Winning on the fantasy football waiver-wire is a tried and true strategy, without question. However, not everyone is dialed into their fantasy football league seven days a week. Life happens. In my case, you have an elderly cat that suffers a medical issue that you have to attend to immediately (R.I.P., Ginny) and aren't able to dive fully into the waiver-wire for Week 6 before claims clear on late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning. When things get in the way, though, that doesn't mean you can just give up on the fantasy waiver wire — it means you have to get creative.
In all likelihood, the most obvious pickups like Carolina Panthers RB Rico Dowdle and Arizona Cardinals RB Michael Carter have already been snatched up in your league. If they haven't, run to the waiver wire right now and add either of them as they could have matchup-changing power as handcuffs, while also potentially earning larger roles in the offense beyond that.
However, if you're one of the fantasy football managers who was unable to secure one of those top targets, there are still several highly useful fantasy options to pick up that are still available in under 50% of ESPN fantasy leagues.
6. WR Kendrick Bourne, San Francisco 49ers (26.2% rostered)
The injury issues for the 49ers still aren't going away. It doesn't seem like Brandon Aiyuk is all that close to returning, Ricky Pearsall is still unlikely to get on the field in Week 6, and the status for Jauan Jennings is up in the air as well. Whether Jennings plays or not, though, what we saw on Thursday night from Kendrick Bourne with Mac Jones in this San Francisco offense, you should give the veteran and former Patriot a look on the waiver wire.
While Bourne hadn't gone over 7.8 fantasy points in PPR scoring over the first four weeks of the season, the veteran pass-catcher exploded for 10 catches on 11 targets that went for 142 yards. He finished with 24.2 fantasy points despite not finding the end zone. He's familiar with Jones as well, so the rapport makes sense.
Given that the injuries are continuing and it does appear that Jones could play again, you could do quite a lot worse than Bourne, who finished as the WR6 in Week 5 for fantasy. There's upside there, even if he isn't catching 10 passes this time around.
5. RB Brashard Smith, Kansas City Chiefs (4.4% rostered)
It's no secret that the Chiefs rushing attack just simply hasn't been up to par through the first five weeks, particularly when it comes to Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt out of the backfield. However, rookie seventh-rounder Brashard Smith has been lurking and seeing his snaps start to increase with each week. And as that's happening, he's continually earning more trust as the most effective runner of the group, albeit in the limited sample size.
Smith has scored 6.6 fantasy points in PPR scoring in each of the past two games, totaling five carries for 13 yards but with six receptions for 59 yards. There has been palpable buzz that he could absolutely start to take a bigger share of the workload in the Kansas City backfield, and the limited times he's had the chance to show it, there's no reason not to believe that.
Now, Smith might not be an immediate impact-maker for your fantasy roster. However, while that may be the case, the potential upside in the heart of the fantasy season is immense for the Chiefs rookie, and you might need to add him now to not be too late to the party.
4. TE AJ Barner, Seattle Seahawks (7.8% rostered)
While some people seemed a bit hesitant to believe it, we've reached a point now where it's cleear that AJ Barner is the top tight end in the Seahawks offense. Through five weeks now, Barner has hit double-digit fantasy points in three of his outings and is now coming off of his career-best fantasy performance with seven catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns against the Bucs in Week 5.
Now, it should be said that Barner has overall been highly touchdown-dependent. He's found the end zone in all three of the games in which he cleared at least 10 fantasy points. Moreover, prior to what we saw in Week 5, his highest target total for the year was just three. So there is some risk that the seven-catch week on as many targets might be an anomaly.
At the same time, he's been productive with the touches that he's gotten and that could mean his workload could merit an increase moving forward. Should that be the case, he might actually be more valuable than the tight end option you're throwing out each week right now.
3. WR Ryan Flournoy, Dallas Cowboys (2.5% rostered)
When CeeDee Lamb went down with an ankle injury, Cowboys fans wondered how the passing offense would function with defensive backfields able to largely hone in on George Pickens. While tight end Jake Ferguson has played a big role in that, undeniably, we got to see a big-time flash from Ryan Flournoy in Week 5 as the young receiver was a beast, hauling in six of his nine targets for 114 yards, which was good for 18.4 PPR points in fantasy.
All signs point to the fact that Lamb will miss at least another week as the Cowboys exercise caution in bringing him back from the ankle injury, and that could mean another big-time target share for Flournoy, especially against a porous Panthers defense. They'll likely shadow Pickens with Jaycee Horn, which should leave plenty of opportunities for Flournoy to further establish himself as the next-best target in the passing game for Dak Prescott.
Even with Lamb returns, the Cowboys have been searching for a WR3 in the offense, so Flournoy may actually have value beyond just a replacement while the star wideout is sidelined.
2. QB Joe Flacco, Cincinnati Bengals (4.1% rostered)
Look, I'm not going to lie to you and say that I think Joe Flacco is going to help the Bengals surge back to being contenders. In fact, there's some reason to be worried about the longtime veteran with his new team given his lack of mobility and the fact Cincinnati's offensive line may actually be even worse than what the Browns had to offer in terms of protection. At the same time, though, Flacco might still somehow be a better fit with the Bengals offense.
When in Cleveland, Flacco's style at this point of his career — largely just chucking it and praying — didn't exactly fit with the Browns personnel. Now that he's going to be playing with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, that could potentially change. I'm not saying that his turnover issues are going to completely disappear or that it's going to be a fun watch, but it could be productive overall (or at least passable) from a fantasy perspective.
If you're someone that's been scrambling post-Burrow injury or something like that, it might be worth at least taking a flier and seeing what you can get fantasy-wise from Flacco.
1. RB Hassan Haskins, Los Angeles Chargers (45.2% rostered)
Now that the Chargers are without both Najee Harris and Omarion Hampton for at least the next four weeks (the former is out for the year, but Hampton could return after an IR stint), the LA backfield is certainly depleted. Right now, it looks as if Hassan Haskins and Kimani Vidal will shoulder the workload, which has led some to consider staying away from the two or, in some cases, even preferring Vidal in a pass-heavy offense.
For me, I'm still all-in on Haskins and would do whatever possible to add him if you're in one of the 54.8% of leagues where he's still available. Though I don't believe that Haskins is a special talent, he's a serviceable player who should make some noise. Furthermore, when it comes to him vs. Vidal, the latter didn't actually make the 53-man roster this season — Haskins did. That should tell you how the Chargers view the two against one another.
Maybe I'm wrong on this, but the situation and what we know about these two backs in the LA ecosystem, I'm willing to hitch my wagon to Haskins and go down with the ship if that's the wrong call.