Week 6 of the fantasy football season is here, and we have another round of bye teams to navigate. There were no notable quarterback injuries on Sunday, which is a welcome reprieve after fantasy owners lost Ben Roethlisberger and Tony Romo in the early going.
The Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and St. Louis are on bye this week, so Derek Carr, Jameis Winston, Nick Foles and whoever Dallas trots out at quarterback won't be available. With some key players still nursing injuries, fantasy owners might have to turn to the waiver wire. Here are some potential options owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears (36 percent)
Now healthy again, Cutler is taking advantage of shaky defenses despite missing Alshon Jeffery and Eddie Royal. He posted a solid stat line against the Kansas City Chiefs, completing 26 of 45 passes for 252 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers. With Jeffery expected back soon, Cutler has low-end QB1 upside against the Detroit Lions' miserable defense. You'll never be thrilled to start Cutler every week, but the matchup is right this week.
Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars (25 percent)
Bortles had another impressive day in Week 5, throwing for 303 yards and four touchdowns against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He keeps making tangible progress and is making a solid case for every-week QB2 consideration.
Bortles' health is another issue. He suffered a sprained shoulder in Sunday's loss, and while he's expected to play this week, fantasy players will have to keep an eye on the Jaguars' injury reports. If Bortles is able to suit up, he'll have a great matchup with a crumbling Houston Texans team.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, New York Jets (11 percent)
The turnovers will always be there -- Fitzpatrick has thrown a pick every game this season -- but when he has a full complement of weapons, FitzMagic is a decent QB2 most weeks. Eric Decker and Chris Ivory are now healthy after getting the bye week to rest, but the Jets are going up against Washington, which rattled Matt Ryan all afternoon on Sunday. Be prepared for a meltdown, but Fitzpatrick is worth streaming if you're in a bye-week crunch.
Josh McCown, Cleveland Browns (6 percent)
McCown Town is back. The 36-year-old has thrown for over 300 yards in three straight games now, and capped it off with a franchise-record 457 yards in a dramatic comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns can't get anything going on the ground game, so their answer was to put the ball in McCown's hands.
Two things are working against McCown this week: He's facing the Denver Broncos' fearsome defense in Week 6, and he picked up an ankle injury on Sunday. McCown should be ready to play, but he's likely already had his best stretch of the season. Keep expectations tempered, at least for this week.
Brian Hoyer, Houston Texans (2 percent)
Let's get one thing out of the way: Hoyer isn't good. However, he's at least capable of keeping the Texans' offense moving, particularly with Arian Foster getting healthy again. Hoyer replaced Ryan Mallett in the second quarter of last week's game with the Indianapolis Colts and did well, completing 24 of 31 passes, 312 yards and two touchdowns, keeping the Texans in the game until the end.
Of course, he threw a backbreaking interception on the final drive because he's still Brian Hoyer, but head coach Bill O'Brien has seen enough. Hoyer is the starter for good, and he has an appealing matchup against an injury-ravaged Jaguars defense. You could do worse as a bye week fill-in.