Waiver Favors: Early Week 6 Fantasy Football Pickups

By Ha Kung Wong  Fantasy Football Pickups

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

Week 6 is almost over, so we’re back to help you keep your fantasy football team competitive!

As usual, all pickups are available in at least 50% of Yahoo standard fantasy football leagues as of Sunday evening.

Stefon Diggs

WR – Minnesota Vikings – 5% Owned

Preseason darling Charles Johnson has been a disappointment all year.  And injured.  So in his absence, in Week 4, Stefan Diggs stepped up to catch 6 of 10 for 87 yards.  Apparently, over the bye week, the Vikings decided to feature Diggs opposite Mike Wallace.  And he didn’t disappoint snagging 7 of 9 for 129 yards.  Johnson may find his way back in once he’s 100% healthy, but I think Diggs will remain the WR2 in Minnesota for the time being.  If you’re looking for a WR4/5/Flex in 12-team leagues and deeper, Diggs may be a nice speculative pick up.

Landry Jones

QB – Pittsburgh Steelers – 0% Owned

Originally, Michael Vick went out due to having “dirt in his eye”, but apparently, it either got worse or was more than simply dirt as Vick went out permanently in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. Landry Jones came in and made Steelers fans why they bothered to sign Vick into he first place.  Jones looked more like a veteran than a guy playing his first NFL game, as he completed eight of 12 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns.  In addition to sparking the offense, he also made Martavis Bryant relevant again.  If there’s no Big Ben next week, Jones may be worth a gander in 2 QB leagues and 16-team leagues and deeper.

UPDATE: Oct. 19 – 1:56 PM & Oct. 20 – 12:09 PM – And now it’s confirmed that Michael Vick will be out Week 7, meaning Landry Jones might make a good bye week fill in.

Talked to Mike Vick. Showed me pic of tiny tear/strain in hamstring. Said he'll test in two days but would guess he's at least a week away

— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) October 19, 2015

Tomlin: Assuming Landry Jones will be QB this week. See how Ben and Vick are as week goes on

— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) October 20, 2015

Bryan Walters

WR – Jacksonville Jaguars – 0% Owned

It’s clear Allen Robinson, Julius Thomas and Allen Hurns are the top three targets for Blake Bortles.  But what happens when Allen Robinson goes out with an injury?

Leg contusion for Jaguars WR Allen Robinson

— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) October 18, 2015

#Jaguars Allen Robinson x-rays of leg contusion r negative. More evaluation as week goes on.

— Eugene Frenette (@GeneFrenette) October 19, 2015

Bryan Walters was being used consistently in 3 wide sets anyway (catching 4 of 4 for 64 yards in Week 5), but if Robinson misses any time or is limited (negative x-rays say nothing about potential ligament damage), Walters may become more than that.  We got a glimpse in Week 6 when he grabbed 8 of 12 targets for 87 yards.  And for those of you who get return yards in your fantasy leagues, he managed to tack on 86 of those on top.  He’s worth a stash in 14-team leagues and deeper while the situation with Robinson is sorted out, particularly if you get return yards.

Jeff Janis

WR – Green Bay Packers – 0% Owned

It’s been next man up in the Green Bay receiving core for quite some time now.  First, Jordy Nelson went out with an ACL tear.  Then Davante Adams went out with an ankle sprain.  Now, Ty Montgomery has suffered an ankle injury requiring him to be carted off the field.  So who’s left?  Jeff Janis, that’s who.  He only garnered 2 of 4 targets for 79 yards, but anytime you can get a piece of an hi octane passing attack like Green Bay, you take it.  The Packers head into a bye next week, so perhaps the WRs heal up and Janis becomes irrelevant.  But if you want to take a flyer on a possible upside stash in 14-team leagues and deeper, Janis could be the one.

Ben Watson

TE – New Orleans Saints – 10% Owned

Now let’s not get crazy.  This isn’t the second coming of Jimmy Graham in New Orleans.  Watson had one good game catching 10 of 12 targets for 127 yards and a TD.  He’s never drawn more than 5 targets in any other game this season.  But clearly, the New Orleans Saints offense favors move tight ends, and with Drew Brees nearing full health, he’s going to go somewhere.  Josh Hill was the favorite to receive those targets early in the season, but perhaps a more veteran presence was required.  Need to stash a TE for bye week replacement, or getting desperate in a 14-team league or deeper?  You could do worst.

UPDATED PICKUPS

Christine Michael

RB – Dallas Cowboys – 40% Owned

Christine Michael was the 62nd overall draft pick in 2013 by the Seattle Seahawks.  He had ridiculous numbers and was thought to be the heir apparent RB in Seattle.  But times change, and in September, Michael ended up in Dallas.  Of course, Joseph Randle and Darren McFadden were in Dallas, but over time, neither were particularly impressive.  Then we got this tweet quoting Dallas RB Coach Gary Brown:

Gary Brown, asked about C-Mike's comfort level: "I think he's where he needs to be, and we want to take the reins off him and let him rock."

— David Helman (@HelmanDC) October 15, 2015

“Let him rock”, eh?  Well, that certainly sounds good.  And after the bye, when asked whether it was true that Michael was taking most of the reps with the first-team on Monday, Bryan Broaddus of DallasCowboys.com tweeted this:

True. https://t.co/FX3R2mJbHt

— Bryan Broaddus (@BryanBroaddus) October 19, 2015

Sure, this could be a huge misdirect, or it could be a complete RBBC mess, but the offensive line in Dallas is one of the best in the NFL and if you have a shot at an RB that could potentially be the lead back behind that line, and have the space to stash him, you probably should.  Worth a stash in all 12-team leagues and deeper.

Michael Floyd

WR – Arizona Cardinals – 32% Owned

I’ll give credit where credit is due.  Although I’m a huge Michael Floyd fan, since he came out of Notre Dame, it was Mathew Berry of ESPN that mentioned him as a potential pick up this week.  It was also mentioned that Carson Palmer throws the ball around 32 times a game, but last week exceeded 40.  If this uptick in passing continues, there’s room for productivity from a third option.  Floyd grabbed 5 of 8 targets for 50 yards and a TD in Week 6.  He almost had another TD, but couldn’t get both feet in bounds.  I’m not saying he’ll be consistent, but for those who need a bye week replacement in 14-team leagues or deeper, he might be worth a gamble.

And here are pickups from previous articles which I still recommend:

Bishop Sankey, James Jones, James Starks, Tyrod Taylor, Percy Harvin, Terrance Williams, Chris Johnson, David Johnson, Donte Moncrief, Travis Benjamin, Matt Jones, Leonard Hankerson, Ted Ginn Jr., Charles Clay, Gary Barnidge, Antonio Andrews, Allen Hurns, Tavon Austin, Willie Snead, Knile Davis Charcandrick West, Josh Huff, Theo Riddick, Dwayne Harris  

Keep coming back for updates all week!