Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Football

Week 5 brought us some absolutely insane fantasy football performances, with five players (pending "Monday Night Football") eclipsing 40 PPR points, and another three coming in with at least 35.

That huge production at the top doesn't change the overall makeup of fantasy teams though, and staying vigilant on the waiver wire becomes increasingly important this week with four teams on bye for the first time in 2019.

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 6

With that in mind, these 10 players are owned in fewer than 50 percent of Yahoo! Fantasy Football leagues and are worth targeting on the waiver wire heading into Week 6.

1. A.J. Brown, WR, Tennessee Titans (23% Owned)

A.J. Brown had a quiet game in Week 5, with only two receptions for 27 yards, but we've also seen his upside on more than one occasion this year. In Week 1 he turned three receptions into 100 yards, and in Week 4 he had 94 yards and two touchdowns. Workload has been the issue for Brown, and the Tennessee Titans seem to be wising up to his potential. In Week 5 he played a season-high 65 percent of the team's offensive snaps.

2. Ito Smith, RB, Atlanta Falcons (14% Owned)

Ito Smith established himself as far more than just a Devonta Freeman handcuff in Week 5. The two played an equal number of snaps in Week 1 as Freeman eased his way back into action, but since then Freeman had eclipsed a 60 percent snap share in Weeks 2, 3 and 4. On Sunday that share fell sharply, and he only out-snapped Smith 40 to 35. Smith had a season-high 11 touches, which included catching all six of the targets that went his way in the passing game. He's still something of a speculative add, but with back-to-back games of double-digit PPR points and an increasing workload, he could very well take advantage of a great Week 6 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

3. Gardner Minshew II, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars (23% Owned)

Gardner Minshew has worked his way into the top 12 for fantasy production at the QB position, both overall and on a per-game basis. He's been highly consistent, topping 16 fantasy points in all five of his games, and in Week 5 he went off for a season-high 374 passing yards. He's still not a lock to start every week, but he's coming up on a three-week stretch that includes matchups against the New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets, and he's got a great chance of still being in the top 12 (if not higher) coming out on the other side of that.

4. Chase Edmonds, RB, Arizona Cardinals (3% Owned)

The back issues that slowed David Johnson down in Week 5 don't seem to be too serious, but the worries are still enough that it's still worth grabbing Chase Edmonds just in case. Edmonds saw 12 opportunities (eight carries and four targets) while still only seeing a 35.1 percent snap share in Week 5, and if Johnson is forced to miss any time Edmonds immediately becomes a must-start fantasy play as a potential workhorse.

5. Preston Williams, WR, Miami Dolphins (7% Owned)

The Miami Dolphins' offense obviously isn't one you want a ton of exposure to, but they return from their bye week with a terrific matchup against the Washington Redskins. Preston Williams has seen at least five targets in all of his games this season, and in two contests since Josh Rosen took over starting QB duties he has led the team with 19. As bad as the Dolphins are, their early-season schedule didn't do them any favors, and Williams should have a much easier time turning volume into production in Week 6.

6. Gerald Everett, TE, Los Angeles Rams (9% Owned)

The Los Angeles Rams have thrown the ball a ton over their last two games, so while Gerald Everett's 19 targets may be inflated a bit, his 16 percent target share during that span is still a great sign. That's the third highest in the offense in that time (behind Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods), and is up from a lowly seven percent share over the first three games of the season.

7. Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers (34% Owned)

The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense might be a mess moving forward, as they're down to third-string QB Devlin Hodges — an undrafted rookie out of Samford. Still, volume in a bad offense can bring fantasy value, and that's what Diontae Johnson offers. He's racked up at least six targets in each of his three games as a starter, turning 20 into 14 receptions, 156 yards and two TDs in that time. He's the Steelers' clear No. 2 WR behind JuJu Smith-Schuster, and those target numbers make him much more valuable in PPR leagues than in standard scoring.

8. Kirk Cousins, QB, Minnesota Vikings (41% Owned)

Amidst all of the drama surrounding the Minnesota Vikings' run-heavy offense, Kirk Cousins dominated to the tune of 306 yards, two TDs and no interceptions on 22-of-27 passing in Week 5. Of course, it helped that he was going from a brutal Week 4 matchup against the Chicago Bears to a great one against the New York Giants, but his schedule includes plenty more favorable matchups in the near future. Two of his next three opponents (the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6 and Washington Redskins in Week 8) ranked in the bottom 10 of Football Outsiders' pass defense DVOA rankings heading into Week 5.

9. Chris Herndon, TE, New York Jets (29% Owned)

Chris Herndon will return from his suspension in Week 6, so we don't have any stats to draw on for him from the 2019 season. He looked promising as a rookie in 2018 though, racking up 47 targets, 32 receptions, 399 yards and three TDs in his final 10 games of the season. The Jets have also shown that their offense is going to use a tight end frequently, as Ryan Griffin has played 93.2 percent of their offensive snaps so far — the NFL's highest snap share at the position in 2019. A far less gifted receiver, Griffin has only seven targets through four games, and Herndon should immediately replace him as an every-down player.

10. Mohamed Sanu, WR, Atlanta Falcons (41% Owned)

It's never going to be exciting to play the low-ceiling Mohamed Sanu, but he continues to be consistently solid, as he has been for years now. He's up to 36 targets through five games in 2019, which puts him third on the team, behind Julio Jones and Austin Hooper but ahead of sophomore Calvin Ridley. He's topped 10 fantasy points in four of his five games in PPR scoring, and if you need a safe stopgap starter at WR, Sanu is a good choice.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.