of 4for4’s half-PPR rankings and projections.

What Stands Out: Geno Smith, in the year of our lord 2022, is a top-10 weekly start in fantasy football.

Analysis: For starters, Geno Smith absolutely deserves to be a top 10 option with the way he’s been playing. He’s been great, the matchup has been great – it’s all there for Smith this week. I know this is a fantasy article, but if you’ve seen some of the throws he made against the Saints, they are just inch-perfect. Love this resurgence for Smith. All that said, he’s down in the bottom half of the top 10 with the usual suspects at the top. It would likely take an injury for Josh Allen to not finish as QB1 this year with the way he’s been playing. Jalen Hurts has also been great, but it would be better if he got some points in the second half of a game for once. Dallas’ defense is one of the few fantasy difference-makers which is why Hurts is in third this week. Lamar Jackson leapfrogs him with a matchup with the Giants on deck and hopefully, he’ll have Rashod Bateman return this week. It's weird how all of Tom Brady’s receivers getting healthy makes Tom Brady an elite fantasy quarterback again. Start him with confidence every week. Outside of the top 10, keep an eye on Kirk Cousins who is getting a great matchup against the Dolphins this week. He’s been force-feeding Justin Jefferson lately and I imagine that might be of note later.

*Full Quarterback Rankings are found here.

What Stands Out: It looks like a difficult week for a lot of the elite backs.

Analysis: You know what else stands out? Rhamondre Stevenson ranked ahead of Jonathan Taylor. Three of the top four backs this week are in tough matchups. Austin Ekeler and Christian McCaffrey have the reception floor to still be able to hit their ceiling, even in half-point PPR, but Nick Chubb could be in a little trouble this week against New England. On the other side of the matchup, with Stevenson having the backfield to himself for a few weeks in a solid matchup against Cleveland this could be another big week for him. Leonard Fournette is also in a tough matchup, but with the way he’s used around the goal line and his receiving role he’s also got a safe floor.

While Dalvin Cook is in a great matchup and has been performing well, we do need to keep an eye on the fact his snaps have been limited since the shoulder injury. It’s not concerning enough to not start, but just know the ceiling isn’t as high as if he were fully healthy. Outside of the top 10, keep an eye on Eno Benjamin. He could see the majority of the snaps if James Conner were to miss this weekend with a shootout against Seattle possible if Kliff Kingsbury could finally get the offense going.

*Full Running Back Rankings are found here

What Stands Out: Is this the week Ja'Marr Chase finally has a blowup game?

Analysis: Chase ranks highly, as always, and he has another good matchup, but with Tee Higgins potentially hobbled again is this the week he goes off? Hopefully. Cooper Kupp WR1 again, you know the drill. Justin Jefferson ranks as WR2 this week and Kirk Cousins continues to absolutely feed him and he should do so again against Miami. Stefon Diggs against Kansas City in the fantasy friendliest matchup of the weekend. Mike Evans against the 32nd-ranked pass defense with a confident Tom Brady and a full complement of weapons? Sign me up. This is potentially the last week for Marquise Brown to have the WR1 role in Arizona and has a great matchup against Seattle. I’m not really nervous about tough matchups for Mike Williams and A.J. Brown, but the ceilings are a little lower this week. Outside of the top 10, could we see another Gabe Davis week?

*Full Wide Receiver Rankings are found here

What Stands Out: Zach Ertz is in a fantastic spot against the Seahawks.

Analysis: We’ve seen Ertz continue to see volume with DeAndre Hopkins out and in a pristine matchup, that trend should continue. He’s a deserved TE3 on the week. The top two you know by now and Travis Kelce coming off a four-touchdown game and Mark Andrews coming off 8-89-1, maintain their spots at the top of the tight end rankings again this week. Dallas Goedert remains a weekly top-5 option at the position and Dallas has been susceptible to tight ends this year. George Kittle finally got relieved of pass-blocking duty for a few snaps and put up a 5-47-0 line in a game where the 49ers scored 37 points. David Njoku continues to be the second option in the passing game for Jacoby Brissett behind Amari Cooper. Gerald Everett is a decent option in a sub-optimal matchup this week. Outside of the top 10, we have to talk about Taysom Hill. I think if you have him and don’t have a top-7 option this week you kinda have to take a flier on him. Obviously, he’s a lot better in best ball formats where you don’t have to worry about team management, but if he’s tight end eligible his floor is about a point, but as everyone else outside of the top-7 struggles at times to also score points he at least offers a ceiling that others may not.

*Full Tight End Rankings are found here.