I’m going to do something a little different with the tiers this week and go team by team. It might take me a bit longer, but I think this format will allow me to hit on more players and give you a better sense of how I’m viewing each offense as a whole. Five weeks in feels like a good time to do this because we have enough data, injuries, role changes, and team-level trends to start seeing how each ecosystem is taking shape.
This is also much closer to how my actual process works. I’m not sitting here with a list of the top 60 RBs and manually fiddling with names, moving guys up and down in a vacuum. My process is team by team, matchup by matchup. I’m diving into each game, projecting every player/team/stat that is connected to that offense, and making sure those numbers fit together. Those projections fuel our prop tools, DFS models, and ultimately my rankings.
That’s also why I keep reminding people that we can game plan and prepare early in the week. But we shouldn’t be locking in sit/start decisions until closer to game time, when we have inactives, injury news, beat reports, weather, and all the other late-week information. The goal is to make decisions with as much information as possible.
Unfortunately, that window is the same for everyone, which makes it impossible for me to personally respond to every sit/start question. The best way I can answer those is through my updated rankings, which are constantly changing as more information comes in.
This initial tiers piece is really my best chance to convey high-level thoughts on teams, players, and situations after my first projection pass of the week. After that, I get engulfed in pods, shows, game guides, and then my Friday/Saturday deep-dive process. During that process, I go through each game with a fine-tooth comb, update projections based on news, and compare them to the prop markets to invest where I see value.
Even if props/betting aren’t your thing, which is totally fine, just know that they have been a huge part of my process for 20+ years. It forces me to make sure my projections are as accurate as possible because I’m liable to lose a ton of money if they aren’t.
That’s a huge part of why I’ve been able to be so accurate and win the weekly rankings contest a record 4 times. This has always been, and always will be, a critical part of my process.
My passion is projecting each player, game, and stat as accurately as possible. That drives my prop betting, DFS, season-long fantasy, and sit/start decision-making. The process itself is who I am.
So, without further ado, let’s go team by team with some high-level thoughts and the initial tiers.
And one final reminder: this is simply a snapshot of my initial ranks. You should always refer to my updated ranks when making actual lineup decisions, as those will change as we get more news/info and as I have more time to dive into each game.
Week 6 Fantasy Football Rankings, Expert Tiers, and Thoughts
Editor’s note: Our weekly fantasy football rankings, tiers, and expert projections are part of our 2026 fantasy football kit. Click here to get access!
Arizona Cardinals
We’ve entered the part of the season where the Cardinals are going to be trailing a ton and letting Jacoby Brissett sling it 50+ times a game. You have to wonder if they consider starting Carson Beck sooner rather than later.
The big news was Arizona trading away recent 1st-round pick Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Texans. I think people may have overestimated the boost Michael Wilson/Trey McBride would get because MHJ wasn’t really drawing targets or producing that much to begin with. Jalen Brooks took over most of his role, Kendrick Bourne’s role should expand, and the Cardinals also used more heavy TE personnel. For fantasy, Wilson and McBride are still the only pass catchers we can really trust.
Jeremiyah Love’s disappointing rookie season continues, and it may still be due to the ongoing ankle injury. But Tyler Allgeier is operating as the passing-down back, which is lowering Love’s upside on a bad Cardinals team that gets into pass-heavy trailing game scripts on a weekly basis.
Love is going to be more of a low-end RB2 unless/until he gets more passing-down work. There will also come a point where the Cardinals are out of playoff contention and have no reason to risk Love suffering an injury that could impact his 2027 outlook. That could prevent him from ever operating as a true workhorse later in the season, even if he eventually gets back to 100%.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons offense takes a huge drop-off from Michael Penix to any of their backups, so hopefully the rib injury isn’t serious. In theory, though, Bijan Robinson and Drake London are just starts either way. London’s value specifically hinges on Penix’s health. Kyle Pitts seems like more of a mid-range TE2 option even with Penix at this point.
Brian Robinson is sort of Blake Corum South at this point. He’s going to offer RB3/Flex value in games the Falcons are expected to play with a lead and could offer RB1 value if Bijan ever misses time. Similar to Kyren, Bijan has been an iron man and has yet to miss a game in his career, though.
Zachariah Branch’s role should continue to grow. The rookie gives me shades of Zay Flowers in terms of playing style. I don’t think he has WR1 potential or anything, but I think he could have sneaky upside at times even in a limited role.
Branch likely would need a London injury to potentially offer fantasy value in season-long formats, but DFS/prop betting are ways to invest in his upside in his very limited role at the moment.
Baltimore Ravens
We’ve already reached the point in the season where we might have a mix of Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley games going forward, as Lamar is currently dealing with an ankle injury. Lamar could be back this week, but it’s worth remembering that he’s turning 30 later this season. I’m afraid he could be more injury-prone than we’d hope as he enters the later stage of his career.
Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers are both must-starts no matter who is under center, but both still get a boost from Lamar.
Mark Andrews is going to be on the TE1/2 border most weeks, so he certainly depends on Lamar staying healthy. I think it’s only a matter of time before Matthew Hibner starts eating into his role just enough to make Andrews more of a TE2 going forward. He’ll still occasionally have a 2-TD game the week we seem to write him off, just to troll us.
Buffalo Bills
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