Week 6 was just as unpredictable as the rest of the season has been between injuries and surprising showings. This was the week of returning players and those putting up big showings in place of those who are or were injured. With this being a theme of the season so far, don’t be surprised to see a ton of different players leading teams in red zone work throughout the year.

Red Zone Passing

Daniel Jones, NYG - Jones returned from his concussion in Week 6, though without a lot of his weapons with him and against the tough Rams defense. He posted six red zone attempts but none of them resulted in a score which wasn’t surprising given the lack of weapons he had to pass the ball to. As they get healthier, Jones should return to being a solid fantasy quarterback option most week’s as they’ll have to continue to pass the ball to stay in games.

Tua Tagovailoa, MIA - Back to the field he came to try and salvage the Dolphins season, or at least his trade value, and while it didn’t go well overall for Miami, at least inside the 20 it was a solid day. He posted five pass attempts inside the 20 and two of those were for scores plus a carry inside the 15. This was the first game he played since Week 1 so it’s a little unfair to list this as his best game of the year but it certainly boosted the trade value that Miami is hoping to take advantage of prior to the trade deadline.

Josh Allen, BUF - Allen posted the highest total of the week with 11 pass attempts inside the 20 and that’s also the most he’s had in a single game this year. Four of them came inside the 10 with one going for a score. He also posted three red zone runs but didn’t score a touchdown off of any of them. It was a tougher week for the Bills offense to be sure but Allen still touched the ball 14 times inside the 20 which is a good sign for his consistency in fantasy.

Red Zone Rushing

Leonard Fournette, TB - We’ve all seen Fournette getting the volume as the lead back in the Tampa backfield, but in Week 6 he took that to another level. He had eight carries inside the 20 and six inside the 10 last Thursday and two of those carries resulted in touchdowns. To give you an idea of the volume, his carries were more than the total passing attempts that Tom Brady had inside the 20. Is there any doubt who the lead back in Tampa is going forward and just how expendable Ronald Jones is at this point?

Alex Collins, SEA - Chris Carson not playing was certainly a boon for Collins who turned his lead back role last week into six carries inside the 20 and one of those for a score. He also had a red zone target in the passing game as well. While we can’t count on the production from Collins since it takes an injury to make him the lead back, it is good to see that he was basically a plug-and-play option for the Seahawks running game. When Carson is out again Collins is a fantasy relevant back to be sure.

Darrell Henderson, LAR - Henderson has finally taken over the reins in the Rams’ backfield after still being unsure with splitting carries with Sony Michel. That lead job also manifested in the red zone too with Henderson getting five carries inside the 20 with one being a score. That was the most he’d seen in a game all year and more than the last two games combined. Expect the Rams to be killing time with the run game this week facing the Lions and so Henderson should get a lot of work inside the 20 once more.

Red Zone Receiving

Stefon Diggs, MIN - Of the 11 red zone passing attempts that Allen had, four of them went to Diggs, his most in a single week all season. It’s also more than he’s had in the last two weeks combined. Diggs caught three of those targets including one for a score as the Bills came up just short against the Titans on Monday. There’s not really a question about if Diggs is the top target, but it’s just a matter of how many looks he’ll see in the red zone going forward as Dawson Knox is battling a broken hand.

Cedrick Wilson, DAL - Wilson has been on the periphery for Dallas much of the season, but he finally had a breakout game, at least from a red zone volume standpoint in Week 6. Even with CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper on the field, it was Wilson that led the team in red zone targets with three balls coming his way. It was only the second game of the season in which he got looks inside the 20 and while he did catch one of them, it wasn’t for a score. The Dallas game plan will change each week depending on how their opponent is trying to stop them defensively but in a match-up where the top two threats can be locked down, Wilson is in a flier spot going forward.

Chase Claypool, PIT - Gee, what do you know, JuJu Smith-Schuster goes down and Claypool starts seeing the red zone work again. The last two weeks he’s had four looks with three of those coming in Week 6 alone. Two of the three from Week 6 were inside the 10 but he only caught one of the three targets and didn’t capitalize with a score. He is the big play, highlight receiving option for the Steelers’ passing game but now he’s also seeing volume near the endzone and that should mean good things for his fantasy value and upside going forward.

Tyler Higbee, LAR - Higbee has had at least one target in every game this year but one. Last week he led the Rams’ receiving options in targets with three balls coming his way, catching two of them. While it was nice volume, he still didn’t punch one in for a score as all three red zone touchdowns for Stafford went to Cooper Kupp (2) and Robert Woods (1) but that volume did equal the amount of looks he saw in the last two weeks combined. With all the key teams on bye this week and injuries, Higbee is in a good spot against a bad Lions defense.

Red Zone Defense

Chicago Bears - Most of the talk with the Bears has been circling around the quarterbacks and how bad the offense has been most of the year. That means it’s been easy to overlook their defense and how good that’s been this year, especially in the red zone. While they’ve been middle of the pack in terms of trips allowed to this point with 20 total given up, they’ve only allowed nine of those trips to be touchdowns which gives them a sparkling 45-percent red zone defense percentage. We’ve known for a few years now that the Bears have a good defense but it’s been overshadowed by the poor offense, for fantasy purposes just keep in mind that the Bears aren’t really allowing teams to score unless their complete long plays.

Pittsburgh Steelers - A lot has been going on in Pittsburgh this year from Ben Roethlisberger’s bum shoulder to JuJu Smith-Schuster missing the rest of the year and even T.J. Watt missing time. What’s not getting enough attention though, is how good their defense has been at stopping opponents inside their 20. They’re only allowing 47.4-percent of opponent trips to the red zone to be turned into scores which works out to nine scores in 19 trips through six weeks. The Steelers’ defense has typically been the building block they work around and with some of the top-tier talent on that unit, they should remain one of the top red zone defenses the rest of the year. 

New England Patriots - By now we should know that defense is a hallmark for the Patriots, that being said though, there is noticeable improvement in this year’s defense compared to last year’s. Last year by season’s end, the Patriots were allowing over 65-percent of red zone trips to score by their opponent but so far this year, that number is markedly lower. New England is allowing just 47.4-percent of trips inside their 20 to be converted to touchdowns which works out to nine TDs allowed in 19 trips total or just over three trips a game. While the offense has had trouble scoring, their ability to keep teams out of the endzone on defense will certainly keep them in games.