Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame member Bob Harris and Gary Davenport have well over 40 years of experience as fantasy football analysts, with three Football Writer of the Year Awards between them. They know their stuff—or at least that's what they tell themselves.
Each week during the 2025 season, Harris and Davenport are going to come together here at Footballguys to answer five of that week's biggest fantasy questions.
Week 6 is underway, and if Thursday's game between the Eagles and Giants is any indication, it's going to be a wild week filled with surprise standouts and big-name busts.
Harris and Davenport are here to help sort through what was and what will be and ensure fantasy managers have more of the former and less of the latter.
Round and Round We Go
The quarterback carousel continues to turn around the NFL, with injuries and poor play leading to new faces starting on a weekly basis.
There are some relatively surprising names inside the top 10 at the position. Which one are you most confident can maintain that value long-term? And who should fantasy managers in need of a spot-start look to as a one-week fill-in under center in Week 6?
Harris: I like a lot of the unexpected names in the top 10 right now. But if you made me pick one, I'll go with Dak Prescott, who currently sits at QB6 after five games.
First of all, he's played the last three games without one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, CeeDee Lamb, who could return from his high-ankle sprain soon.
But with or without Lamb, Prescott is getting the job done.
Some of the credit goes to Brian Schottenheimer, who continues to lean into creative game plans designed to empower Prescott to push the offense forward. Part of that is the passing volume.
Just like it does at other positions, volume matters at quarterback. And no NFL signal caller has been given more opportunities to produce than Prescott, whose 195 pass attempts lead the league. He's on pace to throw 663 times this year, which would be 11 attempts more than last year's league leader, Joe Burrow, who attempted a then-league high 652 attempts in 2024.
Better still, Prescott is completing a league-high 71.3 percent of his attempts and is tied for the third-most touchdown passes with 10.
Did I mention Lamb hasn't played since the first series of the Week 3 game in Chicago?
Meanwhile, Dak is fueling the success of George Pickens, the current WR3 overall, and Jake Ferguson, who is TE1. This should not slow down when Lamb, one of the most prolific receivers in the league, returns from injury.
I've mentioned Bo Nix in this spot before, and I'm not afraid to highlight him as my fill-in now.
Of course, that's much easier coming off an impressive win over the Eagles in Philadelphia. Nix found his rhythm on the game-winning drive midway through the fourth quarter. He went 4-for-4 for 82 yards on passes of 10 or more air yards in that final stanza to finish the game after hitting 24-of-39 for 242 yards and a touchdown.
This week, he goes up against a Jets defense that just allowed four touchdowns and 28.3 fantasy points to Prescott. In all, three quarterbacks have at least 17.7 points against New York this season, and the Jets have yet to create a turnover this season.
Davenport: I'm not saying that I talked Prescott up as a value pick at quarterback and have shares of him all over the place. But I'm not not saying it either.
Drake Maye of the New England Patriots (QB7) is another signal-caller who got quite a bit of run as a potential breakout under center over the summer, and so far, so good. Maye has impressed as a passer, completing 73.9 percent of his passes and ranking fifth in the NFL in passing yards entering Week 6. He's also a threat with his legs, tallying 110 yards and two more scores on the ground. If anything, Maye's rushing numbers are actually a little lower than expected. If they pick up and Maye can maintain his passing efficiency, he's going to win people leagues.
As it turns out, Sam Darnold's big season with the Minnesota Vikings a year ago may not have been a fluke—five games into his first season in Seattle, Darnold is seventh in the league in passing yards and passing scores and third in passer rating. Sunday, Darnold and the Seahawks head east to face a Jacksonville Jaguars team that ranks 27th in the league against the pass. A second straight game with 300 passing yards is far from out of the question.
King of the Mountain
The top 10 at running back may be the least surprising of any position. Looking ahead, which ball-carrier are you hitching your wagon to as the back who will be king of the position come Week 17?
Who will be this week's biggest surprise standout at running back?
Harris: I'll stick with the guy currently sitting at RB1 overall after five games, Christian McCaffrey.
Why?
Because we've seen this movie before, and it has my favorite plotline: High volume.
McCaffrey's 91 carries rank second to Indy's Jonathan Taylor (another candidate for the No. 1 spot overall this year). CMC's 39 receptions lead all running backs and are 14 more than the next man on the list, De'Von Achane.
Those numbers project to 309 carries and 132 catches on the season.
It's the kind of volume McCaffrey has enjoyed since he arrived in San Francisco, a workload that's locked him in as a top fantasy prospect on an annual basis.
Remember, McCaffrey had 272 carries in 16 games in 2023, tied for second-most in the NFL. His 17 carries per game ranked fourth in the league. Add in 67 catches, and he got 339 turns to rack up fantasy points that season. He made the most of his opportunities. McCaffrey averaged 24.7 fantasy points per game that year, well ahead of the pack.
Similar usage after he was dealt to San Francisco in 2022 allowed him to average 21.7 points per game as a Niner, including five games with at least 25 points.
Thanks to that volume, McCaffrey is averaging 24.8 fantasy points per game this year, a tenth of a point more than his Offensive Player of the Year performance in 2023.
The math doesn't lie. All we need is McCaffrey to stay healthy . . .
I don't know that it'll be a huge surprise, but Quinshon Judkins, currently ranked as a high-end RB2, is headed for RB1 territory this week.
Just four games into his career, the Browns' rookie has averaged 95.3 rushing yards and 17.3 fantasy points per game in the last three weeks -- and that doesn't include a 56-yard touchdown from this past Sunday that was called back due to a penalty.
As NFL Network's Michael F. Florio pointed out, the rookie leads the NFL in carries since Week 3, while ranking second in rushing yards, fourth in explosive runs, third in red-zone carries, and fourth in goal-line carries. Those numbers are even more impressive when you factor in tough matchups against the Packers, Lions, and Vikings during that stretch.
This week, he goes up against a Pittsburgh defense that's allowed three running backs to beat them for 16-plus points in four games.
Davenport: I'm inclined to agree with Harris on McCaffrey, although that workload (and McCaffrey's fairly extensive injury history) is cause for legitimate concern. 400-plus touches is a lot for a 29-year-old back.
If McCaffrey does falter, the smart money would have to shift to Taylor, who has an RB1 overall title of his own on his NFL resume. Taylor is on pace to top 1,600 yards on the ground. He's averaging over five yards a carry. He's second in the league in both yards before and after contact and broken tackles. His six rushing scores are tops in the league. And he's on pace to top 50 receptions in his own right.
It really wasn't supposed to be this way for Tony Pollard (RB30) of the Titans this year, but the sad state of the Tennessee offense has spared no one. But Pollard has tallied at least 17 touches in all five games this season, his 4.8 yards per carry last week against Arizona was a season-high, and the Las Vegas Raiders have been almost as disappointing as the Titans in 2025. There's a non-zero chance that Tennessee wins this game outright, and to get that win, Pollard will have to have a good game.