Analysis
10/9/22
7 min read
Week 6 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Report
Week 5 isn't completely in the books, but it’s time to look toward Week 6 by scouring the waiver wire. Most of these players should be top targets this week, but as you’ll find, not every player included is a must-add.
This page is geared toward PPR leagues unless otherwise noted. All players included are rostered in fewer than 40% of leagues, per Fantasy Pros' rostership data. All stats are from TruMedia unless stated otherwise.
Quarterbacks
It’s finally time to pluck Geno Smith off waivers.
- Rostered in 32.3% of leagues
- Smith has 18.9, 31.7 and 24 fantasy points over the last three games
- Smith is currently a top-ten fantasy quarterback
- Smith has 2+ passing touchdowns in four of the five games this season
- He only has two picks
- Seattle faces Arizona in Week 6
- The Cardinals are a bottom-ten team in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks
Carson Wentz will continue to be a matchup-based streaming option.
- Rostered in 47% of leagues
- Wentz scored 21.9 fantasy points in Week 5
- It’s his third game of 21+ points this season
- The other two games: Wentz failed to reach nine points
- You can’t trust Wentz each week
- Washington plays Chicago in Week 6
- Chicago is among the worst teams in play rates
- Chicago is a bottom-five team in yards passing allowed per game
- Wentz isn’t a great play in Week 6
- Only add him if you plan on streaming him during your main quarterback’s bye week
Justin Fields should remain on waivers.
- Rostered in 32.5% of leagues
- Fields scored 17 fantasy points in Week 5
- That’s his first time reaching 14 points this season
- His other performances, in order: 13.6, 8.8, 4.9 and 10.2 points
- Fields had a season-high 208 passing yards
- There are better options with better usage available
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Running Backs
How is Kenneth Walker this available?
- Rostered in 45.9% of leagues
- Walker took over once Rashaad Penny left the game
- Penny is out for the season with a broken fibula
- Walker had 88 rushing yards on eight carries
- That included a nice 69-yard touchdown run
- He’s still the home-run threat he was at Michigan State
- DeeJay Dallas was the primary third-down back
- Walker still ran 14 routes, six more than Dallas
- Seattle is just about average in rush-play rates this season
- Each team Seattle faces in the next four games is bottom-eight in fantasy points allowed to running backs
- Walker has RB2 appeal moving forward
This is the last time I’m saying why J.D. McKissic shouldn’t be left on the waiver wire.
- Rostered in 34.5% of leagues
- I’ve said this for the last two weeks
- McKissic remains the definition of consistency
- He’s averaged 9.9 fantasy points
- His low ceiling is mitigated by a high floor, which is rare among bench running backs
- McKissic is still the Commanders’ main passing back
- There probably aren't any better running backs on the waiver wire
Put Rachaad White on your watch list.
- Rostered in 29% of leagues
- He scored 14.6 fantasy points (and a touchdown) in Week 4
- He scored 7.2 points in Week 5
- White played a season-high 38% of Tampa Bay’s snaps
- He has 4+ targets in each of the last two games
- He’s the next man up should Leonard Fournette get hurt
- Once again, the waiver wire is pretty thin at running back
Don't put too much waiver capital into Mike Boone.
- Rostered in 31.5% of leagues
- In Week 5, Melvin Gordon saw 41 snaps, 21 routes run, three targets and 15 carries
- Boone saw 30 snaps, 19 routes run, three targets and seven carries
- Boone played on twice the amount of third downs that Gordon did
- Denver used Boone more in the second half
- Latavius Murray wasn’t active
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Wide Receivers
Make sure George Pickens isn’t still available.
- Rostered in 52.6% of leagues
- He has eight targets, six catches and 14+ fantasy points in back-to-back games
- He’s averaged a whopping 15.8 yards per catch in that span
- He’s been Kenny Pickett’s favorite target
- We know he can make plays
- Diontae Johnson caps Pickens’ target share, yet Pickens has still produced
- The Steelers face the Buccaneers, Dolphins and Eagles
- They could find themselves operating in negative game scripts often in that stretch, which likely means more pass attempts
Pick up Alec Pierce if you need wide receiver depth.
- Rostered in 8.3% of leagues
- Pierce has 9.1, 12 and 16.1 fantasy points in three straight games, respectively
- He has five, six and nine targets, respectively
- It Looks like Pierce is getting more comfortable in the Colts’ offense
- Pierce has the best shot at becoming Indianapolis’ clear WR2
- The Colts have surprisingly been a top-10 team in pass attempts over the last three games
Don’t waste anything on Dyami Brown.
- Rostered in 0.1% of leagues
- He caught two touchdowns on four targets
- Jahan Dotson was injured
- It was the only good game of Brown’s career
- Enough said
Josh Reynolds is worth a waiver pickup, but only in deeper leagues.
- Rostered in 27.4% of leagues
- Last week I told you to wait on picking up Reynolds
- Reynolds has averaged 16.2 fantasy points over the last three weeks
- He once again led the Lions in targets and routes run in Week 5
- Amon-Ra St. Brown and T.J. Hockenson were still banged up
- D.J. Chark and D’Andre Swift were still inactive
- The Lions have a bye in Week 6
- They were the No. 1 scoring offense prior to their shutout in Week 5
- There should still be room for Reynolds to make an impact, even if it isn’t a big one
Randall Cobb and Marvin Jones are nothing more than DFS dart throws right now.
- Rostered in 3.2% and 17.4% of leagues, respectively
- Cobb and Jones both finished as high-end WR2s
- Cobb scored 16.9 fantasy points
- Cobb was third among Green Bay wide receivers in snaps and routes run
- He was first in targets
- It was Cobb’s first time reaching eight points all season
- Green Bay is 17th in pass attempts per game
- Jones scored 17.4 fantasy points
- Jones was second among Jacksonville wide receivers in snaps and routes run
- He was first in targets
- It was Jones’ second time this season scoring double-digit points
- Both players led their teams in targets in a game for the first time this season
Tight Ends
Yes, Taysom Hill is worth a roster spot.
- Rostered in 18.5% of leagues
- Spoiler: The tight end position stinks
- Only five tight ends have hit 20+ fantasy points this season
- Hill hit that mark twice last season
- He also hit 17+ points two other times in 2021
- Hill’s coming off a 34-point fantasy performance
- Few tight ends have the upside he has
- Hill had nine rushing attempts in Week 5, tied for second-most on the team
- Just don’t expect great production every week
- Even if Jameis Winston remains out, Hill can be a factor
- He scored 15.3 points in Week 1 with Winston
Leave Evan Engram on the waiver wire unless you’re desperate.
- Rostered in 21.7% of leagues
- He scored 12.9 fantasy points in Week 5
- He saw the second-most targets behind Marvin Jones
- He’s hit 7+ points just once before this season
- Engram’s flashed limited upside amongst a muddled receiving group
Daniel Bellinger is only fantasy relevant in dynasty
- Rostered in 0.8% of leagues
- Bellinger led Giants’ tight ends in snaps, routes run and targets
- He had only two targets and one carry
- He scored on that carry
- He’s averaging 8.1 fantasy points this season
- Bellinger is New York’s starting tight end
- He could be fantasy relevant in another season or two
Watch More: Brandon Jacobs on Giants' Hot Start
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