Fantasy Football Stock Report: C.J. Stroud finding form, Patrick Mahomes no longer sure-fire start after Week 6

As I write this on Sunday night, 13 of 14 Week 6 games are in the books (with Monday night remaining) and the season is continuing to round into shape. Sort of. There were promising improvements. Concerning trends. Performances that changed our early outlook on players and teams. As always, some of these shifting perspectives will have permanent ramifications in fantasy football.

With that in mind, I've compiled another full fantasy stock report. These are the most notable risers and fallers heading into Week 7.

STOCK UPC.J. Stroud, QB, Texans

I don't want to overreact here, but it appears C.J. Stroud might finally be rediscovering the trajectory he had at the end of his Rookie of the Year season back in 2023. It looked at the time like Stroud might be one of the best young quarterbacks and a future face of the league, then he seemed to lose confidence and precision over the next couple years. But watching him perform in London on Sunday, he looks back.

He completed 24 of 34 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns (and one INT) and expertly maneuvered the Texans offense to a last-second win. He's now had 20+ fantasy points in three straight games, with multiple offensive touchdowns in all three and 307 passing yards per game. It certainly doesn't hurt that Nico Collins is healthy, Jaylin Noel is breaking out, Marvin Harrison Jr. looked better as a Texan and Tank Dell could return soon.

Stroud needs to maintain this pace for more than three weeks before we anoint him as a rest-of-season QB1, but the arrow is clearly pointing upward.

Germie Bernard, WR, Steelers

Germie Bernard was one of the top waiver-wire pickups of the week and he rewarded fantasy managers immediately to the tune of 11 catches on 12 targets for 87 yards and a touchdown. He ran 44 routes - two fewer than DK Metcalf - and the passing offense essentially ran through the two of them all day. With Roman Wilson out and Aaron Rodgers continuing to put up meaningful numbers, the second-round rookie out of Alabama is very quickly ascending into weekly FLEX consideration, if not higher.

Only 13 players have had 11+ receptions in a game across 32 teams and six weeks and Bernard is one of them ... among company like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Puka Nacua, CeeDee Lamb, etc. That kind of production doesn't often fade into a supporting role and the Steelers offense needs impact players. It's particularly worth noting that Metcalf has not been as good or as involved as he was on Sunday in most of the weeks prior, so in his down weeks, Bernard might even be Pittsburgh's WR1. For fantasy, that makes him a must-roster player with must-start upside down the road.

Colston Loveland/Luther Burden III, TE/WR, Bears

Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III were two of the most highly touted and anticipated players in fantasy entering the season ... and both had been disappointments through the first five weeks. Burden was the WR26 entering Week 6, with just one game in double-digit fantasy points and zero games over 65 receiving yards. Meanwhile, Loveland had been an unmitigated disaster, with a season-high of 8.7 fantasy points and no touchdowns through five games. Both showed up in Week 6 with Caleb Williams back at the helm, finally offering some hope for the stardom we were promised. Burden caught all eight of his targets for 95 yards (all team highs), while Loveland caught six of seven targets for 65 yards and his first touchdown of 2026.

The easy interpretation would be that Williams' return made all the difference, but it's worth remembering that Loveland did absolutely nothing in Williams' first couple of games this season, so we're going to have to monitor this a little further. Rome Odunze was also quiet in Week 6, and it's not only possible, but probable, that there will be a bit of a rotation between these three throughout the year. Still, it was great to see that both players do, in fact, have the upside to dominate through the air, and managers can breathe at least a small sigh of relief amid previously growing "bust" concerns.

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Carnell Tate, WR, Titans

After a massive dud in Week 5 - one catch for six yards on five targets - we were forced to question whether Carnell Tate's breakout Week 4 was an aberration. Sunday's performance against the Colts (sort of) answered that question. The fourth overall pick snagged six of seven targets for 70 yards and his first NFL touchdown, topping 16 fantasy points for the second time in three weeks. He accounted for 54.5% of the team's catches and 68.6% of their receiving yards, and scored the team's only offensive touchdown.

On the one hand, it's concerning that this offense is still so anemic on the whole. It undoubtedly lowers Tate's overall ceiling and will likely make it difficult for the rookie to finish as a high-end WR2 very often. On the other hand, the fact that he's such a focal point for Cam Ward and Co. is certainly promising and should translate into fewer duds moving forward, as Tate continues to develop and grow into the league. Rookie wide receivers typically get much better for fantasy late in the fall and into winter, so these early signs are encouraging. It certainly doesn't hurt that Tate has, on paper, a very green schedule for wide receivers over the next couple of months. He's probably worth acquiring if you can get him on the cheap.

STOCK DOWNCam Skattebo, RB, Giants

Good gracious.

Cam Skattebo was one of my favorite plays heading into the weekend, considering the glorious matchup with the Saints ... and instead John Harbaugh decided to punish him for recent fumbling issues with zero touches on the entire day. It would have been more reasonable if the Giants' running backs who did see touches didn't total 34 yards on 14 carries, resulting in a 34-27 loss in which J.J. McCarthy was their leading rusher ... in one quarter.

The optimistic perspective here would be that this was a one-week lesson for Skattebo, and that the rest of the depth chart was so ineffective that he'll work his way right back into the RB1 role moving forward. But after literally zero touches (on just six snaps), the optimistic perspective seems more like wishful thinking. It's not like Skattebo had been incredibly efficient or productive outside the fumbles - with just 3.6 yards per carry on the year - so there's no guarantee he reassumes 15-touch-a-game volume. And it's clear the Giants' running game is a problem in general.

Skattebo's certainly not in the RB2 conversation right now, and it's not impossible he loses all fantasy relevance in the coming weeks. Check back in next week to see what Harbaugh does with this backfield.

Patrick Mahomes, QB, Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes is currently the quintessential case of "NFL success doesn't always equal fantasy success." The Chiefs are 5-0 and Mahomes had thrown multiple touchdown passes in each of his first four games, but after totaling more than 50 fantasy points in Weeks 1 and 2, he's averaged just 15.14 per game since Week 3 and scored a season-low 11.48 in Week 6. The primary issue, exhibited on Sunday, is that he doesn't need to carry this offense anymore - he has Kenneth Walker III for that job.

He threw one interception and zero touchdowns against the Chargers, but the Chiefs still won 22-6 as Walker racked up 128 yards and another two touchdowns on the ground. It doesn't mean Mahomes won't be a QB1 - he was the QB7 in points per game through his Week 5 bye - but outings like this showcase why he likely won't be the every-week star he has been in years past. You can still start him most weeks, particularly in contests that project to be high-scoring and close for Kansas City. But on that note, he has the Seahawks, Broncos and Jets on the horizon. If you have him, you might want to consider a streaming alternative for the near future, or trade him on name value.

If he's on another team, mark your calendar for Week 10 and think about trading for him then if possible.

Ashton Jeanty, RB, Raiders

Ashton Jeanty has become a regular in this section of the column and somehow he keeps trending down. And if you're glancing at his box score and wondering why, take a look at his carries and yards. The second-year running back managed just 22 yards on 10 carries this week after hitting just 27 on 10 carries last week. And this was a Buffalo defense that had been among the softest against running backs all season. Jeanty's averaged fewer than 4.0 yards per carry in every single game since Week 2 and fewer than 3.0 in four of his last five games. Meanwhile, Mike Washington Jr. played 33% of the snaps on Sunday but logged nine carries (to Jeanty's 10) and totaled a much more attractive 43 rushing yards (4.3 per carry).

Now, of course, Jeanty did score a goal-line rushing touchdown and caught four passes for 36 yards, so his 13.8 fantasy points ended up decent enough. The problem is that his value is dwindling down to just that: receiving work and touchdowns. And while the receiving work has been consistent, this was Jeanty's first rushing touchdown of the year. He's just the RB18 in points per game since Week 2 and has flashed very little upside over that span. You're essentially beholden to starting Jeanty every week, but he's likely to remain a low-end RB2 (at best) most of the weeks.

Jaylen Warren, RB, Steelers

Jaylen Warren had been a fantasy superstar in Rico Dowdle's absence, and his brilliant production in Pittsburgh's offense had given many (me included) hope that he'd remain the bell-cow back upon Dowdle's return.

Not so much.

He did still double Dowdle's carries (14 to seven) but that was his lowest carry mark since Week 2, as were his 50 rushing yards. Additionally, Dowdle matched Warren's four targets, which is particularly discouraging given how good Warren had been as a receiver the past few weeks. In three games with Dowdle, Warren has scored 7.8, 8.7 and now 8.8 fantasy points. Incredibly consistent ... and incredibly mid.

In the three games without Dowdle, Warren had scored 19.1, 14.1 and 33.8.

The drop-off is precipitous and disappointing. Worst of all, Dowdle was very good in his change-of-pace role, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, and it makes real-football sense for Pittsburgh to mix-and-match the two, as painful as it is for fantasy.

Warren is still a viable FLEX option moving forward, and will likely have a few more RB2 weeks down the stretch, but it's now much tougher to envision him as an RB2 on the season.

Michael Wilson, WR, Cardinals

It's starting to look like the "Marvin Harrison Jr. was a great Arizona decoy" theory might hold some water. In two games without Harrison, Michael Wilson has had incredibly similar stat lines: four catches on seven targets for 30 yards and four catches on seven targets for 32 yards. After snagging 18 of 30 targets for 184 yards and a touchdown the two weeks prior, this has been a stark and concerning left turn.

Kendrick Bourne has picked up much of the slack and Trey McBride has continued his voluminous ways, so the era of double-digit targets for Wilson might have come to a rapid close. Now, with that being said, he did still see seven targets on Sunday, his sixth straight game hitting that mark, so Wilson's still undeniably involved. The problem is that with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback and the general inconsistency of the Cards' offense, seven targets isn't always enough for fantasy relevance in Arizona - see Wilson's four games with single-digit fantasy points for reference.

He's still valuable, but is dropping from WR2 range to FLEX range after consecutive disappointments.