Fantasy Football Week 6 Stock Report: Ja’Marr Chase regains elite status with Joe Flacco while Patriots RBs remain volatile

With all but two Week 6 games in the books (Monday Night Football doubleheader), we’ve learned a little bit more than we knew last week. Or, in some cases, thought we knew. Players impressed, players disappointed and there is fantasy football fallout to unpack.

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Once again, I’ve compiled the full weekly fantasy stock report below. These are the most notable risers and fallers coming out of Week 6. Invest accordingly!

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📈 Stock Up at RB

Rico Dowdle, Panthers

Um. Listen. I have a lot of explanations for a lot of things, in both fantasy and real-life football. I have no clue what has gotten into Rico Dowdle and the Panthers run game. In two starts with Chuba Hubbard absent, Dowdle has racked up a truly nonsensical 473 total yards, with a touchdown rushing (in Week 6) and receiving (Week 7). He’s totaled 180+ rushing yards in each of the two games, and topped 30 half-PPR fantasy points in both as well. It’s beyond baffling. But the reality is, neither we nor the Panthers can realistically bench him while he’s playing like this. Hubbard is dealing with a calf injury (which tend to linger) and seems very unlikely to retake the job over a guy playing like the best back in the league.

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Kimani Vidal, Chargers

It wasn’t a particular tight competition between Kimani Vidal and Hassan Haskins in the first week without Omarion Hampton. Vidal looked quite a bit like Austin Ekeler while logging 138 scrimmage yards on 22 opportunities (and scoring a receiving touchdown) in his former jersey number. He played 67% of the snaps and was far more efficient and explosive than Haskins on three times as many touches. With the news that Hampton’s injury may keep him out several weeks longer than the minimum four (on injured reserve), Vidal is suddenly a must-roster RB3 with major upside for potentially the next couple months.

Derrick Henry, Ravens

Just a week ago, Derrick Henry was on the other end of this column after four straight games with 50 or fewer rushing yards and 15 or fewer carries. And while the hapless Ravens managed to score just three points on Sunday without Lamar Jackson, Henry rebounded in a big way, compiling 122 rushing yards on 24 carries. He is, it turns out, still Derrick Henry. The big question mark will be whether Jackson can return and get the entire Baltimore offense functioning again — if he can, Henry always gets better as the year goes on, and should be a high-end RB2 or better as previously expected.

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📈 Stock Up at WR

Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals

After a late-game boom in the last game of the Jake Browning era, doubts abounded heading into the start of the Joe Flacco era this week. Flacco completed 29 of 45 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns against Green Bay in his Cincy debut — not exactly elite, but 10-94-1 of that statline went to Ja’Marr Chase, on 12 targets. That’s extremely encouraging for fantasy’s No. 1 overall pick, and suggests he might have the elite season we were all counting on after all. We’ll need to see another productive performance (or two) from Flacco to feel truly confident, but this is a much better spot than where Chase was at halfway through Week 5.

Brian Thomas Jr., Jaguars

He lives! After setting a season high with 80 receiving yards on four catches in Week 5, Brian Thomas Jr. finally had his first excellent fantasy game of 2025 with eight catches, 90 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets on Sunday. It was his first game with more than 10 fantasy points, and marked his third straight game increasing said fantasy points after a 6.5-point stinker in Week 3. It was always a matter of time with BTJ, considering how much talent he flashed as a rookie, and it looks like the time has finally come in his “sophomore” year. He may not be as reliable as we’d like week-to-week this season, but now we know he still has big-game upside.

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George Pickens, Cowboys

It’s hard to know exactly where to slot George Pickens on the stock graph, considering his streak of excellence has mostly come with CeeDee Lamb on the sideline, and Lamb should be back shortly. But after recording five straight games with a touchdown (including two in Week 4), and 27+ fantasy points in two of the last three, it looks like Pickens has found an undeniable stride in Dallas and a game-breaking chemistry with Dak Prescott. He looks like one of the best downfield threats in football, and should retain that role when Lamb returns. He might not see 11 targets very often — which he did in Weeks 4 and 6 — but he also doesn’t need that kind of volume to be a strong WR2 option the rest of the season.

📈 Stock Up Elsewhere

Drake Maye, Patriots

In a Week 5 upset win over the Bills, Drake Maye only scored 12.12 fantasy points (despite throwing for 273 yards), simply because the touchdown drives he captained ended in running-back rushing scores. In the other five games of his second season, Maye has averaged 22.65 fantasy points per game. And since Week 2, his only game below 20 fantasy points was that Week 5 win. He’s been one of the NFL’s most efficient passers, adds occasional value with his legs and is consistently hovering right around the top-five quarterbacks in fantasy. He’s a star, and should be considered an elite option for the remainder of this season.

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Tyler Warren, Colts

Speaking of young stars who should be considered elite options … Tyler Warren is the overall TE2 in fantasy. His “worst” game was a three-catch, 38-yard performance in Week 3, but otherwise he’s had at least 9.9 fantasy points in every other contest and topped 12+ in three straight. He matched his season-high with nine targets on Sunday and scored a touchdown for the second straight week, and is heavily involved whenever Indianapolis gets inside the 10-yard line. Trey McBride and Jake Ferguson are the only healthy tight ends I expect to consistently outscore Warren the rest of the season. He’s comfortably filling the elite-rookie-TE shoes left behind by 2023 Sam LaPorta and 2024 Brock Bowers.

📉 Stock Down at RB

Kenneth Walker III, Seahawks

For the second straight week, Kenneth Walker III saw just 10 carries (and one target), while Zach Charbonnet handled a frustratingly large share of the snaps and opportunities. The problem is that instead of averaging 8.6 yards per carry again in Week 6, Walker averaged just 3.4 yards per carry, and therefore finished with just 4.2 fantasy points. Charbonnet has not been efficient or impressive (really at all) this season, but Seattle seems devoted to giving him the rock far more than they should. That means that KWIII is going to be inconsistent, and his ceiling is going to be capped. He’s a fringe RB2-RB3, rather than the high-end RB2 he’d be with 65-70% of the workload.

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Chuba Hubbard (again), Panthers

I’ll be brief here, as this is Chuba Hubbard’s second straight week in this section. Basically, see Rico Dowdle above. If and when Hubbard returns with a healthy calf, he’s going to find he’s lost much of his snap share (if not his entire job) to Dowdle. He should still be rostered, but don’t expect an RB3 or better rest of season.

Patriots RBs

For anyone with either Rhamondre Stevenson or TreVeyon Henderson on their rosters, the backfield usage in New England might be the most frustrating trend of the 2025 season. In Week 6, Stevenson totaled an embarrassing 18 rushing yards on 13 carries (1.4 per carry), while Henderson managed 27 yards on nine carries (still not good at 3.0 per). Neither is getting enough volume to make up for what has been a mostly inefficient rushing attack, and the coaching staff has showed no signs of changing their approach. You simply cannot start either guy with confidence in the current committee.

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📉 Stock Down at WR

Stefon Diggs, Patriots

Speaking of Patriots committees, Stefon Diggs has swapped sections of this column after seeing just three targets in Week 6 against the Saints. Despite Drake Maye throwing for 261 yards and three touchdowns, Diggs totaled just 4.3 fantasy points, with Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas taking up most of the lucrative work. Diggs did have a big catch on the sideline called back to a very poor pass interference call, but it’s more concerning that his target share fell off a cliff after totaling 19 over the previous two weeks. This passing attack plays the hot hand, and could be in the market to trade for another receiver before the deadline, so it might be tough to trust in Diggs as a WR2 after all.

Courtland Sutton, Broncos

For the second time this season, Courtland Sutton completely disappeared for no apparent reason. In Week 2 and now in Week 6, Sutton caught just one pass (on four and three targets, respectively). That’s not encouraging for a guy who should be his team’s WR1 and your fantasy team’s WR2. He’s been very productive in the other four games, so you’ll typically want to start him regardless (especially the next couple weeks in great matchups). But the fact that Sutton’s floor can fall out like this is going to make you nervous week-to-week.

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📉 Stock Down Elsewhere

Justin Fields, Jets

I really didn’t like Justin Fields’ matchup with the Broncos, but I didn’t exactly expect 4.9 fantasy points on nine completions and 45 passing yards. It will likely be his worst game of the season as the starter … but there is now some growing concern about whether he remains the starter. For now, you can still play him as a borderline QB1 in the right matchups, but he’s not quite the locked-and-loaded fantasy starter he seemed like he might be after shellacking the Cowboys for 25.92 fantasy points.

Juwan Johnson, Saints

Three weeks into the season, Juwan Johnson looked like one of the sneakiest tight end stars of 2025, with 28 targets in an offense that clearly needed his contributions. Unfortunately, his fantasy output has dropped in four straight games, all the way to just 0.5 points in Week 6, with two catches for 15 yards being mostly canceled by a lost fumble. You absolutely cannot start Johnson, and you probably can’t roster him either. Move on for a better streamer.