Six weeks in, I’m not panicking just because a quarterback changes. I’m panicking when the offense gives us no reason to trust the players we keep putting in our lineups. Below we’ll go over players and situations I’m not worried about or have major concerns with going into Week 7.
Malik Nabers and Isaiah Likely: No Panic
If the Giants hand this offense to J.J. McCarthy, I have no panic about Malik Nabers or Isaiah Likely. None.
McCarthy threw for 243 yards in one quarter. Justin Herbert hasn’t reached that number in a full game this season. Yes, the Giants were chasing the game, but McCarthy understood the assignment: Get the ball to Nabers. Get the ball to Likely. Full stop.
There isn’t another receiver, tight end or pass-catcher out of this backfield who has given me a reason to worry about those two losing their place in the offense. The passing game is extremely consolidated, and that is exactly what I want for fantasy.
Nabers has 61 targets through six games, good for a 29.6% target share. Likely has 60 targets and a 28.6% share. Together, they account for 58.2% of New York’s targets. In Week 6, that combined share climbed to 60.5% as Nabers caught 12 passes for 165 yards and Likely added six catches for 99 yards and a touchdown.
Those are full-game numbers, not McCarthy-only production. The point is that the offense already knows where the ball needs to go.
Likely’s recent three-game stretch has produced the third-highest tight end usage score in my model dating back to 2021. That is not a player I’m moving away from because someone else might be throwing him the football.
And with Nabers, I don’t think we’ve seen the healthiest version of him yet. If he gets there down the stretch, this could become even scarier. McCarthy has plenty to prove, but feeding these two is a good place to start.
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Denver Broncos: Total Panic
You do not have to start Jaylen Waddle because of where you drafted him. You don’t. At some point, we have to stop letting the draft board set our weekly lineup.
Waddle has 228 receiving yards this season. Of those, 138 came against Jacksonville in Week 2. That leaves 90 yards across his other five games. Eighteen yards per game. That is brutal.
Over Weeks 4-6, he caught 11 passes for 78 yards. His longest reception during that stretch went for 13 yards. We drafted an explosive receiver and are getting almost none of the explosive plays.
This isn’t entirely a Waddle problem. Bo Nix is averaging 5.6 yards per attempt and just threw for 107 yards on 27 attempts against Seattle. The passing game feels broken. Waddle drew seven targets in Week 6 and turned them into four catches for 24 yards. Another respectable target count is not enough to make me feel better.
Courtland Sutton? I can’t play him right now, either. He has 13 catches for 123 yards through six games and hasn’t caught more than three passes in any of them. There is some involvement near the goal line, but I’m not building a starting decision around hoping this offense finally produces a touchdown for him.
J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey are the only pieces I feel remotely comfortable considering, and for completely different reasons. With Dobbins, you’re hoping the carries lead to a touchdown because the receiving work isn’t there. With Harvey, you’re leaning on the catches because the rushing workload remains limited.
Harvey has 23 receptions in five games compared with Dobbins’ eight in six. That gives Harvey a more appealing path in PPR, not a guaranteed weekly floor.
This offense is frustrating to watch and even more frustrating to manage in fantasy. Until the passing game shows something different, Nix, Waddle and Sutton belong on the bench.
Mike Evans: Some Panic
Mike Evans getting hurt sucks. There’s no way around it. But at this point in his career, I’m already accounting for the possibility of a few missed games when I draft him. As good as he’s been this season, that concern never completely went away.
My reaction is more, “Damn, it had to happen now?” than panic about what he’ll give us when he’s back. As long as this isn’t a season-ending injury, I’m holding Evans and figuring out how to get through the missed time. We still need clarity on the injury, so I’m not putting a return date on him.
San Francisco’s offense without him? That’s a different conversation.
Evans owns 23.5% of the 49ers’ targets and 42.5% of their air yards through Week 6. He’s averaging 3.41 yards per route run. You don’t replace that by putting another receiver on the field and hoping the targets turn into the same production.
This is one of the best teams in football at 6-0, with Super Bowl aspirations. How long can the 49ers afford to work around such a glaring hole at receiver? George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey can do plenty, but asking them to carry even more of the passing game doesn’t replace what Evans gives this offense downfield.
That leaves me worried about Brock Purdy’s ceiling, too. I’m less comfortable counting on explosive passing production if Evans misses multiple games, and I’m not automatically starting a replacement receiver just because opportunities open up.
I’ll trust Kyle Shanahan enough to keep this from reaching total panic. But I’m more than a little worried about this offense without Evans. Some panic for the player. A lot more concern for the team trying to replace him.
New England Patriots running backs: Total Panic
I don’t have confidence starting any of these backs in a normal fantasy lineup right now.
TreVeyon Henderson hasn’t given us consistent production. Rhamondre Stevenson hasn’t done enough to make this his backfield. Now, Corey Kiner is getting meaningful work, too. We’re six weeks into the season and still trying to figure out who we can trust.
Week 6 gave New England’s running backs 32 carries. Stevenson had 14, Kiner had 11 and Henderson had seven. The entire group combined for one target. That is a lot of rushing work spread across three players with almost no receiving production to protect their fantasy totals.
Stevenson played 60.3% of the offensive snaps but finished with 36 rushing yards and zero targets. Kiner received eight consecutive carries on the closing field-goal drive. You can look at the snap shares before setting your lineup and still end up watching somebody else get the important work.
Mike Vrabel has described this as a hot-hand situation. That might work for New England. It does not help us know which running back to start before the game begins.
I want Drake Maye. I want pieces of this passing attack, including DeMario Douglas. What I do not want right now is to guess correctly on a Patriots running back just to give myself a chance at a usable score. Total panic on this room.
Kyle Monangai: No Panic
I’m not panicking about Kyle Monangai once he’s healthy.
Chicago’s backfield can be frustrating. When D’Andre Swift is available, it feels like the Bears still find ways to involve another back. When Monangai gets his opportunity to carry the offense, they have shown they’re willing to keep feeding him.
Before missing time, Monangai had 324 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 60 carries. That’s 5.4 yards per attempt. His last appearance produced 30 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns. I’m not expecting 30 carries every week, but we have already seen what this offense can look like with him handling a substantial workload.
He brings a different element. He’s a physical hammer with the ability to turn a crease into a big play. That combination gives him a role alongside Swift when he returns.
Swift’s three rushing touchdowns over the past two games have helped fantasy managers, but 87 yards on 25 carries during that stretch hasn’t convinced me Monangai’s opportunity is disappearing.
We still need to see him healthy. That is different from worrying about whether he’s good enough to earn work. No panic here.
Breece Hall: Some Panic
I have some panic about Breece Hall, but if you made me lean one way, I’d be closer to no panic than total panic.
Braelon Allen has looked outstanding in Hall’s absence. Across Weeks 5–6, Allen carried 41 times for 194 yards. You don’t watch a back produce like that and expect him to disappear once the starter returns.
I still expect Hall to be the lead back when he’s healthy. Aaron Glenn has said Hall remains the starter, and Hall’s receiving ability gives him another way to produce. He averaged 20.3 touches across his three appearances, including 10 catches for 102 yards.
The concern is whether all of that workload comes back with him. Glenn has also discussed sharing responsibilities, and Allen has earned a role. Hall’s 3.2 yards per carry before the injury don’t give us much reason to assume New York will immediately return every rushing opportunity to him.
That’s where my panic lives. Not in Hall losing the starting job, but in Allen keeping enough work to lower the ceiling we expected. I still want Hall when he’s healthy. I’m just leaving room for this to be more of a shared backfield.