Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Week 6

By Faraz Majid Oct 8, 2019, 11:00am EDT

NFL: Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks

Week 5 was an exciting affair, with plenty of offensive fireworks around the league – including astounding performances from Christian McCaffrey, Will Fuller, Philadelphia Eagles D/ST, Michael Thomas, Amari Cooper, etc.

The blow up was a pleasure to watch (or a pain!), depending on which end of it you were on.

Regardless of your emotional reaction to the exponential point totals, a lot of big names had good days and that ends up leaving little in the form of waiver wire claims.

Even if that makes it tough on me, I still have to give you a weekly waiver wire column so let’s take a look at what is out there for week 6 and beyond.

% owned is based on Yahoo Fantasy Football

Shallow Leagues

NFL: Seattle Seahawks at Pittsburgh Steelers

Rashaad Penny, RB, Seattle Seahawks – 54% owned

Penny isn’t just a decent handcuff but may present some stand-alone value as the season progresses. Chris Carson has been impressive, but he’s had a case of the fumbles this year – unfortunately Penny wasn’t there to capitalize on Carson’s mistakes real-time. Even so, Penny will get his share of the workload in a run-heavy offense. In his first game back, he toted the ball 6 times for 18 yards and was allowed 2 targets for 2 catches and 31 yards. Penny will be a decent stash/bye week substitute moving forward.

Intermediate Leagues

Jamison Crowder, WR, New York Jets – 43% owned

Please ignore Crowder’s stat lines from the last few weeks, in fact, I won’t even be mentioning them here. Last week the New York Jets decided it was a good idea to give Sam Darnold ALL the first team reps in practice, with the possibility of him dying if he played on Sunday (how does that merit a questionable tag throughout the week? Seems like a pretty straight forward DON’T PLAY to me). I’m not sure what Adam Gase was thinking (or what he’s ever really thinking) but it was not a comfortable spot for Luke Falk to be in, despite his skill level. However, Darnold seems primed to make a return – so let’s look at Crowder’s week 1 stat line when Darnold was at the helm: 1 rush attempt, 4 rush yards, 17 targets, 14 catches, 99 receiving yards. Crowder will be a PPR monster when Darnold comes back, go get him on your roster, if he isn’t already.

Chris Herndon, TE, New York Jets – 29% owned

You can see my reasoning for picking up Herndon from last week’s piece – but it bears repeating, since I know a lot of you are struggling from tight end woes, pick up Herndon while you still can.

Auden Tate, WR, Cincinnati Bengals – 22% owned

This would have been a recommendation for last week, but the John Ross injured reserve designation didn’t happen till after the waiver wire period came to a close. Simply put – the Bengals have to throw to somebody, right? A.J. Green is still out, Ross is now done, and they had to pick up Stanley Morgan and play him in the same week. Tate saw 10 targets in week 3, 6 in week 4 and 6 in week 5. He also found his way into the end zone last week against the Arizona Cardinals. He should be a reasonable play until A.J. Green returns, if Green is still on the Bengals when he’s finally healthy.

Alexander Mattison, RB, Minnesota Vikings – 23% owned

Desperate times call for desperate measures and the running back position is thin – which means it’s handcuff season. Now, I mean it’s handcuff season for fantasy FOOTBALL, so it’s time to grab the back-ups to elite running backs in run heavy offenses. Mattison is the name I have here, as he’s seen a relatively significant and productive workload even with Dalvin Cook healthy – 7 rush attempts for 52 yards last week (7.4 ypc) for example. I don’t hope anybody gets hurt, but Cook has had a history of injuries and is seeing a large amount of looks this season, so be prepared for the worst and get yourself Mattison, who is a notable player in his own right. A few other names to monitor are Gus Edwards, Tony Pollard and Malcolm Brown.

Deep Leagues

NFL: Arizona Cardinals at Cincinnati Bengals

Gerald Everett, TE, Los Angeles Rams – 11% owned

Again, the tight end position is a desolate wasteland with a few overlords that dominate the realm. Which means Everett might just be a gem that you don’t want to pass up on, even if you do have a tight end that’s playable every week (potential trade bait is never a bad idea). In week 4, Everett saw 8 targets for 5 catches, 44 yards and a touchdown. In week 5, he saw 11 targets for 7 catches and 136 yards. Sure, the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t been the best at covering the tight end position, but Everett is more than worth an add. Put in your waiver claims for the Rams tight end.

Chase Edmonds, RB, Arizona Cardinals – 4% owned

David Johnson has had back issues flare up and those are the types of nuisances that can linger. Edmonds is a smart add for Johnson owners especially but could also be a huge addition for any team desperate for points from their running back position. Edmonds finished Sunday with 8 rush attempts for 68 yards and a rushing touchdown to go with 4 targets, 3 catches and 18 yards. I’d strongly recommend putting in a claim for Edmonds this week – unless you’re in one of my leagues, then you should take a look at other options.

Darius Slayton, WR, New York Giants – 1% owned

Daniel Jones has taken a liking to Darius Slayton and it looks like Evan Engram, Sterling Shepard, Saquon Barkley and Wayne Gallman will miss Thursday’s game. Slayton should see his fair share of targets and has shown capable of producing the big play with 5 targets, 4 catches, 62 yards and a touchdown last week and 5 targets for 3 catches and 82 yards in week 3 – unfortunately he gets the stingy New England Patriots defense, so he could still be a relatively risky play.

Shoot me your questions and opinions/complaints in the comment section or on twitter @brownmamba13.