Transcription
No matter what happened in week five, today is a chance to improve your fantasy team with the waiver wire. We're going to talk about a lot of names, something for everyone here.
Um, now let's just talk about some key injuries that we need to monitor in week number six that happened in week number five. Um, not not too many honestly compared to to what's happened in previous weeks. Amaran Hampton, look, right now we don't have any clear information. I'm sure there will be more reports um even when this video comes out and multiple hours after after this video comes out, but this is a play where Omar Hampton left the field and didn't come back with that left foot. He was limping a little bit um favoring his left foot and then we found out that he was in a walking boot. Now, Jeff Mueller, who's one of our favorites over on X, uh mentions that walking boots can often be precautionary use to minimize loadbearing and accelerate initial healing. doesn't dictate severity. The downside is we probably won't get much info out of Jim Harbaugh. So, look, practice um reports are going to be really important for Marian Hampton, but there is a chance that he misses time. We'll talk about that in the waiver video. Darius Sllayton, I mean, it doesn't matter. You're not going to start him anyway. And then Spencer Shrader, I know that's silly, but he was actually one of the best kickers in fantasy football. So, if you had him, you're going to need to look for other options.
Okay, here are some names that should already be rostered in every competitive league. Um, if you're in an eight or a 10 team league, these guys would take priority if they're somehow available on the waiverwire. Caleb Williams is coming back from the buy. Uh, Bill Crosky Merritt officially took over. One of our trade targets heading into week five. He finally took over that backfield. Shout out to everybody who was a Bill guy like me and waited on him and believed in the kid. Uh, finally Jaci Crosky Merritt leads the way in snaps. What we had seen all year is that the first two drives Bill Crosky would have not been involved, right? It was either Austin Eckler, then after Eckler went down, it was Chris Rodriguez. But finally, Bill Crosky Merritt got the complete starter experience. Now, yes, Rodriguez and Jeremy McNichols were still involved, but JCM led the way clearly. 16 total opportunities. He was absolutely dominant with it. 27 fantasy points, 111 rushing yards. And you know, the best part about it is even in like crucial downs like on the goal line, uh like these high value snaps, JCM was getting them. So, he's someone that you could potentially flex this week. Rico Data, who came into this week against Miami, scored 32.4 fantasy points, 206 rushing yards, and next week he gets Dallas. Now, he's not a long-term starter because Chuba will be back at some point, but probably Chuba misses this week, and Rico's another name that you can play this week versus the Dallas Cowboys. Uh Woody Marks. Look, I know the experience for Woody Marks wasn't great here in week number five. I had high expectations. I'm sure a lot of you guys did too, and he didn't really live up to them. However, do not drop Woody Marks. And if Marks has dropped in your leagues, go pick him up for free. I beg you. Uh he still led all running backs in snaps. 27 uh compared to 24 for Nick Chub. Obviously, Nick Chub led the way in attempts, but this was a game that got out of hand really early. And they actually didn't need Woody Marks in most of the second half of this game. They scored 44 points. And as weird as it sounds, uh, when, you know, CJ Strad was taken out with all the starters, they also took out Woody Marks and Nick Chub. So Marks will still be a decent flex play in the future. You should not give up on him.
Okay, let's be 100% honest before we dive into this video, okay? Because I think it's important to be honest with this type of content. This is not a week where you should blow your fab on a player. This is not a week where you go all out and you go hard on the waverwire, right? There are some flexible names to consider. There are some guys to stash, but there are no quote unquote league winners at this point. My number one pickup is Michael Carter. If for some reason he is out there on the waiver wire for you, he definitely deserves to be picked up. Now, we mentioned that both De Marcado and Michael Carter were startable names this week, but we preferred Michael Carter, and that just went back to his history previously with his organization and how he kind of led the way for them to end 2024. Now you look at the snap count here. 39 snaps for Michael Carter in this game without Trey Benson. 18 rushing attempts, five targets, 23 total opportunities. Getting something like that off the wavewire is incredibly hard to find. Now I'm only willing to spend about 15 30% of my fab at must at most somewhere in between there. And the reason why is because this is not a seasonl long play. when Trey Benson is back off the IR, whether that be three, four, five weeks from now, he is going to be the RB1 for the Arizona Cardinals. So, right now, what's it worth it, you know, for you to have a starting running back for the next three, four, five weeks? That's what you have to decide because it's clear and obvious that Michael Carter is the name that they're going to trust um over other names, you know, like the Amari De Marcado who should have had a touchdown but unfortunately, you know, fumbled the ball at the one yard line. Bam. Knight. You can see the usage broken down here. It makes it way more obvious how dominant Michael Carter was. Again, 38 snaps. He vast majority of that pie, vast majority of the early down work, the goal line work, the short yardage situations. So, again, if Michael Carter is out there, he's a uh RB2 flexible name moving forward until Trey Benson comes back. But again, we need to uh be realistic about what he is when Trey Benson is back.
Well, if you're in need of a tight end off the waiverwire this week, you're in luck because there's a lot of great options. My favorite pick would be Darren Walder. Most leagues he will be rostered, so we're not going to spend too much time on him. But if he is available out there, I would spend anywhere from 10 to 15% of my fab here. In the first game without Tyreek Hill, he had five targets. He's still getting worked into the offense. 32 snaps out of 55. So, there is still more ceiling to be found here with the Darren Waller. But we remember in week four, 17.7 fantasy points, two receiving touchdowns. This week in week number five, five catches, 78 yards and a touchdown. So there is plenty of upside for a name like Darren Waller who hasn't even fully stepped into his potential, his role. And this is a team last year that made John Smith a league winner. So he's definitely worth a pickup. All right, at number three, let's talk about Mason Taylor. Now, this is a name that a name that was featured on our stash video this week. So hopefully if you needed a tight end, you were stashing Mason Taylor. there were a lot of signs that would indicate that his role was going to grow. For example, his targets grew every single week from one, two, six, seven, and even 12 targets um leading up to the last five weeks. A 12 target game, nine catches, 67 yards. You absolutely love to see that. And keep in mind that, you know, we're looking at a guy that had a high ankle sprain heading into the year. So, who knows, you know, Jeff Mueller talks about it, but who knows how hampered he was by that ankle. um you know, for the first couple weeks. Now, he clearly looks like a feature weapon of this offense. He and Garrett Wilson clearly the number one guys in this offense moving forward as receiving weapons.
All right, at number four, let's talk about Kendrick Bourne. Now, you might be surprised that I don't have Kendrick Bourne higher than this, but obviously coming off an 11 target game on Thursday Night Football versus the Rams, he got 10 of those uh targets for 142 yards. Incredible performance. He faced the Bucks in week six. That's all great. That's dandy, right? But the reason I'm going to be a little bit more hesitant on Kendrick Bourne is number one, at some point Ricky Pearson will come back. Will that be this week? We don't know. Also, we will get Joan Jennings back. Is that this week? We don't know. At some point, we will also get George KD back and then at some point Brandon Iayuk. So, this is a very temporary play. I don't think there is a scenario out there where Kendrick Borne is a league winner. He's a spot start as long as there are injuries to other receivers on this team. So, again, proceed with caution. He is not a league winner. He's a flexible play if the guys ahead of him are still injured.
Now, just quickly before Monday Night Football begins tonight, go pick up Rashard Smith. H if you're watching this afterwards, just skip, right? But I think Bashard Smith is a great stash that should be picked up before Monday Night Football if you have a free spot. He had a career-high 26% of the snaps last week versus Baltimore, as well as eight total touches. Then the coaching staff said that they want to get him more involved. That's enough for me to at least pull the trigger on a free ad before Monday Night Football.
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All right, the rest of the video, we're going to break it into sections. Running back, wide receiver, tight end, quarterback, and defense. And we're going to go through a quick list. Let's start off with um cheap running back ads. Kenneth Gainwell, for example, is a name that should be added. I do think Jaylen Warren will be the starter. So if Warren is healthy, Kenneth Gainwell is pro probably a nothing burger. They also face the Browns. So it's not a great matchup. That's why this entire group I'm I'm suggesting one to 5% of your fab. But Kenneth Gainwell was so damn impressive week four versus Minnesota that he has got to be added because what if they give him a bigger role that is worth holding on to.
Now let's talk about Hassan Haskins and Kamani Vidal. Obviously earlier you know we talked about the ankle injury potential ankle injury for Amaran Hampton. Now, if we are going to see a scenario where, you know, Amarian Hampton misses time, things do get quite confusing. I'm not going to lie to you. Dwayne McFarland actually noted that the time without Amarian Hampton, 60% of the snaps went to Kamani Vidal. Only 40% went to Hassan Haskins. However, they were also trailing in that game. So, if they are up in the game, it's probably going to be more Hassan Haskins. They're going to rely on him to kind of run the clock out to kind of establish the run game. But these are two guys that should definitely be considered. Again, Hassan Haskin had six total touches in this game. Kamani Vidal had five total touches in this game. So, both names can be considered, but in my opinion, if Hampton were to go down, it would probably be a split backfield and it would be pretty difficult to project, but they are facing the Miami Dolphins. So, there are worse plays than a Haskins, for example, in uh in week number six, right? So, Haskins would be my preference. Excuse me. But both are names that you could be monitoring. Uh, quickly we can talk about Taj Spears. His first game back, he only had four touches, but a name that's worth stashing because as this offense gets better and better, Taj's role could also increase.
Let's talk about wide receivers. Now, in this group in particular, I'm only willing to spend about zero to 5% of my FAB. So, either a free pickup or about 5% of your FAB. These are more stashes than anything. Tory Horton, you know, who keeps showing a ton of flashes. It's really fun to see. He's actually had a touchdown in three out of his five games. That was versus Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and this week versus the Tampa Bay Bucks. However, what's unfortunate about a name like Tory Horton is there's just only so many targets to go around with the Seattle Seahawks. I mean, you look at this game here in week number five, you can see JSN and Cooper Cup still the obvious number one and number two wide receivers in Seattle with eight and nine targets respectively. They're both running a ton of routes, a high percentage of the snaps. Meanwhile, Tory Horton still that clear number three guy and obviously now they're targeting their weapons like Elijah Royo, AJ Barner. So, it's hard to really prioritize Tory Horton and bet on him every week, but there's plenty of flashes to make him a stash.
Now, Ryan Florenoi is an interesting name we should discuss. He had nine targets, caught six of them for 114 yards. What we need to be careful of with young players is to box them in and say, "Well, that was just a fluke. It's not going to happen again." However, the reason I'm not being very aggressive on him, I only want to add him for free really, is because you have to think about it. CD Lamb will be back at some point, right? Jonathan Mingo is is back practicing this week. There are plenty of names on this offense that could overtake Ryan Florenoi, so it's hard to really bet on him um long term. Let's talk about Isaiah Bond real quick. He had eight targets. Unfortunately, didn't turn it into anything. Only two catches for 29 yards. But I mean, if we actually look at the Browns um team as a whole and you look at all the top targeted weapons on the team, uh guess who had the most targets? Well, is David Njoku and then right behind him, Isaiah Bond. Isaiah Bond had more targets than Jerry Judy. He had more targets than any other name not named um David and Jooku. So, that's an exciting thing to monitor moving forward, but of course, it doesn't mean that he's someone that you can play straight away.
Okay, other tight ends that you can add this week. Let's start off with Theo Johnson, who with Jackson Dart is looking like a more important part of the offense than Russell Wilson was a starter. Right. Last week in Dart's first start, he had 10.7 fantasy points, including a touchdown. This week versus the Saints. Dart's second start, he had seven targets, caught six of them for two touchdowns. Now, right now, he's very touchdown dependent. So, that's difficult to bet on from one week to the next, but a young player, super athlete, I think that's that's worthwhile adding on to your bench. AJ Barner is another another name that is worth looking at. He has had a touchdown in three out of five games again versus Pittsburgh, Arizona, and Tampa Bay this week having two touchdowns. But again, with all those weapons, I don't think you should rely on AJ Barner each and every week. It's going to be very sporadic in my opinion. And then Taesm Hill, he was very interesting this week. Didn't really do much from a fantasy perspective, but he did have six carries on the ground. We all know that Swiss Army knife type of status that he has in this offense.
Now, let's go do quarterback streamers. I do think Stafford is probably the best streamer in week number six. If you're streaming the quarterback position, he's on a roll. He's got back-to-back weeks with three passing touchdowns and now he gets to face the Baltimore Ravens who CJ Strad just threw four touchdowns on. He's a great streamer uh with all those weapons as well that he's got. Let's talk about Sam Darnold. another option for week number six. He faces the Jacksonville Jaguars who are actually a pretty good defense. But Sam Darnold has thrown two or more touchdowns in, you know, three out of the last four games. He again has great weaponry. We we've talked about a lot of those names today. Tory Horton for example is always good for a good a big play. JSN ever consistent. AJ Barner, Elijah Aoyo, great running backs out of the backfield as well. And then how about Jordan Love who's a streaming option for week number six. He's coming off the bye-week. Obviously, the last time we saw him was versus the Dallas Cowboys. He threw three passing touchdowns. Now, he faces the Cincinnati Bengals. Most quarterbacks are dominant against the Bengals. So, definitely a good streaming option.
Now, what I want to talk about next is defensive streamers for week number six. If any of these guys are out there, prioritize them. For example, the Steelers versus the Browns. Browns are the best matchup for your fantasy defense. Packers versus the Bengals, self-explanatory. Raiders and Titans, they're both actually decent options because both of their offenses are pretty bad, but Gino Smith is leading the way in turnovers. Um, so you could justify playing the Titans. As for the Raiders, the Titans are one of the worst offenses in in the NFL. The Eagles at the Giants is a great play and the Broncos versus the Jets should they be out there.
Look, if you won or lost in week five, week six presents a new opportunity to win a DFS contest. Here's my first contest slip of the week. I'm starting Kyron Williams at the Ravens. Puka at the Ravens. So, a double Ram header there. I think T-Mac could finally get into the end zone. He faced the Dallas Cowboys this week. Javvante Williams on the opposite side of that matchup. Jamar Chase and then Jameson Williams. At some point, he's going to pop off a game. Maybe that's versus Kansas City. Uh it's very simple with Fast Draft. By the way, the Quick Six Super Slam contest just opened for week six. Choose six on quarterbacks, adjust your boosters, and you're good to go. Download the Fast Draft app if you have never downloaded before. Use my promo code land. I'll match your deposit up to 50 bucks and then give give you my week six rankings completely free.
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