Fantasy
10/7/24
5 min read
Fantasy Football 2024: Week 6 Waiver Wire Targets
Welcome to October football.
Entering Sunday night’s action, a season-high nine teams scored at least 30 points in Week 5. That’s a rather significant mark, especially considering that four teams were on a bye this weekend, too. Whatever league-wide passing issues that plagued the early weeks seem to be behind us.
Nothing but great news for fantasy football!
This week's waiver wire is plentiful, but some complicating factors make choosing certain players difficult. For example, Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams looked fantastic vs. the Carolina Panthers, but his team will land on a bye in Week 7. Minnesota Vikings RB Ty Chandler might have a window to overtake teammate Aaron Jones, who injured his hamstring on Sunday in London vs. the New York Jets. Still, they won’t play again until after their upcoming bye. That might be enough time for Jones to get healthy.
But now that the honorable mentions are out of the way, let’s glance at some names prospective managers should take chances on ahead of Week 6 action:
Fantasy Football Week 6 Waiver Wire Adds
Joe Flacco, QB, Indianapolis Colts
- ESPN Rostership: 5.4 percent
- Yahoo Rostership: 7 percent
The late-career renaissance of Joe Flacco continues to be one of the most incredible occurrences in all of sports.
The 39-year-old journeyman hurled 33 completions on 44 attempts for 359 passing yards and a trio of scores in Sunday’s narrow loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Should typical starter Anthony Richardson remain out with his hip and oblique injuries, it will be challenging to shy away from Flacco as a streaming option in Week 6 vs. the Tennessee Titans.
In case you forgot, the former Super Bowl winner started five games for the Cleveland Browns at the end of last season and averaged 20.2 fantasy points per game in four-point per passing touchdown scoring, tossing 13 passing touchdowns in that span.
Let’s park this conversation in Jacksonville for a while. The following two players on this list are, in my estimation, the two top waiver adds that everyone should be going after...
Tank Bigsby, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
- ESPN Rostership: 9.5 percent
- Yahoo Rostership: 22 percent
This second-year back is quietly putting together a strong stretch of production to open the season and could be winning the backfield from his big-name teammate.
Tank Bigsby racked up 103 rushing yards and a pair of end zone punches on 13 carries against the Colts, including this tremendous thundering scamper in the third quarter:
The former Auburn workhorse now occupies a 39.6 percent touch opportunity (carries + targets) share over the past two weeks and has even out-gained his teammate Travis Etienne Jr. in the rushing yards department (273 to Ettiene Jr.’s 231, per FantasyData) on the year as a whole.
The last thing anyone wants to do is fall for the classic tale of the “fresh legs syndrome,” a colloquial phrase used to describe a running back seeming to have more burst and effectiveness when viewing their numbers through the lens of limited exposure, but Bigsby deserves a shoutout.
Why? Because Bigsby was the Jags’ lead runner in Week 5:
The gap between the two in point per reception (PPR) scoring average (8.6 for Bigsby, 11.6 for Etienne Jr.) is relatively small as it is. If this changing of the guard is real, fantasy managers should immediately scoop a possible starter off waivers.
Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts
- ESPN Rostership: 34.9 percent
- Yahoo Rostership: 40 percent
I highlighted Josh Downs in my Week 5 rankings as a sneaky play off the wire, provided Flacco was under center.
Hopefully, those of you out there took that advice because the 2023 second-round pick netted team-highs in catches (nine) and targets (12) against the Jaguars, resulting in 69 receiving yards and a robust 15.9 PPR points.
The slender slot receiver is making a solid impact on Indianapolis’ offense since returning from an early-season high-ankle sprain in Week 3, leading the team with 14.4 PPR points per game in that span.
It’s justifiable to be nervous about adding Downs, given that Richardson will eventually return to being the starting signal-caller. However, the ball is coming his way with great frequency.
Now is the time to remedy the mistake of leaving Downs on the waiver wire, assuming it isn’t too late for you.
Michael Wilson, WR, Arizona Cardinals
- ESPN Rostership: 12.3 percent
- Yahoo Rostership: 13 percent
The Arizona Cardinals’ offense has certainly experienced its share of ups and downs to date. However, Sunday’s 24-23 upset victory against the San Francisco 49ers might just be the spark they need to establish greater consistency.
One of the standout performers from this Week 5 contest is second-year WR Michael Wilson, who led the team across the board in targets (six), catches (five), and receiving yards (78) in the NFC West divisional effort.
The odds of Wilson continuing to finish games with more production than rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. are relatively low, but that’s not to say the former Stanford standout is an afterthought. In reality, Wilson’s role is actually becoming more prominent.
Over the past three weeks, Wilson is averaging 7.3 targets and 60 receiving yards per game. From a fantasy perspective, he’s churned out 10.7 PPR points per game in that window— not bad at all!
It’ll be worth looking for Wilson’s name as you make claims later in the week.
Tyler Conklin, TE, New York Jets
- ESPN Rostership: 37.2 percent
- Yahoo Rostership: 30 percent
It's time to wrap things up with a tight end that’s flown a bit under the radar in 2024.
Did you know Tyler Conklin ranks sixth in targets (27) among tight ends this season? Well, now you do. It’s worth mentioning that most of this work has come within the last three weeks, but that fact is emblematic of why he’s still broadly available in leagues.
Zooming in on this three-week window of relevance, Conklin is averaging more PPR points per game (10.5) than players like Atlanta Falcons TE Kyle Pitts (7.9) and Buffalo Bills TE Dalton Kincaid (9.4), just to name a couple.
This surge in production from Conklin is due to his ability to nestle himself as the second-leading target in his offense (7.7 targets per game) ahead of WR Allen Lazard (7.0) and the surehandedness required to catch five passes per game.
Highlighting this is crucial because, unlike trying to chase other tight ends who explode one week and then disappear, we’re talking about a player in Conklin who hasn’t scored a touchdown this season.
Yes, all this fantasy production comes without a random spike because Conklin found the end zone. We covet players like this in fantasy.
If you need a tight end, give him a look.
