George Pickens continues to make the most of his opportunity with CeeDee Lamb sidelined and continues to make his case for a big payday in free agency this offseason. He lands as a consensus Top-10 receiver again this week after a 13.7-point performance in Week 5, bringing his scoring average to 21.6 PPR points per game without Lamb on the field. Pickens will face above-average coverage this week against the Panthers’ secondary, but if he can post the performance he did against Sauce Gardner, he should be able to keep the streak alive in this spot. Surprisingly enough, I think the Panthers will do a better job of keeping the game competitive, and a high-flying game total near 50 should provide Pickens ample opportunity to showcase his skills in what could be his last game without CeeDee. –Eric Romoff
You don’t have to go far to find our next spotlight receiver for this week’s rankings. Tetairoa McMillan will be on the opposing sideline from George Pickens this week and settles in just 4 spots below him as our 12th-ranked receiver in Week 6. McMillan is the classic example of a player whose fantasy production hasn’t quite caught up to his role in the offense. The pass-happy Panthers have fed McMillan 43 targets, the 7th most in the league this year, and he’s accumulated an impressive 370 air yards through 5 games. Unfortunately, many of those targets are off the mark, and McMillan is also among the leaders in unrealized air yards this season. When Bryce Young can deliver the ball to McMillan, he’s simply dynamic. He’s tied for 2nd with 9 explosive plays and has amassed 101 yards after catch this year, hauling in an astounding 90% of his catchable targets. The opportunity for a breakout game is bubbling below the surface, and a matchup against the league’s most-forgiving secondary in points allowed to receivers is fertile ground for a spike week. –Eric Romoff
Jameson Williams and the general interest in him as a fantasy asset continue to perplex me. I understand that he was an uber-talented prospect and is sporting a freshly inked $83 million extension, but I can’t imagine the frustration of rostering him on a week-in, week-out basis. Williams plays an important role in the Lions’ offense, but the “Sacrificial X” rarely returns dividends for fantasy managers. He’ll often, as he is this year, be among the league leaders in air yards, which gives him significant upside on a week-over-week basis. But the games where that upside isn’t realized can crater your lineup. This week, he walks into the highest game total on the slate against Kansas City, a team whose corners are allowing chunk plays on a weekly basis, but even accounting for these windfalls doesn’t pull Williams into my lineups. I have the lowest among the QBL ranks, all the way down at WR36. –Eric Romoff
For the first time all season, it seems like Week 5 was finally the point where rookie Cam Ward was on the same page with his top receiver, Calvin Ridley. The duo linked up on 5 passes that went for 131 yards, leaving Ridley with a WR14 finish on the week. Not included in that total is Ward targeting an uncovered Ridley in the end zone late in the game that was tipped at the line and intercepted. It is clear that these two are starting to establish their rapport, and Ridley is a priority target in high-leverage situations. This week, Ridley will see a rotation of perimeter coverage that includes a 3rd round rookie in Darian Porter and PFF’s 5th lowest rated coverage corner Kyu Blu Kelly. The learning curve between Ridley and Ward must still be factored into his ranking, but the individual matchups and sneaking scoring potential of this game land Ridley just inside WR3 territory at 30th in our consensus ranks. –Eric Romoff