We’ve entered the portion of the fantasy football season where the biggest shakeups to running back rankings will come from injuries. When Christian McCaffrey left Sunday’s game, it looked for a little while like Reggie Bonnafon would become a familiar name to fantasy owners. Soon after, though, McCaffrey was deemed fine after merely dealing with cramps, and that’s why he’s atop our Week 6 fantasy RB rankings, narrowly edging out Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cool, and Saquon Barkley, who we’re projecting to return from a high-ankle sprain this Thursday. (Update 10/8: Looks like Barkley will be held out Thursday.)
Besides injuries, we sort of know who guys are at this point. Ezekiel Elliott’s holdout is a thing of the distance past. Dalvin Cook has proven he’s a consistently top-five running back. Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb, too, have proven to be every-week starts. Matchups and playing time matter, but there’s just a lot less guessing at this point in the season.
WEEK 6 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
One place we’ll still be left wondering about, at least for another week, is in L.A.. Melvin Gordon outcarried Austin Ekeler 12-3 in Week 5. Seems like Gordon’s the obvious bellcow, right? Except for the fact that Ekeler out-caught Gordon, 15-4. If that split keeps up, Ekeler could maintain standard-league value as a pass catcher while also being a PPR stud. And Gordon, if not as important as a receiver, will be more of a standard-league guy. Of course, Gordon probably is still getting up to full speed, so it might be best to wait another week before making full judgment here.
WEEK 6 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
The matchup of the week, for fantasy purposes but certainly not for pleasurable viewing purposes, is Redskins-Dolphins. Both teams are bad. Both defenses are bad. Many of their players are bad. But at running back, each team has a potentially intriguing fantasy option. For Washington, it’s future Hall-of-Famer Adrian Peterson, and for Miami, Kenyan Drake is still the man since he’s yet to be traded. Both have been risky fantasy starts thus far. Both have RB2 cases against the other’s terrible defense in Week 6.
Mark Ingram (vs. Bengals) is a must-start this week against a Bengals defense allowing the most fantasy points to running backs. So is Kerryon Johnson (@ Packers), who gets a Green Bay defense that’s been poor against RBs, too. Speaking of the Packers: Aaron Jones’ four-TD Week 5 isn’t repeatable, but as long as Jamaal Williams is out, his workload will be such that he needs to be in every fantasy lineup.
WEEK 6 DFS LINEUPS:
Y! cash | Y! GPP | FD cash | FD GPP | DK cash | DK GPP
Before we get to the rankings: This is the first week with four teams on bye. The Bills, Bears, Raiders and Colts are off, meaning you’ll be without the services of Frank Gore, Devin Singletary, David Montgomery, Tarik Cohen, Josh Jacobs, Marlon Mack and Nyheim Hines.
WEEK 6: Waiver pickups | FAAB planner | Trade values | Snap counts
Reminder: These rankings will be adjusted throughout week, so check back often for the latest updates and analysis!
LISTEN TO THE SN FANTASY WEEK 6 PREVIEW PODCAST BELOW
Week 6 Fantasy RB Rankings
These rankings are for standard, non-PPR leagues.
| 1 | Christian McCaffrey, CAR vs. TB (in UK). McCaffrey left Sunday’s game and didn’t finish, but he was just cramping and should be fine to dominate the Bucs across the pond in Week 6. |
| 2 | Ezekiel Elliott, DAL @ NYJ |
| 3 | Dalvin Cook, MIN vs. PHI |
| 4 | Aaron Jones, GB vs. DET. Jones comes off a four touchdown game and gets to face a suspect Lions defense. Jones should continue to shine as long as Jamaal Williams is out and not taking his touches. |
| 5 | David Johnson, ARI vs. ATL. Johnson’s back “locked up” on him Sunday, and he missed some game action in favor of Chase Edmonds. This matchup provides a ton of potential for fantasy points if Johnson is healthy, although the Falcons have done a good job at defending running backs in the passing game. |
| 6 | Alvin Kamara, NO @ JAX |
| 7 | Mark Ingram, BAL vs. CIN. The Bengals have been terrible against running backs, both on the ground and through the air. Ingram should have a field day in Week 6. |
| 8 | Kerryon Johnson, DET @ GB |
| 9 | Derrick Henry, TEN @ DEN. Denver has struggled to defend the run all season, allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing rushers. Since Henry is the main offense for Tennessee, he sets up for a great outing. |
| 10 | Joe Mixon, CIN @ BAL. Baltimore’s run defense per carry has been solid in 2019, but they’ve allowed a league-high seven rushing touchdowns. Expect Mixon to find the end zone at least once in this one. |
| 11 | Nick Chubb, CLE vs. SEA |
| 12 | James Conner, PIT @ LAC |
| 13 | Le’Veon Bell, NYJ vs. DAL |
| 14 | Melvin Gordon, LAC vs. PIT. Gordon outcarried Austin Ekeler 12-3 in Week 5, which should provide standard-league owners confidence that Gordon should be in their lineups as the main rusher for the Chargers. Ekeler’s 15 catches, though, show that it’s not only the Gordon show. |
| 15 | Leonard Fournette, JAX vs. NO |
| 16 | Todd Gurley, LAR vs. SF. San Francisco does a good job at limiting backs in the receiving game, so you’ve gotta hope the Rams rely on Gurley in the rushing attack like they did in Week 5 (15 carries) and not in Week 4 (five carries). |
| 17 | Chris Carson, SEA @ CLE. With Carson’s fumble issues (at least temporarily) a thing of the past, it’s obvious Seattle will rely on him a its workhorse. In that role, he’s an every-week fantasy starter. |
| 18 | Phillip Lindsay, DEN vs. TEN. Lindsay and Royce Freeman continue to mostly split work, but it’s still Lindsay who’s more explosive and thus a better fantasy play. |
| 19 | Kenyan Drake, MIA vs. WAS. This is the best matchup Drake will get all season. The Redskins have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing backs, and it’d be worse if they had allowed an equal amount of touchdowns to the five teams above them. Drake is a solid RB2 play this week. |
| 20 | Carlos Hyde, HOU @ KC |
| 21 | Sony Michel, NE vs. NYG |
| 22 | Adrian Peterson, WAS @ MIA. Peterson’s been terrible. So have the Dolphins. You’d imagine one would change that trend against the other this week. The best yards per carry AP has had in a game this year is 3.1, so even against Miami, he may not be efficient. You’re betting on him finding the end zone as a RB2 or FLEX play. |
| 23 | Damien Williams, KC vs. HOU. Houston’s allowed the most receptions to opposing backs this season, and Williams should continue that trend after outworking LeSean McCoy in his return from injury in Week 5. |
| 24 | James White, NE vs. NYG |
| 25 | Austin Ekeler, LAC vs. PIT. Ekeler’s 15 catches in Week 5 were buoyed a bit by game flow as the Chargers tried to come from behind. That probably won’t be the same script as Week 6 against a banged-up Steelers’ team, but Ekeler should still catch six-plus balls in his current role, along with a few carries here or there. |
| 26 | Devonta Freeman, ATL @ ARZ |
| 27 | Matt Breida, SF @ LAR |
| 28 | Tevin Coleman, SF @ LAR |
| 29 | Jordan Howard, PHI @ MIN |
| 30 | Ronald Jones, TB vs. CAR (in UK). Just when we think we’ve got it figured out, Jones only outcarries Peyton Barber, 9-8. We still like Jones more going forward, as we’ve said all season, but this 9:30 a.m. ET time kick might be one to avoid if you’ve got better options in the afternoon games. |
| 31 | Royce Freeman, DEN vs. TEN |
| 32 | Miles Sanders, PHI @ MIN |
| 33 | Chris Thompson, WAS @ MIA. Thompson might find standard value in this matchup due to an increased chance for him too to find the end zone. If you’re desperate for a FLEX option, you could do worse. |
| 34 | Duke Johnson Jr., HOU @ KC |
| 35 | Jon Hilliman, NYG @ NE |
| 36 | LeSean McCoy, KC vs. HOU. McCoy was outworked by Williams in Week 5, and as long as Williams remains healthy, McCoy has a much lower fantasy floor from week to week. |
| 37 | Ito Smith, ATL @ ARZ |
| 38 | Peyton Barber, TB vs. CAR (in UK) |
| 39 | Latavius Murray, NO @ JAX |
| 40 | Rashaad Penny, SEA @ CLE |
| 41 | Mark Walton, MIA vs. WAS |
| 42 | Raheem Mostert, SF @ LAR |
| 43 | Chase Edmonds, ARZ vs. ATL |
| 44 | Alexander Mattison, MIN vs. PHI |
| 45 | Rex Burkhead, NE vs. NYG |
| 46 | Gus Edwards, BAL vs. CIN |
| 47 | Malcolm Brown, LAR vs. SF |
| 48 | Tra Carson, Packers vs. Lions |
| 49 | Giovani Bernard, CIN @ BAL |
| 50 | Darrel Williams, KC vs. HOU |
| 51 | Dion Lewis, TEN @ DEN |
| 52 | C.J. Prosise, SEA @ CLE |
| 53 | Dontrell Hilliard, CLE vs. SEA |
| 54 | Ty Montgomery, NYJ vs. DAL |