Fantasy Football Week 6 Injury Updates: Rico Dowdle, Michael Mayer get Expanded Roles

News came down on Friday that both Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard and Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers will miss their second straight game.

On top of the real-life implications for their teams, these injuries shake up fantasy football, as Bowers is a weekly fantasy starter and Hubbard is a starting running back, a fantasy football premium. Injuries are adding up, as they do every season, and every missing player makes us dig a little deeper into our bag of tricks to make the best lineup.

Let's look at the impact these injuries will have on the Week 6 games in question and the fantasy football fallout from both players sitting out. Most importantly, we'll touch on the guys who will benefit from extra snaps and whether one player can repeat an historic performance.

Check out FantasySP's injury roundup to stay current with every player who might be out of the lineup each week.

Hubbard Out with Calf Injury

Hubbard played through this injury in Week 4, but he was forced to miss last week and will again sit out of this one. It sounds like Hubbard is week-to-week, returning as soon as next Sunday against the Jets.

When he has been on the field, Hubbard has been good, averaging 77.8 total yards per game and scoring two receiving touchdowns. That had him among the top 20 fantasy running backs in both standard and PPR through four weeks.

Then Week 5 happened: Rico Dowdle started with Hubbard out and ran for 206 yards on 9.0 per attempt, scoring a touchdown and adding three catches for 28 yards. He was the top fantasy scorer for the week regardless of position in both standard and PPR. Now with another chance to lead the way, Dowdle could solidify his spot in the backfield alongside the starter.

Fantasy Football Implications

Trevor Etienne moved into the backup role with Hubbard not in the lineup, but he barely touched the ball behind Dowdle. That's likely to be the case again here, leaving only the latter as a player to consider in the fantasy world.

Can Dowdle repeat his big Week 5? Probably not. Rather than thinking if he can reach 200 yards, it's better to investigate whether Dowdle can have another successful day that helps fantasy owners in Week 6 and puts him on the field more often once Hubbard returns.

The matchup against the Dolphins last week was a good one, and now the Panthers face the Cowboys, a team that has allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to running backs. They are in the middle in terms of yards per rush attempt allowed.

Last season, Dallas gave up the fifth-most yards per rush attempt and the ninth-most fantasy points to running backs. They are probably still a below-average run defense, something we'll know after getting more weeks of information.

Dowdle has a decent outlook, but he's probably in the low-RB2/flex range. I don't trust the Panthers to find success consistently on offense, something that lowers his ceiling and his floor.

Bowers Out for Vegas

Bowers hurt his knee late in Week 1, when he had already accumulated five catches and 103 yards. He played the next three games and caught 14 total passes in that time, but he gained just 122 yards, 8.7 yards per catch. He averaged 10.7 yards per reception last season (and 20.6 in Week 1); Bowers looked hampered by the injury.

Maybe because of that, and maybe partly because the Raiders are 1-4 and not going anywhere, they finally sat Bowers last week and are continuing their precaution. Like Hubbard, Bowers appears to be week-to-week and could come back next Sunday.

As a Raiders fan, it's sad to think that they are already done after five games, but it's probably also true. I didn't have high hopes entering the season, so it's not a surprise to see them near the basement. A loss this week to the 1-4 Titans would solidify Las Vegas among the worst in the league.

Fantasy Football Implications

Michael Mayer missed the past two games with a concussion, but he has been cleared and will play in Week 6. Mayer was drafted 35th overall in 2023 with thoughts that he would be the future in Las Vegas; then Bowers came along the next season, pushing Mayer down the depth chart.

The third-year player now gets his chance to lead the way after six receptions for 47 yards in the first two games (he suffered the concussion early in Week 3). Mayer has yet to make a major impact, but he should be expected to be a regular part of the offense by now. He and Bowers can play together given the latter's versatile skillset.

Tennessee has given up the 10th-most yards per pass attempt but the ninth-fewest fantasy points to tight ends. The TE groups of all five teams the Titans have faced have recorded between 30 and 51 receiving yards, very mediocrely consistent.

With a player in Mayer who hasn't shown much high-level play, I don't anticipate him having a big day against Tennessee. The matchup is middling for the tight end; with the Titans weaker against the pass, the advantage might instead go to wide receivers Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker, who are interesting fantasy options in Week 6.