We are now fully in the thick of it folks. By Week Six, every player is essentially playing banged up to some degree and we also have bye weeks on top of that. This is where fantasy leagues are won. And the trade deadlines for both the NFL and for fantasy are fast approaching so we need to take advantage of that while we can. Here are some takeaways from Week Six of NFL football while it is still fresh in our mind that we might be able to take advantage of on the waiver wire.

 

Week 6 Hot Takes

Is Taysom Hill Actually A Tight End Now?

Up until now, Taysom Hill has been a gimmick player. A “tight end in name only” that you were starting a tight end hoping that he would score a wildcat touchdown. But, with Juwan Johnson out, Hill has actually been playing more traditional tight end. This week he lined up at quarterback four times but also lined up at tight end, slot, and wideout a combined 45 times. In doing so, he actually caught seven of eight targets, though he only gained 49 yards. 

Typically we ignore Hill due to his boom/bust nature but, if he’s actually going to play tight end AND get a couple of carries, now he might have a floor that we can stomach for fantasy football. This all hinges on Juwan Johnson continuing to miss games with the calf injury, of course.

Mobile QBs Continue To Get Hurt

There has been a rule of thumb in fantasy football to not carry players at certain positions. Namely, quarterback, tight end, defense, and kicker. But here’s the thing - quarterbacks continue to get hurt. Anthony Richardson is already reportedly done for the season. Yesterday Justin Fields, Josh Allen, Ryan Tannehill, Jimmy Garoppolo, Trevor Lawrence, and Baker Mayfield all got hurt to some degree. Last year Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, Russell Wilson, Kenny Picket, Trey Lance, etc. all missed time with injury. 

It’s not a small sample size - Lamar Jackson has yet to play a full season, neither has Justin Fields, and Kyler Murray has gotten hurt three years in a row now. Perhaps it’s time we start treating rushing QBs the way we do running backs because, in a lot of leagues, it’s not that easy to go out and find a starting QB off waivers. In Superflex, it’s virtually impossible. 

Jonathan Taylor Is Back

Well, maybe not to the Jonathan Taylor who was the RB1 overall in fantasy football. But, after a dominant performance by Zack Moss last week that saw Taylor barely player, JT came out this week and got eight carries to Moss’s seven. They just paid Taylor a boatload of money so we can’t imagine this trend regreses back to Moss out touching Taylor. 

Now, Moss is still going to play of course but every backfield is split to some degree. Jonathan Taylor running behind Quentin Nelson is a guy that you simply have to find a way to get into lineups.

Michael Mayer Takes Over Starting Job

We’ve written extensively on rookie tight ends, including this article discussing the barriers to entry they face and where/when they can be fantasy-relevant. The problem is often two-fold as they first need to battle the incumbent pass catching tight end on the team and then they need to battle the wide receivers to be a top two target on the team. Well, rookie tight end Michael Mayer has seemingly surpassed the first hurdle. Last week for the first time he played more snaps than Austin Hooper and this week the change was dramatic as Mayer played 81% of the snaps while Hooper played 34%.

Now, Mayer still only ran 22 of 33 routes and he has stiff competition for targets with Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers but many young tight ends take years to even get to an 80% snap share (if they ever do) so this is great news for Mayer’s dynasty value. And there are still 11 games left where a lot can change so perhaps there is hope for this season as well. He did get six targets this week which was second on the team.

Add Josh Downs In Your Fantasy Leagues

We had already been banging the drum for Josh Downs with Gardner Minshew at quarterback as, in the one game he started, Downs had 12 targets. Well, despite the low yardage total, Down saw eight targets this week and also found the endzone. Meanwhile, fellow WR Alec Pierce suffered a shoulder injury that we’re awaiting news on. Regardless of whether Pierce misses time or not, Downs looks like the real deal and should be heavily involved, even if it’s mainly out of the slot. Make sure he’s not sitting on the wire.