Five weeks of the NFL season have already blown by as the league prepares for another exciting Week 6 ahead. This is also a crucial time for fantasy managers as teams begin to mark their trajectory for the rest of the season and jockeying for playoff position. The running back may be the most volatile position in fantasy this season with all the depth chart changes and developments we've seen, so securing a solid RB duo will be important in winning any league.
First off, we'll get injury news out of the way – Los Angeles Chargers' rookie Omarion Hampton is heading towards IR with an ankle injury. Tampa Buccaneers' Bucky Irving also sat during Week 5 and is expected to miss the Week 6 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Carolina Panthers' lead ball carrier Chuba Hubbard is also trending towards missing another game in Week 6.
As always, we'll be taking a look a some of the best options at the running back position in Week 6. Aside from must-start players like 49ers' Christian McCaffrey and Falcons' Bijan Robinson, take a closer look at which RBs to start in Week 6 and who you can leave on your fantasy bench.
Fantasy Football Week 6 Running Backs: Start ‘Em
This week's Top-5 RB starts:
- Christian McCaffrey, SF (@TB)
- Jonathan Taylor, IND (ARI)
- Bijan Robinson, ATL (BUF)
- Josh Jacobs, GB (CIN)
- Jahmyr Gibbs, DET (@KC)
Saquon Barkley, PHI (@NYG)
This should seem like an obvious pick as Saquon Barkley is a no-brainer start each week of the season. However, he's ranked as low as RB8 according to ESPN, his lowest ranking in quite some time. He has the 11th-most fantasy points among running backs, failing to score a touchdown in two of his five games this season.
While some regression from his historic season last year was to be expected, Saquon Barkley should be in-line for a big homecoming game against the New York Giants at MetLife. If he's able to power through his ‘questionable' status this week in practice, Barkley has all the potential to lead ball carriers in fantasy scoring for the first time in Week 6.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, WAS (CHI)
Croskey-Merritt was the star of the Commanders' offense in their 27-10 statement win over the Los Angeles Chargers, scoring two touchdowns and breaking his longest run for 27 yards. He totaled 111 rushing yards on just 14 carries against a strong Chargers' defense, so this could serve as his coming out party as a viable starter in fantasy.
Croskey-Merritt is currently rostered in 82% of ESPN fantasy leagues, but he's only being started by 38% of fantasy managers. Going up against a porous Chicago Bears defense that could lend itself to a high-scoring game, expect JCM to have another big impact running the football for the Commanders.
Derrick Henry, BAL (LAR)
Breaking through as the best running back in fantasy football through the first two weeks of the season, Derrick Henry has taken a massive step backwards following his three fumbles to open the season. While he hasn't fumbled the ball since, Henry has only tallied 75 total yards on 23 touches in his last two games. While the offense may be in disarray without quarterback Lamar Jackson under center, this should translate to added usage behind the run game of Henry.
Following the Ravens' eye-opening 44-10 loss to the Houston Texans, expect Derrick Henry to get much more involved in running the ball against the Rams. He's their most explosive athlete without Lamar Jackson and they should be feeding him the ball early and often this week.
Fantasy Football Week 6 Running Backs: Sit ‘Em
RJ Harvey, DEN (@NYJ)
RJ Harvey falls right outside of FLEX territory according to ESPN's Week 6 NFL RB rankings. Starting back JK Dobbins is ranked as high as No. 14 as there's been a clear workload split in this backfield through the first five weeks of the season. Many thought Harvey would emerge as the dual-threat catching back, which he's done to some extent, but it's widely been Dobbins controlling the bulk share of this running attack. Until we see tangible changes in the usage, RJ Harvey doesn't look to be a viable fantasy starter right now.
Kenneth Gainwell, PIT (CLE)
With starting RB Jaylen Warren eyeing a return in Week 6, Gainwell's role will likely take a significant hit once Warren is back to full health. He's been great for fantasy managers, especially those holding onto Warren, in the meantime, but I don't see this continued volume to become a trend. This week, they take on the NFL's best rushing defense in Cleveland in a game that has the fewest projected point total at 38.5 – look elsewhere for production this week.
