Auden Tate (WR, CIN) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: The Bengals are 0-5, Andy Dalton is a complete boom-or-bust quarterback yet here we are, trying to get Auden Tate (who most people probably didn't even know until three weeks ago) to save our fantasy teams and help us recover from our horrid lost games.

All things considered, the situation called for action. A.J. Green started the season injured and it is still up in the air when will he come back. Best-to-date Bengal John Ross was also injured and placed on IR. That left Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd (along Andy Dalton) as the only viable options in Cincy's offense. Enter Auden Tate. He has played the last four games and in his last three, he's averaging 11.8 fantasy points. He has caught 13 passes on 22 targets for 164 yards and scored a touchdown. He's seen as many snaps as team-leader Tyler Boyd. Not bad for such a deep option through the depth chart.

Fortunately, Cincinnati doesn't have a tough schedule for the rest of the season. Between Weeks 6 and 13 they won't face an above-average defense against WRs, and the Ravens look like a good matchup this weekend. Baltimore has conceded 1,454 passing yards through five games (fourth-most), and 1,004 of them to WRs (third-most). Every wideout seems to find a way to torch their defense as even the Dolphins receiving corps were able to drop 29.2 fantasy points on them in Week 1, while Arizona logged 307 receiving yards against Baltimore in Week 2.

In deeper leagues, Tate could be a good option to fill your flex slot going forward. Considering the Bengals calendar, you should squeeze value from Tate for more than a game and keep him in your roster at least for a few weeks if you can get him through waivers. He won't give you 30 points per game but his floor should be at around 10 points with upside to finish with 20 on a good night.