RADIO
Welcome to Week 6 everyone. Week 5 was a bad one for serious injuries, so there are plenty of options on the waiver wire this week to help fill those gaps with four more teams on bye.
Below are my recommended FAAB waiver wire bids for Week 6. Each FAAB auction price recommendation will be based on a $100 FAAB budget, and all players listed have less than 50 percent ownership on Yahoo.
Let’s look around the league at who is worth a bid going into Week 6.
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FAAB Waiver Wire Bids - Running Backs
Jerick McKinnon (MIN) - $60-70 (26% owned)
McKinnon carried the Vikes offense in the Monday night win over Chicago. He had four more carries (16 for 95 yards and a touchdown) than Latavius Murray and also caught all six of his pass targets for an extra 51 yards.
The fact that Case Keenum could be leading this offense again in Week 6 is also good news, as the backup QB lacks the arm strength to challenge defenses deep and prefers short dump-offs. McKinnon looked fresh, had much better burst than Murray and should continue to lead this backfield in touches with Dalvin Cook (knee) done for the year.
Marlon Mack (IND) - $40-50 (8% owned)
The veteran Frank Gore is still the "leader" in this backfield, but it's clear after Week 5 that Mack, a fourth-round pick in 2017, should be seeing more work, and that's what Chuck Pagano plans to do moving forward.
Mack had nine totes for 91 yards and a score in the overtime win over the Niners and has a healthy 4.5 yard-per-carry average on 25 attempts in his rookie season. The South Florida alum is explosive and has the most upside in this backfield and should be an RB3/flex from here on out. He'll only gain value when/if Andrew Luck (shoulder) returns.
NEW - Adrian Peterson (ARI) - $25-30 (40% owned)
The Cardinals worked out a trade with the Saints to bring AP in and hopefully inject some life into their ground game. It's obviously bad news for Chris Johnson, but PPR riser Andre Ellington shouldn't be affected. Peterson clearly wasn't a fit in the pass-happy Saints offense. He may not be a great fit in the desert, either, but at least he'll have more opportunity. Keep expectations in check, though. Peterson was averaging a paltry 3.0 yards per carry on 27 attempts in the Big Easy, and he'll have to learn a new offense on the fly.
Wayne Gallman (NYG) - $25-30 (39% owned)
Like Mack, Gallman is a rookie averaging 4.5 yards per carry. With Paul Perkins (ribs) and Orleans Darkwa (calf) unable to stay healthy, Gallman has seen exactly 11 carries each of the last two weeks, and he also caught five passes for 25 yards in the loss to the Chargers.
In what is already a lost season for the Giants (0-5 start, Odell Beckham Jr. (ankle) lost for the season), the smart thing to do would be to see what the youngster Gallman can give them down the stretch. There's a caveat, though: New York's ground game has struggled, and it won't get any easier now that they're essentially down to Roger Lewis as their No. 1 wideout for Week 6 against Denver.
Elijah McGuire (NYJ) - $15-20 (16% owned)
Rookie running backs are the rage on the waiver wire this week, folks. McGuire had a season-high 11 carries for 20 yards in the win over the Browns, adding two catches for 10 yards. He failed to do much, though, with Bilal Powell (calf) out in the second half, but he is averaging 5.2 yards per carry this year.
Matt Forte is still dealing with turf toe and Powell is now questionable to play in Week 6, so McGuire is expected to see a heavy workload against the Pats. With Forte out the past two weeks, McGuire has totaled 21 carries and has four catches. Even if Powell plays, McGuire could see ample work in the passing game while playing catchup with New England.
Matt Breida (SF) - $15-20 (7% owned)
Kyle Shanahan has apparently soured a bit on Carlos Hyde as the leader of this backfield. The Niners will continue to start Hyde, but will ride the "hot hand" after that, meaning Breida's stock is on the rise. The 22-year-old rook led the backfield with 10 carries for 49 yards in Week 5's overtime loss and is averaging 4.0 yards per carry on 30 totes in 2017. Breida's workload will be tough to predict, but he could morph into a weekly flex consideration if Hyde continues to struggle or gets hurt.
Also consider: Shane Vereen (NYG) - $5-10, Orleans Darkwa (NYG) - $5-10, Corey Clement (PHI) - $1-3
Wide Receivers
JuJu Smith-Schuster (PIT) - $20-25 (5% owned)
Another rookie. Smith-Schuster had a season-high four catches on six targets for 58 yards in the embarrassing loss to the Jags, and he's essentially been the most consistent pass catcher behind Antonio Brown. Smith-Schuster's emergence made slot man Eli Rogers a healthy scratch in Week 5. The talented rookie from USC has at least four targets in his four games this year and also has two scores.
Albert Wilson (KC) - $10-15 (1% owned)
Chris Conley suffered a ruptured Achilles Sunday night, so Wilson will immediately become KC's No. 2 receiver behind Tyreek Hill. Normally, the Chiefs only support a few fantasy-relevant players, but Alex Smith is pushing the ball downfield more often this year, so Wilson has some appeal in deeper leagues, especially with Travis Kelce in the concussion protocol.
Roger Lewis (NYG) - $5-10 (1% owned)
Lewis, the No. 5 receiver on the depth chart entering Week 5, will likely be the No. 1 wideout heading to Denver this weekend. That's how bad the Giants were hit by the injury bug. He's a volume-based waiver addition, but his upside is limited in a bad offense heading into brutal matchups before their Week 8 bye. Brandon Marshall's (ankle) and Sterling Shepard's (ankle) eventual returns will push Lewis back down the pecking order before long.
Ricardo Louis (CLE) - $5-10 (1% owned)
Kenny Britt (knee) was inactive in Week 5 and is falling out of favor with the coaching staff. That has left the door open for Louis to become the main receiving option for Cleveland. He had a team-high five grabs for 71 yards in the Week 5 loss to the Jets and could benefit from a possible switch at quarterback from Deshone Kizer to Kevin Hogan moving forward. The Browns are still winless and are likely to continue airing it out while down big.
Also consider: Mike Williams (LAC) - $1-3, Marquise Goodwin (SF) - $1-3, Brandon Tate (BUF) - $1-3
Quarterbacks
Kevin Hogan (CLE) - $5-10 (0% owned)
This is purely speculative, as Hogan replaced struggling rookie DeShone Kizer after halftime in the 17-14 Week 5 loss to the Jets. Head coach Hue Jackson hasn't made a final decision on his signal caller for Week 6, but Hogan made his case by going 16-for-19 for 194 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the second half. Kizer, on the flip side, has as many touchdowns (three) as Hogan in 121 more attempts. Hogan would merely be a low-end second QB in two-quarterback leagues.
Tight Ends
Nick O'Leary (BUF) - $5-10 (0% owned)
Charles Clay had surgery on his meniscus and MCL and is out at least multiple weeks. Enter O'Leary, who had five catches for a team-high 54 yards in Week 5 after Clay was helped off the field. He'll have to help pick up the slack in this passing game minus Clay and Jordan Matthews (thumb), since rookie Zay Jones has been basically invisible.
David Njoku (CLE) - $5-10 (7% owned)
Njoku caught all three of his targets against the Jets for a season-high 48 yards and a touchdown. It may be no coincidence that Njoku's 21-yard score came courtesy of Kevin Hogan in the second half. If Hogan is given the nod as the starter in Week 6, he could rely more on the rookie tight end as a safety valve.
Darren Fells (DET) - $3-5 (0% owned)
The Lions promised to get Fells more involved with Eric Ebron struggling. That didn't really happen in Week 5, but Fells was extremely efficient, catching both of his targets for 24 yards and two touchdowns. He's got seven targets the last two weeks and should be more involved, but he'll basically be a touchdown-dependent red-zone option as a TE2 with Ebron still in the picture, unfortunately.
Also consider: George Kittle (SF) - $1-3, Ed Dickson (CAR) - $1-3, Tyler Higbee (LAR) - $1-3
Defense/Special Teams
Los Angeles Rams - $3-5 (49% owned)
This is a public service announcement to remind everyone that the Rams defense should be owned ahead of their Week 6 matchup against the passing-challenged Jaguars. They rank seventh in fantasy scoring (47 points) after five weeks and also rank seventh in the NFL in sacks (15.0). Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has the unit swarming as a whole, and they've also picked off six passes and returned two for TDs.
Also consider: Atlanta Falcons - $1, Tennessee Titans - $1
