Cam Newton's 107 rushing yards on Sunday propelled him to the top of the QB chart in Week 6.

Rising

Cam Newton, CAR
Before Week 6 Newton struggled due to his lack of running. He only had 42 total rushing yards on the season. If Newton isn’t running, he’s not a starting fantasy quarterback. When he is free to run, however, he’s among the fantasy elites. Against the Bengals, he did run and it resulted in 16.7 fantasy points (in standard leagues) from rushing alone. If the Panthers continue to let him go on the ground, it will be impossible to bench him.

Joe Flacco, BAL
Obviously Flacco should be here; he just threw five touchdowns in a game. He won’t get to play the Buccaneers every week, but that doesn’t mean he can’t continue to be a fantasy contributor. Two weeks prior to this huge game, he had a three-touchdown game against the Panthers. Flacco isn’t a weekly starter as he has less than two touchdowns in half of his games, but in a pinch, he’s a great guy to look at if he has a solid matchup.

Derek Carr, OAK
Are things starting to click for Carr? Before the Raiders’ bye, he was a mediocre option at best. After the bye, he comes out and throws four touchdowns against the Chargers, a team that had allowed eight total touchdowns in its first five games. At this point it’s tough to trust Carr in anything outside of two quarterback leagues, but he showed in Week 6 that he’s someone to pay attention to as the season progresses.

Falling

Eli Manning, NYG
Just when you think it’s safe to trust Manning again, we get bad Manning. Entering Sunday night, the Eagles had given up 13 passing touchdowns in five games and at least two in all of them. Manning entered the night with four straight games of at least two passing touchdowns. What does that add up to? One hundred fifty-one yards without touchdowns. Manning will have plenty of solid games down the road, but this served as a reminder that Bad Eli is always waiting to come out when you least expect it.

Ben Roethlisberger, PIT
In back-to-back weeks, Big Ben has only managed one touchdown through the air. In Week 5, that one came against the terrible Jaguars. In Week 6, it came late in the fourth quarter when the game was already well out of hand. Roethlisberger remains a weekly starter in two quarterback leagues because of the volume of passes he’s throwing. For now, though, I’d have a hard time starting Roethlisberger in a standard league.

Teddy Bridgewater, MIN
I guess we can slow our roll on Teddy-mania. After setting the world on fire in his first start against the Falcons, Bridgewater seemed like an exciting guy to watch going forward. In Week 6, the Lions made him look like a lost rookie. He attempted 37 passes, but only came away with 188 yards with three interceptions. At this point, I’d label him a matchup play at best in two quarterback leagues.

Running Back

Rising

LeSean McCoy, PHI
Finally, the McCoy everyone drafted in the top three picks of fantasy drafts! I’m shocked McCoy didn’t score given the way he was running against the Giants on Sunday night. Almost every run seemed like a long touchdown waiting to happen. People were beginning to lose faith (including me, I had him as “falling” last week), but I think his owners can rest easy after his Week 6 performance. He’s still one of the best running backs in the NFL.

Ben Tate, CLE
The Browns are not being shy about pounding Tate into the ground when he’s healthy. In two games since returning from an early-season injury, Tate has 47 carries for just over 200 yards and two scores. The Browns are a running team and Tate is their workhorse. He’s not a big receiving threat, which limits his upside in reception-scoring leagues, but he should be a dependable source of rushing yards and touchdowns moving forward.

Branden Oliver, SD
There is now no question that Oliver is the man in San Diego (as long as Ryan Mathews remains out) after his last two weeks. Two straight 100-yard games and exactly four receptions in three straight games make him an all-around fantasy threat. Until Mathews returns, Oliver should be in fantasy lineups. If he keeps performing, you have to wonder what San Diego will do once Mathews is back, because they can’t just relegate Oliver to a supporting role after what he has shown since getting this opportunity.

Falling

Matt Asiata, MIN
Ever since Adrian Peterson was forced to depart as the Vikings starting running back, the world has been itching for Jerick McKinnon to take the reins. Yet, week after week, Asiata was considered “the man.” That is, until Week 6. Against the Lions, Asiata was moved to the backup role, garnering just three touches (McKinnon had 17). It appears Asiata has quickly gone from someone useful fantasy running back to simply droppable. I wouldn’t blame Asiata owners for waiting one more week just to see if the new McKinnon-Asiata split continues, but I also wouldn’t blame them for moving on immediately.

Eddie Lacy, GB
Against the Vikings in Week 5, Lacy gave us a game the game everyone was waiting for when he was drafted high in the first round. Then, just like that, he takes all the excitement away with his Week 6 showing against Miami. Lacy has now averaged 3.3 yards per carry or less in five of six games in the 2014 season. On top of the disappointing running, James Starks is beginning to get more action. Lacy still probably has to be in starting lineups, but that doesn’t mean you have to like it.

Andre Williams, NYG
After Rashad Jennings went down to an injury, Williams was one of the hottest pickups in fantasy. It made sense, Jennings was doing well in the Giants backfield. Williams was set to get his work. Sometimes, it just isn’t as easy as it seems. Williams remains an interesting play as long as Jennings is out, but by no means is he a must play. He might be more valuable as a trade chip with a struggling Jennings owner than as an actual member of your starting lineup.

Wide Receiver

Rising

T.Y. Hilton, IND
He’s getting mentioned here after a monster game, but he probably deserved consideration for a “rising” mention before his big Thursday night even happened. Hilton was considered a big-play guy entering the season, but that isn’t the reality of his situation. Hilton is sixth in the NFL in targets, tied for fifth in receptions and fourth in yards. He has at least five receptions in all six games this season and nine receptions in back-to-back games. At some point Hilton stopped being a boom-or-bust receiver and started being a PPR machine. Hilton is a near must-start going forward as the top receiver in Andrew Luck’s offense.

Andre Holmes, OAK
When the season started, Holmes was a barely used member of the Raiders offense. In fact, in Week 1 he had zero targets. Through three weeks, Holmes had six receptions on just nine targets. In that Week 3 game though, Rod Streater got injured and Holmes got his opportunity. In two Oakland games since that Streater injury, Holmes has been targeted 20 times to the tune of nine receptions for 195 yards and three touchdowns. He’ll have down weeks as a side effect of being in the Raiders offense, but the talent can’t be ignored.

Mohamed Sanu, CIN
A couple weeks ago, Sanu looked like a solid fantasy contributor with the potential to lose snaps to a returning Marvin Jones. Things have changed. With Jones going on injured reserve and A.J. Green out for who knows how long, Sanu is the No. 1 guy in a pretty good offense. He made it clear in Week 6 that he can handle that role with his 10-reception, 120-yard game. Sanu remains a strong play as long as Green is out and still very usable whenever Green returns.

Falling

Keenan Allen, SD
What is wrong with Allen? He got off to a slow start to the season, but after his 10-catch, 135-yard performance in Week 4, it seemed that he was finally back on track. Well, it turns out that’s not the case. In two games since, Allen has totaled six receptions for 52 yards. On the year, Allen actually leads the Chargers in targets and receptions. You would think he’s having a better season, but he’s just fourth on the team in yardage and has no touchdowns. Being Rivers’ most-targeted receiver makes me want to believe a turnaround is still in the cards. For now I’d probably wait for the turnaround on my bench rather than in my starting lineup.

DeAndre Hopkins, HOU
Hopkins clearly has talent. That showed in the first four weeks as he went for either 100 yards or a touchdown in each of those games. His problem: How involved will he be in the Texans offense from week to week? He took a huge dip in targets last Thursday (just two), but he hasn’t really been a high-targeted player most of the season with only one game where he got more than six. I think Hopkins has it in him to eventually be a locked-in WR1 in fantasy football, but in a Ryan Fitzpatrick-led offense where he’s getting 3.5 less target per game than Andre Johnson, it’s probably not happening this season.

Percy Harvin, SEA
After two games with seven receptions in the first three weeks, Harvin seemed all set to be a reception machine in the Seahawks offense. Or, maybe not. Through five games, Harvin has totaled 22 receptions for 133 yards. These are not good numbers as it is and there’s no reason to believe life will get significantly better for Harvin in a Seattle offense that is as far from pass-heavy as it gets in the NFL. He’s worth a hold for now, but it would make his owners feel a lot better if Harvin finally had a big game as a member of the Seahawks.

Tight End

Rising

Julius Thomas, DEN
It seems kind of ridiculous to list Thomas as a riser, but somehow it’s true. Thomas already had nine touchdowns in five games. He has at least one touchdown in every game and he has at least two touchdowns in three of five games. Entering the season, there were three tight ends in the “elite” tier, but with Jimmy Graham’s current injury issues and Rob Gronkowski being solid but mostly unspectacular, Thomas now sits in a tier all his own.

Jordan Reed, WAS
Reed wasted no time reminding everyone why he was such a popular mid-round selection in fantasy drafts. In his first game back since leaving early in Week 1, Reed gave us exactly what we dreamed for him in the Redskins offense. Reed led Washington in targets (11) and receptions (8) on his way to a 92-yard afternoon. This game makes it clear that his biggest concern going forward is health, because when he’s actually on the field, he’ll be a major part of the offense.

Jace Amaro, NYJ
He didn’t get off to a great start in the Jets offense, but Amaro surely took off in Week 6. With 10 catches on 12 targets, Amaro was easily Geno Smith’s favorite receiver against the Denver Broncos. I’d like to see Amaro follow up this performance with another strong outing in Week 7 before considering him for fantasy lineups.

Falling

Larry Donnell, NYG
What a crash in the last couple weeks. Donnell was beginning to look like a star early on, with 25 catches and four touchdowns in the first four weeks. In the last two, he had one reception on two targets. I’m guessing the rest of the way he’s not an elite tight end like those first four weeks, nor is he a dud like the last two weeks, but somewhere in between: a fringe TE1/matchup play sort of guy.

Heath Miller, PIT
In the first month of the season, Miller was getting a decent number of targets, leading into a huge Week 4 where he went off for 10 receptions and a touchdown. Now it’s looking like that game was just a complete abnormality, as Miller has only caught five passes on seven targets in the past two weeks. Considering Roethlisberger has gone 47-78 over those two games, it’s clear he just isn’t looking Miller’s way that often. Look another direction for your tight end slot.

Niles Paul, WAS
Remember in science class when you learned that every action has an equal and opposite reaction? It applies to the Redskins tight end situation as well. Action: Jordan Reed is back; reaction: Paul is no longer a useful fantasy commodity. Paul had some solid weeks while Reed was out, but now that Reed is back, it seems unlikely that Paul will contribute much in the way of useful stats.

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