NFL Week 6 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Additions

Oct 10th 2022

Sosa Kremenjas

Week 6 in the NFL is fast arriving. Let's address the best waiver wire additions available in fantasy football leagues ahead of this slate of games.

All stats and data are sourced from PFF and Sports Info Solutions. Rostered percentages are sourced from Yahoo Fantasy leagues.

Top-10 Adds of the Week:

1. Seattle Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III - 44% rostered

Walker is the top waiver wire addition this week. Starting running back Rashaad Penny suffered a fractured tibia and is likely to miss a handful of weeks at minimum. Once Penny went down, Walker immediately became the early-down running back option, though DeeJay Dallas mixed in as the receiving back:

Early downs: Walker (23), Dallas (N/A)

Goalline: Walker (1), Dallas (0)

Short Yardage: Walker (2), Dallas (1)

Third downs: Walker (1), Dallas (6)

Two-minute drill: Walker (0), Dallas (3)

Dallas is also worth a waiver wire add, but Walker has the higher floor because of his talent and the potential for more touchdown-dependant work, in addition to playing three times the snaps Dallas had this week.

2. New England Patriots WR Jakobi Meyers - 47% rostered

In his first game back, Meyers once again proved why he is the receiver to roster from the Patriots. He played the most snaps (48), had the most routes run (21), and had the highest target share (38%). In the three games Meyers has played this season, he's scored 10.2, 18.5, and 24.1 fantasy points. He's got a strong floor and a limited ceiling, though Meyers certainly has WR3 and FLEX upside in full-point PPR leagues. He's a consistent chain-moving option that is basically guaranteed a role every week in a boring offense. Meyers should be rostered in far more leagues.

3. Arizona Cardinals RB Eno Benjamin - 10% rostered

Just like Walker, Benjamin could find himself pressed into major playing time with both James Conner and Darrel Williams suffering injuries on Sunday. Benjamin took over the remainder of the work, securing a 53.6% snap share and running 25 routes on 45 dropbacks.

Benjamin proved his ability to provide on all downs by rattling off eight rushing attempts and securing three receptions on four targets. While we don't yet know the severity of Conner's or William's injuries, we can assume Benjamin would likely be pressed into major playing time if neither player can go in Week 6. Even if Williams is able to return in time, Benjamin was able to out-snap him (8 to 6) in the first half, with Williams only playing one snap in the entire second half.

Benjamin is in FLEX territory if Conner is out. He has RB2 upside if both Conner and Williams are out this week.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens - 55% rostered

This isn't Pickens' first week making this list. The rookie receiver continues to receive strong usage marks across the board and has remained relatively consistent:

Pickens is running plenty of routes and playing more than enough snaps to produce. In addition, the rookie has produced 6.9, 16.2, and 14.3 fantasy points over the past three weeks. It doesn't appear to be a coincidence that Pickens has suddenly increased his production. Playing with a fellow rookie in quarterback Kenny Pickett has helped, and the Steelers are likely to continue riding it out with Pickett for the remainder of the season.

As long as Pickett remains the quarterback, Pickens should be able to maintain fantasy relevance more often than not.

5. Arizona Cardinals WR Rondale Moore - 18% rostered

It appears we've arrived at Moore season. The diminutive receiver had dominant marks in snap share (91.3%), route participation (91.1%), and a respectable target share (19.0%). Even in 12 personnel, Moore was able to out-snap veteran receiver A.J. Green. As of right now, it appears Moore is a near full-time player and the preferred option in the slot, though that shouldn't come as a surprise.

Over the past two weeks, Moore has played a combined 128 out of 145 snaps and has run a route on 74 out of 80 dropbacks. Go add Moore before it's too late.

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB Rachaad White - 34% rostered

The Bucs said they intended on mixing in more of White and allowing Leonard Fournette to scale his workload back a bit, and they're staying true to their words:

The rookie running back has trended in the right direction across the board. The only metric that has seen a downtick over the past week was rushing share, though White had just three out of six carries in Week 4. He had five rushing attempts this week.

While White doesn't have any standalone value right now, he could continue to carve out a larger role in that backfield and does have legitimate handcuff value.

7. Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith - 35% rostered

Someway, somehow, Smith has become a legitimate NFL quarterback and is clearly a valuable fantasy football option. To date, he's had finishes as the QB15, QB30, QB7, QB2, and QB3 (pre-MNF). There are some consistency issues, but Smith has shown he has legitimate QB1 potential in strong matchups and is at worst a very high-end bench option. Over the past three weeks, Smith has landed in the high-end QB1 range. That is insane to think.

8. Detroit Lions WR Josh Reynolds - 31% rostered

The Lions are currently working through injuries at the receiver spot and Reynolds has been the beneficiary. No receiver ran more routes (39) or played more snaps (60) in Week 5. Reynolds also led the team with a 25.7% target share. Going back to last week, Reynolds was once again one of the few players to actually suit up at receiver and was able to reel in a 20.0% target share.

While it may seem Reynolds only has value because of the Lions' injuries, he was actually playing pretty well early in the season when Detroit wasn't suffering from a cluster of injuries at receiver. He ranked inside the top three each week in routes run and ranked in the top two among the receivers in routes run during Weeks 1-3. He also had a combined 16 targets over that span of time.

Until Jameson Williams makes his debut, Reynolds should continue to round out the trio for Detroit in 11 personnel sets. He has even more value while D.J. Chark (ankle) remains sidelined and Amon-Ra St. Brown (ankle) remains limited.

9. New Orleans Saints TE Taysom Hill - 29% rostered

Hill continues to be a limited player and yet it still doesn't matter. He played just 23 (!) snaps this past week and ran just three routes, but had nine rushing attempts and scored a position-high 34.1 fantasy points on the week. He's missed one game because of injury and isn't even close to being a full-time player and is still the TE7 in scoring on the season. He's not only in TE1 territory, but he could be a top-five option if he continues to get rushing work, particularly if it's inside the opposing 10-yard line.

10. Buffalo Bills RB James Cook - 29% rostered

The final waiver wire spot of the week is a dart throw for a rookie in Cook. He played just 10 snaps and ran just three routes this week but was able to scoop up 31 rushing yards and a score, including an impressive 7.8 yards per carry figure. The Bills haven't had much of a standout figure in their running back room and Cook could see a few more snaps moving forward after flashing in Week 5.

Must be rostered:

New England Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson - 88% rostered

Stevenson was already a good running back option but is a must-start and must-add since Damien Harris suffered a hamstring injury. Stevenson played 54 of 60 backfield snaps in Week 5, running 16 routes on 22 dropbacks and toting the rock 25 times. Stevenson has to be rostered in every league.

Miami Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert - 69% rostered

The Dolphins' backfield is sure to cause a headache every week, but Mostert looks like the clear RB1 right now. He played 46 out of 67 snaps in Week 5, ran 11 more routes than the next closest running back, and had 18 out of 25 of the team's rushing attempts. Chase Edmonds was effectively benched in this game.

Washington Commanders RB Brian Robinson Jr. - 62% rostered

Robinson played the fewest snaps (18) of all Washington running backs who played on offense, but he still had by far the most rushing attempts of the group. He's the clear primary back in short-yardage situations and should continue to carve out a larger role as the early-down runner we were promised in training camp.