We are up to Week 6 now, the third of many more bye weeks to come. Kansas City and New Orleans are off, likely leaving a bigger hole in your team than last week when you lost the Dolphins and Raiders players. When potentially losing any combination of Jamaal Charles, Jimmy Graham, Drew Brees, Dwayne Bowe and others, your best bet at replacing that production might not be be able to come from your bench. The waiver wire, as always, is filled with talent waiting to take your Week 6 lineup from good to great.
This week's look at the top movers on Fleaflicker features 3 RB’s who started #3 on their teams depth chart and are now, one way or another, going to be the featured back for the immediate future. Let’s dig into the most added waiver wire players for Week 6, and analyze whether you should buy into the hype or leave them on waivers.
Top Fleaflicker Players Added For Week 6
Braden Oliver (RB, SD) - 9,766 Adds
Braden Oliver sat on the bench for the early part of the season and is now being called on to carry the Chargers backfield after some unsightly injuries. Ryan Matthews won’t be back until at least Week 8 with his knee injury, Donald Brown is dealing with his concussion and Danny Woodhead is on IR, leaving Oliver at the top of the Bolts depth chart.
Last week, Oliver exploded against the Jets with 19 carries for 114 yards, 4 receptions for another 68 yards and a score both on the ground and through the air. That all adds up to a monstrous 30.2 standard points, the 2nd most points by any player in Week 5. Now with Oliver on the radar, he is owned in 66% of Fleaflicker leagues.
Even though he is up against a much easier opponent in Oakland, you obviously can’t expect him to repeat his performance against the Jets. However, he is a great RB2 option and an excellent plug-and-play for those without Charles. I expect his value to decrease weekly as the Chargers backfield gets more and more crowded with injured players returning
Andre Williams - RB, NYG - 5,235 Adds
Just like Ryan Matthews, Rashad Jennings has gone down with an injury, leaving the Giants backfield wide open. Cue Boston College Heisman Trophy Finalist Andre Williams, and his back to back solid games. After going for 15-66-1 in Washington as a backup to Jennings and the Giants way ahead for most of his snaps, it was easy for owners to be skeptical of buying into Williams. So Williams followed it up with a 20-65-1 game against the Falcons, adding in 2 catches for an additional 18 yards. Heading into a decent matchup in Philly, Williams has jumped from 14% to 65% owned in Fleaflicker leagues.
While Williams is in a similar situation to Oliver, I like Oliver more simply because of the G-Men’s Week 8 bye. Oliver is also the better play in PPR leagues, as Williams doesn't have great pass catching skills. Jennings is expected back from his knee injury after their week off, leaving Williams as the clear #2 guy regardless of his performance. That leaves only two games to capitalize on owning him, and limited productivity is never a great thing to add for the long term.
Ronnie Hillman - RB, DEV - 4,234 Adds
The last of the RB’s on this list, Hillman is benefiting from –sigh- you guessed it, an injured starter. Monte Ball’s groin is going to keep him out until Week 9 most likely, and in his absence Hillman is expected to see anywhere from 10-13 carries as the lead back. Not exactly promising considering you are likely only going to be leasing him from waivers until Ball comes back. I’m also not too high on Hillman because Peyton Manning will be spreading the ball around to his wide receivers this Sunday as the Jets have a pretty tough run defense.
C.J. Anderson and/or Juwan Thompson will likely take some snaps away from Hillman unless he has a breakout game. I’m just not banking on it this week.
Brian Quick - WR, STL - 3,150 Adds
Boo-yah, somebody who isn’t a RB! It's tough when the only thing holding back a talented WR is his position on the depth chart, and that is exactly what the preseason consensus was on Quick. Behind Kenny Britt and Tavon Austin, Quick would be getting limited targets from Sam Bradford. After Bradford’s injury, Quick’s stock fell all the way to predraft irrelevance with Austin Davis as the newly signed QB. Yet all season, Quick has shined thanks in part to the emergence of Davis, who is just outside the Top 5 most added players this week.
Quick has gone for 322 yards on a total of 21 catches with 3 TDs this season, and has been a consistently solid WR3 all year. It only took a 20.7 point, 2 TD game last week for fantasy players to take notice.
Quick has a tough schedule, going up against the 49ers and Seahawks, and then travelling to Kansas City, San Fran and Arizona. The thing going for Quick is he won’t necessarily be up against his opponents #1 CBs, making him an easier target for Davis. I like him as a WR3/FLEX throughout the tough schedule.
Tim Wright - TE, NE - 2,779 Adds
After being traded to New England from Tampa Bay for longtime fan favorite Logan Mankins, Tim Wright probably wasn’t well received at first. Clearly in the shadow of Rob Gronkowski, Wright was first praised for his work ethic by Bill Belichick. In week 5, when the Patriots needed it most after the beating they took in KC, Wright’s hard work paid off for him to the tune of a season high 5 receptions, 85 yards and his first TD as a Pat against the Bengals. Even though he is playing limited snaps, it seems after his solid game that number could increase, making him more valuable to fantasy owners.
Owned in just 26% of Fleaflicker leagues, I can’t see many better options as a plug and play FLEX for those losing Jimmy Graham this week. I like him as a low-end TE1, and if he has another nice game in Buffalo, don’t expect him to be on waivers for long.
Well there you have it. A case can be made to add any and all of the players on this list. However, there is generally a reason these five were not drafted in most leagues. There is obviously a risk in starting every player, and these waiver wire adds might be a risk for your teams and not worth starting until you know for sure what you are getting out of them. Make sure to share your thoughts and comments below, or leave any questions you have for me about these players, or any fantasy football questions in general. Good luck in Week 6 RotoBallers.