Those who watched in awe as electric Miami Dolphins wide receiver Albert Wilson put on an impressive show in Sunday's overtime victory over the Chicago Bears might have been wondering why he has not seen more touches this season. Heck, I had been wondering it. Well, on occasion coaches simply outthink themselves. Wilson, the 5-foot-9 Georgia State product who had a decent run with the Kansas City Chiefs but never really got a shot to shine on any regular basis, sure did so in Week 6, with six catches for 155 yards and two long touchdowns.
Wilson entered play with a mere 22 touches in five games, most on short receptions he was tasked with turning into something big, and he caught touchdown passes in Weeks 2 and 3. He also threw a touchdown pass in Week 3, but fantasy managers had no reason to look his way this week, unless it was a deep league, because he simply was not a key option in the Miami offense. In addition, with Ryan Tannehill ruled out Sunday morning, Brock Osweiler started against Khalil Mack and the solid Bears defense. Still, it was no match for Wilson.
Osweiler's Dolphins found a way to produce 31 points and win, and Wilson played a key role by taking a pair of short Osweiler passes in the fourth quarter all the way for long touchdowns, one a 75-yarder. Nobody can promise that the Dolphins intend to make Wilson a larger part of their offense, though the nine targets Sunday seems a good start. He had 115 yards after the catch on his two scores, which measured a combined 118 yards. Osweiler, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, had 256 passing yards on throws within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage, allowing the Bears nary a sack. Seems smart.
Nobody is saying Wilson is a pending star, but look at the other Dolphins. After all, talented but disappointing DeVante Parker found a way to suit up but saw only one target. His name remains in real-life trade talks, and fantasy managers have moved on. Kenny Stills did awesome things in Week 1 and became the must-add in myriad leagues, and has done little since. Move on, again. He caught one pass against the Bears. Why would Wilson not get a legit chance? Fantasy managers should act this week -- he is available in 94 percent of leagues -- in case the Dolphins give him one. His 33 PPR points led all wide receivers entering the Sunday night Chiefs-Patriots tilt.
In other Miami news, you do not want Osweiler on your team, so just disregard the 380 passing yards and trio of touchdowns. Crazy things happen sometimes. You do not want Tannehill, either. At running back, however, veteran Frank Gore topped 100 yards rushing for the first time this season. He did so in a pair of December games for the 2017 Indianapolis Colts, too. The league's active leader in rushing yards remains a factor, and he might be worth a flex activation in the coming weeks. Kenyan Drake remains the Miami running back to roster in fantasy, though, even after his atrocious goal-line overtime fumble. Drake bounced back with positive plays on the next drive, can catch passes and remains in the team's plans, to its credit. Then again, perhaps each Miami running back can aid fantasy managers.
Second down: Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston made his first start of the season a productive one in Atlanta, throwing for 395 yards and four touchdowns in the 34-29 defeat. The most-added player over the past seven days in ESPN standard leagues (non-kicker division) topped 30 PPR points, though it is clearly worth pointing out how bad the Falcons defense has been this season. It entered play permitting the fourth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks and was sixth-friendliest to wide receivers. Winston has fallen short of being a top-12 fantasy quarterback in each of his first three seasons, if not by much, but the bigger issue is one of consistency. He is no lock for a big outing in Week 7 versus the Browns, but try telling that to eager fantasy investors.
On the Atlanta side, Matt Ryan faced what was actually the league's worst defense against the pass (the NFC South is not good defensively), and he complied with 354 passing yards, nearly half to awesome Julio Jones, who still has not scored a touchdown. Do not fret. Jones entered play third in receiving yards and 12th in receptions. He is still great. Tight end Austin Hooper had his second consecutive game with nine catches, at least 70 yards and a touchdown, which is enough to vault him into borderline starting territory in most fantasy leagues. Yep, it does not take much. Mohamed Sanu caught a touchdown pass for the third game out of four, and it is noteworthy that rookie Calvin Ridley, catcher of six touchdowns in Weeks 2-4, left Sunday's game early with an ankle injury that we will learn more about in the coming days. Sanu is underrated, and so is third-string running back Ito Smith, who has scored touchdowns in three consecutive games but does not see enough workload to trust, particularly with Devonta Freeman not sidelined long-term.
Third down: Something figures to happen with Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell in the coming days as the team prepares for its bye week (the Packers, Raiders and Seahawks are also off in Week 7). Bell is rostered in all leagues, of course, but so is second-year star James Conner, who delivered another mammoth performance Sunday in the victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Conner totaled 129 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns, his third game this season with multiple scores. According to colleague Tristan H. Cockcroft, Conner's 141 PPR points through six games eclipses what Bell achieved in his first six contests of each of his two previous seasons. Conner is good.
As a result, it seems odd to consider the Steelers simply benching Conner if Bell does return this week. Fantasy managers cannot possibly float Conner's name in trade talk and receive someone of RB1 ilk, knowing that Bell's return appears imminent. What if that is not the case? Well, it should be an interesting week. In other Steelers news, Antonio Brown had a quiet first half against the Bengals and still ended up with more than 100 receiving yards, thanks to the winning touchdown. OK, so I acknowledge that Brown might not end up fantasy's top wide receiver, but he should be close.
As with the Steelers, who have integrated JuJu Smith-Schuster to at least an equal of Brown this season, the Bengals have permitted third-year wide receiver Tyler Boyd the opportunity to emerge as a fantasy star. Boyd caught his third and fourth touchdowns of the season against the Steelers, and for the fifth consecutive week, he saw seven or more of the Andy Dalton targets. Next is a matchup with the defense-deficient Chiefs! Boyd is not Smith-Schuster, but he looking like a nice WR2.
Fourth down: As for the other injuries, unfortunately, there was no shortage Sunday. Fantasy managers should have heeded warnings about the absence of Tannehill long before game time, and had similar notice of Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook and Washington Redskins running back Chris Thompson sitting out. Latavius Murray ably replaced Cook and one of the league's worst rushing teams suddenly ran all over Arizona; Murray's 155 rushing yards were nearly half of the entire Vikings team total through five games. Fantasy managers should not drop Cook, even though health and performance have been issues. Nor should they trust Murray week to week. He averaged 3.9 yards per rush last season and did not catch passes.
As for Thompson, whose durability has also come into question in his young career, Washington figured to replace him with Kapri Bibbs, but Alex Smith completed 19 of his 21 passes to wide receivers and tight ends. Thompson could return in Week 7 and he is valuable enough to keep rostered in all formats.
Several wide receivers left Sunday games prematurely. Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp needed a cart to get off the field with a knee injury, this coming after a horse-collar tackle. However, he returned for the second half. Phew. Jared Goff completed a mere 14 passes in Denver, as Todd Gurley accrued more rushing yards than Goff did passing ones. If Kupp is active for Week 7 at San Francisco, rely on him and his colleagues Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks. Most weeks the Rams will throw more than they did Sunday.
New York Jets wide receiver Quincy Enunwa suffered an ankle injury and actually cost his investors a tenth of a fantasy point, as his lost fumble offset his lone reception. The Jets scored 42 points without him, as Jermaine Kearse and Terrelle Pryor stepped up. Robby Anderson, a week after scoring two touchdowns, returned to relative obscurity. Rookie Sam Darnold is inconsistent and, at this point, relying on any of his weapons is dangerous.
Oakland Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper left sans any receptions after suffering a concussion. The Raiders never did score a touchdown in their loss to Seattle. Cooper has hardly been consistent this season, with two huge statistical games and four other games in which he has a combined four receptions. Not fun. Relying on any Raiders at this point is not fun.