After the fifth full slate of regular season action, the NFL and fantasy football are back in full swing.
If you had a tough injury in Week 5, you just didn’t get the production from one of your players that you expected or you have a player on bye, we’ll scan the waiver wire. For potential pickups, we’ll consider players who are available in at least 50% of ESPN fantasy leagues.
Buy Dolphins TicketsLet’s take a look at some of the potential waiver wire pickups that could help your teams heading into Week 6 of the NFL campaign.
Sam Howell, QB, Washington Commanders (17.4%)
Howell was our suggestion for last week, and he was picked up in 9% of leagues since then. He rewarded fantasy owners with a 25.4-point day.
At this point, he’s a fringe starter, but he could fill in as a spot starter in the next couple of weeks.
RB Emari Demercado, RB, (0.4%)
With James Conner suffering a knee injury in Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, it was Demercado who stopped up and got the most touches.
The undrafted rookie finished 12.7 fantasy points thanks to an 11-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Arizona did claim Tony Jones after he was waived by the New Orleans Saints, so it’s not a sure-fire thing that Demercado will take over, but it may be worth the flier.
K.J. Osborn, WR, Minnesota Vikings (21.6%)
Justin Jefferson, arguably the NFL’s top receiver, suffered a hamstring injury in Minnesota’s loss to Kansas City over the weekend.
It’s unclear if he’ll miss time and if so, how much.
If Jefferson is out, Kirk Cousins will be throwing to Jordan Addison and K.J. Osborn. With Addison owned in over 80% of leagues, Osborn, who has seen some success in the past, is an obvious target on the waiver wire.
Tyler Conklin, TE, Jets (17.9%)
I feel dirty recommending any tight end this week because outside of the few top guys, it’s a total guessing game.
Conklin has been decently productive over the last four weeks, averaging nine points per game, and that’s without finding the end zone.
If he can start getting some of those red-zone targets, his value may rise.
Buccaneers, D/ST (21.4%)
Despite already having their bye week, Tampa Bay still has the eighth-best defense in fantasy, averaging 10.5 points per contest.
They draw the Detroit Lions in Week 6, and while they have an offense that can be dynamic, they can also be prone to a turnover or two.
