2020 Fantasy Football Week 6 Waiver Wire: Start, Stash and Stream

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Week 6 Waiver Wire: Start, Stash, and Stream, where we break down the fantasy free agent landscape and give you the best picks for the short and long haul.

We have our three groups of ‘starts’ ‘stashes’, and ‘streams.’ The starts can be inserted into your lineup immediately, the stash guys add depth to the end of your bench and can provide longer-term benefits, and the streamers are generally D/ST’s and QBs that are matchup dependent.

Let’s look back at Week 5 and see our prospects moving forward for the Week 6 Waiver Wire.

Week 6 bye weeks: Chargers, Raiders, Saints, Seahawks

Note: Ownership % based on Yahoo and must be under 50% owned

START

1. Chase Claypool, WR Pittsburgh Steelers (13% owned)
2. Brandin Cooks, WR Houston Texans (44% owned)
3. Travis Fulgham, WR Philadelphia Eagles (3% owned)
4. Laviska Shenault, WR Jacksonville Jaguars (34% owned)
5. Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB Miami Dolphins (21% owned)

A monster day for the rookie out of Notre Dame, Chase Claypool finished with four touchdowns in one of the more impressive fantasy performances this season. Targeted 11 times, the rookie put up 110 yards and THREE touchdowns on seven receptions and even rushed in a goal-line score from a few yards out. The injury to Diontae Johnson allowed Claypool to stay out there practically the entire game. He had flashed some big-play potential earlier in the year, but now it looks like Big Ben has another weapon at his disposal in this loaded offense.

Likely dropping below the 50% threshold after his goose egg in Week 4, Brandin Cooks bounced back with an 8-161-1 line on 12 targets. He played 49 of the team’s 59 offensive snaps and is supposed to be a significant piece to this Texans aerial attack. Maybe the firing of Bill O’Brien was what Cooks and this offense needed to be freed and set back on the right track.

After scoring the game-winning touchdown in Week 4, Travis Fulgham put together the ultimate encore performance in Week 5. The Eagles have been devastated at the WR position, missing DeSean Jackson, Jalen Reagor, and Alshon Jeffery. Dallas Goedert has also been out, so the team is desperate for anyone on the perimeter to step up. As a result, Fulgham responded with 10-152-1 on 13 targets. Those 13 targets doubled the next closest pass catchers and it looks like Wentz may have finally found someone he can rely on.

A staple of the Waiver Wire article, Laviska Shenault has made his way up into the start territory after his last game. Viska went 7-79-0 on 8 targets and played the second-most snaps among receivers, behind only DJ Chark. The team had pumped Shenault’s tires saying they wanted to get him more involved in the offense moving forward, and that seemed to be the case in Week 5. Shenault played a career-high in snaps and hit a career-high in receptions. The rookie’s role should continue to grow moving forward.

He’s been a darling of ours for weeks now, but somehow Ryan Fitzpatrick is still severely under-owned. He’s scored 20-plus points in four straight games now and blew the doors off the defending NFC champions on the road. I don’t know what else you want from this dude, but he’s absolutely slinging the rock right now.

STASH

1. Alexander Mattison, RB Minnesota Vikings (40% owned)
2. Justin Jackson, RB Los Angeles Chargers (44% owned)
3. Mecole Hardman, WR Kansas City Chiefs (40% owned)
4. Andy Dalton, QB Dallas Cowboys (3% owned)
5. Mike Williams, WR Los Angeles Chargers (40% owned)
6. Christian Kirk, WR Arizona Cardinals (34% owned)
7. Preston Williams, WR Miami Dolphins (22% owned)
8. Demarcus Robinson, WR Kansas City Chiefs (1% owned)
9. J.D. McKissic, RB Washington Football Team (6% owned)
10. Henry Ruggs III, WR Las Vegas Raiders (44% owned)
11. Jeff Smith, WR New York Jets (1% owned)
12. Nelson Agholor, WR Las Vegas Raiders (2% owned)
13. Jalen Guyton, WR Los Angeles Chargers (1% owned)

I’m surprised Alexander Mattison is still severely under-owned considering he’s one of the elite handcuffs at the RB position. Mattison stepped in last night when Dalvin Cook went down with an injury and finished with 112 yards on 20 carries. He’s a handcuff that can see elite usage when Cook is out of the picture, but Cook’s injury doesn’t appear too serious. Regardless, whether you are a Cook owner or not, scoop this guy up in case Cook gets hurt again or you want to trade him to a desperate Cook owner.

When Austin Ekeler’s hamstring popped, most thought it would be Joshua Kelley’s backfield. Not so fast, my friends. In the team’s first full game without their three-down stud, Justin Jackson led the backfield with 42 snaps, compared to Kelley’s 25 snaps. Jackson and Kelley split the early-down work and Jackson was entrenched as the Chargers’ third-down back, catching five passes. Jackson needs to be rostered everywhere until Ekeler returns.

With the oft-injured Sammy Watkins out for a couple of weeks, it’s Mecole Hardman’s time to shine in Kansas City. The speedy wideout has been getting more involved in recent weeks after exploding against the Ravens on Monday Night Football in Week 3. For some reason, the staff likes Demarcus Robinson as he continues to do nothing with his opportunity. However, expect Eric Bienemy to craft up some more magic to get Hardman the ball in space and downfield. Hardman is the ultimate high-risk, high-reward streaming option moving forward.

The injury to Dak Prescott on Sunday was devastating, but the keys to the Cowboys offense have been given to Andy Dalton for the remainder of 2020. The team is loaded with offensive weapons, much more than what he had in Cincinnati, and the scheme seems electric. Plus, with a defense as bad as the Cowboys’, Dalton will likely have to put up big points if he wants to keep his team in position to try and win games.

Most thought Mike Williams would sit out Week 5 with a hamstring injury, but he ended up starting. The athletic freak posted a 5-109-2 line and made one of the craziest catches of the year that would have won the game if Michael Badgley didn’t doink the field goal post. With Keenan Allen injuring his back, Williams was Justin Herbert’s favorite perimeter target and should be the alpha wideout moving forward if Allen misses time.

While injuries resulted in a very slow start to the season, Christian Kirk is slowly coming along in 2020. Playing in the Air Raid offense boosts receivers numbers as Kyler Murray gets rid of the ball quickly to his playmakers. Kirk is emerging as that WR2 in the offense that has big-play potential on a weekly basis. He finished with 5-78-0 on 7 targets on Sunday.

Another promising WR who got off to a slow start, Preston Williams finally cashed in a solid day with 4-106-1 on 5 targets against the 49ers. The fact that Fitzpatrick has been so lights out has helped Miami’s offense, and now with the Jets on deck in Week 6, Williams has a great chance to repeat on a big day.

Okay, Demarcus Robinson kind of stinks, but his already high snap counts are about to increase due to Watkins’ injury. Robinson must have some secret photos of Andy Reid or something, because he does next-to-nothing with a pretty high snap count volume in the league’s most explosive offense. But, he should get a slight boost in targets, which makes him a fine bench stash until Watkins returns.

While Antonio Gibson is the starting and handled nearly all the carries on Sunday, J.D. McKissic still managed to be fantasy relevant thanks to all the receiving work. Six catches for 46 yards on 8 targets led all Washington players in all three categories on the day. With Kyle Allen under and Alex Smith under center, the team was in even more trouble in Week 5. However, if Washington continues to play from behind this often, McKissic could maybe be relevant as a PPR dump off hog.

The first wide receiver off the board in the 2020 NFL Draft, Henry Ruggs III is a boom-or-bust deep threat, which makes him a valuable, yet annoying stash. But Ruggs’ boomed in Week 5 against the Chiefs to the tune of 118 yards and a touchdown on only two receptions. The former Crimson Tide wideout is a weekly dice roll but he can explode if given the right matchup.

Based on volume alone, rookie WR Jeff Smith of the Jets doesn’t seem so bad. The offense is struggling and with 20 targets over his last two games (10-104-0 combined), the volume might be worth enough to stash at the end of your bench. The Jets will play from behind nearly all year forcing them to throw.

Make it two games in a row with a touchdown for Nelson Agholor in this Raiders offense. Henry Ruggs returned to action, but that didn’t stop Agholor from playing 55 of 70 snaps, which was actually led all Raiders’ wideouts. Hunter Renfrow has been irrelevant and I doubt Bryan Edwards will do anything once he returns, so Agholor looks like he may have thrust himself into Carr’s good graces moving forward.

Cut from the same cloth as Ruggs and Hardman, Jalen Guyton is another boom-or-bust bench stash. Even though he led all Chargers’ wide receivers in Week 5 snaps (65), in the last two games, Guyton has literally caught two balls on four targets for 124 yards and a score. If Allen misses time with his back injury, Guyton’s target share should increase to make him more valuable than just a Hail Mary option.

STREAM

1. Kirk Cousins, QB Minnesota Vikings (32% owned)
2. Ryan Tannehill, QB Tennessee Titans (47% owned)
3. Los Angeles Chargers D/ST (38% owned)
4. New York Giants D/ST (1% owned)

Kirk Cousins and the Vikings welcome the Falcons defense into Minnesota next week. A wonderful matchup for Kirk and the offense — who could be without Dalvin Cook.

The Titans will play Houston next week, meaning Ryan Tannehill and the Titans offense (if they actually get to play) should have a great matchup against this struggling defense.

The Chargers host the Jets next week.

A sneaky decent defense so far this year, the Giants now get to face the Washington Football Team in what’s likely to be one of their best chances at winning a football game this year. The QB situation for Washington is a mess.