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Dan's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 6 of 2025. He looks at potential warning signals from RJ Harvey, Jaylen Warren, Marvin Harrison Jr., Cooper Kupp, and Chig Okonkwo.
Hello again, RotoBallers, and welcome back to the latest addition of my Warning Signals column. Ever the pessimist when it comes to fantasy football, I’m always on the lookout for the next players destined to betray my efforts to secure a win in the coming week.
In Week 6, I’m betting against rebound games for R.J. Harvey and Jaylen Warren. On the wide receiver front, I don’t like what I see in store for Marvin Harrison Jr.. Likewise, Cooper Kupp’s upcoming matchup spells disaster for the former triple-crown receiver. Lastly, it looks to me like any hope for Chig Okonkwo standing out as a bad offense’s best option is now dead.
Like any fantasy football player, I try my best to keep up with team trends and player utilization in an attempt to find an edge over my opponents. Sometimes the things I notice steer me away from a player, and in this column, I share what I see. Here now are the Warning Signals that I picked up on as we prepare for Week 6 of the fantasy football season.
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R.J. Harvey, RB, Denver Broncos
Harvey had a mini-breakout in Week 4, handling 14 carries for 58 yards and catching four passes for another 40 and his first career touchdown. His snap share drew nearly even with J.K. Dobbins’, and he drew more touches than the veteran for the first time (18 to Dobbins’ 17).
Unfortunately, Harvey took a massive step back in Week 5, seeing just seven touches for 30 scrimmage yards. Harvey’s snap share was cut in half, with the Broncos relying on Tyler Badie for third downs and two-minute drill work. Additionally, Dobbins was back in the driver’s seat with 20 carries to Harvey’s four.
Just a euphoric split zone rep from Denver. Pat Bryant managing the cutoff on the weakside end, Mike McGlinchey opening the cutback lane, and Quinn Meinerz nullifying Zack Baun. The cherry on top is Denver finally having a back in JK Dobbins who can find cutback lanes. pic.twitter.com/jijF338mCl
— Frankie Abbott (@FrankiesFilm) October 7, 2025
In Week 6, the Broncos go to London to face the Jets. New York has given up the seventh-most rushing yards to opposing running backs through the first five weeks of 2025, but as we have seen, Denver’s ground attack will be dominated by Dobbins. Harvey’s efforts as a receiver out of the backfield will be hard to bank on for a payday against the Jets. New York has allowed just 80 receiving yards to the position, the second-fewest in the league. Harvey still has the potential to break out at some point this season, but I’m not betting on it happening in Week 6.
Jaylen Warren, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Over the first three weeks of the season, Warren saw his snap and rush shares gradually increase game by game, to the detriment of Kenneth Gainwell. Warren’s production wasn’t gangbusters, but he did well enough to open the year with three straight RB2 finishes. Warren looked to be building up steam until his last-minute scratch from the Steelers’ Week 4 game in Dublin due to a knee issue.
Warren opened Week 6 with a full practice session and is presumably healthy enough now to step back into his lead role in Pittsburgh. Gainwell’s monster performance in Warren’s absence is hard to ignore, though, and may be cause for the backup to be given back some of the workload taken over by Warren, bit by bit.
Perhaps the bigger threat to Warren’s prospects in Week 6 isn’t a potential timeshare, but Pittsburgh’s matchup against the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are allowing a league-leading 3.09 yards per carry to running backs and have given up the second-fewest rushing yards (312) and third-fewest PPR points per game to the position.
In most cases, it would be a relief to get a player back after a two-week absence (Pittsburgh followed its international game with a Week 5 bye). The threat of Gainwell’s big game being rewarded with a greater opportunity share at Warren’s expense, combined with an unwelcoming matchup, makes it hard to be excited for Warren’s return. Fantasy football managers are better off leaving him on the bench one more week.
Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Arizona Cardinals
Harrison kicked off 2025 the right way, securing a 5-71-1 line that gave him a top-12 finish at wide receiver in Week 1. Harrison looked like he was stepping up to meet the outsized expectations placed on him as a rookie last season. Unfortunately, he crashed back down to earth in Week 2 with a two-catch, 27-yard performance against Carolina, followed by a three-catch, 44-yard day in Week 3.
Harrison rebounded in Week 4, grabbing six catches for 66 yards and his second touchdown of the season, and came through with four catches and 98 yards last week. His performance over the last two games got him back into the WR2 conversation, but I am stepping off this roller coaster in Week 6. Harrison and the Cardinals go up against the Colts on Sunday, and while Indianapolis might look like a favorable matchup based on fantasy points allowed, I have my doubts that this will be a lucrative game for the second-year receiver.
For one, Indianapolis leans into man coverage more often than most teams, and that is a scheme where Harrison suffers. Harrison's fantasy points per route run in man coverage are half of what he finds against the zone. Secondly, most of the damage done to the Colts from a fantasy perspective was incurred in a single game, when Puka Nacua and company ran roughshod over Indy’s secondary in Week 4. Harrison is not Nacua, Zay Jones is not Davante Adams, and Kyler Murray (foot) is not Matthew Stafford. The Colts should be able to handle Arizona’s passing attack with relative ease.
You know who else isn’t Stafford? Jacoby Brissett. Why do I mention this? It's because the foot injury that Kyler Murray suffered in Week 5 prevented him from participating in Arizona’s first official practice of the week. Should Murray be unavailable for Week 6, Brissett would take over under center. A quarterback downgrade on Sunday would lower my expectations for Harrison even further.
Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon says they're taking Kyler Murray's foot injury "day by day."
The Cards franchise QB not practicing today. pic.twitter.com/DqPQqVs9se
— PHNX Cardinals (@PHNX_Cardinals) October 8, 2025
Cooper Kupp, WR, Seattle Seahawks
Cooper Kupp’s post-Stafford career has been predictably lackluster. Still, the 32-year-old receiver is rostered in 66% of leagues, so it is safe to assume he is also being worked into starting lineups even if it is as a flex option. This is one week to leave Kupp out of the starting lineup altogether.
In Week 6, the Seahawks will meet the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Kupp is likely to see plenty of action against cornerback Jourdan Lewis. Lewis has two interceptions on the year, and his seven passes defended rank second in the league. He is particularly effective in slot coverage, where Kupp spends roughly half his time, holding opposing receivers to just 15 receptions on a league-leading 147 coverage snaps from the position.
It's bad enough what's happened to the Cowboys' defense, but to then see how Jourdan Lewis is playing his best ball ever in Jacksonville after eight seasons in Big D... that's a pretty big oof. pic.twitter.com/7DBMtutpzq
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) October 8, 2025
Despite the poor results, Kupp is still commanding a 22.9% target share in Seattle. Positive regression may be on its way, but I would not expect a turnaround in Week 6.
Chig Okonkwo, TE, Tennessee Titans
At the start of the season, Okonkwo appeared to be on the cusp of a breakout season. Okonkwo surged at the end of 2024, catching 22 passes for 182 yards on 28 targets in Weeks 15 through 17. Short on pass-catching talent outside of wide receiver Calvin Ridley, Okonkwo was primed to take another step forward in Tennessee’s offense.
Reality has not matched that expectation, and through five games, Okonkwo has a pedestrian 16% team target share and an air yard share of just 8%. On the season, the tight end has 17 catches for 172 yards, and has yet to score a touchdown or see his first red zone target.
Okonkwo’s prospects are unlikely to improve soon. In Week 6, the Titans go up against the Raiders, who have been stingy with opposing tight ends. Currently, they have given up just one touchdown and are tied for the third-fewest receptions allowed to the position.
Okonkwo is also losing ground to teammate Gunnar Helm, who outsnapped Okonkwo for the first time this season in Week 5. The pair matched each other in targets (five) and receptions (four) against the Cardinals, though Okonkwo held the edge in yardage (48 to Helm’s 34). The dysfunction in Tennessee is well known by now, and to have a timeshare brewing on top of that makes Okonkwo a hard pass in Week 6.
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