Calvin Johnson isn’t atop the rankings?! That’s just the start of what is an interesting week for the wide receiver position. Let’s take a look at how everything shakes out for Week 6:
- A.J. Green – Cincinnati Bengals – at Cleveland
- Percy Harvin – Minnesota Vikings – at Washington
- Julio Jones – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Oakland
- Calvin Johnson – Detroit Lions – at Philadelphia
- Roddy White – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Oakland
- Mike Wallace – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Tennessee
- Larry Fitzgerald – Arizona Cardinals – vs. Buffalo
- Demaryius Thomas – Denver Broncos – at San Diego
- Dwayne Bowe – Kansas City Chiefs – at Tampa Bay
- Victor Cruz – New York Giants – at San Francisco
- Wes Welker – New England Patriots – at Seattle
- Reggie Wayne – Indianapolis Colts – at New York Jets
- Andre Johnson – Houston Texans – vs. Green Bay
- Antonio Brown – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Tennessee
- Eric Decker – Denver Broncos – at San Diego
- DeSean Jackson – Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Detroit
- Vincent Jackson – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. Kansas City
- Miles Austin – Dallas Cowboys – at Baltimore
- Torrey Smith – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Dallas
- Malcolm Floyd – San Diego Chargers – vs. Denver
- Jordy Nelson – Green Bay Packers – at Houston
- Michael Crabtree – San Francisco 49ers – vs. New York Giants
- Steve Johnson – Buffalo Bills – at Arizona
- Dez Bryant – Dallas Cowboys – at Baltimore
- Andre Roberts – Arizona Cardinals – vs. Buffalo
- Brian Hartline – Miami Dolphins – vs. St. Louis
- James Jones – Green Bay Packers – at Houston
- Brandon Lloyd – New England Patriots – at Seattle
- Andrew Hawkins – Cincinnati Bengals – at Cleveland
- Domenik Hixon – New York Giants – at San Francisco
- Pierre Garcon – Washington Redskins – vs. Minnesota
- Jeremy Maclin – Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Detroit
- Mike Williams – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. Kansas City
- Anquan Boldin – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Dallas
- Kenny Britt – Tennessee Titans – vs. Pittsburgh
- Josh Gordon – Cleveland Browns – vs. Cincinnati
- Golden Tate – Seattle Seahawks – vs. New England
- Denarius Moore – OaQkland Raiders – at Atlanta
- Kendall Wright – Tennessee Titans – vs. Pittsburgh
- Brandon Gibson – St. Louis Rams – at Miami
- Jeremy Kerley – New York Jets – vs. Indianapolis
- Mario Manningham – San Francisco 49ers – vs. New York Giants
- Randall Cobb – Green Bay Packers – at Houston
- Nate Washington – Tennessee Titans – vs. Pittsburgh
- Sidney Rice – Seattle Seahawks – vs. New England
- Robert Meachem – San Diego Chargers – vs. Denver
- T.Y. Hilton – Indianapolis Colts – at New York Jets
- Darrius Heyward-Bey – Oakland Raiders – at Atlanta
- Davone Bess – Miami Dolphins – vs. St. Louis
- Nate Burleson – Detroit Lions – at Philadelphia
Thoughts:
- Both Greg Jennings and Hakeem Nicks have been left off the rankings, for now, as their status for Week 6 is completely unknown. However, if either play they should be considered, at worst, WR2. We’ll just have to wait and see how things progress over the next few days.
- It is extremely rare that Calvin Johnson is not sitting atop our wide receiver rankings, isn’t it? This is the perfect storm of squaring up against a tough secondary, his QB struggling and others having favorable matchups. However, does anyone really want to bet against him?
- Percy Harvin has only scored 1 receiving TD this season, but he has a date with the Washington Redskins, who have allowed 13. Would anyone be surprised to see him light it up?
- The 49ers defense is tough, but Victor Cruz has proven that he can make plays against them. In two matchups last season he had 16 catches for 226 yards and 0 TD. Obviously, things will be significantly different if Hakeem Nicks is unable to suit up (something that is completely unknown at this point). If he doesn’t play, I would expect San Francisco to focus on shutting down Cruz, forcing the other young receivers to beat them. That would knock him down a few pegs, but he is going to be usable regardless.
- After being a forgotten man early on, Wes Welker has 35 catches for 470 yards over the past 4 games. At this point it doesn’t really matter who is healthy and who isn’t, Welker is going to be a major force in the Patriots’ offense moving forward. However, despite all the catches and all the yards, he has only scored 1 TD. That is going to limit his upside compared to some of the other options.
- Dwayne Bowe may not have the best QB throwing him the ball, but he is clearly the top receiver for Kansas City and has a favorable matchup against Tampa Bay (345.2 passing yards per game). Granted, they have only allowed 4 passing TD, but given the yards that is a little bit fluky. It’s hard not to consider Bowe a WR1 this week, no matter who is throwing him the football.
- Sure, Antonio Cromartie played well against Houston but with the way Reggie Wayne is playing right now it seems hard to imagine him being stopped. Wayne torched the Green Bay Packers for 13 catches for 212 yards and 1 TD in Week 5 and hasn’t had fewer than 6 receptions or 71 yards in a game yet this season.
- Can Dez Bryant hold onto the football? He showed how good he could be in Week 4, picking up 8 catches for 105 yards, but he has also shown how bad he can be (3 catches for 17 yards in Week 2). He has not yet found the end zone, and has now gone 6 straight games without a TD dating back to 2011. The only other time in his career that he went more than two games without a TD was to start his career (he went 4 straight games without scoring). It’s obviously only a matter of time and I would almost be willing to bet that he scores this week.
- Is Pierre Garcon going to be able to perform like he did early in Week 1? Fantasy owners have been waiting patiently for him to get healthy, but despite being on the field the past two weeks he has just 4 catches for 44 yards. We all know his upside, but until he shows consistency he can’t be considered more than a WR3.
- The Buffalo Bills have allowed 12 passing TD this season and Andre Roberts has scored 4. With the Buffalo defense likely focusing on trying to stop Larry Fitzgerald and an Arizona running game that is completely in question, it seems like a perfect formula for success. Roberts is a borderline WR2 and worth using in all formats.
- Denarius Moore hasn’t been overly impressive, yet, but he does have at least 65 yards in two of his three games played and could be the go to receiver in Oakland. He’s a borderline WR3.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 6 rankings:
Hey professor,
Have a flex an rb spot in ssl have SJAX, Ballard,and Torrey.. With SJAX having tough matchup do I go Ballard and Smith?
Need to start 1 Flex– f Jax spiller or James jones?
Or would I be best fit to bench Andre Roberts and roll with Spiller and F Jax both to spell each other.
Don’t we have to count on garbage time for Bowe these days? He’s getting all the targets but who knows if that will continue with Quinn. Unless there’ garabge time, seems like Bowe could burn a lot of people. I started him over Wayne last week, for instance…
dez bryant(cowboys) vs the ravens, or donald jones(bills) vs the cards? both these recievers could end up being number three thow options by their respctive QB.
Who would be the best flex play this week… Dez Bryant vs BAL, D. Moore vs ATL, or V. Ballard vs NYJ?
Ryan – I think Torrey Smith is the play at the FLEX (hard, since I always prefer the RB). As for the RB spot, I would actually go Ballard against that weak Jets D. It’s higher upside at this point.
Brandon – That’s an extremely tough spot. The Bills are saying the backs are going to share time, so it is hard to imagine either having tremendous value. That said, I think Spiller has the highest upside, but Jones is the “safer” option. I would probably roll the dice on Spiller, but that’s a risk you need to decide to take or not.
jon – Comparing Bowe to Wayne’s performance last week isn’t really a fair comparison. Wayne had what could arguably be one of the best WR days of the season and Bowe was solid, though unspectacular (but is averaging 80 yards per game and is the lone receiving weapon).
ed lozano – I’d still go Dez. There’s a better chance that he is the go to guy then Jones.
RD – Tough call. Ballard has upside, but is a complete unknown. It’s him or Dez, but it depends how risky you want to be. Ballard = “High Risk/High Reward” option while Dez is risky, but safer. I’d lean towards the RB in this case, but it’s a gut call.
I have jared cook,Fred Jackson, heyward-bey, and Pierre garcon. Who would u start at the flex position this week?
Well, we obviouslt missed Cook (probably thankfully so). I don’t love any of them, but I’d go Jackson with the highest upside.
A healthy Garcon would take the spot (with Jackson sharing touches), but he’s a question mark at this point.
Who would you recommend starting this week? Pick 2 Jordy Nelson, James Jones, and Michael Crabtree
I’d go Crabtree and Nelson, but I would definitely do Crabtree and one of the GB receivers. They are close.
I have Brandon Lloyd, desean Jackson, miles Austin, Eric Decker and can only start 2.
I would go Decker and Jackson, with Austin a very close third