Fantasy Football Week 6 Wide Receiver Rankings: Despite shifting role, Deebo Samuel remains must-start

Chris Towers walks through his wide receiver rankings for Week 6

By Chris Towers

Oct 16, 2022 at 10:33 am ET • 2 min read

USATSI

It was surprising to see Tevin Coleman play a significant role for the 49ers in Week 5, but it was even more surprising to see that it came at Deebo Samuel's expense. Samuel's emergence as a playmaker in the running game has been one of the biggest developments for the 49ers offense over the past few seasons, but he's taken on a smaller role over the past few weeks, and it seems like Coleman's return to the team has played a role:

Rush share by Week

Week 3
Wilson 63%
Deebo 26%

Week 4-5
Wilson 68%
Deebo 7.8%
— Heath Cummings (@heathcummingssr) October 10, 2022

Samuel has just four carries over the past two games, and he played just one snap in the backfield in Week 5; in Week 3, by comparison, he had five carries and lined up in the backfield on eight snaps. If you're looking for reasons to be optimistic in spite of that, Samuel does have a 28% target share with Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback. That's similar to how he was used last season, so he can still be very, very good.

But that has come with just a 5.96 average depth of target in the past three games, down significantly from last season's 8.4-yard mark. Samuel made up for declining downfield and overall receiver usage down the stretch last season with his role as a part-time running back. That's not what we've seen lately, and it's fair to wonder if he can still be an elite Fantasy option. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here ranking him as my WR6, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.

Here's are my wide receiver rankings for Week 6. And, remember, with bye weeks starting this week, the Lions, Titans, Raiders, and Texans are all out -- so, no Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, Robert Woods, Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow, or Brandin Cooks below. You can probably survive without most of them, but you'll miss St. Brown and Adams, at least.