Welcome back to this weekly breakdown of wide receivers and tight ends to stash on your fantasy football benches. If you’ll allow me, I would like to start this week’s article with some victory laps. Tucker Kraft, whom I featured as early as in Week 2’s article, is now the TE3 on the season after a massive Week 5 performance. Meanwhile, many other graduates of this article also had solid weeks: Josh Downs, Alec Pierce, Jordan Whittington, Isaiah Likely and Colby Parkinson, to name a few (not Dontayvion Wicks, though, unfortunately). Hopefully, we can keep the good picks rolling this week.
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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Stashes: WR & TE (Week 6)
Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Stashes: Week 6
Ja’Lynn Polk (WR – NE): 10.3% Rostered
Only 10 wide receivers have played on 100% of their team’s offensive snaps in a given week so far this season: DeVonta Smith, Allen Lazard (lol), DK Metcalf, Cooper Kupp, Malik Nabers, Andrei Iosivas (lol), three Falcons and Ja’Lynn Polk in Week 5. After averaging a 55.3% route participation rate across the first three weeks of the season, Polk has now run 84.2% of available routes over the last two weeks.
Of course, this hasn’t turned into much production yet. The rookie’s career-high in fantasy points is still from Week 2… a game in which he had 12 receiving yards. However, Polk has been seeing targets over the last two weeks, with a solid 19.7% target share and an elite 45.2% air yards share. The fact he has caught just four of those 13 targets for 43 yards isn’t great, but the usage is.
Most importantly, there’s reason to believe Polk’s efficiency will improve. Not only is he a 22-year-old rookie who will improve as the season goes on, but the Patriots will eventually have to turn to Drake Maye. The hype over a supposed change in messaging from head coach Jerod Mayo indicating Maye will start as soon as Week 6 may be overblown, but smoke usually means fire. Polk is already locked in as the top receiver on this team, so any sort of spark Maye can provide may be enough to fully begin his fantasy breakout.
Jalen Tolbert (WR – DAL): 7.3% Rostered
I almost included Jalen Tolbert in my list of victory laps at the beginning of the article, as I did feature him two weeks ago. However, even coming off a 10-target, 18-fantasy-point, WR12 weekly finish, I think the third-year wideout is still best viewed as a waiver wire stash candidate.
On the bright side, Tolbert is now locked into the No. 2 WR spot behind CeeDee Lamb for the foreseeable future, as Brandin Cooks is on injured reserve (IR) following knee surgery. He posted a solid 82.2% route participation rate on Sunday night, second to only Lamb. And, of course, his fantasy production wasn’t bad either.
The main reason I still consider Tolbert a stash is that his per-route numbers are still very lackluster. For the season, his 17.2% target per route run rate ranks 89th out of 150 qualified receivers, right behind Mack Hollins and Josh Reynolds. His 1.52 yards per route run is similarly mediocre. This is especially important because Jake Ferguson ranks far better in both metrics. With what we’ve seen so far, Ferguson, not Tolbert, is the second-best target on this Cowboys offense.
Of course, the Cowboys do rank fourth in the league in pass rate and have an elite quarterback. Tolbert may be able to provide consistent Flex value even as the third option in Dallas. However, it’s best to wait a week or two before sticking him in your lineup.
Adonai Mitchell (WR – IND): 10.0% Rostered
After a strong start to his rookie season, Adonai Mitchell trended in the wrong direction with Josh Downs’ return in Week 3. He had been playing the slot in Downs’ absence and found himself the odd man out, running just 11 total routes in Weeks 3 and 4 (20.0% participation).
However, Mitchell’s usage trended back up this week, as he ran 12 routes for a 24.0% participation rate. Just as importantly, he somehow racked up seven targets on those 12 routes, good for an absurd 58% target per route run rate. For the season, Mitchell has consistently seen the ball when he is on the field, posting an elite 31% target per route run rate.
Now, it’s important not to overreact to per-route metrics for part-time players, especially a speedster like Mitchell, who is likely seeing schemed touches. However, that number is more than double Mitchell’s top competition for snaps, as Alec Pierce is at 14% (Pierce also has a long history of failing to earn many targets on large numbers of routes). Meanwhile. Pierce has been turning that deep-threat role into solid fantasy production, with 12.3 half-PPR points per game. Mitchell’s speed is a perfect fit for Anthony Richardson‘s game. He’s a long, long way from fantasy relevance now, but his upside, if everything goes right, is massive.
Fantasy Football Tight End Stashes: Week 6
Cade Otton (TE – TB): 26.9% Rostered
Cade Otton has a long history of running tons of routes and doing absolutely nothing with them, but that may be changing. Over the last three weeks, he has a 19.2% target share, with at least four targets in each game. His target per route run rate in that span is 25% (20% for the season), a massive improvement from 13% in 2023 and 15% in 2022.
Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield has been on fire, and the Buccaneers have the second-highest pass rate over expected (PROE) in the league, per nfelo.app. Chris Godwin and Mike Evans of course claim the lion’s share of Mayfield’s targets, but there may be room for Otton, who is still young for a tight (25), to emerge as a third fantasy-relevant option in this offense.
Noah Fant (TE – SEA): 18.8% Rostered
In Weeks 3 and 4, with Pharaoh Brown active, Noah Fant averaged just a 56.6% route participation rate on a 50% snap share. This week, however, he posted a 66.7% participation rate on a 69% snap share. Those numbers still aren’t as good as what posted over the first two weeks with Brown inactive, but he’s trending in the right direction.
Meanwhile, Fant’s situation is very similar to Otton’s. The Seahawks are the league leaders in PROE at a huge +6.8%, but DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba dominate targets in Seattle’s offense. However, Fant was once a first-round pick and has elite physical traits for a tight end. If one of the Seahawks’ three receivers were to miss some time, this pass-happy environment might be enough for Fant to turn his growing role into backend TE1 production.
Erick All Jr. (TE – CIN): 2.8% Rostered
In case you couldn’t tell by the previous two blurbs, the pickings are slim for tight end waiver wire stashes. Erick All makes the list for a second straight week as he continues trending in the right direction. The fourth-round rookie posted a 30.2% route participation rate on Sunday, over 5% more than his season average. For the season, he has the highest targets per route run of any qualified tight end, as well as the eighth-highest Pro Football Focus (PFF) receiving grade. If his role expands, either through an injury to Mike Gesicki or just the usual rookie progression, he could be a legit fantasy TE1.
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Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasyPros.com. Find him on Twitter @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.