It’s time for Week 6 waiver wire pickups, and I am Trash Sandwiches, your temporary host, filling in for Matt Kelly! We’ve made it through the first bye week of the season and thankfully get a little break, with only the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers on bye in Week 6. Although it may seem like the waiver wire gets thinner as the season rolls on, there is always money in the banana stand, as the saying goes.
I will continue using Matt’s format for presenting players in different tiers of waiver wire adds. “Priority Adds” are players you should definitely be rostering. “Plug-Ins” are players you can start this week with some confidence. Lastly, “Stashes” are players who may not be producing now, but their value could significantly increase, whether by an injury ahead of them on the depth chart or playing their way into the starting lineup as the season progresses.
As always, the players below are rostered in fewer than 50% of ESPN leagues.
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Week 5 Pickups (2023)
(Rostership percentages courtesy of ESPN)
Priority Adds
Logan Thomas (TE, Washington Commanders) | 8.1% Rostered
If you heeded the advice from the “Week 5 In the Scope” targets and already added Logan Thomas to your team, give yourself a pat on the back and skip ahead. If you didn’t, there’s still time! Thomas racked up nine receptions on 11 targets for 77 yards and a touchdown. That has him tied for the fifth-most targets in the NFL on the week before “Monday Night Football.” He had a team-leading target share of 22.9% in Week 5 and finished as the Points Per Reception (PPR) TE4 with 22.7 fantasy points. Despite the 40-20 loss against the Chicago Bears, Thomas was productive, and he has favorable matchups against the Falcons, Giants and Eagles in store. We tried to tell you heading into the week, but it’s better late than never!
Josh Downs (WR, Indianapolis Colts) | 10.9% Rostered
Josh Downs had himself a great day in Week 5, catching all six of his targets for 97 yards and entering “Monday Night Football” as the WR17. He was already on his way to a decent rookie season, so the Week 6 waiver wire may be your last chance to get Downs before that rostership goes way up. Gardner Minshew stepped in for Anthony Richardson after a mid-game injury and is expected to hold the starting job for about the next month. This is the same Minshew who got Downs 12 targets in Week 3. Even though that volume is unsustainable, Downs has shown his big-play ability, averaging 16.6 Yards Per Reception (YPR) over the last two weeks. Grab him now and thank me later.
Plug-Ins
Josh Reynolds (WR, Detroit Lions) | 24.5% Rostered
Josh Reynolds is the current PPR WR15 on the week and the No. 3 receiving option on the Detroit Lions. Yes, part of that WR15 performance was due to the absence of option No. 1, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown. It was also partially due to the fact that he out-targeted option No. 2, TE Sam LaPorta, by five to four. Reynolds isn’t going to stay in the top spot in the pecking order, especially when St. Brown is back. But Jameson Williams didn’t look like much of a threat in his return from suspension, with a paltry two receptions for two yards.
The overall pass volume of the Lions was down this week, as evidenced by Reynolds’ five targets, which was his lowest of the season outside of a Week 3 goose egg in which he probably should have been inactive. But even still, he turned his four receptions in Week 5 into 76 yards and a touchdown. Reynolds has some standalone FLEX value on his own and even higher upside if St. Brown is out again in Week 6.
Emari Demercado (RB, Arizona Cardinals) | 0.4% Rostered
Are all your running backs hurt? Well, join the club and join me with a waiver wire claim for Emari Demercado! I won’t pretend that I was one of the 0.4% of people who rostered him before it was cool or that I’d even heard of him. But he made his name known in Week 5, finishing with 45 yards on 10 attempts and one touchdown. He came in for teammate James Conner, who went down with a knee injury and is currently the PPR RB16.
There’s no word on whether Conner will play in Week 6. Regardless. Demercado should at least be the team’s RB2, even if/when Keaontay Ingram returns from his neck injury. The rookie Undrafted Free Agent (UDFA) has also played a small role in the team’s receiving game this season, and his college work proved him capable of playing well in big games. I’d probably move him down to the “Stash” section if Conner comes back immediately, but he should be a Week 6 waiver wire add either way.
Stashes
Tyjae Spears (RB, Tennessee Titans) | 25.5% Rostered
This isn’t the first or even the second time we’ve recommended picking up Tyjae Spears ‘round these parts. But since he’s still available in three-quarters of leagues, we will add another to the tally, and you should stash the pre-“Monday Night Football” RB8 off your Week 6 waiver wire. Spears finished with 34 yards on seven attempts and one touchdown, plus four receptions for another 35 yards through the air.
Yes, Derrick Henry is still the backfield leader in carries, gaining 43 yards on 13 attempts this week. But Spears had been playing on more than half the Titans’ snaps in three out of the four games coming into Week 6. He has also carved out a role as the lead pass-catching back over the past few weeks, emerging as a solid third weapon behind Henry and DeAndre Hopkins. Stash him now because Henry is (unfortunately and sometimes unbelievably) only human. It’s possible Henry will miss time at some point this season, and you’ll wish you had listened and picked up Spears when you could.
Thanks for reading my favorite fantasy football waiver wire Week 6 pickups. If you like my kind of trash, you can read more here and follow me on Twitter @trashsandwiches.
*Photo Credit: Marc Lebryk – USA TODAY Sports*