There have been so many surprise fantasy performers thus far this season that it's nearly impossible to look at just one player from each position as the most surprising. In keeping true to our promise of providing every possible asset for our readers, that's what we plan on doing here.
Check below for the most-surprising fantasy football performer at each position after the first six weeks of the 2015 season.
Quarterback
Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars
I really wanted to go with Andy Dalton here. After all, he is the top-ranked fantasy quarterback heading into Week 7. The issue here is that Dalton has actually had some success in this aspect in the past.
Bortles, entering his second season in the NFL, was a downright disaster as a rookie last year. He put up 11 touchdowns compared to 18 interceptions en route to a No. 24 ranking among fantasy quarterbacks.
While Bortles has still had his turnover issues (seven interceptions in six games), he's currently the fifth-ranked fantasy quarterback. The former first-round pick is also on pace for 4,744 total yards and 35 touchdowns on the season. That's utterly insane for a quarterback that went undrafted on a large scale during the preseason.
Running Back
Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons
Speaking of pace. Freeman is actually projected to put up 2,136 total yards and 27 touchdowns if he continues at his current level for the remainder of the season. This has him as the top-ranked overall fantasy player heading into Week 7. And in reality, it's not even that close.
Freeman has put up nearly 52 more fantasy points than the second-ranked running back thus far this season. He's scored nine touchdowns on 106 attempts and is averaging 5.9 yards per touch. What makes Freeman's fantasy performance sustainable is the fact that he's averaging 27.3 touches per game over the past four outings. This means that Atlanta is relying on him in what has usually been a pass-first offense under quarterback Matt Ryan.
Wide Receiver
Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
Fitzgerald was all but forgotten in Arizona's offense over the past three seasons. In fact, the veteran receiver failed to put up as much as 1,000 yards each season during that span. With the emergence of John Brown and continued presence of Michael Floyd, not many expected Fitzgerald to return to the type of player he was in his prime some five years before.
Through six games, Fitzgerald has put up the second-most fantasy points among receivers behind DeAndre Hopkins. He's also on pace to shatter his single-season highs in receptions (115), yards (1,554) and touchdowns (16). Oh, and Fitzgerald is catching 80 percent of the passes thrown in his direction.
Tight End
Gary Barnidge, Cleveland Browns
We all saw this coming, right? In standard scoring leagues, Barnidge is the second-best fantasy tight end in the NFL behind Rob Gronkowski. In PPR leagues/contests like FanDuel, he's actually the top-ranked fantasy player at his position.
In his eighth NFL season, Barnidge has already tallied career highs in receptions (27), yards (413) and touchdowns (five). This has him on pace for 72 receptions and over 1,100 receiving yards.