Fantasy Football Landmines to Avoid for Week 6 - Trevor Lawrence, Garrett Wilson, Jake Ferguson, more

October 17, 2026

Aidin looks at fantasy football landmines, busts, and avoids for Week 6 of 2026. Given these Week 6 fantasy situations, consider benching these players.

Thursday Night Football is the enemy of fantasy football. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was the only player who managed to score more than 14.7 PPR points in the Broncos vs. Seahawks matchup, and Bo Nix once again "found a way to win" with 4.0 yards per attempt. He now has 13 wins in games with 6.0 yards per attempt or fewer; no other quarterback has more than 5 wins in such games since Nix was drafted. Anyway, it's now time for the main Sunday slate.

In this weekly series, I'll highlight five players who could disappoint due to several factors, such as their matchup, team situation, or whether their current run of form is unsustainable. Benching these star names will be tough, but you have to take risks to win. Last week was unfortunately my worst week. It started off great with Jalen Hurts' poor performance in London (though none of us knew he was playing with a blood clot) and David Montgomery's 1.1 PPR points before his injury, but everything went downhill after that. Jordan Love finished as the QB7, executing the Packers' "air raid" game plan to perfection. Tyler Warren and the half-injured Mike Evans also had top-six performances at their positions. Let's bounce back and go for some big wins this week!

Without further ado, let's look at five fantasy football landmines you should bench ahead of Week 6 of the 2026 NFL season.

Trevor Lawrence, QB, vs. Houston Texans

"Never trust the Texans' defense again," I said last week. But this pick isn't necessarily because of their current defensive prowess; it's mostly due to Lawrence's history against Houston, his top divisional rival for the last few years.

Quinyon Mitchell intercepts Trevor Lawrence!

@PHIvsJAX on NFL Network
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/hTpSjFSm5S

— NFL (@NFL) October 11, 2026

No, one good performance against the winless Titans with a struggling Cam Ward isn't enough to bring the Texans' defense back to the top five of most people's rankings.

But they have always done an exceptional job against Trevor Lawrence, and with momentum on their side, could do it again.

The elite quarterback has thrown eight touchdowns to 11 interceptions with a 77.6 passer rating in 10 games against the Texans, and his fantasy stats don't look much better.

Lawrence has averaged just 11.6 fantasy points per game and hasn't put up more than 15.0 points against them since Week 12 of the 2023 season.

The Texans are finally looking to get serious after their woeful start to the season, and they are clearly better than their 1-4 record suggests. They rank 9th in defensive EPA/play and 13th in offensive EPA/play, one of only six teams to rank in the top 13 in both categories.

A win over Lawrence's Jags would be crucial for the Texans' playoff chances, and they should be grateful this game will be played at Wembley Stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is Lawrence's preferred "home" in London, as he averages 17.6 fantasy points per game there compared to 14.0 PPG at Wembley.

Emeka Egbuka, WR, vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Well, it's finally here, the game I have been awaiting for almost a year. Unfortunately, the Buccaneers are nowhere near what I or other Bucs fans expected them to be when the season started, which should make any bragging rights from winning this game meaningless.

Baker Mayfield tried to test his ability to grip and throw the football this week, but it didn't go too well, which means rookie UDFA Jalon Daniels will start his third game for the Bucs.

Daniels showed some poise last week, beating the Cowboys in a massive upset on Thursday Night Football.

Daniels has only averaged 1.6 completed air yards per attempt so far this season, and he obviously has limitations as a passer. His passes behind the line of scrimmage favor players like Chris Godwin Jr., but not Emeka Egbuka.

Egbuka did manage to find the endzone against Dallas, but it was a rushing touchdown. The Cowboys' defense ranks dead last in net yards allowed per drive, so I don't expect the Steelers, who rank 13th in that category, to bend so easily.

No player has had over 100 receiving yards against the Steelers this season, which is quite impressive when you consider the players they've played (Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Denzel Boston, and others).

I certainly don't expect Egbuka to be the one to break that trend, and I do expect him to struggle.

Omarion Hampton, RB, at Kansas City Chiefs

The Chargers' playoff hopes are all but over now. After all, no team in NFL history has ever made the postseason following a 0-5 start. Similar to the Texans and Buccaneers, it's a far cry from their pre-season expectations; it's even worse for the Chargers because they're still winless.

Omarion Hampton Inefficient, Out-Snapped by Backfield Mates https://t.co/rT1rcZL8UH

— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) October 12, 2026

Omarion Hampton, who was viewed as a first-to-second-round fantasy pick heading into this season, has been one of the most disappointing players on this Chargers team.

He is currently the PPR RB25 and is being outscored by several backup running backs such as Brian Robinson Jr. and Kyle Monangai.

Hampton's season outlook is pretty bleak, as he'll face off against the Chiefs (twice), Texans, Ravens, Patriots, Buccaneers, and 49ers. That's seven remaining games against top-12 run defenses, and the two Chiefs games are probably the ones he and Chargers fans should fear the most.

Steve Spagnuolo's defense is coming off a bye week, having held Jonathan Taylor to 3.8 yards per carry while not allowing any other player to run for over 58 yards.

Hampton has 109 rushing yards and no touchdowns on 30 attempts against the Chiefs in his career, finishing outside of the PPR fantasy RB top 30 on both occasions.

Garrett Wilson, WR, at New England Patriots

Dread it, run from it, the Patriots' defense arrives all the same. Despite their slip-up against the Jaguars, which may have been fueled by Drake Maye's turnovers that put them in bad positions, the Patriots' defense has been dominant over their last 11 games.

In that stretch, which includes their run to Super Bowl LX, the Patriots' defense has given up just 14.7 points per game. They rank seventh in EPA/dropback and ninth in fewest net passing yards allowed so far this season.

Garrett Wilson has taken the leap to superstardom so far this season, carrying the Jets' offense with two 100-yard outings.

But the Patriots' defense will be a massive test for him, and so will be the returning Christian Gonzalez. Per PFF, Wilson has been limited to just five catches for 26 yards when guarded by Gonzalez

Jake Ferguson, TE, at Green Bay Packers

Jake Ferguson has had a very slow start to the 2026 season so far. Apart from his PPR TE4 performance in Week 2, Ferguson hasn't been a top-18 PPR tight end in any other week. He's quickly falling into the "must drop" category.

ALEX ANZALONE PICKS IT OFF!

@TBvsDAL on Prime Video
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/DDN666VaJz

— NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2026

The once-promising tight end, who signed a four-year, $52 million contract extension with the Cowboys in 2025, will have to do a lot to turn his season around following a woeful performance in Week 5.

He had multiple drops against the Buccaneers, the last of which led to a game-losing interception.

Sadly for Ferguson, the Packers have been experts at defending tight ends so far this season. They have allowed just 160 yards to TEs, the fourth-lowest mark in the league, and haven't allowed a tight end to have over 80 yards since Week 13 of the 2024 season.

Ferguson famously scored a hat-trick (three touchdowns) in the Cowboys' upset playoff loss to the Packers in 2023, but almost everything will have to go right for him to even get close to replicating that performance.

You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.

Week 6 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players -- Trevor Lawrence, Emeka Egbuka, Omarion Hampton, Garrett Wilson, and Jake Ferguson. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 6.

Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.

Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare, with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!

How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.

Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.

Popular Week 6 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 6 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.

Popular Week 6 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons

Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 6 for Trevor Lawrence, Emeka Egbuka, Omarion Hampton, Garrett Wilson, and Jake Ferguson: