Top 5 Fantasy Football Takeaways: Surprises & Disappointments

The running back position has a new waiver wire hero after a stellar showing in Week 6. Additionally, some early-round wideouts showed signs of life. Of course, everything wasn’t rainbows and butterflies. Two AFC East teams were among the laughingstocks of the week.

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Top 5 Fantasy Football Takeaways

Let’s dive into the biggest takeaways from Week 6.

Fantasy Football Week 6 Surprises

Chargers Found a New Leader in Their Injury-Ravaged Backfield

My finger couldn’t have been further from the pulse about how Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman would divvy up backfield usage in Week 6. Perhaps they planned to go with the hot hand, and Kimani Vidal played so well early on that they stuck with him. Either way, Vidal was fantastic.

Vidal converted 18 of the backfield’s 24 rush attempts (75%) into 124 yards, with a 38-yard run. In addition, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Vidal played 43 snaps and ran 22 routes compared to 20 and 11 for Hassan Haskins and one of each for Nyheim Hines. Vidal converted four targets into three receptions for 14 yards and a touchdown. He also had a sweet blitz pickup that will endear him to Justin Herbert and the coaching staff.

Kimani Vidal pass pro. Good effort getting square to a DE pic.twitter.com/WgPR1I6X3S

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 13, 2025

Vidal won’t always have as favorable a matchup as he had against the Dolphins on Sunday. Nevertheless, Vidal was the clear-cut lead running back, and Omarion Hampton is expected to miss more than the minimum four more weeks on the injured reserve (IR). Vidal is a priority waiver claim in leagues he wasn’t scooped up in last week.

Brian Thomas Jr. is Back

Brian Thomas Jr. paced the Jaguars in targets (10), receptions (eight), receiving yards (90) and had a touchdown against the Seahawks. He even made a challenging catch with a defender rapidly closing down, which is noteworthy given his unwillingness to make tough catches earlier in the season.

BTJ’s day could have been even larger if not for Travis Hunter lining up offside.

INSANE Brian Thomas Jr. CIRCUS TOUCHDOWN….

Called back because Travis Hunter was offsides ???? pic.twitter.com/8dEFVsdhI6

— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) October 12, 2025

Thomas has posted back-to-back useful fantasy games. Ryan Heath of Fantasy Points illustrated the splits from Thomas’ first three games and last three, and the arrow is pointing upward for the second-year wideout.

16. Brian Thomas Jr. in Weeks 1-3:

– 21.2% target share (WR26)
– 38.3 receiving YPG (WR56)
– 8.5 FPG (WR56)

Weeks 4-6:

– 23.5% target share (WR19)
– 73.0 receiving YPG (WR13)
– 15.2 FPG (WR14)

BTJ had another TD called back because Travis Hunter was offsides today!

— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) October 13, 2025

Gamers can keep confidently firing Thomas up as a high-end WR2.

A Veteran Signal-Caller Showed he Knows Where his Bread is Buttered

The Bengals wasted no time inserting Joe Flacco as their starting quarterback after trading for him early last week. In a surprisingly competitive contest, Flacco attempted 45 passes, and the Bengals ran the ball only 16 times. Moreover, Flacco targeted Ja’Marr Chase 12 times, and he directed eight passes to Tee Higgins.

ESPN credited 40 of Flacco’s 45 passes as targets to pass-catchers. Thus, Chase had a 30% target share, and Higgins had a 20% target share. Chase parlayed his elite target share into 10 receptions, 94 receiving yards and one touchdown. Higgins had five receptions for 62 yards.

Flacco understood the assignment, and Chase is a reliable fantasy WR1. Higgins should be treated as a WR3, and he could graduate to a low-end WR2 if Flacco plays better with more time to absorb the playbook and build chemistry with his teammates.

Fantasy Football Week 6 Disappointments

The End Might Be Near for a Coach on the Hot Seat

I’m slightly surprised Mike McDaniel wasn’t fired by the time I penned this article. Miami’s 1-5 start is grounds for the Dolphins to issue McDaniel his pink slip, yet it’s the postgame press conferences for Tua Tagovailoa and McDaniel that should be the nails in his coffin.

Tua Tagovailoa tells reporters that Dolphins players have been late and/or skipping players-only meetings in recent weeks.

Eye-opening example of problems with 1-5 Miami Dolphins. Tua begins answer: “it starts with the leadership.” (H/T @MiamiDolphins). pic.twitter.com/qVbFLVLxAT

— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) October 12, 2025

Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel asked by reporters on Tua comments said: “Player-led meetings are extra things outside of what I demand. We’ve been very
accountable to me. It sounds like there was something on his mind with regard to the specific
meetings with a couple individuals that… https://t.co/xCp7uFZnY9

— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) October 12, 2025

The Dolphins are a rudderless ship. It’s unclear who could serve as an interim head coach if McDaniel is fired. For all of McDaniel’s faults, he’s designed the offense to funnel through his best players, such as De’Von Achane and Jaylen Waddle.

Will the bottom fall out with someone else leading the Dolphins? Could Miami shut down Tagovailoa early to avoid him suffering an injury and undercutting any possibility of trading him in the offseason? I don’t know the answers to those questions.

Achane exploded for 150 scrimmage yards (128 rushing yards on 16 carries and 22 receiving yards on four receptions and six targets) and a touchdown. Waddle had eight targets, six receptions and 95 receiving yards. Obviously, gamers should keep firing them up. Yet, trading them off stellar showings in anticipation of the Dolphins axing McDaniel is a reasonable move.

An Unserious Offense Appears Set to Remain Hapless

The Jets are the NFL’s only winless team after losing 13-11 to the Broncos in London. They had -10 net passing yards. Justin Fields took as many sacks (nine) as he had completions. He’s not an NFL-caliber quarterback. Fields had 45 passing yards and 31 rushing yards.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to divvy up 45 passing yards amongst pass-catchers that leads to sustainable fantasy utility. Garrett Wilson had a team-high eight targets, accounting for a 50% target share. Yet, his 50% target share amounted to three receptions for 13 scoreless yards. Gamers with Wilson on their roster might be saved from themselves. He’s set to have an MRI on his knee, and gamers can’t feel compelled to start him if he’s injured.

I foolishly gassed up Mason Taylor last week. The rookie tight end is talented, but he had just a two-yard reception on his only target in Week 6. Gamers might consider keeping him on their bench, hoping Aaron Glenn will come to his senses and bench Fields. Sadly, gamers shouldn’t hold their breath in anticipation of Fields getting benched soon. Glenn was annoyed by a postgame question about whether he would consider making a change at quarterback.

Glenn will seemingly continue to dig his heels in and start Fields, but fantasy gamers don’t need to. In fact, gamers in anything shallower than a 14-team league or non-Superflex format can dump Fields. The theoretical dual-threat quarterback is a sack-taking machine who can scramble for yardage but can’t pass when he’s absorbing sacks.

Finally, Breece Hall handled 22 of the backfield’s 24 rush attempts on Sunday, and he ran 13 routes versus 10 for Isaiah Davis. Hall can be treated as a volume-driven RB2 or Flex option, but his ceiling is capped by a lack of touchdown equity in Gang Green’s comically inept offense. Hall is also a trade candidate in the final year of his rookie contract.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.