Wyld Ass Monkeys on top in a Wild Week 6

Week 6, 2026 will go down as one of the strangest weeks in Fantasy Football annals.  For starters, it one of the lowest-scoring weeks, from an individual player perspective, that we have ever seen.  The leading player was a Defense (weird!) as the Tennessee Titans scored 28 points topping all other players in the league.  The Titans had literally scored 26 points TOTAL coming in to the week, so they more than doubled their season output in just one game.  The only other time a Defense led all scorers was back in Week 2, 2019, when the New England Patriots posted 41 points. Plus, the Titans are a Free Agent, which is also weird to have a Free Agent player be the top scorer for the week.  I think it has happened before, but I couldn’t find a record of it.  

Also, and I had to dig deep in the archives to find this, but to have a week where the highest scoring player scored less than 28 points is rare.  I’ve kept weekly player stats since 2012, and I found only 3 times when the highest scoring player didn’t crack 30 even points.  In 2021, New York Jets quarterback Mike White was the top scoring player in Week 8 with 29 points.  Way back in 2014, Green Bay receiver Jordy Nelson matched that in Week 2 by also leading with 29 points.  But the record holder for being the lowest leader is none other than New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who in Week 14-2015 managed to lead the league with just 27 points.  Way to lead from the back, Eli.

The big congratulations this week go to the Wyld Ass Monkeys who overcame a goose egg from Skattebo but still led the league with 91 points!  Much like the low player scoring this week, the 91 points tied for fourth-lowest Weekly High Score in league history.  (The record for lowest total to win the High Score is 85, set by the Coors Light Drunk Guys in Week 11, 2015).  Rob got there by having his other seven players all score more than 9 points each, led by Malik Nabers with 19, Isaiah Likely with 17 and Cam Williams with 16, capping off a 91-78 victory over my Rebels.  The win moves WAM’s record to 4-2, which is tied for second best in the league.  This is Rob’s first Weekly High Score prize this season, and is the fifth different team to win one.  Well done señor!

In other games this week, Chief Dredd pulled out a close one to move to 5-1 and the league’s best record.  Nice work Timmay!  Also, winless teams are no more as American BadAss found the win column thanks to a 78-65 victory over Unlucky Irish. The North Division leads in total wins by 1 (15 to 14) and leads in total points scored (2,752 to 2,603). 

Just a quick update this week where we will check in on the Top 5s and keeping with the theme of the week, it is a wild Best Bench.  You won’t believe this one.   

BIG TIME?

-Tennessee, DEF – Free Agent – 28 pts – Defense wins championships!  Well, maybe not in this case.  But the Titans did have a crazy good game en route to their first victory, logging 6 sacks, 5 turnovers, 1 blocked kick and 1 touchdown.  But in spite of the strong week, it only moved them to the 18th ranked spot among defenses.

-Trevor Lawrence, QB – Unlucky Irish – 27 pts – Lawrence’s best game this season, throwing for 306 yards and 4 TDs!  He also added a point rushing by gaining 11 yards.  Only blemish was 1 interception.

-Tyler Shough, QB – Scottish Rebels – 26 pts – So the reason I have this guy on my team is that there is a town to the east of Camas (where I live) called Washougal, but everyone calls it “The Shough” (pronounced “shoog”).  I think this guy pronounces his last name “shug”, but still, I think it’s hilarious.  He’s also scored over 20 points four times this season, which has him ranked as the 8th quarterback in total points.

-Kenneth Walker III, RB – Joe’s Pats – 25 pts – Walker found the endzone twice, and had 139 total yards.  He is an absolute point machine, averaging 25.2 points per week.

COME ON MAN

-MarShawn Lloyd, RB – American BadAss – 1 pt – He tried.  He tried again.  He tried again and again and again and again and again and again.  And, after trying 8 times, he had carried the ball all of 10 yards.  Keep trying, I guess.

-Jake Ferguson, TE – American BadAss – 1 pt – Dak threw a crazy 54 passes this week, but only went Ferguson’s way 3 times (2 completions) for 13 yards.  Ferguson had fewer passes thrown his way than a Dallas 3rd string wide receiver, and amazingly, the back-up tight end.  That’s just not right.

-Pat Freiermuth, TE – Unlucky Irish – 1 pt – A week after having 5 catches for 44 yards and 2 TD’s, Freiermuth was non-existent catching just 2 balls for a mere 11 yards.

-Brandon Aubrey, K – Big Sack No TDs – 1 pt – The Cowboys offense gave Aubrey no chance, as he finished with no field goal attempts, and made just 1 extra point.  Weak sauce.

-DJ Moore, WR – J LUV U LONG TIME – 0 pts – Moore was listed as Out prior to the game but remained in J LUV’s line-up… come on man!

-Juwan Johnson, TE – sprouts – 0 pts – No catches.  No yards.  No reason to have him in your line up.

-Harold Fannin Jr., TE – Tip Toeing – 0 pts – Two weeks in a row of zero points for Fannin.  He did come close to scoring though, catching one ball for 9 yards.  Oof.

-Cam Skattebo, RB – Wyld Ass Monkeys – 0 pts – Skattebo was only in the game for 6 snaps and had zero carries.  Apparently the Giants are trying to teach him to not fumble, by not having him carry the ball at all?  I mean, I guess if he doesn’t carry it he can’t fumble it, right?

TOP 5 CHECK INS

The team with the most players in the Top 5 is sprouts, who amazingly has 6 players!  Russ has a quarterback, running back, wide receiver, defense and 2 kickers all in the Top 5 of their position.  The next closest is five teams who each have 3 players each in the top five: Chief Dredd, J LUV U LONG TIME, Joe’s Pats, Tip Toeing and Wyld Ass Monkeys.  

Here are the top five players for each position through six weeks:

BEST BENCH

There weren’t a whole lot of points left on the bench this week, obviously, and there were four teams who had just single digit improvement possibilities.  This week’s Best Bench wasn’t particularly high, or notable for involving many players, but the manner in which it was earned was definitely unique.  More on that in a second.  So, with a 33-point-improvement-possibility, the Week 6 Best Bench goes to… sprouts!

Russ needed just two roster swaps to get there.  The thing about it, owing to bye weeks and injuries, he only had two active/healthy players on his bench.  His bench consisted of Kyle Pitts Sr (Atl, TE) and the Bears Defense, both of whom outscored their “starter” counterparts, Juwan Johnson and the Rams.  Pitts outscored Johnson by +18 points and Bears outscored the Rams by +15.  The only two swaps he could’ve made, he should’ve made.  Absolutely crazy!  This was Russ’ first Best Bench this season, and is the 5th team to take one home this season.

Four NFL teams on bye in Week 7: Buffalo, Jacksonville, LA Chargers and Washington.  Make sure your rosters are ready and get those waivers in!!

Week 5 was the highest scoring week of the season, with four teams cracking triple digits, all higher than 113!  And amazingly none of those four teams faced each other, so all got victories.  The 977 points posted this week were the most since that same amount was achieved in Week 6 way back in 2021.

The big congratulations go to Unlucky Irish who posted a massive 134 points, in spite of having a tight end only score 1 point and a receiver only score 3 points.  You can get by with that, as John did, by having Jahmyr Gibbs score 35, Jason Myers, your kicker, score 23(!), Trevor Lawrence score 21 and the Texans defense score 20.  Four players scoring 20 or more is always a good thing.  To top it off he had Mike Evans nearly get there by scoring 19.  All in all, just a great week, and the highest weekly total we’ve had this season!  Nice work big guy!  This was John’s first Weekly High Score prize this season, and is the fourth different team to claim one this year.  

Across the rest of the league, my Rebels got scalped by Chief Dredd so there are no undefeated teams remaining.  The last time anyone even made it to 5-0 was back in 2013 when Timmy’s Channel 4 News Team actually started off 6-0.  No one has made it past 4-0 since then.  On the other end of the spectrum, American BadAss remains winless after Big Sack No TDs had a Monday Night comeback to win 89-74.  The record for worst starting record belongs to Yours Truly, as twice (in a row I might add) my team started off 0-6 (2011 & 2012).  In other matchups, James’ renamed “Tip Toeing” and Rob’s Wyld Ass Monkeys notched victories to move into winning records at 3-2.

This week is my annual “Way Too Early” Playoff Predictions!  I’m sticking to my same methodology because it’s gotta work this time. More on that below.  Also, we give out a Best Bench at a level not seen in years.  Let’s.  Do.  This!!

BIG TIME

• Drake Maye, QB – American BadAss – 41 pts – This is most points scored in a single week by any player this year!  This was quite the game for Maye, throwing for 374 yards and 4 TD’s, plus he had 25 yards rushing and another TD.
• Jahmyr Gibbs, RB – Unlucky Irish – 35 pts – Another week north of 30 points for Gibbs which gives him 3 this season in just 5 weeks of action.  He was great this week, going for 151 yards and 2 TD’s, plus added 5 catches for 56 yards.  He is now the top ranked runningback in fantasy, and it’s not really close.  He leads the 2nd place RB (Bijan Robinson) by 27 points.
• Bucky Irving, RB – Joe’s Pats – 32 pts – Coming into the week, Bucky had 31 total points on the season.  He just went ahead and doubled that with an amazing week, getting 165 yards on the ground, along with 10 yards receiving and adding both a rushing and receiving TD.
• Jayden Daniels, QB – Unlucky Irish – 30 pts – Who needs a passing game?  Daniels threw for just 199 passing yards and no TD’s.  But he made up for it by rushing for 103 yards plus getting in the endzone twice!
• Jaylen Warren, RB – Chief Dredd – 30 pts – Warren was all about the long plays this week, gaining 101 yards and a TD on just 15 carries, plus gaining 87 yards receiving on just 6 catches.  He averaged nearly 9 yards each time he touched the ball.

COME ON MAN

• Jaylen Waddle, WR – Scottish Rebels – 1 pt – This is the definition of ‘Come On Man’.  He was literally 2 yards away from getting 2 more points.  He caught 2 passes for 19 yards (could you get just 1 more?), plus had one carry for 9 yards (1 more? Maybe??).  Come on man...
• Juwan Johnson, TE – sprouts – 1 pt – Wasn’t for lack of trying… JJ caught 4 of 5 passes thrown his way, but he gained all of 16 yards.
• Jake Ferguson, TE – American BadAss – 1 pt – He did catch 50% of passes thrown his way (3 of 6), but they didn’t go far.  He finished with only 19 yards.
• Colston Loveland, TE – Unlucky Irish – 1 pt – Another weak tight end performance.  Loveland caught 2 balls for 19 yards.  Don’t love that.
• Harold Fanin Jr., TE – Tip Toeing – 0 pts – The tight end failures keep on coming.  After scoring 17 and 8 points in the previous two weeks, Harold just went to sleep this week.  One catch.  Four yards.  Zero points.  
• Ceedee Lamb, WR – Chief Dredd – 0 pts – Lamb did have a quad injury, and I normally don’t call out injured players in this section.  But he actually played after he sustained the injury, so apparently he was healthy enough to continue disappointing everyone.  Even after the goose egg this week, Lamb is still the 3rd highest scoring wide receiver so far this season.

CHRIS COLLINSWORTH AUTO-COMMENT GENERATOR:

“Now here’s a guy [insert the most gay thing you can think of related to Patrick Mahomes]”

JOKE OF THE WEEK – GRAMMAR EDITION

Contractions function almost identically to the full two-word phrase, but are only appropriate in some places in a sentence.  It’s one of the weird quirks of this language we’ve.

JOKE OF THE WEEK #2 – GRAMMAR EDITION

Some people say the English language is confusing.  To which I say, it’s.

PLAYOFFS?  DON’T TALK ABOUT PLAYOFFS!!  PLAYOFFS??!

Before we dive into this season’s predictions, a quick look back.  Over the last 8 seasons, my prediction record is 36 correct and 12 wrong, so I’m right at a 75% success rate.  Only once in those 8 seasons have I gone 6-for-6 on my picks, and that was way back in 2020.  I’ve gone 5-1 three times, 4-2 another three times, and in 2023 I had my worst showing at 3-3.  

Last season was one of the 4-2 finishes, partly due to my not picking Unlucky Irish to make the playoffs.  But John’s team became the first team in league history to make it in after starting the season 0-5.  Somehow after that brutal start, John managed to battle back to a 7-7 record which nabbed him the first Wildcard spot.  Absolutely crazy!  So there’s always hope.

In spite of my mixed results, I’m still following the same methodology as in years past:  mostly looking at current records, points scored, schedule difficulty and utilization, but also throwing in some gut feelings.  You know, part science, part art.  

So now without further ado, here are my “Way Too Early” 2026 Playoff Predictions:

Most likely to make it in:  Tip Toeing and Scottish Rebels.  

James and I are tied for most points scored so far this season with 508.  This is the only sure bet left where the top scoring team through 5 weeks has always made it in.  So I’m banking on that trend to continue.

Better chance than not:  Chief Dredd and Unlucky Irish.  

Timmy is tied for the best record in the league at 4-1, which has a 79% playoff qualification rate.  Plus he ranks 5th in scoring, which oddly qualifies 75% of the time.  Two solid indicators.  

John meanwhile ranks 3rd in scoring, literally just one point behind James and I with 507 points.  He also has the easiest remaining schedule.  (I’m not getting fooled again this season, John!)

Will be tight:  Joe’s Pats and sprouts.  

Joe ranks 4th in utilization and 6th in points scored, which qualifies ~53% of the time.  Not exactly overwhelming odds, but Joe usually figures out a way to scrape together enough players to get in.  

For Russ, he ranks 4th in scoring which qualifies ~62% of the time but he does have the most difficult remaining schedule.  So it’s gonna be tight.

Teams Not Expected to Make it:  Wyld Ass Monkeys, J LUV U LONG TIME, Big Sack No TDs and American BadAss.  

For Rob, it was a very tough decision…he has a 3-2 record which is good, and has historically been a good playoff-qualification indicator, but currently ranks 9th in points scored, which is not good.  For Shawn, he has the 2nd worst record (1-4) which has only qualified 21% of the time.  For Jens, he ranks 8th in points and 10th in utilization, both of which hurt qualification chances.  For Jason, he’s got the double whammy of having an 0-4-1 record and is currently the lowest scoring team.  Two other times there have been teams to start 0-4-1, and neither time did they qualify.  Also, the lowest scoring team through Week 5 has only qualified ~16% of the time. 

If history is any guide, I’m probably wrong on two of my picks. The question is, which two? Still a lot of games to be played!

BEST BENCH

Some teams who don’t claim many Best Benches REALLY go for it when they get one.  Such is the case with this week’s winner.  The bench-improvement-possibility taking the crown this week is a MASSIVE 56 points!  This is the highest improvement possibility since Week 2, 2023, over 3 years ago.  The Week 5 Best Bench goes to… American BadAss!

Jason needed only three roster moves to get there:  D. Maye for D. Prescott +29, P. Washington for Z. Flowers +18 and B. Corum for C. Brown +9.  As mentioned, it’s been a while since Jason took a Best Bench, as his last one was in Week 17 of 2024.  It was the second longest non-Best Bench streak in the league.  (One team holds the current record at nearly 2 years of no Best Benches.)

Four NFL teams are on byes this week and injuries are more present than ever, so make sure to set your rosters.  And get those waiver claims in!!