Backups Get To Step Up

Can they keep rolling?

Author

Jake Trowbridge
October 11, 2025

2025 is the season of the backup, folks, and it’s turned the waiver wire into a neverending game of Hot Potato. If I rattled off every starting player who’s gotten hurt so far, it’d read like a follow-up to R.E.M.’s It’s the End of the World as We Know It. (But we would not feel fine.)

Luckily, their backups are balling out! Here are a few highlights from our favorite fantasy b-sides-turned-ballers, and how to approach them going forward:

  • Jaxson Dart took the wheel from Russell Wilson in Week 4 and has since posted one top-12 finish, one more that was close to it and most recently made the Eagles defense look like Swiss cheese. Or is it provolone? Or Whiz? I can never remember, and I don’t want Philadelphians mad at me. Of course, it helps when you have Cam Skattebo running so hard he might've put a second crack in the Liberty Bell. Both should be in your lineups, barring the most extreme circumstances.

  • Reunited teammates Mac Jones and Kendrick Bourne time-traveled back to 2021 New England, with Bourne reaching career-high yardage last week and Jones nearly doing the same. Look for Doc Brown and Marty McFly to again dial it up to 1.21 gigawatts against the Bucs as the 49ers offense remains overwhelmed by injuries. 

  • Remember when Rico Dowdle quietly put up 1,000+ rushing yards in a rudderless Cowboys offense last year? And then just … faded into the background? Well, you surely remembered his name after he picked up 206 rushing yards in Week 5. Sure, it was against the Miami Dolphins—whose favorite defensive maneuver is the Right This Way Sir—but still. Dowdle is our consensus RB13 in a revenge game against Dallas and gave the coaches a lot to think about when Chuba Hubbard returns.

  • Stories of Rachaad White’s fantasy irrelevance had been greatly exaggerated. In the absence of Bucky Irving, the fourth-year running back produced 23.1 PPR points on 18 touches. White hasn’t popped as a pure runner, failing to hit 3.0 yards per attempt in three straight games, but he made up for it with targets and goal-line carries. With Irving ruled out this week, injury-ravaged teams need White to beg, steal or borrow PPR points.

  • The answer to Michael Carter or Emari Demercado turned out to be “kinda both and also Bam Knight.” If it wasn’t for that lapse in judgment by Demercado at the goal-line (and equally poor judgment by the refs who said the ball didn’t cross the threshold), any fantasy manager who took a stab at the Cardinals backfield would’ve walked away happy. That said, Carter was the Utilization King of that backfield and is the easiest to trust moving forward.

Looking ahead, can Kimani Vidal or Hassan Haskins give your team the Backup Bump? Will starter-turned-backup-turned-starter again Joe Flacco pay off with improved receiving weapons in Cincinnati? To paraphrase the immortal words of Fred Durst, “backups, tell me whatcha gonna do now.” Fingers crossed they can keep it rollin’.

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Editors’ Picks

It’s Saturday of Week 6. Here’s some great content—some new, some you may have missed earlier this week—all of it ready to help you win. Also, check out our Xfinity Best Projections, Rankings and Xfinity Start/Sit tool to help you make your best lineup decisions.

ICYMI, here are all the positions for the Week 6 Freedman’s Favorites from “The Oracle” himself, Matthew Freedman:

Forget about the rookies, let’s lock in on some veterans. Cooterdoodle put together a big parlay on aging players who could still pay off, and more.

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Week 6 WR/CB Matchups: Target Courtland Sutton

Depending on where you are Sunday, you may have to get up early to catch Courtland Sutton against the Jets in the London game. His matchup against the New York secondary gives him quite the advantage on the perimeter. And if Bo Nix wants to take some shots to Sutton, look out.

Chris Allen takes more than a few downfield shots on wide receivers who have significant advantages against the defenses they’re facing in the Week 6 WR/CB matchups feature. ⤵️

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Week 6 Mismatch Report: Jordan Love Will Explode

The bye week may have come at an inopportune time for the Packers and Jordan Love, as the quarterback connected on 8 touchdown passes in the first four games. In Week 4 before the break, he threw for 337-3. Up next, a home date against the Bengals and their defense that’s allowing 269.4 passing yards to QBs, good for 29th in the league. Does this look like a fair fight?

Ian Hartitz identified Packers-Bengals in his Week 6 Mismatch Report, where he drops several players who could be headed into major advantages—and some disadvantages. He also picks a game that could see quite a few points. ⤵️

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You’ll Be Happy You Stashed Christian Watson

When Christian Watson suffered a torn ACL toward the end of the 2024 season, his 2025 season seemed in peril. But here we are less than a year after he had surgery, and reports are that he’s running close to full speed. The Packers have opened up his 21-day practice window. Should you snap him up and stash him?

Geoff Ulrich zeroed in on the 6-foot-4 WR with blazing speed as a player to pick up and stash on IR or reserve rosters. Because what fantasy manager can’t use a big playmaker on a great offense led by Jordan Love in the most important part of the fantasy season? ⤵️

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Around the Watercooler

It’s the calm before the Week 6 storm. Lock in!

🏈 Matt Harmon joins Dwain to talk, what else, wide receivers.

💥 Stefon Diggs is all the way back. See what other smash burgers Mark Drumheller has cooked up.

💪 Redraft league got you down? Just remember … dynasty season never dies.

👀 Say what you will about Cam Skattebo, but he gives the people what they want.

😎 Tough week to be a Rams fan. Don't hurt 'em, Marcas!

🤔 Do you change your fantasy team name throughout the season? Inquiring minds want to know.

🔥 Everything Fantasy Life has to offer, 100% free. Access now!

💰 Focus on the vets. Don’t be scared.

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