NFL Week 6 Recap: Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Sunday's games

Jaylin Noel shines in Marvin Harrison Jr.'s debut: Harrison was eased into action, while Noel stole the show with four receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown.

Travis Hunter continues his development as a two-way player: Hunter recorded both an interception and a receiving touchdown for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Brian Thomas Jr. doesn't play in the second half: Thomas was held without a catch in the first half, and his time in Jacksonville may be coming to an end.

Jump to a game:

Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Texans adjust without David Montgomery: Houston's lead running back didn't practice all week because of a groin injury and was ruled out Friday.

Houston has spent the season using a two-man running back rotation by drive between Montgomery and Woody Marks. Montgomery played 54% of the snaps over the first four weeks, compared to 46% for Marks. Montgomery suffered his injury last week, allowing Marks to take over the backfield. The only other running back on the roster was Dare Ogunbowale, who primarily plays on special teams and logged just one offensive snap last week. The Texans elevated running back Jawhar Jordan from the practice squad Saturday.

Houston opened the game with Marks handling three straight drives. Jordan took over for the fourth drive before Marks closed out the half. After several short drives in the first half, Houston put together multiple long drives in the second half. As a result, Marks handled most of the work, with Jordan mixing in when Marks needed a break. That included one drive in which Marks played the first five snaps before Jordan entered and broke off a 25-yard touchdown run.

Marks still recorded 17 touches against a strong run defense and saw excellent usage, even though Jordan ultimately provided more fantasy value. If Montgomery misses another game, Marks would remain a safe fantasy starter next week against the New York Giants, when he could be more efficient.

Houston trades for Marvin Harrison Jr.: The Texans acquired the former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Monday in exchange for a second-round pick.

Houston started the season with Nico Collins as its primary X receiver and Jared Wayne as his backup. Xavier Hutchinson led a two-man rotation with Kayshon Boutte at Z receiver in 12 personnel, while Boutte was the primary Z receiver in 11 personnel. Jaylin Noel was the primary slot receiver, with Hutchinson also rotating in frequently for both Boutte and Noel.

Houston had expected Jaydin Higgins to be its second receiving option before his season-ending injury. There was also hope that Tank Dell would join the rotation, but he remains on injured reserve. The Texans traded for Boutte before the season to provide another option, but he has failed to surpass 40 receiving yards in any of his five games.

With the addition of Harrison, Houston released Jared Wayne in a corresponding move. Wayne has since signed with the Miami Dolphins.

Harrison was expected to be on a snap count, so this game was unlikely to reveal his eventual snap ceiling in Houston, particularly given the team's tendency to rotate wide receivers other than Collins over the past few seasons. However, we did get a clearer picture of who would lose snaps. Harrison has traditionally played X receiver, where Collins lines up, so we also learned more about how Houston plans to deploy its receivers.

Houston opened the game with its usual rotation. The Texans continued using plenty of two- and three-tight end sets, giving Hutchinson more playing time. Harrison didn't see his first offensive snap until the third drive, then returned at the start of the fourth. His snaps came in three- and four-wide-receiver sets, where he lined up alongside Collins and Noel, who played in the slot.

Harrison mixed in more frequently during the second half but remained a clear fifth on the depth chart. His addition had no impact on where Collins lined up. Instead, Harrison played more Z receiver than usual, a trend that will likely continue going forward.

This suggests Harrison should eventually replace Boutte as the other outside receiver in 11 personnel. That could move Boutte into Wayne's former role as the backup X receiver behind Collins.

Harrison will also need to surpass Hutchinson as an outside receiver in 12 personnel before he can be trusted in fantasy starting lineups. It's too early to tell whether that will happen.

Dalton Schultz plays a season-low 40% of offensive snaps: Schultz is becoming more of a third-down specialist for Houston rather than an every-down tight end.

Schultz began the season playing roughly two-thirds of the Texans' offensive snaps, consistently seeing the field in 11 personnel but not in 12 personnel. This resulted in a respectable 73.5% route participation rate, which, combined with a high 26.7% target rate, gave him fantasy value.

As the season has progressed, the Texans have played better as a team, allowing them to play with leads more often. This has led Houston to use more 12 personnel. This was also the second straight week in which the Texans used Blake Fisher as a sixth offensive lineman, doing so for a season-high 21 offensive snaps this week. Foster Moreau typically joins Fisher in these formations, leaving fewer opportunities for true 11 personnel outside of third downs.

Schultz's target rate per route run has remained high over the past two weeks at 28.6%, but his route participation rate has fallen to 48.6%. Houston is expected to remain a better-than-average team going forward, so you can drop Schultz in most fantasy leagues.

Chris Rodriguez Jr. gets the hot hand: Rodriguez gained 14 yards on his first carry, which earned him more opportunities.

The Jaguars started the season with Bhayshul Tuten and Rodriguez splitting early-down snaps, with Tuten holding a slight lead. Tuten played 54.8% of early-down snaps in Week 1, with that rate rising to the mid-60s in Weeks 2 and 3, 71.1% in Week 4 and 87.5% in Week 5. LeQuint Allen Jr. has remained the third-down back when healthy, as he was last season.

The Jaguars started this game with their usual rotation, with Tuten taking all the early-down snaps on the first two drives and Allen handling third downs. Tuten was solid on his three carries during those drives, gaining 3-4 yards on each run. Rodriguez took his first snap on the third drive, a little earlier than he entered last week, although the Jaguars were also controlling time of possession early. He gained 14 yards on his first carry and continued to play well.

Rodriguez remained the lead back on the next two drives, but those drives were long enough for Tuten to return toward the end of each, resulting in two Tuten touchdowns. At halftime, Tuten held only a slight lead in snaps over Rodriguez, 21-19, while Allen had played six.

The Jaguars leaned more heavily on the passing game in the second half, and Tuten is the more well-rounded back. As a result, Tuten played 19 of 24 second-half snaps, compared to two each for Allen and Rodriguez.

Tuten remains a must-start fantasy option, but Rodriguez could have some flex appeal in games where Jacksonville is expected to win comfortably, as both running backs should see plenty of carries in those situations.

Brian Thomas Jr. disappears for the Jaguars: The former starter didn't play a single offensive snap in the second half.

Thomas played 48.1% of Jacksonville's offensive snaps over the first five weeks. Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington have established themselves as the starters in both 11 and 12 personnel. Thomas has typically joined them in 11 personnel, but rookie Josh Cameron has mixed in at times. Cameron has played more than Thomas in both 12 and 13 personnel because of his blocking ability.

This week, Cameron outsnapped Thomas 19-15 in the first half. While some of that came from the usual 12- and 13-personnel snaps, Cameron played 12 of a possible 28 snaps in 11 personnel, compared to 15 for Thomas. Travis Hunter was also more involved than usual in the first half, playing five snaps. Thomas was targeted twice but didn't record a catch.

In the second half, Cameron took over as the third wide receiver, playing 16 of 24 offensive snaps. Hunter played four offensive snaps in the second half, including a receiving touchdown. Hunter had caught just two passes for 17 yards over the first five weeks, but he finished this game with four receptions for 59 yards. While Thomas may have been dealing with an unannounced injury, it's also possible he was benched.

It wouldn't be surprising to see Thomas traded in the near future, as Jacksonville's wide receiver room would still be in good shape with Washington and Meyers as the starters and Cameron rotating with Hunter for the third spot.

Miscellaneous Notes

Jacksonville wide receiver CJ Williams was held out as a healthy scratch (his fifth straight absence).

Texans wide receiver Tank Dell (knee) was a full participant in practice Wednesday and Thursday, didn't practice Friday, and remains on injured reserve.

Texans tight end Marlin Klein was a healthy scratch (his third straight absence).

Table notes

Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, such as offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats exclude these plays.

Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy is a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may credit the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count toward the total number of carries in the game.

NFL Week 6 Recap: Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Sunday's games

Jump to a game:

Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Miscellaneous Notes

Chicago Bears @ Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens @ Cleveland Browns

Tennessee Titans @ Indianapolis Colts

New York Jets @ New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints @ New York Giants

Carolina Panthers @ Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Arizona Cardinals @ Los Angeles Rams

Los Angeles Chargers @ Kansas City Chiefs

Buffalo Bills @ Las Vegas Raiders

Dallas Cowboys @ Green Bay Packers

Table notes