Fantasy Football 2021 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

Trey Lance, 49ers (47% Rostered): Lance’s first NFL start was a mixed bag, and one that will be a major benefit for savvy workers of the waiver wire. Lance looked very raw, threw only 29 times, and finished with 192 passing yards, zero touchdowns and a pick. Uninspiring stuff from the third overall pick, especially when his 49ers managed only 10 points. I’ve intentionally buried the lede though; Lance also rushed 16 times for 89 yards, a week after piling up 41 rushing yards on seven carries in one half of football. He also flashed a cannon of an arm at times, and even though it seems Lance can’t always predict where his passes will end up, sometimes they’ll end up right in Deebo Samuel’s hands for big plays. Outside of Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray, no QB – and I’m not forgetting about Josh Allen or Jalen Hurts – has Lance’s upside as a rusher. That baseline is invaluable, and he should remain very cheap, if not free, on waivers since Jimmy Garoppolo looms as a threat to reclaim his job, and the 49ers have a Week 6 bye. Scoop him up!

Taylor Henicke, Football Team (16% Rostered): If you are in need of more immediate assistance, Heinicke has a juicy matchup with the Chiefs, who entered Sunday night with the NFL’s worst Weighted DVOA and second-worst Pass DVOA before getting smoked by Josh Allen. Heinicke is not in Allen’s universe as a passer, but he’s proven he can put up numbers and find his main man Terry McLaurin with regularity. Heinicke should be cheap after a down week vs. the Saints, but prior to this dud he’d been highly efficient with lower volume. He’s thrown two or more touchdowns in three of five games, and against Kansas City he’ll likely have to chuck it upward of 40 times again.

Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars (50% Rostered): Lawrence still isn’t throwing up the eye-popping passing stats one would expect from a No. 1 overall pick on a team with a pretty bad defense, but the Jags have come to the realization that Lawrence is a pretty effective rusher. He’s rushed six or more times in each of his last three games, and scored on the ground in his last two. This week he threw the ball 33 times, racking up 273 yards and a touchdown. The ship has sailed on my preseason expectations of him, because James Robinson has proven he was no fluke and this offense revolves around him as Lawrence gets his sea legs, but this new rushing baseline for Lawrence makes him playable in the right matchups.

Running Backs

Darrel Williams, Chiefs (16% Rostered): Williams catapulted to the top of the heap when Clyde Edwards-Helaire had to be carried into the locker room Sunday night. Williams has had limited work in  his career as a backup for the Chiefs, and he’s not likely to solve KC’s explosiveness issues at the position, as his career-best yards per carry mark is 4.3, which he established in 2019. One plus, however, is that he was often trusted with goal line work even with Edwards-Helaire healthy, so those who add him on waivers this week might find him to be a surprising source of touchdowns for the duration of CEH’s time on the shelf. I don’t view Williams as a league-winning type of pickup, but if you’re hurting at the position, he should be prioritized, and managers should feel free to spend up like people were for Damien Williams last week.

Devontae Booker, Giants (5% Rostered): Booker is not a tantalizing talent by any means, but opportunity reigns supreme, and with Saquon Barkley set to miss time Booker will have tons. In Barkley’s absence, Booker logged 16 carries and drew four targets, turning it all into 58 yards from scrimmage and a receiving touchdown. It was gross to watch, but it’s useful fantasy food, and with QB Daniel Jones, Barkley, and multiple WRs injured there’ll be more of that to go around. Booker is someone to spend on if you need short-term emergency RB assistance.

J.D. McKissic, Football Team (45% Rostered): McKissic is not reliable week to week, but if you suspect Washington might be in a shootout, of find themselves playing from behind, he has upside due to his receiving role. On obvious passing downs and in hurry-up offense situations McKissic is the trusted RB, and he’s capable of piling up receptions in bunches. Outside of full-PPR formats though, he’s a desperation play, and in those formats he’s a decent shot at a non-zero

Sony Michel, Rams (50% Rostered): Michel hasn’t been particularly impressive this season, but he is the clear handcuff to Darrell Henderson in one of the game’s best offenses, and Henderson has shown a propensity to get banged up. I don’t view Michel as having similar upside to Henderson, but if he were the lead back for the Rams Michel becomes a locked in RB2.

Kenneth Gainwell, Eagles (42% Rostered): Gainwell is absolutely impossible to trust at this point week to week, even though Miles Sanders has been a massive disappointment as well. Gainwell looks to have more trust from the Eagles’ staff as a pass-catcher, but he only saw two rushing attempts and three targets vs. Carolina, totaling 24 total yards and no touchdowns. Gainwell would have upside in the event of a Sanders injury, but until then he is a pure handcuff, and even with the lead role the offense leaves a lot to be desired.

Ronald Jones, Buccaneers (47% Rostered): At this point in the season, the “top” waiver options at the position are usually backups who could flourish if opportunity sprang from nowhere, much like Damien Williams. Jones fits that description. He’s clearly taken a step back this year, falling from 5.1 yards per carry last year to 3.8 in 2021, and he hasn’t seen more than six attempts in any game. Also, outside of Week 2, he hasn’t seen better than a 17% snap percentage in any game. Still, the Bucs offense is a juggernaut, and if Leonard Fournette goes down, Giovani Bernard is absolutely not getting a three-down workload. You’ll never be able to rely on Jones for passing game work, but a Fournette injury gives Jones high-end RB2 upside.

Wide Receivers

Kadarius Toney, Giants (16% Rostered): Toney might be this year’s Justin Jefferson. He shined in Week 4 with six catches for 78 yards against the Saints, then, when Barkley and Kenny Golladay both left Sunday’s game against the Cowboys, Toney became molten lava. He shredded Dallas for 10 catches and 189 yards through the air, and looking completely unstoppable. He unfortunately also punched a Cowboys DB in the helmet, so keep an eye out to make sure he doesn’t draw a suspension. If he’s in the clear, Toney is the No. 1 waiver add at any position this week, and will be a difference maker rest of season regardless of how Golladay’s knee injury shakes out.

Hunter Renfrow, Raiders (45% Rostered): Renfrow continued to do Renfrow things last week, drawing eight targets and turning in six receptions for 56 yards. He didn’t score this week, so it was a fairly underwhelming afternoon, but that’s the Renfrow experience. You don’t start him for blowup potential, you start him when the chips are down, and you just need someone to guarantee a non-zero.

Tim Patrick, Broncos (31% Rostered): Patrick’s roster % is down 13 points from last week, as one dud was enough to throw people back off the bandwagon. He responded with a seven-catch, 89-yard game against the Steelers. It’s been three weeks sans a TD, so he’s probably due, and he’s averaging 75 yards per game in that three-week stretch. I remain baffled why Patrick is so unwanted, but I’d be happy to scoop him up as WR depth with bye weeks approaching.

Rondale Moore, Cardinals (40% Rostered): Moore is explosive in ways that Renfrow and Patrick aren’t, and he is in one of the most potent offenses in football. And yet, I wouldn’t feel confident starting him in any matchup. Sure, if he’s up against a weak pass defense he could go nuts. The problem is that outside of DeAndre Hopkins, and, quietly, A.J. Green, Kyler Murray spreads the love. Christian Kirk is just as capable of detonating at any time, and neither are guaranteed any kind of target share. Prior to Sunday, when Moore went for five receptions and 59 yards, he had combined for five targets and 29 yards in the previous two weeks. Against the Jaguars, one of the league’s worst defenses, he had two catches for a single yard. I think Moore can be played in a pinch with a high ceiling, and he makes sense in keeper/dynasty formats, but if you need help right now there are better options.

Tight Ends

Hunter Henry, Patriots (46% Rostered): The Patriots didn’t pay a bunch of money to TEs this offseason to not use them, and Henry has quietly become a security blanket for rookie Mac Jones over the past three games.  Henry has seen six, five and eight targets in his last three tilts – solid for the position – and took advantage of a plum matchup on Sunday vs. Houston. If you had the stones to play Henry this week, stay in the flames, as Dallas came into the week with the NFL’s third-worst DVOA vs. TEs, and had allowed 7.6 points per game to the position. Jonnu Smith has a better chance at game-breaking plays, but Henry is seeing more volume, and Mac Jones may hypertarget the position to avoid going near star CB Trevon Diggs.

Zach Ertz, Eagles (38% Rostered): Ertz isn’t appealing, but he does see similar volume to Henry. He has been targeted six or more times in each of the last three games, and has solid matchups against the Buccaneers and Raiders on the schedule. The downside here is that the targets are low quality from Jalen Hurts, who is inconsistent as a passer, and that’s me being kind. On Sunday Ertz saw six targets and was only able to produce one catch for seven yards. That’s his floor in any given week, and that’s with fairly high volume. I’d stay away if I could.

Dan Arnold, Jaguars (4% Rostered): Marvin Jones was invisible this week even without D.J. Chark on the field, and Dan Arnold might be why. The Arizona Cardinals transplant drew eight targets in his second game with the team, going for six receptions and 64 yards. He’s a good pass-catcher, and his next two matchups, vs. Miami and at Seattle, are good opportunities. He’ll be cheap, but I wouldn’t just assume safety based off one game. Don’t go trading away a higher-end TE on your roster thinking Arnold is safe to fill the void. For now, treat him as a speculative add/desperation dart throw.