Fantasy Football 2019: Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups
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This is not a great week for waiver wire adds, especially in deeper and competitive formats. In many instances, we don't find out about injuries until Wednesday and there could be some players that become adds not included in this article. This is the first week with four teams on bye and some fantasy teams might have to dig deep, especially with injuries. The Bills, Bears, Colts and Raiders are off in Week 6.
Below are players I recommend adding who are owned in under 40% of leagues on Yahoo, ESPN or CBS.
Quarterbacks
Gardner Minshew, Jacksonville Jaguars
Minshew passed for 374 yards against the Panthers, who have limited every other quarterback they have faced to 208 yards or fewer. The list includes Jared Goff, Jameis Winston and Deshaun Watson. Minshew has multiple touchdown passes in four of five games and has rushed for at least 42 yards in two games. While the Saints' defense is good, it has allowed fantasy points to quarterbacks. After the Saints, the Jaguars face the Bengals, Jets and Texans.
Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
The Eagles have been staunch against the run and struggled to cover in the secondary. The Vikings will have to pass more in Week 6 and Cousins took advantage of a favorable matchup against the Giants with 302 passing yards and two touchdowns in Week 5.
Teddy Bridgewater, New Orleans Saints
Bridgewater is a solid streaming option against the Jaguars, especially if cornerback Jalen Ramsey doesn't play. Bridgewater had his best game of the season against the Buccaneers, throwing for 314 yards with four touchdowns, and he has multiple touchdowns in two of his three starts. The Jaguars have allowed three quarterbacks to have 300-yard games.
Running Backs
Chase Edmonds, Arizona Cardinals
Edmonds is one of the better handcuffs, and David Johnson had his back lock up on him during Sunday's game. It led to Edmonds getting eight carries for 68 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown run, and he caught three of four targets for 18 yards while playing 35% of the snaps. Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury wouldn't rule out that Johnson could miss Sunday against the Falcons. In a week light on must-add players, Edmonds would be if Johnson is out.
Ito Smith, Atlanta Falcons
Smith might not be the starter, but the workload disparity with him and Devonta Freeman isn't that stark. Freeman played 54% of the snaps and had 11 carries for 30 yards and five catches for 40 yards with a touchdown against the Texans. Smith played 47% of the snaps and had five carries for 19 yards and caught all six of his targets for 45 yards. He has reached double-digit points in PPR formats in two straight games and has eight red-zone touches for the season.
Reggie Bonnafon, Carolina Panthers
Christian McCaffrey is getting all the touches and thriving. He has 105 carries for 587 yards and six touchdowns and 31 catches for 279 yards with a touchdown in five games. McCaffrey was out of the game late in Week 5 against the Jaguars due to cramps. Bonnafon had five carries for 80 yards with a 59-yard touchdown. McCaffrey owners would be wise to add him as insurance.
Gus Edwards, Baltimore Ravens
The Bengals have been getting carved up by running backs. The Ravens harp on running the football, and with the juicy matchup and Lamar Jackson struggling as a passer the last few games, there could be a lot of carries for the running backs. Edwards could see double-digit touches this week.
Jon Hilliman, New York Giants
This is a desperation add and I don't feel good about it. Wayne Gallman is in concussion protocol and unlikely to be cleared with the Giants playing Thursday night. Coach Pat Shurmur said “there is a possibility” Saquon Barkley can play against the Patriots. If he can't and the Giants don't sign anyone, Hilliman would be in line for double-digit touches. He had 10 touches for 24 yards against the Vikings on Sunday and the Patriots have been dominant defensively, so it's only if desperate.
Wide Receivers
Mohamed Sanu, Atlanta Falcons
Sanu isn't an exciting player for fantasy and he doesn't have a high ceiling, but he has a high floor, especially with the Falcons' defense getting shredded and Matt Ryan on pace for more than 700 pass attempts. Sanu caught all five of his targets for 42 yards with a touchdown in Week 5. He has at least double-digit points in PPR formats in four of five games, and with the bye weeks picking up, he's a solid fill-in, especially against the Cardinals this week.
Preston Williams, Miami Dolphins
Williams has been one of the few bright spots for the Dolphins. He's on a team constantly trailing that will be pass-heavy, getting 22% of the target share, and has a good matchup in Week 6 against the Redskins. Williams has double-digit points in PPR formats in three of four games and has 19 targets in the last two games with Josh Rosen at quarterback. Devante Parker is another Dolphins receiver to consider.
Auden Tate, Cincinnati Bengals
Tate didn't have a huge game Sunday with John Ross out, dropping a touchdown, but he did come through. Tate had six targets, catching three passes for 26 yards with a touchdown. He has at least six targets in three straight games and at least 11 points in PPR formats in three straight games. Tate will get a lot of snaps on a team that will often play from behind.
Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers
Johnson has become a consistent part of the offense with 20 targets over the last three games. After scoring in two consecutive games, Johnson didn't find the end zone in Week 5. He had eight targets and caught five passes for 27 yards. But with his speed, he can break a big play at any time.
Keke Coutee, Houston Texans
Coutee played more with Kenny Stills out with a hamstring injury. He played 43.8% of the snaps and caught three of four passes for 72 yards. Will Fuller was the focal point with 16 targets, but if Stills misses more time, Coutee will see the field. And the Texans-Chiefs over/under opened at 55.5 points.
Byron Pringle, Kansas City Chiefs
Pringle played a bigger role Sunday night with Sammy Watkins leaving the game early with a hamstring injury and Tyreek Hill still out. Hill could return this week, but the status of Watkins isn't so clear. Pringle led the team with nine targets, catching six for 103 yards with a touchdown, but if he has relevance it's likely short-term and is more for deep leagues.
Darius Slayton, New York Giants
Sterling Shepard is back in concussion protocol for the second time this season, likely resulting in a multi-week absence. Slayton played 65% of the snaps against the Vikings and caught four of five targets for 62 yards and a touchdown and has reached double-digit points in PPR formats in two of the last three games.
Jakobi Meyers, New England Patriots
Meyers can be considered in deep leagues. He's likely to see a lot of snaps this week against the Giants with Phillip Dorsett unlikely to play after leaving early in Week 5 with a hamstring injury. Meyers played 46.2% of the snaps and had two targets, catching one pass for six yards. He should see snaps in three-wide receiver sets and the Giants have been vulnerable against the pass.
Tight Ends
Chris Herndon, New York Jets
Herndon has been mentioned the last few weeks, and here's a final reminder in case he's still available. The Jets' tight end returns from a four-game suspension this week to face the Cowboys. He will be more appealing if quarterback Sam Darnold returns, but Herndon has the upside to finish as a TE1 the remainder of the way. Over the last six games in 2018, Herndon had 21 catches for 319 yards with four touchdowns.
Gerald Everett, Los Angeles Rams
Everett would have been fantasy relevant on another team a while ago, but the Rams didn't use the tight end much last season. Everett has become a bigger part of the offense in recent weeks as the Rams have attempted 117 passes the last two games. That pace is unlikely to continue, but the Rams aren't giving Todd Gurley huge workloads as they did previously and the defense has shown some leaks. Everett has played 88%, 55% and 81% of the snaps over the last three games and he's running a lot of routes. He has 19 targets over the last two games and could continue to see the volume, especially if Brandin Cooks misses time with a concussion. Everett had five catches for 44 yards with a touchdown on eight targets in Week 4 and seven catches for 136 yards on 11 targets last week.
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