Last week, we were panicking about Jeremiyah Love and Bucky Irving. The Love panic was justified, as he produced a season-low 2.2 fantasy points on 12 touches. For Irving, the panic was premature, as he put up a career-high 31.5 fantasy points on 23 touches.
D'Andre Swift ceded some work to Roschon Johnson towards the end of the Bears' game in Week 5, but he's the feature guy with Kyle Monangai battling turf toe. No need to panic about Swift. And fantasy mangers who had doubts about Parker Washington after two quiet performances, he silenced them with a monster game in London.
As a reminder, this article will highlight the duds from the previous week. I'll provide a score (0-5) on the panic meter. Zero means no panic whatsoever, while five means alarm
bells are going off. Let's see who's on the panic meter heading into Week 6.
Week 6 Panic Meter
Chase Brown - RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Panic Meter: 2/5
From an efficiency standpoint, Brown has not been good this season. Per Fantasy Points Data, he's 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 to this point, but we started to see more of a split between him and Samaje Perine in Week 5. Brown fumbled in the second quarter, but Perine still had five touches before that, meaning the workshare was coming regardless. As such, 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 bye.
Cam Skattebo - RB, New York Giants
Panic Meter: 3/5
Skattebo's snap share, touches, and RB opportunity share have all decreased each of the last three weeks. In Week 3, he had 23 touches and a 70.6% RB opportunity share on 77% of the snaps. In Week 5, just 15 touches and a 57.1% RB opportunity share on 63% of the snaps.
Skattebo is still the lead back, but the Giants seem comfortable integrating both Najee Harris and Tyrone Tracy Jr. into the game plan. In Weeks 1-3, it was all Skattebo inside the 10, but in Week 5, both Harris and Tracy got a carry down deep.
Like Brown, Skattebo has been relatively inefficient this season. However, unlike Brown, he hasn't been used much in the passing game. And now he might find himself in somewhat of a three-headed backfield in New York. There is definitely more than one reason to be concerned about Skattebo's value going forward.
Michael Wilson - WR, Arizona Cardinals
Panic Meter: 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 tough to get him the football at times throughout the game.
The Cardinals will be in trailing game scripts most of the season, meaning they'll need 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 is J.J. McCarthy levels of bad.
Josh Downs - WR, Indianapolis Colts
Panic Meter: 3/5
It's been painful as a Downs fantasy manager this season. Despite Michael Pittman Jr. now gone and Alec Pierce going 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 is getting more work down the field this season, but it's affecting his overall production. Per 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 compared to 8.1 yards per attempt last season before tearing his Achilles. Right now, it's clear Jones is struggling to connect on the deep ball, and that's what the Colts are asking Downs to do without Pierce in the lineup.
Downs is also facing 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 Meter: 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 bells. We're at a level 5 here with Waddle. Even with Sean Payton taking over playcalling, Pat Bryant being placed on IR, and a soft matchup vs. 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 appears that Bo Nix might be a big part of the problem.
Bo Nix is 30th of 36 qualified QBs in catchable throw rate (71%) despite ranking DEAD LAST in aDOT (6.19).
— Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) October 13, 2026
The closest QB in aDOT with a lower catchable throw rate is Daniel Jones (7.66).
It's an untenable way to play quarterback and would break any offense.@FantasyPtsData
Despite ranking 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), per Fantasy Points Data.
Bonus names: Jeremiyah Love (4/5), Dalton Kincaid (3/5), Omarion Hampton (5/5), Ashton Jeanty (2/5)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fantasy football Week 6 panic meter
