With the injury to James Conner, fantasy football managers are left with a potential void on their roster. Let’s check out the extent of the injury and players you can target on your waiver wire this week. And be sure to check out our full Week 6 fantasy football waiver wire advice article here.

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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Injury Replacement Pickups

Injury Outlook

James Conner to be placed on IR

The Arizona Cardinals will place RB James Conner on the IR with a knee injury he sustained in Week 5. He will miss at least the next four games.

Fantasy Impact

Conner rushed for 364 yards and two touchdowns before the injury but will now be out until Week 10 at the earliest. Emari Demercado will presumably become Arizona’s RB1, though Keaontay Ingram and newly-acquired Tony Jones Jr. are in the mix. Demercado is the RB to roster in fantasy.

Kelly Kirby

Waiver Wire Replacements to Target

Roschon Johnson (CHI): 41% rostered

• Next Opponents: MIN, LV, @LAC
• True value: $15
• Desperate need: $22
• Budget-minded: $9

Analysis: Despite leaving Chicago’s Week 4 game with a concussion, the “other” Texas rookie RB is still somehow the healthiest Chicago running back in the room. Clearing protocol will hopefully be less of an issue following a Thursday game. Khalil Herbert‘s ankle injury might land him on IR, while only D’Onta Foreman and newly acquired Darrynton Evans are expected to enter Week 6 without an injury designation. Travis Homer is also on the mend, so the hope will be that Roschon and Foreman will spearhead a nice stretch of matchups coming for the red-hot Bears offense.

Antonio Gibson (WAS): 49% rostered

• Next Opponents: @ATL, @NYG, PHI
• True value: $13
• Desperate need: $19
• Budget-minded: $7

Analysis: Seeing such a talented player fall below the 50% rostership threshold is a sign from the heavens that the creator loves us. Gibson is a great receiver and has a penchant for the big play. He has taken somewhat of a back seat to plodder Brian Robinson, but that shouldn’t shake us from rostering a player with weekly RB2 upside in a blossoming offense.

Tyjae Spears (TEN): 26% rostered

• Next Opponents: BAL, BYE, ATL
• True value: $12
• Desperate need: $16
• Budget-minded: $6

Analysis: Victory lap time! The rookie from Tulane was dazzling in Week 5, scorching the Colts for 16.9 fantasy points in the loss. Spears scored his first NFL touchdown and turned 11 touches into 69 scrimmage yards alongside a healthier-looking Derrick Henry. Incredibly, you can still claim Spears on waivers this week, albeit for a heftier fee than when I proposed it last week. The only little trouble is two brutal RB matchups in the next three weeks, with Tennessee’s bye week sandwiched between them.

Justice Hill (BAL): 28% rostered

• Next Opponents: @TEN, DET, @ARI
• True value: $10
• Desperate need: $14
• Budget-minded: $4

Analysis: The Ravens desperately miss having J.K. Dobbins on the field. Lamar Jackson has to don a cape every week, while the RBs are a hodgepodge outfit and the WRs have a serious case of the “oopsy-dropsies.” Hill appears to have the most juice in this backfield, albeit most backs would in comparison with Gus Edwards and Melvin Gordon. I like Hill’s open field-ability and receiving role that is game flow-independent.

Emari Demercado (ARI): 1% rostered

• Next Opponents: @LAR, @SEA, BAL
• True value: $8
• Desperate need: $12
• Budget-minded: $3

Analysis: Instead of blowing your FAAB balance on RBs such as Chuba Hubbard (meh) and Jamaal Williams (still out at least until Week 7), drop down and grab Demercado, the shifty, undrafted Cardinals rookie. I do a lot of college scouting and still didn’t have a lot of knowledge on the pride of TCU by way of Saddleback College until recently. Five seasons as a Horned Frog and none as a full-time player, Demercado has shown off his prototypical NFL RB size and very good athleticism so far. James Conner and Keaontay Ingram are oft-injured, leaving the next man up in Arizona freely available to plug in as an emergency flex.