Week 6 waiver wire: High-upside players still up for grabs

With the addition of a Tuesday Night Football matchup in Week 5, the Week 6 waiver wire and transaction processing period is a little different. For those who missed it, here’s what’s happening per Yahoo Sports:

• Waivers: Players that would have cleared waivers on Tuesday or Wednesday morning will now be processed on Thursday morning. This will give you time to make roster changes in the new week before waivers are processed.

• Trades: If your league uses a voting period for trades, pending trades will not be processed until Thursday morning.

There’s a little change to how some leagues may operate, but regardless of what your league’s settings are, here are the players rostered in 50 percent of leagues or less you should be trying to target on the waiver wire for Week 6.

WR Chase Claypool, Pittsburgh Steelers (17% rostered on Yahoo)

Mapletron broke out in a big way on Canadian Thanksgiving. The Steelers’ second-round pick corralled seven of his 11 targets for 110 yards and three touchdowns while adding six yards and a score on the ground. A four-touchdown performance is hard to ignore, and whether teammate WR Diontae Johnson plays in Week 6 or not, Claypool has earned a role in this offense. He’s worth an add and stash in 10-team leagues. His role moving forward will be interesting to monitor.

QB Andy Dalton, Dallas Cowboys (3% rostered on Yahoo)

If you had QB Dak Prescott on your fantasy football team, the player you should be targeting on the waiver wire to replace him is Dalton.

Prescott’s gruesome injury was felt throughout the sports world, and everybody is hoping he will make a speedy and full recovery. In fantasy however, Dalton, arguably the best backup QB in the NFL, is stepping into an offense that is absolutely loaded with talent, highlighted by WR Amari Cooper, WR CeeDee Lamb, WR Michael Gallup and RB Ezekiel Elliott. Additionally, due to the Cowboys’ poor defense, Dallas leads the NFL in passing attempts (47.2). He will have the volume and the surrounding cast to be a low-end QB1 moving forward.

RB Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings (41% rostered on Yahoo)

With RB Josh Jacobs, RB Alvin Kamara and RB Chris Carson on bye this week, Mattison is the perfect plug and play RB for Week 6. Cook is expected to sit this upcoming week, according to Chad Graff of The Athletic, and the Vikings have a great matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta allowed Panthers RB Mike Davis to rush for 89 yards on 16 carries while he gashed them for 60 receiving yards and a score on nine catches in Week 5. Mattison proved last week that he can handle a large workload, racking up 112 yards on 20 carries and 24 yards on three receptions. He’ll be in the high-end RB2 range for Week 6.

RB Justin Jackson, Los Angeles Chargers (44% rostered on Yahoo)

The original thought with the Chargers backfield was that rookie RB Joshua Kelley would emerge as the new lead back in place of the injured RB Austin Ekeler. Kelley, who had out-snapped Jackson 114-32 through the first four weeks, struggled against the New Orleans Saints and Jackson was the team’s No. 1. He rushed for 71 yards on 15 carries and added five receptions for 23 yards. This situation may remain fluid, but if you’re thin at RB Jackson seems to be the RB to add and stash through the team’s Week 6 bye.

WR Mecole Hardman, Kansas City Chiefs (40% rostered on Yahoo)

WR Sammy Watkins (hamstring) is expected to miss a couple of weeks. His absence should create a larger role for Hardman, who now has a chance to prove that he deserves more snaps.

Hardman, a speedster and return specialist, is only 22 years old. As fantasy managers know, getting a piece of the Chiefs offense is typically a smart strategy. Hardman has averaged just over three targets per game this season. The hope is that he will receive some of Watkins’ vacated targets in the upcoming weeks. Watkins was averaging just under seven targets per game through the first four weeks. Hardman will be a flex-worthy play against the Buffalo Bills in Week 6.

WR Henry Ruggs, Las Vegas Raiders (44% rostered on Yahoo)

Ruggs showed exactly why the Raiders selected him in the first round. The speedy rookie made the most of his three targets, catching two for 118 yards and a score. Sure, the volatility is going to be there, but he’s a truly elite deep threat who doesn’t need much target volume to be effective. He’s worth adding and stashing on your bench through the Raiders’ Week 6 bye.

WR DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles (28% rostered on Yahoo)

Jackson has been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury, but it seemed like he was very close to playing last Sunday after logging limited practice sessions throughout the week. The Eagles had both WR Greg Ward and WR Travis Fulgham step up in his absence against the Steelers in Week 5, but Jackson likely supplants both on the depth chart once he returns. If he’s able to play against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6, he’ll be a boom-or-bust WR4.

WR Preston Williams, Miami Dolphins (22% rostered on Yahoo)

It took Williams five weeks, but he finally produced a breakout performance on the road against the San Francisco 49ers. Williams compiled four receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown in Week 5. At 6-foot-4 and 211 pounds, Williams has been an offseason hype machine in the past and the hope is he can put it all together when it matters most. In this game, he out-targeted teammate WR Isaiah Ford 5-2, a sign that Williams may start becoming a more utilized part of this offense. Williams is a WR4 against the New York Jets in Week 6.

WR Tim Patrick, Denver Broncos (17% rostered on Yahoo)

Here’s what I wrote about Patrick in my waiver wire column for Week 5:

Because the game against New England was postponed one week and all of the extenuating circumstances are virtually the same, that advice is still highly relevant.

WR Brandin Cooks, Houston Texans (44% rostered on Yahoo)

In Week 5, Cooks finally seemed to acclimate himself to the Texans' offense. He led the team with 12 targets and turned it into an 8-161-1 stat line. His on-field play has never been a concern, it's always been a matter of whether he can stay on the field. From 2015-2018, Cooks posted four straight 1,000-plus yard seasons. At just 27-years-old, there's ample reason to believe he can still be productive. Cooks could develop into a consistent WR2 over the next few weeks.

QB Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings (32% rostered on Yahoo)

Cousins is one of the top QB streaming options available on the waiver wire for Week 6. That largely has to do with his matchup against the Falcons, who have just been pummelled by opposing fantasy QBs in 2020. Atlanta is allowing the most fantasy points per game to passers and Cousins has two top-12 QB finishes to his name this season. With both WR Justin Jefferson and WR Adam Thielen at his disposal, Cousins should finish the week as a low-end QB1.

DST Stream of the Week: Miami Dolphins (3% rostered on Yahoo)

Sensing a trend here? This is the fourth-straight week I’ve suggested that fantasy managers should add the defense playing against the New York Jets. Five weeks into this season, the reasons seem obvious as to why you should add the defense that gets pinned against the winless Jets. Here’s how those units have faired thus far:

Week 1 at BUF: 8.00 fantasy points

Week 2 vs. SF: 5.00 fantasy points

Week 3 at IND: 26.00 fantasy points

Week 4 vs. DEN: 6.00 fantasy points

Week 5 vs. ARI: 7.00 fantasy points

Combined, that’s 52.00 fantasy points. That makes “whoever the Jets are playing” the No. 2 defense in fantasy football.

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