Fantasy Football Week 6 Takeaways: Surprises & Disappointments (2024)

The Monday Night Football game is all that’s left in the balance in Week 6. As always, there were eye-catching performances for good and bad reasons in Week 6. There’s also another consideration for a few teams after Week 6, which could have fantasy football repercussions.

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Fantasy Football Week 6 Surprises

Drake Maye Was a Breath of Fresh Air for New England’s Offense

A 20-point loss isn’t usually grounds for appearing in the surprises section. However, the Patriots scored 21 points and had 291 yards of offense at 4.6 yards per play, per ESPN. According to Pro Football Reference, the Patriots had the second-lowest scoring offense (12.4 points per game) and were tied for the second-fewest yards per play (4.3) through the first five weeks. Drake Maye provided the offense a jolt, even without New England’s lead running back Rhamondre Stevenson.

Maye completed 20 of 33 passes for 243 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also took two sacks. So, Maye wasn’t flawless. However, the dual-threat quarterback was the team’s leading runner, rumbling for 38 yards on five attempts. The club’s uninspiring yards per play weren’t a Maye problem. The lack of efficiency resulted from inefficient running by Stevenson’s stand-ins.

DeMario Douglas benefited the most from Maye’s insertion into the starting lineup. He had team highs for targets (nine), receptions (six), receiving yards (92) and had one receiving touchdown. Per Pro Football Focus (PFF), Douglas was third on the team in routes (28) in Week 6.

Kayshon Boutte (55 passing snaps and 32 routes) and Ja’Lynn Polk (43 and 29) were ahead of Douglas in playing time and route participation, and Kendrick Bourne also played 34 passing snaps and ran 22 routes. Douglas is an intriguing waiver addition, available in 93% of Yahoo leagues.

Polk is an acceptable bench stash in 12-team leagues or larger with medium-sized or bigger benches, but Boutte’s production doesn’t pass the sniff test. He corralled all three of his targets for 59 yards and a touchdown. Boutte’s route participation was encouraging, but gamers shouldn’t go overboard.

Hunter Henry also popped up for five targets, three receptions, 41 receiving yards and a touchdown. He also played 47 passing snaps and ran 30 routes compared to 37 and 20 for Austin Hooper. Henry is in the low-end TE1 to high-end TE2 range in 12-team leagues or larger. Circling back to Maye, he’s an exciting option in super flexes and could force his way into quarterback streaming territory in 12-team leagues in short order.

J.K. Dobbins Might be an RB1 Going Forward

The Chargers beat the Broncos 23-16 in Denver, pounding the rock in their first contest after their bye in Week 5. Los Angeles placed Gus Edwards on the Injured Reserve (IR) earlier in the week, and Kimani Vidal had an eye-catching 38-yard receiving touchdown. It was the first game Vidal was active, and he had four rushes, 11 rushing yards, two targets, two receptions, 40 receiving yards and the aforementioned receiving touchdown. He’s a nifty handcuff who could have emergency flex appeal.

However, J.K. Dobbins is the biggest winner of Gus Bus’s absence. Dobbins had 25 rushes, 96 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, two targets, two receptions and six receiving yards in Week 6. The underlying data was arguably more encouraging than his surface stats. He played 57 snaps and ran 18 routes compared to 19 and 10 for Vidal and three and zero for Hassan Haskins. Dobbins is in a workhorse role and demonstrated explosiveness and efficiency before the bye. His robust role should help fend off regression in his efficiency, leaving him with a higher floor post-bye and a tantalizing ceiling.

Fantasy Football Week 6 Disappointments

Will Levis is Turning the Titans Into the Titanic

What is Tennessee’s motivation for the rest of the year? They’re 1-4, with three one-score losses. If they genuinely care about winning this year, Mason Rudolph will probably give them the best opportunity after another pitiful showing from Will Levis. The second-year quarterback completed 16 of 27 passes for a comical 95 yards, one passing touchdown and one interception. Levis is a shoo-in for a boneheaded turnover weekly, and it’s become apparent he’s the biggest issue for the Titans.

There’s a risk first-time head coach Brian Callahan could lose the locker room if he doesn’t pull the plug on Levis. Calvin Ridley voiced his frustration after the game, stating he needs to play better while venting about not getting the ball early. Still, with the season spiraling down the drain, Callahan and the organization could continue to allow Levis to work through his struggles with an eye on replacing him in the 2025 NFL Draft. Regardless, the outlook is bleak for Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins unless Rudolph is named the starter and boosts the offense. Tony Pollard is Tennesee’s only locked-in fantasy starter.

The Early-Season Saints Are a Distant Memory

The Saints were the toast of the town after two weeks. Sadly, their early-season outburst is a distant memory. Since erupting for 47 and 44 points in the first two games this year, the Saints have produced 12, 24, 13 and 27.

The 27 points against the Buccaneers were misleading, as Rashid Shaheed had a punt return for a touchdown. Thus, the Saints scored 20 points on offense. In Spencer Rattler‘s first career start, he completed 22 of 40 passes for 243 yards and one touchdown but had two interceptions and took five sacks.

Chris Olave played only two passing snaps before he was knocked out of the contest with a concussion. Shaheed, save for the punt return for a touchdown, was quiet. He had one reception for 11 yards on seven targets. Olave and Shaheed are boom-or-bust players, especially with Rattler as the quarterback.

Alvin Kamara‘s ceiling is lower, while the Saints are in a rut. Still, he’s a workhorse. Kamara had 13 of the backfield’s 16 rush attempts for 40 yards and a touchdown. The do-it-all running back also had eight targets, five receptions and 24 receiving yards.

Miscellaneous Note

Will the Jaguars and Raiders Follow in the Footsteps of the Jets?

The Jets fired Robert Saleh early last week. Perhaps the coaching carousel is just starting after the Jaguars were smashed in London and the Raiders were eviscerated at home. Jacksonville and Las Vegas are in the basement of their respective divisions, and both teams have recently fired coaches during the season. The Jaguars fired Urban Meyer after 13 games in 2021, and the Raiders fired Josh McDaniels after eight games last season.

New coaches for either team could change player rotations or tinker with their roles. Of course, Doug Pederson or Antonio Pierce could also replace their offensive coordinators to attempt to save their jobs. It’s also possible these teams could try to trade players at the deadline. Obviously, the Raiders are shopping Davante Adams, but maybe both teams will also look to shop their other players.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.