Fantasy Football 2022 Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice

Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the roster percentages coming from Yahoo.com.

Quarterbacks

Geno Smith, Seahawks (37% Rostered): Smith’s season has been unbelievable. He has thrown for two or more touchdowns in four of Seattle’s first five games, and thrown for 320+ yards twice. He offers the potential for production on the ground as well, and while you may be tempted to write off this hot start as a fluke, Smith is – deep breath – the No. 1 rated QB per PFF. This looks legit, and while he might not finish the year as the top QB, he does have a legit running game behind him, an elite WR duo in D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and a porous defense that keeps them in passing game scripts.

Carson Wentz, Commanders (46% Rostered): Wentz is certainly a shakier play than Smith right now, but he also has a very talented WR corps, a bad defense that keeps Washington throwing the ball, and a high ceiling. As horrendous as Wentz looked in back-to-back losses to the Eagles and Cowboys, he has passed for 300+ yards in each of his other three games with multiple TD passes in all of them. There are plenty of fantasy managers struggling with veterans like Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers, who aren’t delivering for myriad reasons, and Wentz at least provides a ceiling that you’re not currently getting from those guys.

Taysom Hill, Saints (32% Rostered): See tight ends.

Running Backs

Kenneth Walker III, Seahawks (47% Rostered): Walker is the hottest add of the week in light of the season-ending injury suffered by Rashaad Penny. Walker is a first round talent who, if he had this job to himself preseason, likely would’ve been a second or third round pick. He went nuts in relief of Penny, gashing the Saints for 88 yards on eight carries. Walker was a complete back coming out of Michigan State, and now that he has this role to himself, he’s a potential league winner. Feel free to go crazy with your FAAB if he’s on waivers.

Eno Benjamin, Cardinals (13% Rostered): Be careful with Benjamin, as James Conner isn’t ruled out of this week’s game vs. Seattle. If Conner can’t go, though, Benjamin becomes a strong play in what should be a very high scoring game. Arizona saw Conner, Darrel Williams and Jonathan Ward all get nicked up meaning Benjamin is slated for a potentially huge workload and all the goal line work. Benjamin is probably not an awesome long term play, but if you really need a win don’t be afraid to spend up. Just know the value is probably short-lived.

Tevin Coleman, 49ers (1% Rostered): Coleman scored twice last week, but he’s not on this list because of that. Chasing those two scores doesn’t make sense. What does is having the clear backup in this excellent rushing offense behind Jeff Wilson, who has not been a model of durability in his career. Wilson managers should certainly consider insuring one of 2022’s best waiver pickups, and he probably won’t cost much as we’ve all taken the plunge on Coleman at some point and been left wanting.

Jaylen Warren, Steelers (8% Rostered): Warren is a clear-cut handcuff to Najee Harris in a league where the handcuffs are rarely this obvious. Harris managers should consider snapping him up, because even in a low-output offense with a bad offensive line, those touches are valuable.

Wide Receivers

Jakobi Meyers, Patriots (49% Rostered): Meyers is a PPR machine, and while New England’s offense is a low-output one, he’s seen six or more targets in all three games he’s played. Whether it’s Mac Jones, Brian Hoyer or Bailey Zappe under center, Meyers is the obvious go-to guy for this offense. Some weeks, that won’t amount to much but this kind of opportunity is valuable and important depth for any roster.

Alec Pierce, Colts (9% Rostered): Is it wise to try to find reliability from the Colts right now, with Matt Ryan looking totally washed and a vastly underperforming offensive line? No. But Pierce is a very talented second-round pick who has drawn 15 targets in the last two games and posted back-to-back games of 80+ yards. Pierce profiled as a downfield threat, so efficiency, and not volume, is his bag, but he has averaged nearly 15 yards per catch in his last three so in a pinch he seems like a player you can count on not to goose right now.

Darius Slayton, Giants (0% Rostered): Slayton has had many opportunities to become a truly fantasy relevant player and has never been able to cement himself in that capacity. Adding him here is a huge risk; he is known to disappear, and his QB is Daniel Jones. But the complete dearth of WR options here with Kadarius Toney and Wan’Dale Robinson out of action has created a vacuum that, at some point, will need to be filled by someone. The Baltimore Ravens aren’t going to be easy to shut down, so if they force the Giants to throw it more, Slayton’s the best bet to lead the team in targets.

Tight Ends

Taysom Hill, Saints (32% Rostered): Hill is one of the weirdest, most unique players I’ve ever seen in my years of playing fantasy sports. He’s QB and TE eligible, and yet he mostly functions as a running back. He took a direct snap in this dominant performance vs. the Seahawks in which the entire stadium knew he was running it left and he took it 60 yards to the house. Hill is everything multiple coaches dreamed Tim Tebow would be, and when he is in the shotgun you truly don’t know if he’s going to run the ball, do trickery with Alvin Kamara, or end up throwing the ball to someone absurdly open. Hill is hard to trust because unlike other TEs, he doesn’t actually run routes, which means he will sometimes be invisible. But that really describes just about every TE, whereas few had the 30+ point upside Hill displayed vs. the Seahawks. He’s earned the right to be considered an every-week option based on his vital role in the red zone.

Hayden Hurst, Bengals (31% Rostered): With TE being such a problematic position for so many, it’s weird that more managers aren’t warming up to Hurst. He’s drawn five or more targets in three straight games, and that trend is likely to continue with Cincinnati’s offensive line not allowing Joe Burrow to drop back and find his superstar receivers deep. Until the line improves, Hurst will be a key safety valve for this offense, and he’s also scored in back-to-back games. Hurst isn’t very exciting, but he’s pretty damn safe.