It took the Rams awhile but they *may* have finally found their lead back for 2013. Photo: Jeff Curry (USA TODAY Sports)
Somehow we’re already approaching week 6 of the season. How did that happen? It seems like just yesterday Zach Sudfeld was a sleeper TE, David Wilson was primed for a breakout and Matt Schaub was capable of going a game without throwing a pick 6. The next thing you know we won’t even be able to count on late game turnovers from Tony Romo…
Of course, the reality of week 6’s arrival means now is as good a time as any to shore up your team’s weaknesses as we head into the meat of the season. To help out in that regard, here are this week’s consensus waiver wire rankings from our Featured Pros.
Featured Pros
Brett Talley (The Fantasy Fix)
Walton Spurlin (Fantasy Sharks)
Ken Zalis (Fans Fantasy Football)
Michael Sherman (Fantasy Team Advice)
Waiver Wire Rankings (STD Scoring)
| Player | Position | Team | Consensus Rank | Best Rank | Worst Rank |
| Zac Stacy | RB | STL | 2.5 | 1 | 8 |
| Keenan Allen | WR | SD | 4.0 | 3 | 5 |
| Vincent Brown | WR | SD | 4.3 | 1 | 15 |
| Terrance Williams | WR | DAL | 5.0 | 2 | 12 |
| Andre Ellington | RB | ARI | 5.5 | 1 | 9 |
| Willis McGahee | RB | CLE | 5.7 | 2 | 11 |
| Rueben Randle | WR | NYG | 6.8 | 5 | 10 |
| Pierre Thomas | RB | NO | 7.3 | 5 | 10 |
| Robert Woods | WR | BUF | 8.5 | 6 | 11 |
| Charles Clay | TE | MIA | 9.5 | 5 | 16 |
| Austin Pettis | WR | STL | 11.3 | 9 | 14 |
| LeGarrette Blount | RB | NE | 12.5 | 10 | 18 |
| Brandon Pettigrew | TE | DET | 12.8 | 6 | 18 |
| Kendall Wright | WR | TEN | 13.1 | 9 | 15 |
| Marcel Reece | RB | OAK | 13.3 | 8 | 17 |
| Brandon Bolden | RB | NE | 13.8 | 12 | 16 |
| Sean McGrath | TE | KC | 16.7 | 14 | 18 |
| Kris Durham | WR | DET | 17.0 | 16 | 18 |
Week 6 Waiver Wire Advice
We also asked each expert to share some specific tips for this week’s waiver wire. Here are the experts’ suggestions on who you should target in week 6.
Q1: Give us your thoughts on a waiver wire target (or two) you especially like as a pickup.
Zac Stacy is my top target on the waiver wire this week. The running back position is so thin and he has a great shot to emerge as the starter in St. Louis for the rest of this season, giving him good fantasy value. I also like Brandon Pettigrew as a good-buy low candidate at tight end. The Lions are thin at receiver, so I expect Pettigrew to get more targets in the offense going forward. He also has a track record of success, which bodes well for the rest of his season.
Walton Spurlin – Fantasy Sharks
San Diego’s defense (or lack thereof) is going to ensure their offense has to score plenty to stay in games. The lack of a true #1 RB (sorry Ryan Mathews) also ensures they will have to score by throwing the ball. WRs Vincent Brown and Keenan Allen are both going to see a lot of targets with opportunities to continue to have big weeks. RBs Andre Ellington of Arizona and Zac Stacy of St. Louis both have the look of being their respective teams #1 RB sooner rather than later and need to be rostered ASAP.
Brett Talley – The Fantasy Fix
When ranking the best free agent pickups for rest-of-season value, the guys with lead roles, or at least the guys with the easiest paths to lead roles, have to be at the top of the list. That’s why I ranked Andre Ellington and Willis McGahee as the two best free agent pickups; these are guys at a premium position who I expect to be lead backs for most of the rest of the season. The lack of a lead role because of competition on the roster is why guys like Pierre Thomas, Rueben Randle, and Zac Stacy (I continue to think St. Louis will be a committee) aren’t the best pickups, despite the fact that they may be more skilled than Ellington and McGahee. Keenan Allen and Vincent Brown appear to be the clear 1-2 receivers in San Diego, but I much prefer Allen whose last two games have been as good as or better than the best two games of Brown’s career.
Michael Sherman – Fantasy Team Advice
Ken Zalis – Fans Fantasy Football
Any starting RB is worth an add and Zac Stacy looks like the starter in St. Louis. With Eddie Royal seemingly an afterthought the WRs in San Diego (Vincent Brown and Keenan Allen) are viable bye week replacements. I am liking Charles Clay at TE more and more. Pierre Thomas (2 TDs on Sunday) seems to do this once or twice a year. He has a big game (at Sproles expense), we get excited and then he never gets the ball consistently enough after that. I am not rushing to grab him or Marcel Reece.
Q2: For owners looking to rent a D/ST in week 6, what readily available option should they target first?
The Detroit Lions are a good spot start for fantasy teams this week with a matchup against the Browns. Cleveland has Brandon Weeden back as their starter, which doesn’t bode well for the offense. Weeden has three interceptions vs. two touchdowns this season. The Lions have allowed some yards but do well in getting sacks (10) and causing turnovers (8 interceptions), giving them upside in this matchup.
Brett Talley – The Fantasy Fix
How about the Detroit Lions defense as a streaming option this week? They produced at least nine fantasy points against the three bad quarterbacks they faced (Ponder, Palmer, Cutler) and struggled against Rodgers and RG3, but his week they’ll face Brandon Weeden. Their strengths and weaknesses match up well with the Browns. They are weak at defending the run and defending second receivers, but Willis McGahee and Greg Little aren’t too terrifying. Their strengths are good safety play that helps against #1 receivers and a strong pass rush, so they should have some success against Josh Gordon and a Cleveland O-line that is a below average pass blocking unit.
Michael Sherman – Fantasy Team Advice
Somehow, the Jets D/ST are under 10% owned in Yahoo Standard Scoring Leagues. Against a Pittsburgh offense that relies on running the ball through the mouth of a defense, the Steelers are playing right into the Jets strength. The Jets are significantly faster on the line than we’ve seen in years past and should have Big Ben on the ground all game.
Walton Spurlin – Fantasy Sharks
The St. Louis D/ST (at HOU in wk6) will be a sneaky good pickup and play moving forward. They have a solid pass rush with DEs Robert Quinn and Chris Long as well as playmaking DBs in Janoris Jenkins and Cortland Finnegan (when he returns from injury). Three of the next four weeks they play teams that have turnover issues: Houston wk #6, Carolina wk #7 and Tennessee wk #9. Also, their schedule for the fantasy playoffs is favorable as they get Arizona wk#14 and Tampa Bay in week #16.
Ken Zalis – Fans Fantasy Football
I have seen the Cincinnati Bengals available in many league as they haven’t been great this year but going up against a Buffalo team with Thaddeus Lewis fresh off the practice squad makes for a great match-up. You can’t run against them so Lewis should have to throw 30 plus times Sunday. I smell a Defensive TD.
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Thanks to this week’s Featured Pros for sharing their advice! You can check out more picks from the pundits as their weekly rankings are unveiled soon.