ROOKIE WATCH – WEEK 6
By Steve Uetz
Week 6 was a little bit more normal compared to week 5; no canceled games, no emergency BYEs, no Tuesday games and all the games were played! Another week of some big Rookie breakout performances headlined by Justin Jefferson and D’Andre Swift…more on that below!
Big names that did not play this weekend…Henry Ruggs, Bryan Edwards, Justin Herbert, and Joshua Kelley were all on regularly scheduled BYE; however KJ Hamler, Michael Pittman, and Jalen Reagor were out due to injuries.
Some minor stat lines and tricky situations we saw in week 6…
RB JK Dobbins 9 carries for 28 yards and caught 2 of his 4 targets for 1 yard. Mark Ingram got a little banged up in this game, so if his absence is longer than expected look for Dobbins to get more work.
RB La’Michal Perine returned to action with Le’Veon Bell freshly and fortunately out of the Jets organization but didn’t do much in this incredibly ugly loss. Perine gained 27 yards on 7 carries and caught 2 of his 3 targets for 9 yards…Frank Gore is still his way…also, HC Adam Gase…
RB Cam Akers was “active” but didn’t receive a carry or a target…so that’s not ideal, like at all…
RB Zack Moss returned to action and handled 5 carries gaining 10 yards and no targets…
RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn handled 5 carries and gained 42 yards in Leonard Fournette’s absence…
RB AJ Dillon got some rushing work in the blowout loss handling 5 carries and gaining 31 yards…
WR Devin Duvernay caught all 3 of his targets for 31 yards in what turned out to be a shockingly close game…
WR Tyler Johnson caught his only target for 7 yards and a TD!
Now for some of the major Rookie action from week 6…
QB Joe Burrow: Week 6 was a heart-breaker for the Bengals. At one point they led 21-0, but ended up losing 31-27. Burrow had a decent day but ultimately threw the game sealing INT very late in the 4th quarter. Burrow went 25/39 for 313 with 1 INT and gained 2 yards and 1 TD on the ground! Positive progression here, despite the brutal INT.
RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire: All eyes were on CEH as KC anticipates seeing Le'veon Bell in a Chiefs uniform…Bell was inactive and CEH reminded everyone why he was a 1st round pick. CEH received 30 touches, catching all 4 of his targets for 8 yards and handled 26 carries for 161 yards! He continues to live up to the hype!
RB Jonathon Taylor: Taylor was very productive, once again! In the comeback win effort, Taylor handled 12 carries gaining 60 yards and caught all 4 of his targets for 55 yards! We will take 16 touches totaling over 100 yards in a game where at one point the Colts were down 21-0! A little unlucky in the TD column as TE Trey Burton had a rushing score but he remains an RB1!
RB James Robinson: In Jacksonville’s losing effort, Robinson overall disappointed until a total garbage time receiving TD saved his fantasy day. Up until that point he had gained 29 yards on 12 carries, and caught 3 passes for 10 yards. The Jags were down big to the Lions, but Robinson added a 14 yard TD reception with less than 3 minutes to go in the 4th. Consistent workload keeps him in our lineups!
RB Antonio Gibson: In Washington’s losing effort, Gibson’s still carved out a decent workload totaling 13 touches. He handled 9 carries for 30 yards and caught 4 of 5 targets for 25 yards. Certainly a down week for Gibson, the fear of the quality of touches in a struggling offense were realized in this contest. Consistent workload keeps him in FLEX consideration.
RB D’Andre Swift: Week 6 was D’Andre Swift breakout week! Swift exploded for 116 yards and 2 TDs on 14 carries and caught 3 of 4 targets for 7 yards! Wow! You love to see the young guy do big things like this! What was looking like a messy backfield may now be clearing up as it seems clear that Lions prefer Swift and Peterson over Kerryon Johnson; which I will admit was something I did not see coming pre-season. I figured Swift would be the guy at some point but didn’t see it happening so soon. Swift enters weekly FLEX consideration after a performance like that!
WR Tee Higgins: Higgins led the Bengals in receiving AGAIN in the unfortunate loss (also, again). Higgins caught 6 of his 8 targets for 125 yards, including one catch for 67 yards! It is actually very encouraging to see AJ Green have a solid game here since that will provide good balance for the offense and for the looming defensive attention. The Burrow-Higgins connection is real! We are seeing the fruit of the duo much sooner than I was anticipating, and I am loving it!
WR Justin Jefferson: Justin Jefferson erupted AGAIN catching 9 of his 11 targets for 166 yards and 2 TDs! The rushing attack was abysmal with Dalvin Cook sidelined but the passing attack came through especially in the 2nd half of this game as the Vikings attempted a comeback effort. Jefferson will now be forced to cool down as the Vikings enter their bye week. When they return, Jefferson is looking like a lineup mainstay until shown otherwise.
WR Brandon Aiyuk: Aiyuk caught 2 of 3 targets for 12 yards and 1 TD! He continues to be an integral part of the 49ers offense but in this game the targets were pretty well spread out but Deebo Samuel and George Kittle got most of the work through the air.
WR Jerry Jeudy: In the offensively ugly victory against the Patriots, the Broncos only registered 10 completed passes…in this offensive struggle of a game Jeudy caught 2 of 5 targets for 32 yards. A down week, but better days ahead!
WR CeeDee Lamb: In the first full game with Dak Prescott, Lamb continues shine! He caught 7 of 10 targets for 64 yards! A lot went wrong for the Cowboys in this contest (give Arizona some credit too!) but I would imagine better days are ahead for the Dallas offense.
WR Lavishka Shenault: Shenualt, like most of the Jags, was disappointing in this ugly loss to Detroit. Shenault caught 3 of his 7 targets for only 10 yards and gained 1 yard on one carry. This underwhelming outing is a negative outlier from what he has shown in the previous weeks. Still a FLEX option but with caution.
WR Chase Claypool: Claypool returned to earth but still had a very good day! He led the Steelers in receiving while catching all four of his targets for 74 yards and gained 7 yards and a TD on 2 carries! He is a FLEX option for all leagues!
IDP
Patrick Queen: Queen returned to earth in this contest only totaling 2 tackles and 1 pass deflection. With Kenneth Murray on a BYE week in week 6, he returns as Queen enters his BYE week (week 7). I’m curious to see how Murray responds in this little competition I have created for the two of them.
Krys Barnes: Barnes is a man on a mission! In the return from the bye week; he led the Packers in tackles in this bizarre game with 10 tackles (7 solo and 0.5 tackle for loss). I say the game was bizarre because the Packers went up early with a 10-0 lead but then lost the game 10-38!!
Antoine Winfield: Winfield remained steady with the same amount of tackles as the previous week with 5. The TB defense looks great and I still consider Winfield a start in deep DB formats!
Jeremy Chinn: Another good performance for Chinn as he totaled 5 tackles (4 solo) with 2 pass deflections! Good stuff so far!
Steve Uetz has over 15 years of experience in fantasy football. He enjoys writing fantasy football content and articles. He is very passionate about Auction Leagues. Other than his own fantasy football teams, Steve is a huge fan of the Philadelphia Eagles & Penn State! Steve (@FantasyLadder on Twitter) is very accessible and involved in the Fantasy Football Twitter community! Reach out to him anytime for questions or advice! His primary goal is to help you win your leagues.