Fantasy football stock watch: Niners, Lions may have to rely on backup RBs
Only two NFL teams were off this past week, but the number of bye weeks triples in Week 7, making things exponentially more difficult for fantasy managers who are looking to field a competitive lineup.
And just to add to the degree of difficulty, there were a number of significant injury issues from Sunday's games that may not be resolved until close to kickoff. So in fantasy -- and reality -- it's important to know who the next man up is.
These players saw their fantasy values increase or decrease the most based on their performances in Week 6:
32 THINGS WE LEARNED: Remaining unbeaten teams fall, creating major chaos
Sizzlers
RB Jordan Mason, San Francisco 49ers: After Christian McCaffrey left with oblique and rib injuries, Mason stepped up and found the end zone. McCaffrey has the benefit of an extra day to rest, with the Niners playing Monday night. But if he is out, Mason has a high fantasy ceiling against Minnesota’s shabby defense.
RB Craig Reynolds, Detroit Lions: The Lions also saw their starter, David Montgomery, go down as Reynolds was thrust into action. Though he only rushed for 15 yards, he could be a nice streamer with some short-term value -- assuming Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) doesn’t make a miraculous recovery of his own.
WR Kendrick Bourne, New England Patriots: Bourne took advantage of the absence of Demario Douglas and JuJu Smith-Schuster, racking up 10 receptions for 89 yards. He was targeted 11 times, and showed he can be an effective WR3 or flex fantasy option in leagues of 12 or more teams. Bourne hasn’t scored since tallying two touchdowns in Week 1, but he hasn’t really had any total stinker lines, either.
TE Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers: Except for a few top-tier options, the tight end spot is a wasteland. Musgrave has proved to be a useful target for Jordan Love, catching the quarterback’s eye for seven or more targets in two of the past three games, with a pair of six-catch efforts during the span.
QB Desmond Ridder, Atlanta Falcons: The second-year signal caller has made his share of mistakes recently, including a three-interception game in Week 6. But he also has back-to-back 300-yard games, and he produced his first two-touchdown game of the season on Sunday. Ridder also ran for a score in Week 5, making him a potential bye-week fill-in.
Fizzlers
RB Dalvin Cook, New York Jets: Cook figured to have a slow acclimation process after signing late in the offseason. But Breece Hall seems to be fully recovered from knee surgery and doing RB1 kinds of things, leaving only scraps for Cook.
RB Matt Breida, New York Giants: Breida had a golden opportunity to at least be relevant in fantasy circles when Saquon Barkley was sidelined, but he did next to nothing. Now that Barkley is back, and he made it through the Week 6 game without any setbacks, Breida can be safely dropped.
WR Elijah Moore, Cleveland Browns: Moore seemed primed to resurrect his career in Cleveland. But Amari Cooper is eating up all of the targets, and shaky quarterback play has done the remainder of the receivers no favors. Moore has seven or more targets in four of his five games, but he hasn’t had more than 49 receiving yards, and he hasn’t scored a touchdown yet.
WR Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens: This is probably long overdue, but it’s time to cut “Bate” (pun totally intended). He hasn’t had more than 18 receiving yards since Week 1, and he has been limited to four catches across his past three games, partly due to several drops.
QB Jimmy Garoppolo, Las Vegas Raiders: Jimmy G just cannot seem to stay healthy. He was knocked out of Sunday’s game with a back injury and taken to the hospital for evaluation. The Raiders might keep him sidelined until he can get back to 100 percent.