Week 6 QB Rankings: Matthew Stafford Upgrades To QB1 Status
Matthew Freedman breaks down his favorite QBs from his Week 6 quarterback rankings.
It's Week 6.
We officially have a middle-aged NFL regular season.
If it were a man, it would have stubble on its face, bags under its eyes, whiskey on its breath and a solo Mark Lanegan record playing on repeat in its head.
Or maybe that's just me.
Either way, let's get into the Week 6 QB edition of Freedman's Favorites, where I highlight guys I'm upgrading because of:
- Favorable betting factors and situational spots
- Advantageous defensive matchups (perhaps aided by injury)
- Increased usage expectations (again, maybe aided by injury)
For process notes regarding this series, my Week 6 fantasy football rankings and my weekly projections, see the end of this piece. Also, check out the rest of my favorite Week 6 fantasy football plays.
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Week 6 Quarterback Rankings
Matthew Stafford Faces Injured Ravens in Week 6
Until further notice, you should plan on seeing the QBs who face the Ravens and Cowboys featured in this piece.
Let's start the guy going against the Ravens—Matthew Stafford.
He was never much of a runner to begin with, but at the age of 37, Stafford now offers literally nothing on the ground.
I mean, less than nothing. This year, he has 11 rushes for -4 yards. The last time he scored a rushing TD was 2022.
He's purely a dropback passer at this stage of his career.
But here's the good thing: He's a PURE dropback passer—and he's No. 1 with 1,503 yards passing this year.
He has been in especially fine form over the past two games (per our Fantasy Life Scoring Matrix).
- Week 4 (vs. Colts): 375 yards, 3 TDs | 27.4 fantasy points
- Week 5 (vs. 49ers): 389 yards, 3 TDs | 25.6 fantasy points
And now—with three extra days of rest coming off Thursday Night Football—he gets to face the Ravens.
First of all, they're bad. The Ravens are No. 2 in largest fantasy boost allowed to QBs (+6.5)
Secondly—one might say "secondarily"—they're significantly injured, especially in the … wait for it … secondary.
In the front seven, they'll probably be without three starters: DTs Nnamdi Madubuike (neck, IR) and Broderick Washington (ankle, IR) and LB Roquan Smith (hamstring). And then in the secondary last week they were without CBs Marlon Humphrey (calf) and CB Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring) and SS Kyle Hamilton (groin).
And on offense, the Ravens could once again be without QB Lamar Jackson (hamstring), which means they could struggle on offense, thereby gifting extra drives to the Rams.
Stafford could be in line for his third straight 300-yard, three-TD performance.
Bryce Young Gets to Ride the Village Bicycle in Week 6
I've mentioned Bryce Young twice in this piece this year.
- Week 1 (at Jaguars): 10.2 fantasy points
- Week 5 (vs. Dolphins): 13.0 fantasy points
An intelligent man would stop mentioning Young.
But I'm something of a Costanzan, so maybe the third time we'll get it right.
What's different this time?
Young gets to ride the proverbial village bicycle that is the Cowboys defense.
Whomever they've faced, the Cowboys this year have made bad QBs look good, good QBs look great, and great QBs look elite.
- Jalen Hurts (Week 1): 24.3 points | 152 yards passing | 14-62-2 rushing
- Russell Wilson (Week 2): 31.3 points | 450 yards, 3 TDs passing | 3-23-0 rushing
- Caleb Williams (Week 3): 29.1 points | 298 yards, 4 TDs passing | 5-12-0 rushing
- Jordan Love (Week 4): 26.3 points | 337 yards, 3 TDs passing | 3-28-0 rushing
- Justin Fields (Week 5): 25.9 points | 282 yards, 2 TDs passing | 7-26-0 rushing
In total, they're No. 1 in most fantasy points allowed to QBs (26.9).
The Panthers are playing their second game in a row (and third in four weeks) in Charlotte, and over the past year they've had the league's No. 3 home-field advantage at Bank of America Stadium (+10.5, per NFElo).
The Panthers are consensus 3.5-point underdogs, but I have them as a five-star bet in our Fantasy Life NFL Game Model.
Young is almost certainly not a good NFL QB … but against the Cowboys, he might look like one.
I might even be willing to use him this week in Guillotine Leagues™.
The Dropback
Jayden Daniels (Commanders) vs. Bears: Daniels missed Weeks 3-4 with a knee injury, but he looked like himself in Week 5 with a 16% scramble rate, and for the season he's No. 1 among starters at 12% (per our Fantasy Life Utilization Report). The Bears are without No. 1 CB Jaylon Johnson (groin, IR) and are No. 29 in defensive dropback SR (53.5%, per RBs Don't Matter).
Drake Maye (Patriots) at Saints: Maye has an eye-catching 8.6 AY/A and 27-100-2 rushing for the year. He looks like a legitimately good QB. The Saints might be without three starters in their secondary—CB Isaac Yiadom (hamstring), SS Justin Reid (concussion) and FS Julian Blackmon (shoulder, IR)—and they're No. 29 in defensive pass DVOA (37.7%, per FTN).
Sam Darnold (Seahawks) at Jaguars: Since his disappointing Week 1 (150 yards passing), Darnold has played at a near-MVP level (1,096 yards passing, 10.3 AY/A in four games). In my opinion, the Jags have an overrated bend-but-don't-break pass defense—No. 3 in dropback EPA (-0.053), No. 21 in dropback SR (49.8%)—and eventually things that bend tend to break.
Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars) vs. Seahawks: This season hasn't been great for Lawrence (60.4% completion rate, 5.7 AY/A), but he is coming off his best game of the season against the Chiefs (72.0% completion rate, 7.8 AY/A, 10-54-2 rushing). The Jags are in their second straight home game, the Seahawks are traveling east for an early 1 pm ET game, and they might be without EDGEs DeMarcus Lawrence (quad) and Derick Hall (oblique), CBs Devon Witherspoon (knee) and Tariq Woolen (concussion) and FS Julian Love (hamstring).
QB Rankings Notes
Byes: This week, the Vikings and Texans are on bye.
Injuries: Since I write Freedman's Favorites on Tuesday, I have incomplete injury information. After I submit this article, any updated thoughts I have regarding injuries will manifest in my rankings and projections. For our quick fantasy thoughts every day, subscribe to the Fantasy Life newsletter.
Schedule: This season, I have the following rankings and projections schedule.
- Tue AM: Publish rankings and projections
- Thu AM: Refresh rankings and projections
- Thu PM: Make necessary TNF rankings changes
- Sat PM: Update rankings and projections
- Sun AM: Revise rankings
- Sun PM: Finalize rankings based on news prior to 1 pm ET kickoff
Accuracy: I'm a six-time top-20 ranker in accuracy and a long-time profitable player prop better.
Scoring: All fantasy points are half-PPR scoring unless otherwise stated.
Cohesion: My positional breakdowns are published separately, but I think of them as comprising one whole, so check out the rest of my favorite Week 5 fantasy football plays (via my Fantasy Life author page).
Abbreviations: Here are some abbreviations I might have used in the piece.
- Fantasy Points per Game (FPPG)
- Against the Spread (ATS)
- Over/Under (O/U)
- Team Total (TT)
- Moneyline (ML)
- Return on Investment (ROI)
- Adjusted Yards per Attempt (AY/A)
- Expected Points Added (EPA)
- Success Rate (SR)
- Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE)
- Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA)
- AirYAC (Air Yards + Yards After Catch)
- Weighted Opportunity Rating (WOPR)
- Average Depth of Target (aDOT)
- Short Down and Distance (SDD)
- Long Down and Distance (LDD)
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