Garrett Lee | @TheBasedGarrett
Tuesday, October 13, 2015 | BataviasBest.org
Heading into week 6 of the NFL season. The Cowboys, Raiders, Rams and Buccaneers are on the bye.
That means Joseph Randle, Jason Witten, Amari Cooper, Latavius Murray, Todd Gurley, Doug Martin, Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson will not help you out at all during your matchup this week.
I think these guys can help mitigate the bye week woes, however. Here are my Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 6:
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Starting off with quarterbacks, I like Blake Bortles (owned in 27.5% of ESPN leagues) of the Jaguars. Bortles did suffer a grade 1 AC joint sprain in his shoulder against the Bucs on Sunday. The sprain is the same injury that’s bothered Randall Cobb all season. The Jags’ offense has really been clicking lately, with Bortles getting the Allens (Robinson and Hurns) and TJ Yeldon heavily involved. If Bortles plays, which Head Coach Gus Bradley thinks he will, look for a solid performance out of the UCF-alum. The Texans’ defense is NOWHERE near as good as expected. Outside of JJ Watt, that unit is mediocre at best.
Another QB I like, even though he doesn’t meet my 50% ownership or less requirement, is Sam Bradford (owned in 57.8%). The Eagles QB has averaged 20 points per game in his last two games, and seems to have finally gotten a grasp of Chip Kelly’s offense. Take away the two redzone picks (both happened in the endzone as well) he had against the Saints, Bradford could’ve been looking at a 350 yard/4 TD performance. Plus, he’s playing the Giants.
Now onto running backs, where many owners saw their seasons die on Sunday. With Jamaal Charles tearing his ACL, Knile Davis (23.5%) and Charcandrick West (0.3%) will both take on expanded roles in the offense. It’ll probably take a little time to figure out who the lead back is, as Andy Reid stated that the two will likely split carries for the time being. However, after Charles went out on Sunday, West got the majority of the work.
While he’s a member of one of the bottom-feeders on the league, Antonio Andrews (22.0%) continues to get more and more carries with the Titans. It feels like the Bishop Sankey experiment is over, and Andrews will be the lead back from here on out. Andrews has scored in his last two outings, but be aware that he also plays for the Titans.
Four wide receivers will break the 50% ownership mark this week, and they are Allen Hurns (48.5%) of the Jaguars, Willie Snead (29.0%) of the Saints, Kamar Aiken (32.9%) of the Ravens and Tavon Austin (42.5) of the Rams. Obviously Austin has his bye week, but he’s finally becoming the talent many expected him to become when he was a top-1o draft pick in 2013, Hurns is the number 2 in blossoming offense, Snead is Brees second favorite receiver in New Orleans, and Kamar Aiken is the number 1 as long as Steve Smith is out. Hurns in the last two weeks has had 16 catches for 232 yards and two scores, Snead has gone off for 230 yards on 12 catches. Aiken has 9 catches for 145 yards and score, and Austin has had 8 catches for 102 yards and 3 scores (also has had 5 rushes for 42 yards, and he’s also a lethal return man). If I had to pick one to be the safest bet to produce for the rest of the year, I’d put my money on Allen Hurns. Tavon Austin is the biggest boom or bust candidate.
For tight ends, there’s Derek Carrier (4.8%) of the Redskins, Richard Rogers (43.5%) of the Packers, and Gary Barnridge (37.5%) of the Browns. Rogers and Barnridge will definitely eclipse the 50% mark this week, but let’s start off with Carrier. The lead tight end for the Redskins in all 5 games has had at least 80 yards or a TD. If you don’t own one of the top-tier tight ends, you can’t really complain if there’s a decent chance that they’ll bring in 80 yards or a score. As for Richard Rogers, he plays with Aaron Rodgers. Doesn’t get much better than that. He also has 11 catches for 90 yards and a TD in the last two weeks. Last, but not least, is Gary Barnridge. He’s been torturing defenses and fantasy owners lately. Who the heck is this guy? Well, in the last 3 weeks he’s averaged almost 7 catches for over 106 yards and a score per contest (20 catches, 319 yards, 3 TDs). That’s 59.9 points in 1/2-point per reception scoring. He’ll likely jump up to the number 3 tight end in leagues that use 1/2PPR scoring. He’s currently 9th. If he’s somehow still available in your league, snag him NOW.
My top streaming option for defense/special teams this week are the Minnesota Vikings (18.2%). They play a Jamaal Charles-less Chiefs too. Take away Charles from that offense, and it relies on Alex Smith. Hello, wonderful matchup.
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That’s all I have for week 6. Be on the lookout for Hate It or Love It. Sound off on Twitter if there’s anyone you feel I should’ve included. Best of luck in week 6.
Other articles you may like:
Week 5 Hate It or Love It: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not this week in Fantasy Football?
Week 5 Waiver Wire: Panthers, Vikings, Jets, Dolphins are on a bye week
