October 13, 2026, 5:24 p.m. ET
Last week, we were freaking out about Jeremiah Love and Bucky Irving. Love’s panic was justified, as he produced a game-high 2.2 fantasy points in 12 touches. For Irving, the panic was premature, as he scored a career-high 31.5 fantasy points on 23 touches.
D’Andre Swift gave up some work to Roschon Johnson late in the Bears’ game in Week 5, but he’s the main guy with Kyle Monangai struggling with the toes of the turf. No need to panic about Swift. And fantasy managers who had doubts about Parker Washington after two quiet performances, he silenced them with a monster play in London.
As a reminder, this article will highlight the failures of the previous week. I will give a score (0-5) to the panic meter. Zero means no panic, while five means alarm bells are going off. Let’s see who’s on the panic meter heading into Week 6.
Week 6 Panic Counter
Chase Brown – RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Panic counter: 2/5
From an efficiency standpoint, Brown has not been good this season. According to Fantasy Points Data, he is 51st among running backs in yards before contact per attempt (1.32), 41st in missed tackles forced per attempt (0.13) and 50th in yards per carry (3.46).
Brown’s work in the passing game (5.6 targets per game) has saved him so far, but we started to see more division between him and Samaje Perine in Week 5. Brown fumbled in the second quarter, but Perine still had five touches before that, meaning the division of labor was coming regardless. So, Brown’s RB opportunity share fell from 83.3% in Week 4 to just 51.5% in Week 5.
Brown is still the guy, but there’s no reason to believe Perine won’t continue to be involved coming out of the Bengals’ Week 6 exit.
Cam Skattebo – RB, New York Giants
Panic counter: 3/5
Skattebo’s snap share, touches, and RB opportunity share have all declined in each of the last three weeks. In Week 3, he had 23 touches and a RB opportunity share of 70.6% on 77% of snaps. In Week 5, just 15 touches and an RB opportunity share of 57.1% on 63% of snaps.
Skattebo still has the lead, but the Giants seem comfortable integrating Najee Harris and Tyrone Tracy Jr. into the game plan. In Weeks 1-3, all of Skattebo was inside the 10, but in Week 5, Harris and Tracy both made a profound impact.
Like Brown, Skattebo has been relatively ineffective this season. However, unlike Brown, he was not used much in the passing game. And now he could find himself in a sort of three-headed backfield in New York. There’s certainly more than one reason to be concerned about Skattebo’s future value.
Michael Wilson – WR, Arizona Cardinals
Panic counter: 2/5
In his first game without Marvin Harrison Jr. this season, Wilson caught just four of seven targets for 30 yards. His 14.6% target share tied Jalen Brooks for third on the team behind Trey McBride and Kendrick Bourne. It wasn’t pretty, but after the game, Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said the Lions were doubling Wilson, making it difficult to get him the ball at times throughout the game.
The Cardinals will be behind for most of the season, which means they will have to throw the ball to keep up. So far this season, Wilson is averaging 10.2 targets per game. In five games without Harrison last season, he averaged 13.6 targets per game. The only way this goes completely south for Wilson is if Carson Beck comes in and JJ McCarthy is level bad.
Josh Downs – WR, Indianapolis Colts
Panic counter: 3/5
It’s been painful as Downs’ fantasy manager this season. Although Michael Pittman Jr. is now gone and Alec Pierce is on IR, Downs has failed to eclipse double-digit fantasy points in three of five games. He showed promise in Weeks 2 and 3, but has since averaged just three catches for 31.5 yards on five targets per game in his last two games.
Downs has more work on the field this season, but it affects his overall production. According to Fantasy Points Data, Downs has a catchable target rate of just 72.4% in four games without Pierce this season. Meanwhile, Tyler Warren is at 90.3%. Daniel Jones is averaging just 5.8 yards per attempt this season, down from 8.1 yards per attempt last season before tearing his Achilles tendon. Right now, it’s clear that Jones is having trouble connecting on the deep ball, and that’s what the Colts are asking Downs to do without Pierce in the lineup.
Downs also faces increased competition for targets whenever Keenan Allen is on the field. In their last two games together, it’s Allen (18) with more targets than Downs (17).
Jaylen Waddle – WR, Denver Broncos
Panic counter: 5/5
Waddle is no stranger to the panic meter this season. He’s been here before, but now it’s time to sound the alarm. We are here at level 5 with Waddle. Even with Sean Payton taking over, Pat Bryant being placed on IR, and a soft game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Waddle still managed to produce just 19 yards on five measly targets.
Waddle has now failed to eclipse two catches or 20 yards in three of his first five games with the Broncos. And it looks like Bo Nix might be a big part of the problem.
Although he ranks 20th among wide receivers in first-read target share (27.3%), Waddle ranks just 75th in yards per route run (1.57), 62nd in targets per route run (0.22) and 45th in expected fantasy points per game (10.0), according to Fantasy Points Data.
Bonus Names: Jeremiah Love (4/5), Dalton Kincaid (3/5), Omarion Hampton (5/5), Ashton Jeanty (2/5)
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