Week #6 Waiver Watch Of Truth
The waiver wire might be the thinnest of the year in Week 6, so we’ll highlight several players that might be deeper league stashes, or players highly rostered that need to be checked on.
Quarterbacks
Gardner Minshew, Indianapolis Colts (4% rostered) – Starter Anthony Richardson injured his shoulder this week which should sideline him for multiple weeks. Minshew is an experienced veteran that’s put up respectable numbers in his few starts this season. He doesn’t offer a ton of ceiling, but can be started in a pinch, and should certainly be grabbed in Superflex leagues. I wouldn’t look too far into his numbers from this past week, as he only attempted 14 passes and the Colts dominated Tennessee on the ground.
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (54% rostered) – Stafford has been a steady high floor option this year, offering limited ceiling. He’s been over 13 points in every game this season, buthasn’t gotten more than 18 in any game. You know what to expect with Stafford, but this week he gets a soft matchup at home against Arizona, and his #1 target Cooper Kupp is back from his injury which should help boost Stafford’s numbers.
Tyrod Taylor, New York Giants (0% rostered) – Taylor is only worth adding in Superflex leagues since he saw action this past week, taking over for an injured Daniel Jones. No report yet if Jones is expected to miss time, but if Taylor gets the start, he’s been in the league a while and should be able to hit double digit points on a Superflex spot.
Running Backs
Roschon Johnson, Chicago Bears (51% rostered) – I’m surprised Johnson’s ownership isn’t higher because he’s been hyped up since the pre-season, and now we’ll get to see what Johnson can do as the lead back for Chicago. He exited last week’s game early with a concussion, but coming off a Thursday night game he’s got extra time to recover and should be good to go for Week 6. Khalil Herbert tweaked his knee in last week’s game and initial reports say Herbert will most likely miss several weeks. D'onta Foreman has been a non-factor this season, so I would be surprised if Johnson doesn’t get the lion’s share of the opportunities. The Bear’s offense is starting to click and Roschon could provide weekly RB2 production with Herbert out.
Emari Demercado, Arizona Cardinals (2% rostered) – James Conner suffered an injury this past week which should sideline him a few games and the regular back up, Keontay Ingram, has missed the last few weeks with a neck injury. Demercado is a complete wild card as a rookie out of TCU, but showed well taking over for Conner in Week 5. He turned 13 opportunities into 57 total yards and a touchdown, and looks to be in line for a huge workload with Conner and Ingram out.
Jaleel McLaughlin, Denver Broncos (54% rostered) – His ownership skyrocketed last week when Javonte Williams went down with injury, but 54% ownership means he could still be out there floating on your waiver wire. He looked electric again against the Jets, turning 13 opportunities into 89 total yards and a score. The Broncos travel to Kansas City this week in what should be a high scoring affair. He’s shown in back to backweeks he can be a home run threat even on limited touches.
Zack Moss, Indianapolis Colts (73% rostered) – A high amount of ownership, but I saw Moss dropped in several leagues this past week with the return of Jonathan Taylor. Even with Taylor back, Moss dominated the game with 25 opportunities which he turned into 195 total yards and 2 touchdowns. I imagine Taylor continues to get worked in as he shakes off some rust, but Moss doesn’t seem to be going away and can still be started, even with Taylor back in the fold.
Wide Receivers
Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts (26% rostered) – The rookie Downs has been pretty quiet this year, but cashed in on 6 targets for 6 catches for 97 yards. Anthony Richardson injured his shoulder this week, and we should expect to see Gardner Minshew at QB for several weeks. Having Minshew back there should provide some more efficiency to the passing game, and Downs can be a great beneficiary. He’s been on the field for about 75% of snaps on average this year, and last time we saw Minshew under center against Baltimore, Downs got 12 targets.
Curtis Samuel, Washington Commanders (27% rostered) – Samuel is the guy who always seems to stick around and surprise on occasion every season. He’s put up double digit PPR points in back to back weeks and while it’s hard to trust a WR in Washington right now, Samuel has gotten 7+ targets in each of the last two weeks. He can be a decent flex play with upside if you’re hit with bye weeks or injuries recently.
Trenton Irwin, Cincinnati Bengals (0% rostered) – We’ve seen this before, when one of the top targets in Cincy misses time, Irwin has gotten fed targets, and Week 5 was no different, filling in for the injured Tee Higgins, Irwin saw 10 targets which he turned into 8 catches and 60 yards. He probably doesn’t offer a huge ceiling with Jamar Chase getting fed, but he can be a solid floor PPR option while Higgins is out. Higgins might be back this week, so temper spending for Irwin, but if Higgins sits again, Irwin can probably get to double digit points again against Seattle.
Tight Ends
Logan Thomas, Washington Commanders (20% rostered) – Thomas has been a low ceiling option so far this year but showed up in a big way on Thursday with 16 PPR points. He’s seen 8+ targets in two of his games so far this year, and the Commanders seemingly refuse to throw to McLaurin and Dotson, so Thomas has benefitted. Tight Ends are always hard to bank on, but Thomas is on the field for a ton of snaps each game.
Jonnu Smith, Atlanta Falcons (24% rostered) – Smith was mentioned last week, but worth mentioning again. He turned in another solid performance with 7 targets and 7 PPR points. He’s been a reliable tight end in Atlanta over the last four weeks and while he hasn’t found the end zone yet, you could do a lot worse at the position.
DST Stream of the Week
I’ll highlight a few names here since there’s a couple matchups I really like.
Miami Dolphins – they were my stream of the week last week and get another favorable matchup this week as 14-point favorites against the Panthers.
Kansas City Chiefs – I’ve mentioned them a few times this year, and they get another great matchup as 10.5-point favorites against Denver, who looks to be imploding.
Los Angeles Rams – A deeper stream here, the Rams are 6-point favorites against the Cardinals, and while the Cardinals have fought hard this year, they recently lost their best weapon James Conner and have been an attractive matchup for DSTs.
Good luck all and as always, stay true!
