Best Fantasy Football Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups: Add Ken Walker, Eno Benjamin, Geno Smith, Taysom Hill

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Week 6 Waiver Wire pickups where we give you the players to start right away, stash at the end of your bench, or stream for a week or two.

Let’s look back at Week 5 and dissect the future prospects for the fantasy football Week 6 waiver wire.

Note: Roster % based on Yahoo leagues and should hover around 55% or less

WEEK 6 WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS

START

1. Ken Walker, RB Seattle Seahawks (44% rostered)
2. George Pickens, WR Pittsburgh Steelers (55%)
3. Jakobi Meyers, WR New England Patriots (48%)
4. Michael Gallup, WR Dallas Cowboys (51%)
5. Isaiah McKenzie, WR Buffalo Bills (48%)
6. Geno Smith, QB Seattle Seahawks (35%)
7. Taysom Hill, TE New Orleans Saints (30%)

Rashaad Penny fractured his tibia and it’s now Kenneth Walker szn in Seattle. Walker was slowly stealing work from Penny and he will become the clear early-down and goal-line back for the rest of the season. He’ll hand off passing down duties to DeeJay Dallas, but Walker has an elite running profile that was on display during his 69-yard touchdown run. During his final season at Michigan State, Walker led the power five with 1,636 rushing yards and added 18 touchdowns. Walker is an elite waiver add in this sneaky fantasy-relevant offense.

How the hell is George Pickens still available in 45% of leagues? We outlined his rapport with new Steelers’ QB Kenny Pickett and the rookies hooked up again during Pickett’s first start. Pickens snagged six-of-eight targets for 83 yards and now has back-to-back eight-target games. The rookies have a clear connection and Pickens needs to be rostered everywhere this week.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe under center, as long as Jakobi Meyers is healthy, he’ll be a target hog in New England. Meyers corralled seven of eight targets for 111 yards and a touchdown against the Lions after sitting out the past two games with a knee injury. In three games this season, Meyers has seen 27 targets. With Jones set to return in the near future, he has a favorable stretch of secondaries with games against the Browns, Bears, Jets X2, Colts, Vikings, Cardinals, and Bengals.

Michael Gallup is another receiver who should be widely rostered. Yes, he’s started off a bit slow coming off an ACL injury, but he saw five targets in Week 5 and he caught four of those for 44 yards. With the team choosing Gallup over Amari Cooper, it’s clear they believe in the young receiver as its WR2 behind CeeDee Lamb. His outlook will only shine brighter with Dak Prescott back under center in the near future.

Add Isaiah McKenzie to the list of receivers who should be rostered in more than half of fantasy leagues. With Jamison Crower on IR, McKenzie has no competition for the Bills’ third wideout spot behind Stefon Diggs and Gabe “Daddy” Davis. Rookie Khalil Shakir was impressed, but the job is McKenzie’s if he is healthy. I’d feel comfortable starting him right away in the Flex or WR3 spot if he’s available to play in Week 6.

Don’t look now, but Geno Smith has back-to-back 30-point games and is averaging 27.45 points per game this season if you take out his Week 2 dud. Smith has turned back the clock to his days in Morgantown and he’s made his weapons fantasy-relevant again — along with himself. I’m a believer. Let’s ride this wave while it lasts.

I despise writing his name, but sometimes one has to be the bigger man and give credit where credit is due. Carrying the TE designation, Taysom Hill toted the rock nine times for 112 yards and three touchdowns in Week 5. He also added a 22-yard touchdown pass on his only attempt of the day. The tight end position absolutely sucks and there’s no greater boom-or-bust at the position than Hill — the current TE3. Even if he took advantage of the depleted weapon’s cabinet around him, it makes sense to roll the dice on Taysom if you aren’t one of the lucky ones who have an elite tight end.

STASH

1. Jaylen Warren, RB Pittsburgh Steelers (8%)
2. Rachaad White, RB Tampa Bay Buccaneers (34%)
3. James Cook, RB Buffalo Bills (29%)
4. Jameson Williams, WR Detroit Lions (31%)
5. Alec Pierce, WR Indianapolis Colts (8%)
6. Hayden Hurst, TE Cincinnati Bengals (31%)
7. Khalil Shakir, WR Buffalo Bills (2%)
8. Mike Boone, RB Denver Broncos (36%)
9. Latavius Murray, RB Denver Broncos (19%)
10. Kenny Pickett, QB Pittsburgh Steelers (16%)
11. Damien Williams, RB Atlanta Falcons (4%)

During the Steelers’ blowout loss against the Bills, Jaylen Warren played more offensive snaps and gained more rushing yards than Najee Harris. Sure, Mike Tomlin could’ve just been resting his banged-up bruiser, but Warren has looked more explosive and fresher than the former Alabama star. We’ve been beating this drum for a while now… Warren needs to be rostered because Harris’ rest of season outlook is on thin ice.

Rachaad White fell back to earth a bit on Sunday after his promising Week 4 performance. Yet, he’s still one of the most valuable handcuffs in the league. It’s clear Tom Brady trusts the rookie and will target him in the passing game, but he’s going to be difficult to trust on a weekly basis unless Leonard Fournette goes down with an injury.

Let’s face it, Devin Singletary and Zach Moss are JAGs and the team doesn’t love either running back. Singletary played 30 snaps, Moss played 16 snaps, and James Cook saw 10 snaps in Week 5. In those 10 snaps, the rookie had four carries for 31 yards and a touchdown. Cook is also a terrific pass-catcher, which is another way for him to get onto the field sooner rather than later. I think the clock is ticking for the two veterans.

The Lions’ offense snapped back to reality in New England when they were shut out by the Patriots. They were without D’Andre Swift and Amon-Ra St. Brown was limited, but Jared Goff looked more like his former self than he did in the previous four games. However, rookie WR Jameson Williams could be the added dimension to this offense that’s currently missing. Williams has game-breaking speed and he would do serious damage in Josh Reynolds’ current role. He posted a few videos that suggest he’s ready to return, now it’s up to the team to unleash the beast. Williams has monster stretch run upside.

We told you to give Alec Pierce a “bench try-out” on Thursday Night and we hope you listened. Pierce is quickly climbing atop the Colts’ target totem pole and he actually owns a higher target per route run percentage over Michael Pittman — which is shocking. Pierce has elite speed, averaging 14.8 yards per reception, and has dependable hands (75% catch rate). The rookie from Cincy has a very high ceiling as a stash.

Hayden Hurst came up big in his revenge game against his former team in Week 5, putting up 6-53-1. Hurst’s target share improved with Tee Higgins battling an injury, but Joe Burrow looked his way more than he looked at Tyler Boyd — which is interesting. It’s tough to find a reliable tight end and Hurst has posted back-to-back double-digit games on his new team.

We told you during the Sunday Tailgate to stream Khalil Shakir due to the rash of injuries to the Bills’ receivers. He responded with three receptions for 75 yards and a score on five targets. Not too shabby. Isaiah McKenzie will likely return this week, which will drastically cut Shakir’s snaps, but the rookie from Boise State looks ready for the bright lights. He’d be a very solid “WR handcuff” in this Bills’ high-flying offense if any of the three in front of him went down.

Mike Boone only had 10 touches (seven carries, three receptions) to Melvin Gordon’s 18, but he took over when the team needed a reliable ball carrier in the fourth quarter and he had more juice than Gordon. It’s clear the Broncos don’t trust Gordon, or they wouldn’t have added Latavius Murray to this backfield. Speaking of Latavius…

Latavius Murray made Mark Ingram look like dust two weeks ago in London. He actually looked so good that the Broncos stole him off the Saints’ practice squad. After sitting out Week 5, Murray will enter a Broncos’ committee that consists of Gordon and Boone. It will likely be gross, but one of the two could be worth the stash.

Kenny Pickett threw the ball 52 times against the Bills but he did not engineer a single touchdown drive in his first career start. I do love his upside, highlighted by his sneaky dual-threat abilities and loaded cabinet of weapons. On the flip side, I don’t love the matchup this week against the Bucs, but his strength of schedule eases up a bit. If you aren’t confident in your QB situation and can’t get Geno Smith, Pickett is a solid stash.

We broke down the Falcons’ backfield with Cordarrelle Patterson on IR, and it’s not pretty. But, Damien Williams is eligible to return this week from injured reserve and he was in line for early-down duties before going down with a rib injury. Tyler Allgeier led Falcons running backs with 39 snaps and 13 carries, but nothing stood out against a stout Buccaneers front seven.

STREAM

1. Eno Benjamin, RB Arizona Cardinals (11%)
2. Jerrick McKinnon, RB Kansas City Chiefs (10%)
3. Justin Fields, QB Chicago Bears (38%)
4. Rondale Moore, WR Arizona Cardinals (18%)
5. Tyler Allgeier, RB Atlanta Falcons (16%)

James Conner and Darrel Williams left Week 5 early, leaving Eno Benjamin as the team’s only viable running back. Benjamin is not an efficient runner, but he will always rack up some extra points in the passing game. Add Benjamin even though it’s too early to tell the status of Conner and Williams because this is now the second time Conner’s been banged up. He’ll either be a top streamer or a solid stash.

Jerrick McKinnon rose from the dead and led the Chiefs running backs in total snaps, goal-line snaps, and third-down snaps on Monday Night Football. He also easily out-gained Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Oh, and Isiah Pacheco played two snaps. Andy Reid clearly trusts the veteran in a big game over Pacheco, meaning it’ll be McKinnon time in Week 6 against the Bills.

Justin Fields is coming off a season-high 208 passing yards and completed 15-of-21 passes in a close loss to the Vikings last week. He also added another 47 yards on the ground and had a 52-yard rushing touchdown called back. Fields gets an average Commanders’ defense this week and could be a valuable streamer with a few teams on the bye week.

Rondale Moore finally made some plays after catching seven of eight targets for 68 yards against the Eagles this past Sunday. We all know he’s electric with the football in his hands, but he hasn’t been healthy enough to make an impact. Now healthy, he’s worth the stream against the Seahawks before DeAndre Hopkins returns in Week 7.

As noted above, Tyler Allgeier easily led the Falcons’ running backs in snaps and carries in Week 5. While Damien Williams is eligible to return from the IR this week, the team has been relatively quiet about it. If Williams is not active for Week 6, then Allgeier would resume early-down and goal-line touches. His ceiling is capped, but if you’re in a deeper league, Allgeier is worth the stream.