Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 6

As we enter the second quarter of the fantasy season, the weekly decisions fantasy managers are making weigh even heavier in the march toward the playoffs! Getting your fantasy team to the playoffs may start at the draft, but the week-to-week additions and subtractions from your fantasy roster are where the real meat of playing fantasy football lies! My man Joe Beldner is out this week and I’m lucky enough to get to work through the add/drop decisions with you for Week 6!

Hopefully you were able to navigate the first wave of bye weeks in Week 5. Luckily, this week only has the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers resting, so there should be more options for fantasy managers! With any luck, we’ll find the best addition for you this week to fine-tune your roster into a playoff team!

• Complete Waiver Wire Rankings
• Weekly Waivers Episode of The Fantasy Footballers Podcast

Running Backs

Justice Hill, RB – Baltimore Ravens

Finding a starting RB on the waiver wire in an offense like the Ravens is really difficult to do this deep into the season, but that may be what you’re getting with Justice Hill. There has been plenty of uncertainty with the Baltimore backfield since JK Dobbins was lost to injury in Week 1, which has left the door open for someone to take the reins and Hill may have done just that in Week 5 against the Steelers. While all the attention was given to Dobbins’ big day in the Ravens’ season opener, it overshadowed Hill’s RB15 finish that week (granted it came on the back of two rushing TDs and nearly no production outside of that).

What’s encouraging about Hill’s spot in the Ravens’ offense in its current state has to be the 56% of snaps he saw last week leading to 11 total opportunities (seven rushing attempts and four targets). While the Ravens’ offense hasn’t been the superstar attack that we heard about leading into the year, there is still plenty of meat on the bone in Baltimore as long as Lamar Jackson is healthy at QB. In games where Hill has played at least 50% of snaps, he’s averaging 12.5 opportunities, which at the very least puts him as a solid flex option for fantasy managers.

Recommended FAAB: 10-25%

Emari Demercado, RB – Arizona Cardinals

A name you probably hadn’t heard prior to this week, Emari Demercado put himself on the map when he came in for the injured James Conner for the Cardinals. Demercado is an undrafted rookie out of TCU who has a pretty nice collegiate profile considering he wasn’t the full-time starter in any of his five seasons for the Horned Frogs. The rookie made the most of his 13 opportunities against the Bengals, finishing as the RB16 after seeing 77% of snaps for the Cardinals. While there may not have been many more options at RB, Demercado did see three red zone carries and was able to convert one into paydirt. 

The biggest issue with investing in Demercado will be the longevity of his value, assuming that whenever Conner is healthy again he’ll take back the majority of the workload at RB in Arizona. Still, if you’re thin at RB, getting someone who we’ve seen produce on the field already will be worth trying to buy a victory or two at this point in the season.

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Recommended FAAB: 0-15%

D’Onta Foreman, RB – Chicago Bears

It’s been odd how little the Bears have used D’Onta Foreman this season after signing him as a free agent this summer. However, with both Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson on the injury report, Foreman may be the only option for Chicago heading into Week 6. Fantasy managers should be familiar with Foreman already after he posted seven top-30 finishes in his last 11 games in 2023 for the Panthers.

What’s most appealing about Foreman will be the opportunity that could come his way with a potentially empty RB room in Chicago. The upcoming schedule for the Bears should be favorable for Foreman if he’s involved in the running game, with Minnesota, Las Vegas, and the L.A. Chargers over the next three weeks. There’s still risk involved in investing in Foreman since we haven’t seen him on the field with Chicago at all, but he could be a solid flex option for fantasy managers who are in a pinch.

Recommended FAAB: 10-25%

• Complete Waiver Wire Rankings

Wide Receivers

Rashee Rice, WR – Kansas City Chiefs

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but we could be finding the WR1 in Kansas City, and this time it’s Rashee Rice. Rice was one of my favorite WR prospects in this class outside of the top-four players and is finally getting a chance to show it on the field for the Chiefs. While the amount of snaps he’s seeing hasn’t been consistent, what has been are the three straight weeks of at least five targets. Rice was finally able to find the end zone again in Week 5, giving him a WR23 finish on the week. 

Maybe the most tasty treat that could come with Rice is the short week which could potentially keep Travis Kelce out of Kansas City’s Thursday night game against Denver. When Kelce missed in Week 1, Rice led the Chiefs in targets and finished as the WR28 that week after his first NFL game. It may still feel like a dice roll because of the way the passing game in Kansas City distributes the ball around, but I’d be willing to invest in Rice for this week and hope to see his role continue to expand in this offense.

Recommended FAAB: 0-5%

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Josh Downs, WR – Indianapolis Colts

From a rookie I was super into during draft season to a rookie I was completely out on, Josh Downs has made me eat my words so far this season. Downs hasn’t produced in a big way for fantasy purposes yet, but he’s worked his way into this Colts offense as a consistent threat in the passing game that peaked last week with a WR18 finish behind six receptions for 97 yards. What might be the most encouraging for Downs is his ability to produce regardless of who’s playing QB, which looks like it will be Gardner Minshew for several weeks. Fantasy managers should think of Downs as a flex option until further notice.

Recommended FAAB: 0-5%

K.J. Osborn, WR – Minnesota Vikings

We always hate to see an elite option like Justin Jefferson go down for a significant amount of time, but those injuries do lead to opportunities for guys like K.J. Osborn. Osborn has run as the WR3 in the Vikings offense since 2021 and has shown the ability to have fantasy relevance with 10 top-24 finishes. In fact, whenever Adam Thielen missed games in 2021 as the team’s WR2, Osborn had two top-24 finishes. The Vikings’ offense is throwing the ball more than any other team in the league and I’d expect that to continue despite Jefferson’s absence over the next several weeks. Osborn could be a consistent WR2 for fantasy teams and is worth investing in.

Recommended FAAB: 0-0%

• Complete Waiver Wire Rankings

Tight Ends

Logan Thomas, TE – Washington Commanders

To say that 2022 and 2021 were a disappointment for fantasy managers who invested in Logan Thomas would be an understatement, especially after he finished as the TE6 in 2020. It appears the fantasy world is getting back the consistent TE option in Thomas, who’s currently the TE9 on the year behind two top-six TE finishes already this season. The Commanders’ offense isn’t a ton of fun, but whenever you have a TE who is averaging six targets per game and seeing 17% of the team’s total targets, there’s no reason he should be sitting on your waiver wire. As depleted as the TE landscape has been this year, fantasy managers in need of a TE could do much worse than snagging Thomas this week.

Recommended FAAB: 0-5%

Dalton Schultz, TE – Houston Texans

The doctor is back in the office! What many thought would be a garbage offense in Houston has turned into one of the most pass-happy units in the league, currently throwing the ball the seventh-most in the league. Schultz had been an afterthought in the TE ranks so far this year, but after putting together TE5 and TE6 finishes in back-to-back weeks, fantasy managers in need of a TE should be looking in his direction. The biggest concern for Schultz going forward could be his dependency on getting in the end zone since he’s averaging just 30 yards per game. Still, Schultz has seen a red zone target every week this year which can usually be the difference between a TE you’re happy to start and one you’d rather kick to the trash can.

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Recommended FAAB: 0-0%

• Complete Waiver Wire Rankings

Quarterbacks

Team DEF/ST

• Complete Waiver Wire Rankings
• Weekly Waivers Episode of The Fantasy Footballers Podcast