October 10th is here and week 6 begins in a couple of days. Mike here, welcome back to my weekly Waiver HUB. Follow me on Twitter (@FantasyHubbard) for all things fantasy football throughout the season.
MNF concluded week 5 last night with a Vegas win over the Packers by a score of 17-13. Low scoring and many turnovers were the stories here. Love looked the worst he has all season throwing his 5th pick in 2 games. He had never thrown 3 INTs in a game in his young career before last night. Packers will look to bounce back in Denver after their week 6 BYE, while the Raiders host the struggling Patriots this weekend.
The TNF matchup this week is the 4-1 Kansas City Chiefs hosting the 1-3 Denver Broncos. The Chiefs are heavily favored by 10.5 and the over/under is set at 49 currently. All signs point to a blowout making all Chiefs great options in fantasy this week.
Go out and make some moves and prepare for fantasy postseason greatness. Injuries are inevitable so here’s another chance to hit the waiver wire and get impactful players. Another week gone, another opportunity to make your team stronger and inch your way to that league trophy and an offseason of bragging rights.
Below are my top waiver wire priorities this week. Go get those available players to help your chances at a championship. Good luck this week and remember to check back every week to stay informed on who you could target off of waivers.
TOP PRIORITY OF THE WEEK
Roschon Johnson – Chicago Bears
Khalil Herbert has a high ankle sprain and is due to miss week 6 with the possibility of going on IR. Enter Roschon. Keep an eye on his status leading up to their game as he was being evaluated for a concussion in week 5. Johnson is averaging nearly 5 yards per carry on the season and caught 1 or more passes through his first 4 games. Minnesota isn’t the greatest matchup in week 6 for Johnson, but I could see this being high scoring giving Roschon a little more appeal.
Quarterbacks
Desmond Ridder – Atlanta Falcons
Ridder is a bit of a gamble for fantasy QB, but he has shown a lot of promise. For the 2nd time this season he has a passing TD and a rushing TD in the same game and last game he threw a career high 329 yards. Ridder gets the Washington defense that played Philadelphia tough and then let Chicago roll over them. If Ridder can get a steady rushing game to add to his arsenal his stock could rise.
Baker Mayfield – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker quietly has the Bucs at 3-1 after a week of rest on their BYE. Mayfield was exposed against the Eagles in week 3 but other than that performance, Baker has been good enough to roster in case of QB emergency. He is sitting top 20 currently in QB fantasy points and that’s without playing this week. Mayfield gets the Lions next week who are playing well and scoring frequently. Hopefully this game becomes a shoot-out which benefits Baker immensely.
Running Backs
Roschon Johnson – Chicago Bears
SEE TOP PRIORITY OF THE WEEK ABOVE
Emari Demercado– Arizona Cardinals
Another game another injury. This time James Connor hurt his knee and is due to miss time. Demercado took over the RB duties when Connor was hurt, and he rushed 10 times for 45 yards and scored his first career TD. He also caught 1 of his 3 targets for an additional 12 yards. He has to face Aaron Donald and the LA Rams and then gets a soft Seattle rush defense. Either way he looks like RB1 for Arizona for the near future which should muster up some fantasy relevance and obvious opportunity.
Tyjae Spears – Tennessee Titans
Spears keeps nudging his way into the Titans backfield despite the presence of the king Derrick Henry. Henry rushed for just 43 yards on 13 carries while Spears was able to hit 34 yards on 7 carries. Spears found the end zone in week 5 which is his 1st in his pro career. He also caught 4 of his 5 targets last game for 35 more yards. In fact, Spears has 11 receptions in his last 3 games on 13 targets. Henry has just 4 receptions since week 3.
Wide Receivers
Josh Downs – Indianapolis Colts
Downs caught all 6 of his targets in week 5 on his way to a career high 97 yards. He now has a near 100-yard game and has also had an 8-reception game on 12 targets. Both great signs for Downs future. Downs will be playing with Minshew behind center, but it doesn’t seem to matter which QB is throwing to him. He is a great complimentary piece to Michael Pittman. Josh is a threat all over the field.
Rashee Rice – Kansas City Chiefs
Rice caught his 2nd TD of the season in week 5. Rashee has been targeted 5+ times every single week and has converted at least 60% of his targets into receptions each game. Rice is 2nd to only Travis Kelce in targets and receptions and sits 3rd in receiving yards on the team. I’m starting to notice this rookie trend. The Chiefs have such a soft schedule coming up for defenses that are not ideal against the pass. Chiefs don’t play a good passing defense until week 13 in Green Bay. Philly and a BYE week are the only possible reasons for concern. Buy stock now.
Tight Ends
Logan Thomas – Washington Commanders
Logan Thomas was possibly the lone bright spot in a brutal 20-point beatdown handed to them by Chicago. He led the entire team with 11 targets and caught 9 of them for 77 yards and a score. That’s his 2nd TD on the year and is going to face the Falcons defense that has been fairly generous to opposing TEs. Anytime a TE gets double digit targets he is going to be appealing.
Dalton Schultz – Houston Texans
Dalton led the Texans in targets with 10 in week 5 and ended up with a TD and 7 receptions for 65 yards. Schultz is 4th in targets, receptions, and receiving yards on the season for Houston, but he has scored in back-to-back games and CJ Stroud is starting to get into a solid throwing rhythm. CJ currently sits 3rd in passing yards in the NFL behind Tua and Kirk Cousins.