We are officially through 6 weeks of the fantasy regular season. If you’re 2-4 or worse then some significant changes are needed. Swing for the fences and focus on winning this week and nothing else. If you’re 4-2 or better, you can start planning for the playoffs a little, and finding a guy you can stash on your bench now could make the difference between a title and missing the playoffs entirely. With that in mind, here are my risers after Week 6.
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Week 7 Risers
Mr. Ryan had a terrific Week 6, throwing 58 passes in his team’s win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. He completed 42 of his 58 passes for 389 yards and three touchdowns. All of these were the best of the week, leading Ryan to finish as QB2 with 27.16 fantasy points. Only Joe Burrow (QB – CIN) scored more for fantasy than Ryan and all of this was without their stud running back, Jonathan Taylor.
Do I expect Ryan to play like this every week? Heck no. But it’s not something that can be ignored either. In most 1QB leagues Ryan was either dropped or benched due to his previous poor performances, but due to bye weeks, it’s possible that some fantasy managers got lucky and wound up being forced to start him. Boy were they happy. If you roster Ryan now would be a great time to try to sell high because it’s hard to say if or when this kind of output will happen again. Get what you can and be done with it. If he does it again, at least you can say you got something in return.
It’s finally Rhamondre season, and I couldn’t have been more excited about it. I like Damien Harris just fine, but I’ve always said that the issue in the New England backfield is that there isn’t a bell cow RB. With Harris being out that all changed. Stevenson ran 19 times for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns, adding 4 catches on 5 targets for another 15 receiving yards. In PPR leagues Stevenson finished as RB2 and made all of his truthers feel vindicated. Will it last? Hard to say. But I’m fine holding and riding the wave as long as it lasts with Stevenson myself.
Thanks to Matt Ryan’s great day, Pittman also had some success for fantasy this week. He caught 13 of 16 passes, both Week 6 highs among WRs. His 134 yards were third only behind Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs. Pittman didn’t see the end zone though which is why he finished as WR5 on the week in PPR scoring. That being said, if Ryan is rising, so too should his pass catchers. With Pittman being the true WR1 in Indianapolis now, I think he’s turned the corner and should be a solid WR1 for fantasy going forward. I’m actively sending offers for him on teams that I don’t have him, and I don’t mind buying high here if need be. I just think he’s worth it.
The New York Giants had a few bright spots this week, but the biggest riser was the appearance of Bellinger on the box score in a big way. He caught all five of his targets for 38 yards and a touchdown, good enough for TE7 on the week in PPR scoring. You may be asking yourself: “That’s all it takes to be TE7 these days?” To which I would say “Yeah, it’s pretty bleak.” That being said, Bellinger performed well and is likely on waivers in your league. If you’re desperate, or if you have a bench space going to waste, I think Bellinger could be the real deal on an offense looking for firepower. I’m adding him where I can but I’m not counting on him as a starter until he does it again in the coming weeks.
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Andrew Hall is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, follow him @AndrewHallFF.