The bye weeks are here, and when we add that to the mountain of injuries across the league, your lineup could look a little thin. Who are some players you can find on the waivers to drop into your lineups for Week 6?
*Streamers are players who are rostered in 50% or fewer of Yahoo! leagues.
Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaron Rodgers has been good! With 22-plus fantasy points in three consecutive games, Rodgers is looking like his old self and can continue that this week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Defensively, the Bucs have an 11.6% pressure rate, which is 31st in the league, which means Rodgers should have plenty of time to slice and dice the secondary. Keeping Rodgers upright and giving him time is crucial at this point in his career. The Bucs allow 236 passing yards
per game, and Rodgers should be able to hit that this week.
Tyler Huntley, Baltimore Ravens
With Lamar Jackson missing practice Thursday, Huntley could be set for another start. Should we expect another three total touchdowns from him? No, but he's proven to be a viable fantasy producer over the previous years. The Cleveland Browns allowed 16.8 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, so it's a middle-of-the-road matchup for Huntley, but he's viable if you're in a pinch.
Running back
Dameon Pierce, Philadelphia Eagles
Someone has to be healthy, right? The Philadelphia Eagles are dealing with a slew of injuries across the board, and it's hit their running back room hard. Saquon Barkley didn't practice Wednesday or Thursday. Tank Bigsby is on IR. Will Shipley left last week's game early and didn't practice Wednesday, and he is not expected to play this week. This leaves Dameon Pierce, who saw 11 carries and five targets on 77% of the offensive snaps last week. With Jalen Hurts also ruled out for the Eagles, their offensive expectation is low, but the volume could be there for Pierce.
Keaton Mitchell, Los Angeles Chargers
There's no doubt the Chargers are a mess, and with that comes varying roles for players. Most people view Omarion Hampton as the RB1 for the team, but his snap rate hit a season-low of 30% last week. Keaton Mitchell was at 34%, and Kimani Vidal was at 42%. Both Mitchell and Vidal saw nine total touches, but Mitchell had more in the passing game – four targets, three catches to Vidal having two and one. With a matchup against the Chiefs on tap, the Chargers will likely be playing from behind, giving Mitchell some nice PPR value in catch-up mode.
Wide receiver
Germie Bernard, Pittsburgh Steelers
There is a very clear path forward for production for rookie Germie Bernard. Michael Pittman is on IR. Roman Wilson is out with a finger injury. Ben Skowronek is out with a calf injury. We saw flashes of Bernard last week when he had nine targets for six receptions and 80 yards. Bernard also has the favor of Aaron Rodgers, after being quizzedby Rodgers last week. While that's a bit of "coach speak," Bernard played on 92% of the snaps last week, with a 30.0% target share, which is the real data we want to see.
Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders
The Buffalo Bills allow the most fantasy points per game (29.9) to opposing wide receivers, making Tucker a clear option this week. Tucker leads Vegas wide receivers with a 65.8% snap rate and has the third-highest target share on the team at 16.1%. He has 14.7 air yards per target, giving him huge upside, which can be obtained on low volume. The Raiders will likely be playing from behind against the Bills, putting them in a nice passing game script.
Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills
While he might be a bit of a roller coaster, Coleman is a viable low-end WR2 or flex option this week. The Bills have a massive 29.5 implied team total, and getting exposure to that is never a bad thing. If DJ Moore is out again for the Bills, we could see Coleman in the role from last week. He played on 70% of the offensive snaps, had a lower 10.5% target share, but a really solid 25.0% red zone target share. He might only have 4-6 targets, but high-value targets are always intriguing.
Tight end
Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams
Higbee continues to produce. It's really that simple for him, and it shouldn't be a surprise when we break it down. Puka Nacua and Davante Adams often draw a ton of attention from opposing defenses, which allows Higbee to succeed underneath. He has 11, 6, 6 targets in the past three weeks, going for 11-plus PPR points in each game. The matchup against the Cardinals is elite, as they've allowed the fifth-most receiving yards (363) and the fourth-most touchdowns (4) to opposing tight ends.
Chig Okonkwo, Washington Commanders
With Jayden Daniels back for the Commanders, the passing game should start reaching its potential. We saw a glimpse of that with Okonkwo last week with six targets, four receptions and 60 yards. He did that on 71% of the offensive snaps, all while seeing a 25.0% target share. The Commanders are 7.5-point underdogs against the 49ers, in a game that has a points total set at 51.5. We should be in for plenty of offense, which can help enable Okonkwo to produce, despite a tougher matchup on paper.
Defense
Carolina Panthers
No Jalen Hurts for the Eagles, and likely no Saquon Barkley or DeVonta Smith. The offensive expectations for the Philadelphia are super low, which puts the Panthers in a spot to be a viable defensive streamer. Sure, they don't generate a ton of pressure (11.8%, 30th), but they have eight takeaways through four games and are facing all second-stringers, essentially.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fantasy football Week 6 sleepers: 10 streamers to target
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