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          Fantasy football rest-of-season rankings: Burrow, Chase rise, Breece slides

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          Fantasy quarterback rankings heading into Week 6 (1:22)

          Check out the top five quarterbacks from ESPN fantasy football heading into Week 6. (1:22)

          • Eric Karabell, ESPN Senior WriterOct 8, 2024, 01:15 PM ET
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            • ESPN contributor on TV, radio, podcasts, blogs, Magazine
            • Charter member of FSWA Hall of Fame
            • Author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments"
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          Each week, Eric Karabell ranks players by position based on their fantasy football value for the rest of the 2024 season. Use the information to optimize the players on your bench for their future potential or to gauge their value in trade. Eric's top 100 can be found below the positions in this column.

          Quarterback

          Rankings changes: Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow threw five touchdown passes in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens and moves into the top five, pushing aside Minnesota Vikings surprise Sam Darnold, who slips outside the top 10. It may be an overreaction, since Darnold had played so well prior to the Week 5 London game, but Darnold still remains ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, among many others. He remains worth relying on. The Atlanta Falcons' Kirk Cousins had the top QB outing of the weekend, and he moves into borderline QB1 territory, primed to pass the underwhelming (statistically, not in real life) Mahomes.

          Week 6 is a big one in fantasy for Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen. He remains in the No. 3 spot in these rankings, but he hasn't brought big numbers in three of four games. Perhaps the Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Hurts and/or Burrow or the Dallas Cowboys' Dak Prescott leapfrog the oddly inaccurate Allen soon. Be wary of trading for Allen. Quarterbacks that did drop in this week's rankings include the Pittsburgh Steelers' Justin Fields (he may lose the starting job soon), New York Jets' Aaron Rodgers (he looks older than 40) and the Carolina Panthers' Andy Dalton, who struggled Sunday.

          Running back

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          0:45
          What kind of fantasy value does Braelon Allen have?

          Field Yates doesn't see standalone fantasy value for Braelon Allen unless Breece Hall is hurt.

          Rankings changes: Jets starter Breece Hall is not performing up to expectations as a top fantasy selection, having amassed 10.5 PPR points over the past two games. Blame those around him if you desire -- the Jets made a coaching change Tuesday -- but it all counts. Hall remains in the top 10, with the Seattle Seahawks' Kenneth Walker III, San Francisco 49ers' Jordan Mason, Washington Commanders' Brian Robinson Jr. and revitalized Chicago Bears back D'Andre Swift poised to pass him. The Vikings' Aaron Jones falls behind that group due to a hip injury of unclear severity.

          The Jacksonville Jaguars' Tank Bigsby delivered the top RB performance of the week, the only one to surpass the 20-PPR mark, and he moves into RB4 range. Presumed starter Travis Etienne Jr. retains RB3 status, for now. The Week 6 matchup against the Bears may offer clarity. The Commanders' Austin Ekeler, Cowboys' Rico Dowdle, New York Giants' Tyrone Tracy Jr. -- it was a good week for NFC East RBs! -- and Miami Dolphins' Raheem Mostert and Jaylen Wright rise. Don't forget the Cleveland Browns' Nick Chubb may play soon.

          Wide receiver

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          1:04
          Is Ja'Marr Chase back to his fantasy best?

          Tristan H. Cockcroft praises Ja'Marr Chase's fantasy line despite the Bengals losing to the Ravens on Sunday.

          Rankings changes: Back to Cincinnati we go, where star wideout Ja'Marr Chase scored a significant 41.3 PPR points. Few remember the first two games, when he scored 19.7 points. Take your pick between Chase, the Vikings' Justin Jefferson and others in the top 5, including Cowboy CeeDee Lamb, even though he is outside the top 10 WRs in fantasy scoring, so far. Give him time. The Falcons' Drake London pushes the Seahawks' DK Metcalf (don't worry about him, though) out for top-10 status, and the other Falcon, the still-available Darnell Mooney, moves into WR3 territory. The Bears' DJ Moore, Bengals' Tee Higgins and Jaguars rookie Brian Thomas Jr. also notably move up.

          Some big names drop, including the Dolphins' Tyreek Hill (yes, again), Arizona Cardinals rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. and the 49ers' Deebo Samuel Sr. Hill scored 26 PPR points in the opener, with QB Tua Tagovailoa feeding him. He hasn't reached half that figure since. (Don't even ask about Jaylen Waddle.) Harrison had the big Week 2 outing, but he still is not seeing expected volume. He has yet to catch more than five passes in a game. Samuel caught only one pass Sunday, and he has eight targets in two games. Perhaps there is little to worry about. The 49ers are averaging more passing yards per game than last season, but TE George Kittle is outscoring Samuel.

          Tight end

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          0:45
          Tucker Kraft's fantasy outlook ahead of Week 6

          Check out the numbers behind Packers TE Tucker Kraft's impressive fantasy outing against the Rams ahead of his Week 6 matchup.

          Rankings changes: Well, so much for a different tight end winning an individual scoring week for the entire season. Congrats to the Green Bay Packers' Tucker Kraft for being the high scorer in Weeks 4 and 5, scoring 42.1 PPR points. He moves well into the top 10. The 49ers' Kittle, however, moves into the top spot. He has earned it. We introduce another Baltimore Ravens option (Charlie Kolar), but no Ravens are worthy of weekly activation. Neither are popular early September free-agent additions Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki.