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Top 10 Fantasy Football Takeaways from Week 6 Usage

1. Workhorse Breece Hall Is Back

Hall looks like the biggest winner of the Jets' coaching-staff shakeup. Week 6 brought season highs in:

• Snap rate
• Route rate
• Carries (18)
• Rushing yards (118)

The matchup vs. a soft Bills run defense certainly helped. And Hall must now contend with the arrival of Aaron Rodgers' BFF, Davante Adams.

But if this level of playing time continues, Hall will be a top-5 fantasy RB the rest of the way. As a bonus, the Jets have the third-easiest remaining RB schedule, including four straight positive matchups from Weeks 14 through 17.

Braelon Allen, meanwhile, has seen his snap rate decline in two straight games. His 14% carry share against Buffalo was his lowest since Week 1. The rookie is back to handcuff-only status for now.

2. Ken Walker Is A Three-Down Monster

Walker is not only dominating Seahawks carries, he's also playing a huge receiving role in this pass-heavy offense. Three of Walker's seven biggest single-game target tallies of his career have come this season. His 6.0 targets per game are tied for first among all RBs.

Alvin Kamara and Kyren Williams are the only RBs averaging more expected PPR points per game than Walker. He ranks fifth among RBs in expected half-PPR points per game.

Perhaps his underwhelming rushing totals the last two weeks have the door cracked open to acquire Walker in a trade. If you already have him, hold on tight to this top-8 fantasy RB.

3. Chase Brown’s Ascent Continues

Brown has now out-carried Zack Moss in three straight games. He's averaging 4.8 yards per carry to Moss' 2.9 over that span.

For the season, Brown is beating Moss in:

• Yards per carry
• Rush yards over expected per attempt
• Yards after contact per attempt
• Missed tackles forced per attempt
• Pro Football Focus rushing grade

There's no reason for Cincinnati to go away from Brown as the lead ball-carrier.

Just as exciting is Brown's growing role in the passing game. He ran more routes than Moss for the first time this season and registered a season-high route rate in Week 6.

If Brown continues to lead Moss in rushing and receiving work, he'll be a weekly RB2 with RB1 upside.

4. Evan Engram Hogs Targets In Return

Engram returned from his multi-game hamstring injury and dominated targets. His 10 looks were two more than any other Jaguar and tied Brock Bowers for most among TEs on the week.

Engram registered a 19% target share in his only other game of the season, giving him a 25% share on the year.

It'd be nice to see his route rate climb back toward the 87% mark he finished at last year. But if Engram continues earning targets at this rate, he's an easy top-8 TE going forward.

5. Is James Conner Losing Work?

Conner's snap rate, route rate, and carry share were all easily season lows. What happened?

A couple important pieces of context:

1. Conner missed some time with what appeared to be an ankle injury.
2. The Cardinals fell behind by 14 early in the second quarter and never got to within one score of the Packers.

Both things likely impacted Conner's playing time and usage in this one.

Of course, durability has always been his biggest problem. The ankle issue is worth monitoring this week.

The passing-game usage has been underwhelming all season -- and was one of the main reasons we recommended selling Conner a couple of weeks ago. That problem isn't going away.

Assuming health, I expect Conner to remain Arizona's clear lead ball-carrier ahead of Benson. Conner is still beating the rookie in yards per carry, yards after contact per attempt, and Pro Football Focus receiving grade.

But the durability and passing-game concerns add risk to his fantasy profile. Conner is still worth shopping in hopes of getting high-end RB2 value in return. (He currently ranks 15th among RBs in PPR points.)

6. Tank Dell Busts Out Of His Slump

Turns out removing an alpha receiver from a passing game means more opportunity for everyone else!

Dell set season highs without Nico Collins in Week 6 in snap rate, route rate, target share, and targets per route. His nine targets and 18.7 PPR points were also season highs.

Dell looks like a weekly WR2 with upside with Collins out for at least another three games. He'll likely go back to volatile WR3 status when Collins returns, making Dell a potential sell-high before then.

7. Jaguars Won’t Give Tank Bigsby Passing-Game Work

Etienne went down with a hamstring injury early in the second quarter of Sunday morning's game vs. the Bears. Johnson led the way the rest of the game in snaps, routes, carries (5 to 4), and targets (2 to 0).

The Jaguars clearly don't trust Bigsby in passing situations.

That leaves him as a gamescript-dependent fantasy play, even with Etienne out. That’s a scary profile on a 1-5 Jacksonville team. 

The good news: The Jaguars are 5.5-point favorites vs. the Patriots this weekend. It’s as good a spot as Bigsby could ask for in his first NFL start.

I'd hold Bigsby this week -- and then look to sell if he has a nice outing against New England.

8. Josh Jacobs Distancing From Emanuel Wilson

I wrote after Week 4 about Jacobs' Emanuel Wilson problem. In the two games since, Jacobs has worked well ahead of his backfield mate. His playing time and carry share have climbed significantly from Weeks 3-4.

Jacobs hasn't posted huge fantasy numbers these last two games. And it'd be nice to see him get more work in the passing game. But he ranks 16th among RBs in expected PPR points per game over the past two weeks.

If he maintains this role in the high-scoring Packers offense, Jacobs should produce as at least a high-end RB2 with a shot at RB1 numbers.

9. Ladd McConkey’s Hidden Upside

McConkey ranks 21st among WRs in target share and 15th in targets per route.

It hasn't translated to big fantasy production because the Chargers rank 31st in pass rate and dead last in pass attempts per game.

But the high-end target-earning ability should lead to some strong games from McConkey when the Chargers are forced to throw more. It's worth noting that they posted a season-high +2% pass rate over expectation in Week 6. Perhaps L.A. will start throwing more now that QB Justin Herbert's ankle injury is behind him.

Thinking longer term, McConkey's strong target-earning profile bodes well for his dynasty value (even if he's stuck in this Harbaugh/Roman offense for the foreseeable future).

10. Austin Ekeler’s Sneaky Strong Week 6 Usage

Ekeler predictably didn't do much on the ground against a stout Ravens run defense. But that masked the fact that he dominated backfield snaps and touches with RB Brian Robinson out.

Only six RBs registered a higher snap rate than Ekeler in Week 6, and only five had a higher route rate.

Ekeler likely goes back to a change-of-pace, pass-catching role when Robinson returns. But, if Robinson misses more time, Ekeler will upgrade to RB2 status.

Jared Smola, Lead Analyst

Jared has been with Draft Sharks since 2007. He’s now Lead Analyst, heading up the preseason and weekly projections that fuel your Draft War Room and My Team tools. He currently ranks 1st among 133 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.