Attention all fantasy football trade addicts: this article is for you. Here, I’ll be re-ranking the top 50 most valuable players each week, with PPR scoring in mind. You can use these rankings and writeups to make informed roster and trade decisions heading into Week 7.
These are my personal rankings, which will often differ (sometimes significantly) from consensus. If I have a player ranked higher than you believe most in your league would, I’d recommend buying that player at market price – not starting negotiations where I have the player ranked.
The landscape of the top 50 shifted more than I was expecting this week. The injuries contributed, but many players have simply seen significant changes in their usage from the first few weeks of the season to the most recent. I do my best to sort it all out for you below.
As always, you’ll find the player’s positive or negative movement from the week before in parentheses.
1. Tyreek Hill
WR1, MIA (+1)
Hill is still blowing out the rest of the field in both expected and actual fantasy points per route run. If he had run as many routes as Ja'Marr Chase has this season at his current efficiency, he would already have 1,302 receiving yards through just six games.
2. Austin Ekeler
RB1, LAC (+2)
Ekeler immediately returned to a role worth 19.7 XFP in Week 6 thanks to multiple goal-line attempts. He didn't punch either in, but you have to feel pretty good about a newly healthy Ekeler going forward.
3. Christian McCaffrey
RB2, SF (-2)
McCaffrey had an MRI for a suspected oblique injury on Tuesday. I wouldn't expect transparency from the 49ers on this, but the injury isn't thought to be too serious, with Fantasy Points injury expert Edwin Porras tentatively projecting a Week 7 return. Adam Schefter has confirmed the team does not view McCaffrey's injury as long-term.
4. Ja'Marr Chase
WR2, CIN (-1)
Chase has a 39.8% first-read target share (WR6), has run the most routes of any player in the league (243), and is averaging 21.3 XFP/G (WR2).
5. Keenan Allen
WR3, LAC (+6)
Allen now leads all WRs in XFP/G (22.4) and ranks behind only Tyreek Hill in FPG (24.9). He's posted his two highest aDOTs of the season in the two games since Mike Williams was injured. Nothing is going to stop this man from producing, least of all Quentin Johnston.
6. Travis Kelce
TE1, KC (+1)
Kelce has the 4th-most XFP/G on catchable targets of any WR/TE (15.8). He’s still making his way back from injury (61.4% route share), but he’s averaging the 2nd-most XFP per route run of any WR/TE (0.66, min. 50 routes).
7. A.J. Brown
WR4, PHI (+1)
Brown owns a 40% first-read target share (WR5), 1.72x greater than his closest teammate. He’s produced over 125 receiving yards in four straight games, an Eagles franchise record.
8. Cooper Kupp
WR5, LAR (+4)
Kupp has edged out Puka Nacua in usage since his return (18.4 to 17.0 XFP/G) and has been surprisingly explosive, averaging 6.80 YAC/R (would rank 4th among WRs through six weeks, min. 25 receptions).
9. Stefon Diggs
WR6, BUF (0)
Diggs' 42.1% first-read target share (WR3) combined with his 711 total air yards (WR4) make him an elite option.
10. Tony Pollard
RB3, DAL (-5)
Pollard has averaged only 15.8 XFP/G (RB12) and a 45.3% team rush share (RB24) over the last three weeks, compared to 22.8 XFP/G (RB2) and a 57.9% team rush share (RB13) over the first three weeks of the season. In fairness, that's been partially the result of odd game scripts, and his Week 6 role was good (23.3% target share, RB1). Still, Pollard's inefficiency being here to stay seems more plausible with every passing week, whether due to injury, age, additional volume, or any other hypothesis.
11. Bijan Robinson
RB4, ATL (-5)
Tyler Allgeier has received 66.7% of the Falcons' carries inside the five-yard line, a frustrating trend that did not reverse in Week 6. Robinson still ranks second at the position in routes run per team dropback (67.0%), but without goal-line work, his role will remain capped between 16-18 XFP/G. The further we get into the season with Allgeier still tying or leading Robinson in carries, the less optimistic I become that Arthur Smith will do what fantasy managers want.
12. Davante Adams
WR7, LV (-2)
Adams has been playing through a shoulder injury and briefly left Sunday's game to be evaluated for a concussion before returning. Jakobi Meyers was plenty happy to pick on a Patriots secondary focused on Adams, but Adams still ranks 2nd in the NFL in first-read target share. He should be just fine so long as Jimmy Garoppolo’s back injury does not lead to an extended absence.
13. Chris Olave
WR8, NO (0)
Olave has the 2nd-most air yards in the league (793) but has not entirely dominated first-read targets (31.4%, WR20) with Alvin Kamara and actual-tight-end Taysom Hill now in the fold as well. The Saints rank around league average in PROE (+1.5%), so it may be hard for Olave to truly push into the elite tier unless the offense is pushed to perform by some stronger opponents. Their upcoming schedule contains the Jaguars, Colts, Bears, and Vikings – not exactly a group of threatening offenses.
14. Saquon Barkley
RB5, NYG (+3)
Barkley is averaging the same XFP/G as Josh Jacobs (19.6, tied for RB4) and was immediately back to a 79.5% snap share (RB6) in his return from injury. However, as I've warned, he underperformed his volume by -10.1 fantasy points in Week 6. Barkley should slowly return to effectiveness as he gets further away from his high ankle sprain, but Daniel Jones' return sounds murky, so for now, he is trapped in a huge role on an incompetent offense.
15. Josh Jacobs
RB6, LV (-1)
Over the past three weeks, Jacobs has averaged 23.2 XFP/G (RB2) and an 18.6% target share (RB3). He's still a positive regression candidate.
16. Amon-Ra St. Brown
WR9, DET (-1)
Despite a highlight reel TD from Jameson Williams, St. Brown is still the alpha in Detroit after commanding 14 targets. No other Lions WR had more than three.
17. Jonathan Taylor
RB7, IND (+2)
Taylor split work near-evenly with Zack Moss in Week 6, but that was a big step up from his six carries in Week 5. Whenever Taylor is fully ramped up and handling the majority of the work, he's likely to be incredible for fantasy — the Colts' backfield as a whole received the 2nd-most XFP of any team in Week 6 and has averaged 31.2 XFP/G in Gardner Minshew's two starts this season.
18. D'Andre Swift
RB8, PHI (+11)
Swift saw a season-high 22.2% target share and 48.0% route share in Week 6. He's averaging 18.7 XFP/G over the past three weeks (RB6). It's hard to argue against him being an RB1 the rest of the way.
19. Kenneth Walker III
RB9, SEA (+6)
Walker is averaging 2.0 carries inside the five-yard line per game, meaning he's seen 22.8% of his team's total XFP (RB8). He's not even been as game script-dependent as expected, still averaging 16.0 XFP/G (RB10) in the Seahawks' two losses.
20. Puka Nacua
WR10, LAR (-4)
Nacua ranks just 19th among WRs in XFP/G since Kupp returned (17.0), but he's still had 18 targets over those two games (WR11). I'd adjust expectations to more of a borderline WR1 while Kupp is on the field.
21. Travis Etienne Jr.
RB10, JAC (+7)
Etienne ranks 4th overall in total fantasy Wins Above Replacement and received the Jaguars' lone goal-line attempt in Week 6. Tank Bigsby's vulturing may be in the rearview mirror.
22. Alvin Kamara
RB11, NO (+11)
Kamara has a 21.6% target share (RB1) and 60.5% team rush share (RB10). He appears to be a shell of his former efficient self with just 0.15 MTF/touch (36th of 38 qualifying RBs), but it's unlikely to matter much if he continues leading the position in XFP/G (22.5). He could lose work to a healthy Jamaal Williams, hence the rather conservative ranking relative to his usage, but he also could well make my previous sell-high recommendation look foolish.
23. Justin Jefferson
WR11, MIN (-1)
Nothing has changed for Jefferson since my case for him last week, aside from us getting a report that Kirk Cousins has no plans to waive his no-trade clause this season.
24. Josh Allen
QB1, BUF (-4)
Allen ranks 2nd among QBs in FPG (23.2) and fantasy points per dropback (0.61, min. 100 dropbacks).
25. Justin Herbert
QB2, LAC (-4)
Despite the inescapable discourse on whether Herbert possesses the necessary dawg levels to engineer game-winning drives, he remains fantasy football's QB1 in FPG (23.4) and has continued throwing deep at a respectable rate (13.7%, QB9) compared to last year.
26. Jalen Hurts
QB3, PHI (-2)
Hurts leads all QBs in designed runs per game (7.3) and rush share inside the five-yard line (46.2%). His workload on the ground is worth 1.5 TDs per game (9.0 XFP/G). A couple of costly mistakes against the Jets don't shift my outlook on his value at all.
27. Breece Hall
RB12, NYJ (+8)
Hall handled 57.1% of the Jets' rush attempts (RB14) and ran a route on half of their dropbacks (RB13) in Week 6. His usage is trending toward that of an RB1, and his production has already been there ever since his snap count reportedly ended (24.4 FPG, RB4). Zach Wilson has looked less incompetent over the past three weeks, so optimism abounds.
28. CeeDee Lamb
WR12, DAL (-5)
Lamb got somewhat back on track against the Chargers, but the problem remains that this Dallas offense is incredibly conservative (-0.9% PROE, 24th), especially in the red zone. Lamb ranks as just the WR27 in XFP/G (14.0).
29. Brandon Aiyuk
WR13, SF (-2)
Aiyuk still leads the NFL in air yards share (52.2%), and his biggest target competition in Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey both left the game with injuries. Neither are expected to be long-term, but we've seen Samuel, in particular, struggle to play effectively through injuries before.
30. Joe Mixon
RB13, CIN (-4)
Mixon has dominated the Bengals' backfield all season but has only received a workload worth above 15.0 XFP in two of his six games. I've continually maintained that Mixon is an excellent positive regression candidate for when the Bengals' offense gets back on track, which should happen after the bye. However, there are too many RBs who have actually capitalized on Mixon-like usage for me to continue ranking him as highly as I have for the past couple of weeks. He remains a hold.
31. Jakobi Meyers
WR14, LV (+14)
Meyers is averaging 19.1 XFP/G (WR7) and is now officially seeing better per-game usage than Davante Adams.
32. Patrick Mahomes II
QB4, KC (-2)
Mahomes has averaged a career-high 6.4 rush attempts per game and 30.8 rushing YPG (QB7) this season, which has kept him from falling too far behind the rest of the elite QB tier despite mediocre production (by his standards) through the air. His passing TD rate, success rate, and YPA are all at career lows.
33. Lamar Jackson
QB5, BAL (-2)
Jackson still leads all QBs in rushing YPG (54.5). The Ravens have thrown a bit more under Todd Monken this year (+2.4% PROE, 12th), but it hasn't led to a major step forward for Jackson's fantasy production.
34. Adam Thielen
WR15, CAR (+Previously Outside Top-50)
I can't ignore this anymore. Through six weeks, Thielen is averaging 21.1 FPG (WR6) on a 34.8% first-read target share (WR13). Even when filtering out uncatchable targets from Bryce Young, Thielen ranks 8th among WRs in catchable XFP/G (14.8). As with Jakobi Meyers, the lesson here is that players with a history of earning targets could well do it again.
35. Jaylen Waddle
WR16, MIA (+3)
Waddle finally had a solid game, leading the Dolphins in first-read target share (39.1%) but still being overshadowed by Tyreek Hill in terms of production as usual. It's hard to drop Waddle in the rankings given that things appear to be moving in the correct direction, but he still has just a 20.3% target share on the season (WR31).
36. Tee Higgins
WR17, CIN (+3)
Higgins was still limited in Week 6, running a route on only 59.0% of team dropbacks. His production will likely improve along with the rest of the Bengals' offense after getting healthier over the bye week.
37. DeVonta Smith
WR18, PHI (0)
Smith led the team in targets (10) and receiving XFP (17.8) in Week 6, but only two of those targets came on the first read. That suggests Smith was at least getting open and becoming available for Hurts as a second option when needed, but that he wasn't as big a part of the gameplan as those 10 targets would imply. And given his 2 drops and lack of production on that volume, there's not much reason to think that will change next week.
38. Marquise Brown
WR19, ARI (+2)
The process was certainly correct with Brown in Week 6 as he led the league in air yards (190) and ranked 6th in XFP (21.4). The result was disappointing, but it doesn't change the fact that Brown continues seeing incredible usage, such as a 42.9% first-read target share (WR9). Even more encouragingly, Kyler Murray seems likely to return soon.
39. Isiah Pacheco
RB14, KC (+Previously Outside Top-50)
Pacheco has averaged 15.6 XFP/G over the past three weeks (RB13), more than Raheem Mostert and Bijan Robinson. His share of team rushing attempts has grown from 42.7% (RB30) in the first three weeks to 62.7% (RB10) in that time. With the multitude of injuries to RBs and his improving usage, it's hard to leave the clear lead back for the offense led by Patrick Mahomes out of the top 50.
40. Kyren Williams
RB15, LAR (-22)
Williams is expected to miss multiple weeks with an ankle sprain, and the Rams have signed Darrell Henderson. Round 6 rookie Zach Evans and practice squad call-up Royce Freeman could also get work in Williams' absence. None of these names seem particularly threatening to Williams' role once he returns, so I'm not dropping him too far. After all, he's been the 6th-most valuable player in fantasy football thus far thanks to his rare workload (17.1 XFP/G, tied for RB10). Still, an absence through the Week 10 bye would not be ideal.
41. David Montgomery
RB16, DET (-9)
Montgomery has averaged 18.0 FPG (RB8) and led the NFL in goal-line attempts (7) since returning from injury in Week 4. However, RBs with Montgomery's rib cartilage injury have missed an average of 2.2 games since 2018. There's a chance Jahmyr Gibbs returns and makes a case to more meaningfully cut into Montgomery's workload during this absence, so Montgomery has to take a hit here.
42. De'Von Achane
RB17, MIA (0)
My case for Achane from last week still applies. In short, he's a rare player in a rare situation who could have a unique impact on the fantasy playoffs, the most important and valuable weeks of the season. We watched his teammate Raheem Mostert continue to thrive in the same system this week, as was somewhat expected. Unless defenses start to figure out this offense or we hear negative news, Achane will likely stick around this spot.
43. Michael Pittman Jr.
WR20, IND (+Previously Outside Top-50)
Pittman is averaging 18.3 XFP/G (WR15) and 16.7 FPG (WR16) in games Gardner Minshew has attempted 15 or more passes. The target tree could continue to narrow as Alec Pierce deals with a shoulder injury. With Anthony Richardson out for the year, Pittman's volume bears some consideration.
44. Raheem Mostert
RB18, MIA (+Previously Outside Top-50)
I regret not ultimately fitting Mostert into the top 50 last week. He's a lock for RB1 production, at least until De'Von Achane returns, having averaged 23.6 FPG (RB2) in games without Achane this season thanks to the same unstoppable rushing attack. He's absolutely a sell-high if you can get an actual RB1 return for him due to the uncertainty he carries later in the season, but letting him crush in your lineup for the next three weeks to help lock up your bye is also a fine option.
45. DJ Moore
WR21, CHI (+Previously Outside Top-50)
While Justin Fields could be out for a few weeks, Moore has averaged 16.0 XFP/G over the past three weeks (WR15) and leads the position in FPG over that period (28.7). He and Fields have picked on some easy matchups, but Moore could now be funneled targets by Tyson Bagent. In the fourth quarter after Fields was injured, Moore commanded 71.4% of the Bears' first-read targets.
46. Christian Watson
WR22, GB (-2)
Watson is exiting his bye and should be close to full speed. His 70.9% air yards share in Week 5 provided a hint of his upside, and this week he draws a tempting matchup against a Denver Broncos defense that’s allowed the most plays of 20 or more yards (31), the 2nd-highest passer rating on deep throws (145.0), and the most yards per target over expectation on deep throws (+10.1). If there’s a time for Watson to explode onto the scene, this is it.
47. Tua Tagovailoa
QB6, MIA (+Previously Outside Top-50)
Mike McDaniel has Tagovailoa playing out of his mind, ranking top-3 in adjusted EPA/play, success rate, and CPOE. It's hard to leave him out of the top-50 when that's translated to 21.2 FPG (QB4).
48. Sam LaPorta
TE2, DET (+Previously Outside Top-50)
LaPorta has hung around just outside the top 50 for weeks now, but I am finally ready to simply rank him over TJ Hockenson and Mark Andrews. LaPorta has averaged 14.8 FPG (TE2) with an impressive 2.12 YPRR (TE4, min. 50 routes) over the past month. He just saw 10 targets in Week 6, and the Lions' offense projects to be more potent than the Vikings' or the Ravens' going forward. LaPorta’s 54.2 receiving YPG through six weeks would rank 3rd among rookie TEs since 2008 (behind only Kyle Pitts and Jordan Reed) if it held over the full season. We could be dealing with one of the league's next great TEs, and I want to be out ahead of a further breakout if he's already producing as the fantasy TE2 anyway.
49. Joe Burrow
QB7, CIN (+1)
Burrow was unable to follow up his Week 5 success, returning to just a 6.5 aDOT and taking no snaps under center. He at least did not appear to suffer any setbacks, suggesting he should be significantly healthier following the Bengals' Week 7 bye. At least the offense posted a +23% PROE in Week 7 (the highest single-week mark for any team this season), providing a glimpse of how fun this team could return to being in the second half of the year.
50. Garrett Wilson
WR23, NYJ (+Previously Outside Top-50)
Wilson now leads the NFL in first-read target share (45.3%) and ranks top-6 in air yards share (45.9%). It will be difficult for him to outperform his 15.8 XFP/G (WR17) with Zach Wilson at QB, but the Jets are at least throwing more with him under center this year (0.0% PROE, 18th) than last year (-2.5% PROE in games with Wilson, would rank 29th this year).
Just outside the top-50
Mike Evans, Nico Collins, Jahmyr Gibbs, Drake London, Amari Cooper, Zay Flowers, TJ Hockenson, Mark Andrews, Calvin Ridley
