We’re back for the 2019 Fantasy Waiver Wire Week 6 Start, Stash and Stream, where we break down the Free Agent landscape and give you the best picks for the short and long haul. We’ll keep building on our Week 6 Waiver Wire momentum.
Per usual, think of this Waiver Wire set-up kind of like dating. In the first category, you’ve met “the one,” the love of your life, and you want to keep him/her forever. Those are your “Starts.”
Next, you have the person you’ve known for a while, but you find yourself asking: what are we? One week in, one week out, holding on for comfort and little else… they’re the “Stashes.” You just can’t quit them.
And then you have that Tinder date that serves a one-time purpose, most often leaving you feeling dirty and hopeless, but occasionally a solo home run. These are your “Streams.”
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With all that went down Week 6, here’s what we can use going forward.
Note – Ownership % based on Yahoo; all players are less than 50% owned
Start
- Auden Tate, WR Cincinnati Bengals (23% owned)
- Jamison Crowder, WR New York Jets (42% owned)
- Sam Darnold, QB New York Jets (16% owned)
For all the suck associated with the Bengals this season, WR Auden Tate is standing out with consistent production. The absence of AJ Green and injury to John Ross forced Tate into a starting role. He saw 12 targets for 5 catches and 91 yards in Week 6, and as long as Green and Ross are sidelined, Tate has a solid role going forward.
Jamison Crowder had been featured on this list along with other Jets for some time anticipating the return of QB Sam Darnold. Well, Darnold came back and the offense upgraded immensely. Crowder was targeted nine times and registered 98 yards on six receptions. With Darnold in the lineup, Crowder has been targeted a whopping 26 times in their two games together.
Sam Darnold looked great in his return, throwing for 338 yards and 2 touchdowns. Once he gets past the Patriots in Week 7, the Jets have the easiest schedule remaining in the NFL, which sets up for some fantasy explosions down the stretch for the Jets’ offense.
Stash
- Alex Mattison, RB Minnesota Vikings (22% owned)
- Chase Edmonds, RB Arizona Cardinals (34% owned)
- Kirk Cousins, QB Minnesota Vikings (47% owned)
- Pittsburgh Steelers D/ST (30% owned)
- Mark Walton, RB Miami Dolphins (4% owned)
- Benny Snell, RB Pittsburgh Steelers (2% owned)
- Chris Herndon, TE New York Jets (27% owned)
- Luke Willson, TE Seattle Seahawks (0% owned)
- Darren Fells, TE Houston Texans (4% owned)
Dalvin Cook has been a monster thus far, which makes his backup, Alex Mattison, the ultimate “Handcuff With Benefits.” In limited action, Mattison has looked great in Gary Kubiak’s zone blocking scheme, and he’s been more than solid in the two games where he carried the ball over ten times. If the oft-injured Cook were to get banged up, Mattison would be a high-upside RB2 right away. Hopefully you’ve listened to Roto Street Joe, who’s been begging you to stash the Vikings’ rookie.
This marks two games in a row where Chase Edmonds has scored for the Cardinals. He had 5 carries for 34 yards and added 2 catches for 33 yards and a score. David Johnson really struggled on the ground and made much more of an impact through the air. Surprisingly, it could be argued that Edmonds has been more productive running the ball — especially between the tackles. He’s one DJ injury away from skyrocketing into RB1 territory.
You like that?! We liked the recent defensive matchups for Kirk Cousins and the Vikings. The Giants and Eagles were perfect secondaries to go against and it showed with 639 yards and six touchdowns through the air. Week 7 against the Lions isn’t anything special, but the following weeks against the Redskins and Chiefs are very good opportunities for Cousins to have repeat performances.
The Pittsburgh Steelers DST showcased their talent on SNF against the Chargers to the tune of 14 points. They’ve scored double digit points in 4 straight games now, and have Miami coming up on the schedule after the bye week. Their end of season schedule is also favorable, containing numerous struggling and turnover prone offenses.
In the cesspool that is Miami’s offense, Mark Walton drew the start for the Dolphins in Week 6. Granted he was still out-touched by Kenyan Drake, the team still saw something in Walton to give him the nod. He had 6 carries for 32 yards and caught 5 of 6 targets for 43 yards. The usage was encouraging and it definitely helps that Drake and Kalen Ballage have done nothing to distance themselves in the backfield.
Benny Snell had his first real NFL debut on Sunday Night Football against the Chargers, and filled his role admirably. With Jaylen Samuels out, Snell stepped into the backup role and rushed 17 times for 75 yards, and added another grab for 14 yards. Similar to Edmonds, Snell won’t see consistent usage unless James Conner gets banged up — which seems to be happening more often.
If you are really hurting at the TE spot and didn’t/couldn’t pick up Hunter Henry like we told you, then Chris Herndon could be a nice add to use in the next few weeks. He injured his hamstring running routes last Friday and is scheduled to miss Week 7, but hopefully ready to go in Week 8. We saw Anderson and Crowder return to fantasy relevancy right away, and Herndon can also be a weapon in the Jets offense.
Unfortunately we seem to have lost the great TE Will Dissly in the Seattle offense after what looked to be an Achilles injury. Dissly had been great in Seattle’s offense and really clicked with Russell Wilson. With him gone, the team could turn to Luke Willson who was a star on Hard Knocks in Oakland before being cut and brought back to the team. He only had 3 targets for 2 catches and 16 yards, but his prior experience in Seattle and more looks could make for an interesting TE play.
The Texans offense has been clicking, and Darren Fells has benefited from the increased play. 6 catches and 69 (nice) yards on 7 targets is not too shabby even though he’s Jordan Akins. Still, he and Deshaun Watson seem to have a decent connection brewing over the last two weeks. He’s a real desperation play if needed at such a thin position.
Stream
- Jacoby Brissett, QB Indianapolis Colts (42% owned)
- Daniel Jones, QB New York Giants (29% owned)
He had a quiet, methodical game against the Chiefs, but Jacoby Brissett squares off with Deshaun Watson next week at home. Take out the 10 point dud, and he’s got two 16 point performances and two 20+ point games.
After watching Matt Ryan carve them up in a loss, Danny “Dimes” Jones gets a sweet matchup against the Cardinals at home. The return of Golden Tate was huge for Jones as seen in the long touchdown pass against the Patriots. With Tate and Engram in the fold, Jones looks like a great streamer play at home.
