Fantasy Football Week 6 Waiver Wire: Germie Bernard, Dameon Pierce, Jaylin Noel Among Top Pickups
Week 5 is (nearly) in the books, meaning we are set to enter the heart of the fantasy football season. In the coming weeks, playoff races will heat up, and every matchup is crucial.
This is also the time of year when injuries pile up and bye weeks start crushing lineups. With that being the case, properly navigating the waiver wire is incredibly important. Finding the right spot starter or bench stash can make a real impact in matchups.
Luckily, the Week 6 waiver wire features a blend of both stashes and immediate contributors.
Let’s break down some of the top options.
Note: Only players rostered in roughly <50% of ESPN leagues will be considered.
Note: Our Week 6 waiver wire targets will be updated as data and news become available.
FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 6 WAIVER WIRE TARGETS
QUARTERBACK
JORDAN LOVE, GB PACKERS (47.9% ROSTERED)
Jordan Love spent his Sunday afternoon throwing haymakers against the Chicago Bears. He had 42- and 53-yard touchdowns to Christian Watson. He also linked up with both Tucker Kraft and Matthew Golden for completions of 46-plus yards.
Just look at this beautiful image.
It’s been a roller coaster of a year for Love and the Packers, but he’s seemingly hit his stride.
He’ll have the opportunity to keep the good times rolling against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6, a defense that ranks 31st in yards per pass play and 32nd in EPA per dropback.
If he’s available in your league, he’s one of the top-tier QB streaming options.
AARON RODGERS, PIT STEELERS (19.3% ROSTERED)
Aaron Rodgers was featured in this series last week. I shared the following thoughts:
“Although Rodgers hasn’t been efficient, the volume has been there. He’s hit 40 pass attempts twice this season (and 39 in another), something he did just twice all of last year. If this continues to be a pass-heavy offense, there is real fantasy appeal. Yes, game script has influenced the pass volume, but the Steelers currently rank top 10 in PROE, indicating that Mike McCarthy has introduced a genuine philosophical shift.”
It was a fairly similar story in Week 5.
Outside of a screen pass that Jaylen Warren took for 80 yards, Rodgers wasn’t particularly efficient. And in a game that the Steelers led from nearly wire to wire (although it was close for most of the contest), Rodgers still attempted 31 passes.
The biggest note is that Rodgers tossed three touchdowns, his third consecutive game with a trio of passing TDs.
As long as Rodgers has a hot hand in the red zone and Mike McCarthy allows him to drop back at a relatively high rate, he’ll be an interesting streaming option.
RUNNING BACK
WOODY MARKS, HOU TEXANS (48.1% ROSTERED)
David Montgomery went down with a groin injury on Sunday, and head coach DeMeco Ryans has shared that he may miss some time.
In his absence, expect it to be the Woody Marks show in the Houston Texans’ backfield. That’s exactly what we saw against the Tennessee Titans.
Marks ultimately played 84.8% of the snaps, and after Montgomery left, he was the only running back to touch the football.
Perhaps Jawhar Jordan will play some sort of a role as a rusher, assuming he’s called up from the practice squad, but expect Marks to see a sizeable role against the Jacksonville Jaguars if Montgomery can’t go.
Although it’s not a great matchup, given the expectations for his workload, Marks would be in RB2 consideration without his committee partner on the field.
DAMEON PIERCE, PHI EAGLES (2.4% ROSTERED)
The Philadelphia Eagles are scraping the bottom of the barrel in search of help at running back.
Saquon Barkley is week-to-week with a hamstring injury, and considering he was unable to take the practice field last week, he seems likely to miss additional time. Tank Bigsby is just beginning his IR stint. Will Shipley left in the first half of Week 5 with a foot injury.
They’ve now reached a point where Dameon Pierce may be in line to start in Week 6.
Pierce wasn’t effective alongside (and in relief of) Shipley this past week. With 16 opportunities (11 carries, five targets), he generated just 12 yards of offense and 3.2 PPR points.
Given the state of the Eagles’ offense, their offensive line, and Pierce’s individual talent, he is not some “FAAB dump” option on the waiver wire.
Still, every RB who projects to lead a backfield in any given week deserves to be rostered in relatively deep leagues.
Against the Carolina Panthers, who’ve allowed steady fantasy production to opposing RBs (although they’ve faced both Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson), Pierce could prove to be a viable short-term option for RB-needy teams.
MARSHAWN LLOYD, GB PACKERS (48.7% ROSTERED)
For weeks, NFL fans have been laying into the Green Bay Packers, criticizing the play of their offensive line and the state of their ground game.
Jordan Love, Matt LaFleur, and company did everything possible to silence the doubters in Week 5. They put up 31 points, racked up 428 yards, and surrendered just two sacks in a throttling of the Chicago Bears.
The ground game remained ineffective, averaging just 2.7 YPC, but with the offense humming, MarShawn Lloyd was provided with multiple scoring opportunities. He ultimately punched in two scores from within seven yards.
Your fantasy app will show a good number: 16.7 PPR points.
That said, none of the other numbers were pretty pretty. 31 yards on 10 carries. 29.4% route rate. 43.5% snap share.
This is still a clear-cut committee within an offense that’s struggled to run the ball. That doesn’t often generate fantasy value.
It’s worth noting that Kaleb Johnson, who ultimately handled seven carries and played nine snaps (14.5%), did not touch the ball until the 8:26 mark in the 4th quarter, when the game was out of hand.
Still, Lloyd’s role isn’t exactly fantasy-friendly. You’re really asking him to find the endzone once or twice and haul in a couple of receptions on his limited routes.
Luckily, the Packers will take on the Dallas Cowboys next week. Seeing Lloyd hit paydirt once again would be no surprise.
JONAH COLMAN, DEN BRONCOS (20.9% ROSTERED)
Jonah Coleman was among the trendiest waiver wire pickups ahead of Week 3. Almost immediately after waiver claims were processed, he popped up with a previously unknown ankle injury and went to IR. As a result, he’s available in nearly 80% of leagues.
Well, he’s eligible to return in Week 7. If your team needs RB help and has an expendable bench (or IR) slot, he should be added.
Without Coleman in the picture, J.K. Dobbins has unsurprisingly been the primary ball carrier for the Denver Broncos.
Dobbins has struggled immensely this year. Through Week 4, among 46 RBs with 25+ carries, he held the following ranks:
- Fantasy PPG (PPR): 44th
- YPC: 35th
- Success Rate: 29th
- Explosive Rush Rate: 36th
- YACO/ATT: 21st
- MTF/ATT: 39th
In Week 5, Dobbins had a few chunk gains on the ground, but ultimately averaged 3.8 YPC on 18 carries.
Not everything is on Dobbins; the Broncos’ offense has had a tough time getting much of anything going this year.
But it remains a very real possibility that Coleman challenges Dobbins upon his return. Stash the rookie while evaluating how things look through the middle weeks of the year.
SAMAJE PERINE, CIN BENGALS (6.5% ROSTERED)
Following his 2024 breakout, Chase Brown has been nothing short of a bellcow in the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense. Almost all of the rushing work, a steady dose of targets, and plenty of i10 carries.
We saw a divergence from the typical usage in Cincinnati’s backfield this past week.
Samaje Perine played 51.6% of snaps, out-carried Brown 14-13, and saw some opportunities in the red zone.
This switch-up isn’t all that shocking. Brown and the Bengals’ run game in general have been incredibly ineffective this season, so it would be logical for Zac Taylor to shake things up.
The pivot panned out for the most part. Perine turned 14 carries into 68 yards.
We’ll have to see if this usage is sticky. If it is, Perine could have some standalone value and potentially serve as an emergency starter in fantasy lineups.
At a minimum, though, the Bengals seem to trust Perine as a rusher, which means he could be in line for a juicy role if Brown misses time.
Other Handcuff RBs Worth Rostering: Tyler Allgeier (38.0%), Mike Washington Jr. (27.9%), Kaelon Black (26.6%), Emmett Johnson (15.2%), Ray Davis (4.3%)
WIDE RECEIVER
JAYLIN NOEL, HOU TEXANS (4.4% ROSTERED)
Jaylin Noel keeps making plays.
In Week 4, it was a 52-yard reception on a play-action bomb from C.J. Stroud. This past Sunday, he hauled in a nine-yard touchdown that powered him to double-digit PPR points for the second consecutive week.
Still, the usage isn’t quite there. The Texans’ rotation behind Nico Collins persists, and Noel ran just 54.0% of the routes in Week 5.
It’s incredibly difficult to sustain fantasy production with a route rate that low.
Noel will also be dealing with the arrival of Marvin Harrison Jr., who will further muddy the waters in Houston’s receiving corps.
Noel has shown real juice, but he’s nothing more than a fun bench stash for now.
JORDYN TYSON, NO SAINTS (33.1% ROSTERED)
Fantasy managers over on ESPN seem to be uninterested in stashing Jordyn Tyson as he works his way back from a hamstring injury.
I’ll keep this short and sweet: he deserves to be stashed just about everywhere.
Tyson was arguably the most talented receiver in this year’s rookie class, he garnered top-10 draft capital, and he’ll soon step foot in an offense that plays with incredible pace and is capable of dropping back to pass 50-plus times in any given week.
It’s a recipe for legitimately impactful fantasy production. Production that’s worth waiting for.
GERMIE BERNARD, PIT STEELERS (3.0% ROSTERED)
With Michael Pittman Jr. on IR and Roman Wilson (hand) exiting early, Germie Bernard was asked to step up in Week 5.
He delivered.
On 32 routes (94.1%), Bernard drew nine targets (30% target share, 0.28 TPRR) and piled up six receptions for 80 yards.
Pittman will be out next week, and assuming it’s the same story for Wilson, Bernard will undoubtedly work in a full-time role once again. He’s no guarantee to earn even a half dozen targets, but after a strong outing, Bernard makes for an appealing bench stash at a minimum.
KENDRICK BOURNE, ARI CARDINALS (1.7% ROSTERED)
The Arizona Cardinals’ passing attack has been highly concentrated around Trey McBride and Michael Wilson for the last few weeks.
Well, with Marvin Harrison Jr. swapped out for Kendrick Bourne, things were a bit more spread out in Week 5.
Bourne ranked second on the team in targets (eight) and led the team in receiving yardage, turning those targets into a 5/70/0 stat line.
The Cardinals remain a fantasy circus, consistently posting ridiculous play and dropback totals.
They got off another 71 plays in Week 5.
If Bourne can remain a consistent presence in this passing game, this sort of environment can lead to some FLEX appeal for the veteran.
TIGHT ENDS
PAT FRIERMUTH, PIT STEELERS (20.3% ROSTERED)
Pat Freiermuth has played a consistent role in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense, particularly in the area of the field where it matters most for fantasy football.
‘Muth has seen five-plus targets in four of five games this year, and coming into Week 5, he’d seen two targets in the endzone. On Sunday, he added another short score from the one-yard line and hit the endzone on another play in the red zone.
The usage is nothing special, but with consistent targets, he has a reasonable weekly floor, while regular red zone usage gives him a fair ceiling.
The Steelers will see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6, who’ve proven to be vulnerable against TEs this season:
- Mike Gesicki, Week 1: 5/78/1
- Harold Fannin Jr., Week 2: 5/54/0
- Tucker Kraft, Week 4: 6/42/1
Freiermuth is quite far from a must-start in Week 6, but he’s on the list of interesting streamers.
