By Kyle Showalter
All statistics are provided via the Fantasy Points Data Suite, the best tool in fantasy football, unless otherwise stated.
Week 6 Data Dump
It’s a one man backfield for the G-Men
If there were any questions about what Cam Skattebo’s role would be when Tyrone Tracy returned from his dislocated shoulder, they’ve been emphatically answered.
Giants week 6 backfield usage:
Cam Skattebo: 48 snaps (71%), 19 carries (73%), 3 i5 carries, 16 routes, 2 targets, 18.6 XFP
Tyrone Tracy AND Devin Singletary: 24 snaps, 7 carries, 0 i5 carries, 7 routes, 0 targets, 3.0 XFP
This is without a doubt Skattebo’s backfield. It makes sense, Brian Daboll is coaching for his job and needs to have his best players on the field as much as possible. His teammates (especially Jaxson Dart) also seem to be in love with him. I’m still not buying that the offensive environment is going to be great, but usage like this will make Skattebo a high-end weekly starter regardless.
Don’t panic on Quinshon Judkins
Quinshon Judkins was on the field for just 31 of the Browns’ 75 offensive snaps in week 6 and posted a paltry 3.6 FP. That shakes out to a 41.3% snap share, his lowest since his debut in week 2. Despite this, Judkins still managed to handle 70.6% of the team’s RB carries. The issue for Judkins was the Browns’ pass centric game plan. The team posted a 6.2% PROE in week 6, a far cry from the -3.1% from weeks 2-5 when Judkins has been active. Judkins low route participation (23.5% on the season) does present a low floor in games where the Browns are this pass happy, but he’s actually been a pretty strong target earner when given the opportunity, managing a .21 TPRR. I doubt the Browns want to drop back as much as they did in week 6 on a weekly basis. I’m not worried about Judkins at all.
BAM, surprise!
We got a surprise news dump from Adam Schefter on Sunday morning that Bam Knight would be the starting running back for the Cardinals. This came one week after the fantasy community was debating Michael Carter vs. Emari Demercado, where the correct answer was resoundingly Carter. While Knight did start, the Cardinals employed a committee approach in week 6:
Bam Knight: 34 snaps, 11 carries, 2 i5 carries, 12 routes, 2 targets, 12.6 XFP
Michael Carter: 32 snaps, 9 carries, 0 i5 carries, 19 routes, 4 targets, 11.9 XFP
Emari Demercado: shadow realm
This is a backfield I’m looking to avoid unless I’m desperate for bye week or injury coverage. Both Carter and Knight look like low end RB3’s based on this usage.
The Chargers go with Vidal
With Omarion Hampton set to miss extended time, there was an opportunity for fantasy managers to potentially find a (temporary) diamond on the waiver wire if they could figure out whether Hassaan Haskins or Kimani Vidal would take on the lead back role. Turns out, it was the latter.
Chargers week 6 backfield usage:
Kimani Vidal: 43 snaps, 18 carries, 17 routes, 4 targets, 20.4 XFP
Hassaan Haskins: 20 snaps, 6 carries, 8 routes, 1 target, 4.2 XFP
Not only did Vidal dominate the work, he was electric with the ball in his hands. He averaged 6.9 YPC, had 3 rushes go for 15+ yards and racked up 3.17 YACO/ATT. This was probably a bit of a hot hand situation, and it’s possible that Haskins gets more work in the coming weeks if Vidal’s production dips, but it’s clear that Vidal is the more talented player and the Chargers’ staff trusts him to have a major role in Hampton’s absence.
Tetairoa McMillan, baller
Week 6 saw Tetairoa McMillan draw a season low 5 targets. That didn’t stop him from scoring a season high 17.9 FP’s on the back of the first 2 touchdowns of his NFL career. We had been talking about touchdown regression for McMillan for a few weeks now. There’s zero target competition in Carolina, as McMillan is fighting for targets with Hunter Renfrow (a guy who didn’t play football last year), Xavier Legette (one of the worst full time players in the NFL), and Jalen Coker (who has yet to play football this season). This has led to him racking up 8.2 TGT/G in his first 5 career games heading into week 6. His frame and play style both lend themselves to red zone production, and he had already racked up 3 EZ targets coming into week 6 (4 if you count one that was wiped away by a holding penalty on a play he was targeted on in week 5). There’s a lot to be optimistic about here.
Chris Olave is getting HOW MUCH volume?
When you think of the biggest target monsters in the NFL, your mind probably drifts to the JSN’s, Puka Nacua’s and Ja’Marr Chase’s of the world. What if I told you that it’s actually Chris Olave that leads all WR’s in XFP/G? Because that’s the case. Olave’s volume is ridiculous. He’s managed 10.2 TGT/G (2nd), a 34.7% first-read target share (9th) and, the most surprising development of his season, 6 EZ targets (T-4th). If he’s able to haul in a slightly overthrown ball in the front corner of the endzone that slipped through his fingertips on Sunday, Olave would have had his first 20+ point performance of the 2025 season. He’s running a ton of underneath routes and has essentially been Spencer Rattler’s safety net all season, allowing him to be peppered with targets. While this has led to a pedestrian 1.68 YPRR and caps his ceiling compared to the receivers immediately below him on the XFP leaderboard, it makes him an incredibly consistent fantasy asset that you can lock into your lineup. If touchdown regression hits in a given week, there’s legit spike week potential here.
RIP 2025 Treyveon Henderson’s fantasy relevancy
When Antonio Gibson tore his ACL in week 5, it reignited optimism that Treyveon Henderson could pay off his high draft cost the surged in late August. Week 6 has come and gone, and unfortunately it doesn’t seem like his role changed much if at all.
Rhamondre Stevenson: 41 snaps, 13 carries, 2 i5 carries, 15 routes, 1 target, 12.3 XFP
Treyveon Henderson: 17 snaps, 9 carries, 0 i5 carries, 6 routes, 2 targets, 8.9 XFP
Woof. Stevenson essentially picked up the entirety of Gibson’s snaps while Henderson maintained his meager role. While Henderson managers are rightfully frustrated at the rookie being unable to pull snaps away from Stevenson, who’s fumbling issues from last season have persisted into 2025, it’s important to understand that Henderson hasn’t done anything to motivate Mike Vrabel and co. to get him on the field.
Chase Brown is no longer a bellcow
Chase Brown has been one of 2025’s most inefficient rushers. Part of the blame falls on Brown himself, while part of it can obviously be attributed to the horrific offensive line play and Joe Burrow’s injury destroying the Bengals’ offensive environment. Regardless, the Bengals have elected to reduce his workload.
Bengals week 6 backfield usage:
Chase Brown: 33 snaps, 9 carries, 1 i5 carry, 21 routes, 2 targets, 8.0 XFP
Samaje Perine: 29 snaps, 6 carries, 0 i5 carries, 15 routes, 2 targets, 5.2 XFP
Brown is still leading the backfield, but how valuable is this role in an offense this poor? I don’t buy that Joe Flacco is going to be the savior of the Bengals’ skill players (outside of Ja’Marr Chase, whom Flacco peppered with 12 targets). It’s hard to be optimistic about Brown’s fantasy outlook when he’s ceded this much of his pass-catching role to Perine in an offense that isn’t going to present him with much touchdown upside.
Volume isn’t A.J. Brown’s issue
Something is clearly wrong with the Eagles passing attack and A.J. Brown is the primary victim, but it’s not because of a lack of volume. Despite the negative sentiment, Brown is tied with George Pickens for the 4th most targets amongst WR’s and has been the WR9 in XFP/G over the last 4 weeks. The discrepancy between his expected and realized production comes from his 62.9% catchable target rate, which ranks 38th amongst 40 WR’s with at least 20 targets over that same span. If the Eagles offense can improve at all, which is still clearly possible given the talent in the building, Brown SHOULD (not WILL) see a bump in his production. It’s a risk given what we’ve seen so far, but if you have the stomach for it, Brown can likely be acquired for much cheaper than his upside justifies from managers that want to cut their losses.
ROS Top 150
Link to the ROS Top 150 ⬇️
Risers
Rashee Rice
Overall: 20th 📈 10th
Position: WR9 📈 WR5
With his impending return from suspension this coming Sunday, Rice will immediately slide into an extremely valuable role as Patrick Mahomes primary target. Rice looked like the best pick you could have made in fantasy last year before he suffered a season ending knee injury in week 4. Through the first 3 weeks of the season, Rice ranked 2nd in both TPRR and YPRR, 1st in 1DRR (statistically the most predictive of these metrics) and was the WR2 in fantasy. Mahomes has looked like his MVP self to start 2025, the Chiefs currently lead the league in PROE and they are throwing the ball a ton around the goal line. I’m higher on Rice than just about anyone in the industry and I’m still not sure if I’m high enough.
Mike Evans
Overall: 49th 📈 29th
Position: WR20 📈 WR13
Despite some mediocre fantasy performances, Mike Evans was drawing a ton of targets before suffering a hamstring injury in week 3. Evans was earning 9.0 TGT/G (T-6th), had a .30 TPRR (T-5th), and is the WR7 in XFP/G with 17.1 despite drawing some tough cornerback matchups against A.J. Terrell, Derek Stingley and Sauce Gardner. He looks to be coming back into a perfect situation as he returns from his hamstring injury. Baker Mayfield is playing at an MVP level, Chris Godwin is dealing with some kind of issue related to his season ending ankle injury from last season and rookie sensation Emeka Egbuka is now dealing with a hamstring injury of his own. A reminder of how dominant Evans was last season with no Godwin: .33 TPRR, a 42% AY share, 3.41 YPRR and 20.7 FP/G. I still believe Evans is the Bucs WR to have in fantasy ROS.
Cam Skattebo
Overall: 53rd 📈 31st
Position: RB20 📈 RB13
I already talked about Skattebo in the data dump, so I’ll keep it short. Skattebo is the Giants clear lead back despite Tyrone Tracy’s return. He had 71% of the snaps, 73% of the RB carries, was the only Giants’ RB to earn a target and had all 3 of the team’s i5 carries in week 6. This added up to 18.6 XFP, which would match Josh Jacobs XFP/G on the season, who ranks as the RB3.
Rico Dowdle
Overall: 79th 📈 45th
Position: RB 29 📈 RB17
Another guy I talked about in the data dump. In short, Dowdle put together one of the best 2-game stretches we’ve ever seen from a RB: 389 yards, a 9.4% expl rush rate, .21 MTF/ATT and 4.53 YACO/ATT. His primary competition for touches in Carolina will obviously be a healthy Chuba Hubbard whenever he is able to return. Hubbard doesn’t have an explosive rush, hasn’t forced a single missed tackle, and has managed a very pedestrian 1.89 YACO/ATT in 2025. I think at worst we are looking at a 50/50 timeshare between the two backs. If Dowdle continues to outperform Hubbard anywhere close to this degree, I doubt Dave Canales, who had no issue with benching the number one overall pick from the previous year in Bryce Young when he was underperforming, will shy away from giving the ball to the running back who gives his team the best chance to win.
Fallers
Breece Hall
Overall: 36th 📉 46th
Position: RB15 📉 RB18
Hall’s usage in the run game has been great since Braelon Allen’s season-ending injury in week 4, tallying 36 of the Jets’ 39 RB carries over the last two weeks. The positives unfortunately end there. The Jets offensive environment is a complete nightmare. Justin Fields has been terrible this season despite some decent counting stats that have almost exclusively come in garbage time. Despite Hall being touted as an excellent pass catcher, he’s only managed a 37% route participation since Allen’s injury. The offense rarely gets down to the goal line, and when they do Fields is a massive threat to vulture touchdowns away. Both players have had 2 i5 carries in 2025 (no other Jets player has 1). It’s hard to rank an admittedly talented back any higher when there’s not a lot of high value touches coming his way.
Jaylen Warren
Overall: 47th 📉 57th
Position: RB19 📉 RB22
Jaylen Warren dominated the Steelers’ backfield usage in the first 3 weeks of 2025, soaking up 66% of the team’s backfield XFP. Unfortunately for Warren managers, he missed week 4 with a knee injury. This opened up a window for Kenneth Gainwell to explode for a 19/99/2 rushing line while adding 6 catches in an island game in Warren’s absence. There were a lot of questions as to whether Gainwell’s performance would eat into Warren’s workload coming out of the week 5 bye. We got our answer, and it was clear it did. Gainwell had the more valuable role in week 6, posting 11.8 XFP to Warren’s 9.0. Warren led the team in carries, but the ground was made up through Gainwell’s 6 targets. It’s still unclear who will get the goal line work (the Steelers had 0 i5 carries in week 6), so there’s still a chance that Warren has the more valuable role ROS, but this is a downgrade for Warren regardless.
Kenneth Walker III
Overall: 60th 📉 65th
Position: RB22 📉 RB24
KWIII has been one of the biggest disappointments in fantasy this year. Despite him being more efficient than Zach Charbonnet on a per touch basis, the Seahawks have insisted on keeping both backs involved. The two backs have both averaged 10.4 XFP/G, but Charbonnet clearly has the more valuable role. Charbonnet has ran 59 routes to Walker’s 48 and, more surprisingly, has 7 i5 carries to Walker’s 3. Walker is essentially being used as a between the 20’s plodder and coming off the field for the high value touches, which have gone to Charbonnet at a much higher rate. There’s always a chance the Seahawks reverse course on this if Charbonnet’s efficiency metrics don’t improve, but for now it’s hard to be optimistic about Walker.
Biggest Week 7 Storyline
What does Ceedee Lamb’s return mean for George Pickens?
There’s a lot of buzz around the return of Ceedee Lamb and what it will do to the otherworldly production we’ve seen from George Pickens over the last 4 weeks. Pickens has been nothing short of incredible in Lamb’s absence, posting a 3.14 YPRR, 106.8 yards per game, a league high 5 receiving touchdowns and has been the WR1 in FP/G with 24.2, bolstered by two 30+ FP performances. While Lamb’s return will undoubtably reduce Pickens’ fantasy output, it’s not like he’s going to disappear. While Pickens hasn’t been a high-end target earner in his career (.24, .21, .15 TPRR in his 3 NFL seasons prior to this season), he has always excelled in high-value situations for fantasy. This has been the case in 2025 even with Lamb on the field, as he managed 15.8 XFP/G in weeks 1-2 when Lamb was healthy. This was on the back of his league-high 5 EZ targets over that span. We also have the added benefit of Dak Prescott playing at an incredibly high level. I see no reason why Dak can’t support multiple high-end fantasy WR’s this season. The 2025 Cowboys have drawn a lot of comparisons to the 2024 Bengals for three primary reasons: elite QB play, star power at the skill positions, and a bottom of the barrel defense. Friendly reminder that Tee Higgins finished as the WR4 in FP/G last season despite Ja’Marr Chase winning the triple crown across the field from him. There should be plenty to go around for Pickens to be a useful piece in lineups whether Lamb is on the field or not.
