Waiver Wire and FAAB Advice: Week 6 (2020 Fantasy Football)

Written By Jason Shallcross
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Quarterbacks

Andy Dalton, Dallas Cowboys (0.2% rostered)

Dak Prescott suffered a gruesome season-ending injury on Sunday against the New York Giants. At the time, Dak was QB3 behind Wilson and Mahomes. Next up? “Blandy” Dalton. Rostered in 0.2% of ESPN leagues, he’s going to be bid on widely by teams struggling at QB. If you land him, you are hoping he provides 70% of the production Dak managed. I wouldn’t break the bank to chase him as plenty of viable streaming candidates are out there. Only spend 5-10% of your FAAB trying to land him.

Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams (47.1% rostered)

Goff is currently QB10 on the season and faces off against the San Francisco 49ers this week. San Fran is giving up the 13th most points to QBs through five weeks, including a massive Week 5 Fitzpatrick performance that netted 27.6 fantasy points points. The Rams also play both the Jets and Seahawks during the fantasy playoffs. drools. I’d drop 5-10% of my FAAB budget trying to land Goff.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Miami Dolphins (19.9% rostered)

Quarterbacks average fewer FPPG than Fitzpatrick: Lamar Jackson, Big Ben, Tom Brady, and Deshaun Watson. If you take his week one dud against New England out of his statsheet, he’s average more on a per-game basis than Cam Newton. Nuts. Better yet, he’s rostered in less than 20% of leagues and faces the Jets this week. Gimme some of that chest hair. I’d drop 5% of my FAAB budget to land Fitzmagic and be confident in him as a top 10 play.

Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings (16.5% rostered) - Stream of the Week

Finishing with 250 passing yards and two scores against the Seahawks, Kirk is becoming fantasy-relevant again. With the Falcons up this week, who Teddy Bridgewater just skewered to the tune of 313 yards and two scores, I am streaming Cousins everywhere I’m thin at quarterback. The best part? I think you can land him for only a dollar or two of FAAB. Put in a zero dollar bid if you’re feeling frisky.

Running Backs

Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings (41.6% rostered)

Dalvin Cook cannot stay healthy. It’s unfortunate, because the guy is amazing to watch:

Cook exited and then returned, but then exited for good. While he was out, Alexander Mattison went 20/112 on the ground plus 3/24 through the air. The schedule the next three weeks? ATL, BYE, GB. You have to hate that the bye week is in there, but Mattison should return top 15 value as long as Cook is sidelined.

With word from Tom Pelissero coming yesterday that Dalvin avoided a major injury, I’m not breaking the bank for Alexander Mattison and only viewing him as a one week rental. Dalvin will likely get this week off and then come back after his bye week against the Packers. That being the case, I’d only drop 15-20% of my faab budget to land him. I’m going to miss on him in many leagues because of it, and that’s okay. Spend more if you’re desperate for a ‘W’ or dealing with major bye week issues.

Damien Harris, New England Patriots (40.1% rostered)

Harris, on bye during week five, went off during week four to the tune of 100 yards on 17 rushing attempts. While he didn’t have any involvement in the passing game, look for his role to expand as he reacclimates himself to the offense. I’d spend 20% of faab to land Harris as he could take over the early-down role. If he does, he represents a ton of value.

Wide Receivers

Chase Claypool, Pittsburgh Steelers (8.8% rostered)

The genie is out of the bottle in Pittsburgh and he won’t be going back away time soon. Chase Claypool commanded 11 targets, or a 32.4% share, in week five. He turned it into seven receptions for 110 yards and three touchdowns, and he added three rushing attempts for six yards and another score on the ground! Claypool is up to WR15 in fantasy points after his week five outburst and is easily my top waiver wire add of the week. The one caveat to his season-long potential? His output may be dependent on the health of Diontae Johnson, as Claypool saw most of his snaps after Diontae left the game with a back injury. With the injury deemed ‘not serious’ by team health officials, it looks like Johnson may be back as early as this week. That leaves me worried that there may too many mouths to feed in this offense. It isn’t likely that Claypool, Johnson, and Smith-Schuster will all be able to produce on a week-to-week basis unless Ben starts passing more (he’s only averaging 35.75 pass attempts per game, 12th-most in the league). However, top 10 upside is there for Claypool if he is able to secure a significant role and Ben keeps targeting him like he did in week five. I believe in Claypool’s ability and am willing to spend 20% of faab trying to land a WR1 over the second half of the season.

Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals (42% rostered)

Another week, another waiver column spent begging people to add Tee Higgins. The guy is WR37 after five weeks and had another eight targets againt the Ravens on Sunday, good for an upper-echelon 27% share. He had two more targets than Boyd and is only five behind him on the season even though he didn’t play in week one. He could still pop for more targets. A.J. Green looked disinterested in the game at times and reaggravated a hamstring injury lingering since training camp. DROP A.J. Green! I’d spend 15% of faab to land Higgins.

Laviska Shenault Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars (32% rostered)

I’ll keep banging the drum of the WR27 in half-ppr fantasy football too while I’m at it. ‘Viska had seven catches on eight targets and went for another 79 yards. He also had one rush for five yards. The real news here? D.J. Chark left the game with an ankle injury in the 4th quarter finishing with three catches on four targets for 16 yards. Shenault could be the WR1 in this offense over the second half of the season. I’d spend 10-15% of my faab budget to land him as he’s been extremely consistent so far this season, scoring double-digit points in 4 of 5 weeks. If he starts finding the endzone he will be a high-end WR2.

Alshon Jeffery, Philadelphia Eagles (13.6% rostered)

Looking to return this week, Alshon could easily step into the number one wide receiver role on an injury-riddled offense. If that happens, he could be looking at some serious volume and therefore production. He makes a great end-of-the-bench stash and can be gotten for only a couple dollars of FAAB, or even a zero-dollar bid.

Tight Ends

Robert Tonyan, Green Bay Packers (48.4% rostered)

Tight ends with more fantasy points than Robert Tonyan:

Travis Kelce
Mark Andrews
Darren Waller

That’s it, and he already has his bye week out of the way. However, with Davante coming back this week, expectations need to be tempered. I’d spend 5-10% FAAB to try to land Big Bobby T. Lastly, did you see him do this?

Austin Hooper, Cleveland Browns (45.3% rostered)

Hooper has 17 targets in the last two games, including 10 against the Colts last week. Those double-digit targets were good for a 27% target share, which is elite for anyone. While he only turned it into a 5/57 line, the upside is there if the targets continue to come in bunches for Austin Hooper.

Jason Shallcross
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