Let’s talk my top 10 waiver wire adds for Week 6.
This was an absolutely horrific outing for the Lions both offensively and yet again, defensively. The one bright spot was Josh Reynolds. Despite Amon-Ra St. Brown returning to action, Reynolds caught 6 of 10 targets for 92 yards. Over the past 3 weeks, Reynolds has 19 receptions on 28 targets with over 80 yards in every game. Targets, yardage, and touchdown opportunities. There doesn’t seem to be a glaring weakness. The Lions are going on their bye week so you get no Week 6 value out of Reynolds. And the offense could operate a bit differently with Swift back in action and a healthier St. Brown in Week 7. But this type of production can’t be ignored. Reynolds is stepping up and Goff seems to trust him. He’s worth a stash.
I wouldn’t expect Taysom Hill‘s Week 5 performance to be a regular occurrence. Hill had 9 carries for 112 yards, 3 touchdowns on the ground and 1 passing touchdown to Adam Trautman. This was an absolutely wild game. Keep in mind this was against a terrible Seattle defense. But New Orleans seems bound and determined to scheme up plays for Taysom Hill. There will be weeks where he gets you absolutely nothing. But considering the state of the tight end position, it’s worth the gamble to play Hill when you have unstable options at tight end.
If you gave me 100 guesses, I would’ve never thought Eno Benjamin would be on a waiver wire list but 2 injuries later, here we are. The Cardinals lost both James Conner and Darrel Williams to injuries. Because of the timing of when I film this video vs the game, I currently have no idea how several either injury is. Depending on how long either player is out, Benjamin could move up or down my list. And quite frankly, if you are desperate at running back and need a short-term solution, Arizona plays Seattle next week. You absolutely want to target running backs against Seattle so this could be an easy plug-and-play for Week 6. Benjamin had 8 carries for 25 yards a 1 touchdown but did add 3 receptions for 28 yards. Seattle just gave up over 200 yards combined to Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill. I would absolutely play Benjamin if he’s Arizona’s only healthy back next week.
Rachaad White has gone from handcuff to potential low-end flex value in deep leagues. Work on the ground is fine and dandy but in the Tampa Bay offense, your value as a running back is dependent on your pass-catching ability and that just so happens to be White’s best asset. Leonard Fournette had 14 carries for 56 yards on Sunday but a whopping 10 receptions on 11 targets for 83 yards. Fournette is one of the most successful pass-catching backs in the league and his handcuff must have that capability. White is the perfect handcuff to Fournette and has the added bonus of being able to provide weekly value. Over the past 2 weeks White has 8 receptions on 9 targets. He’s working his way into a top-tier handcuff.
We know the upside Rondale Moore brings to the table because we saw Greg Dortch fulfilling that role in his absence. In his second game back from injury, Moore had 7 receptions on 8 targets for 68 yards. Weeks 1 through 3, Dortch was WR19 in PPR. That’s significant because his role was exactly what Kliff Kingsbury planned and envisioned for Moore. Moore has WR2 upside and he’s readily available on waivers. Fantasy managers might be concerned about the looming return of DeAndre Hopkins capping Moore’s value but Hopkins’ return is an overall benefit to Arizona. Kyler Murray and the Arizona offense have been in disarray and we have ample evidence to show Murray performs better with Hopkins. Moore should retain value through increased opportunity.
Matt Ryan was an absolute mess on Thursday night and has been a low-end QB2 all season in a run-heavy offense. But Alec Pierce‘s targets have been steadily increasing this season, catching 8 of his 9 targets for 81 yards in Week 5. Ryan looked like he was actively seeking Pierce throughout the entire game and the rookie seems to have gained Ryan’s trust. Keep in mind, Ryan might’ve been actively seeking pierce to actively avoid Michael Pittman Jr.who had the tougher matchup. Upside and touchdown opportunities might be a bit limited in this offense but things a certainly trending in the right direction for Pierce.
Isaiah McKenzie is just under 50% rostered in Yahoo leagues but only 26% rostered in ESPN leagues. The reason you want to roster McKenzie is very simple – Josh Allen is an absolute menace and any receiver in the Buffalo offense should be rostered. Allen had over 400 yards and 4 touchdowns in Sunday’s game with both Gabe Davis and Stefon Diggs catching over 100 yards. Even Khalil Shakir, who stepped in for McKenzie, had 75 yards and a touchdown. McKenzie will likely return to action in Week 6 and has 3 touchdowns on the season. He should be rostered in all formats.
There’s a good chance Meyers is rostered in your league since he’s 46% rostered in Yahoo leagues. But it would be doing everyone in shallow leagues a disservice by not including him on this list. For some reason, fantasy managers have a hard time committing to Jakobi Meyers. But it’s time to accept he’s a must-add. Meyers may be allergic to touchdowns but his target share is unreal. Prior to his injury, he commanded a 29% target share in the Patriots’ offense. And this week he caught 7 of 8 targets for 111 yards and 1 of those elusive touchdowns. The next closest receiver was rookie Tyquan Thornton with 2 receptions on 3 targets. Davante Parker and Nelson Agholor had zero targets. Bailey Zappe had 21 attempts and 8 of them went to Meyers. This is Meyers’ receiving corps.
As previously mentioned, the Colts-Broncos game was easily one the ugliest offensive showings of the season, possibly of all time. But Mike Boone saw a decent amount of work, playing 41% of snaps and had 7 carries for 38 yards with 3 receptions for 47 yards. Melvin Gordon did take lead but this was a good split and Boone just flat-out looked better than Gordon. This should remain a split backfield similar Gordon and Williams. Russell Wilson is dealing with a shoulder injury and this offense will need to lean on the run game. The Broncos next 3 games are against the Chargers, Jets and Texans, all of which gave up HUGE games to opposing running backs in Week 5. Boone is great short-term and long-term value.
It may not seem like it but I promise, Kenneth Walker is less than 50% rostered in both Yahoo and ESPN leagues. It doesn’t feel like he should be less than 50% rostered because he was drafted in the vast majority of leagues. But with Rashaad Penny having the backfield on lock, fantasy managers lost faith and abandoned ship. Penny was carted off the field on Sunday with an ankle injury. I don’t know the exact injury at the time of filming this video, but Pete Carroll said the injury is serious. If Penny is out for any time, Walker is your top waiver priority. The Seattle offense has been one of the biggest surprises of the season. Geno Smith has the team rolling and the schedule ahead is running back friendly over the next several weeks. Walker had 8 carries for 88 yards and 1 TD, including a huge breakaway touchdown for 69 yards. Grab him everywhere you can.
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