Waiver Wire Watch: Week 6
Editor’s Note: We’re happy to announce the arrival of 4for4 Contributor Pat Fitzmaurice (formerly of Pro Football Weekly), who will work in conjunction with Senior Editor John Paulsen to compile this list of the top waiver wire pickups each week.
Here is a look at the top waiver wire pickups for Week 6. To be eligible for discussion, the player must be owned in 50% or fewer ESPN leagues, though we’ll stretch the rules a bit for the RB position, which is usually very thin. We’ll also include suggested bid prices (with a $100 budget) for those leagues that use Free Agent Acquisition Budgets. Of course, player value depends on league characteristics and team needs. Players are listed by position in order of importance.
* Players with an asterisk next to their name were mentioned in last week’s Waiver Wire Watch.
Raiders QB Terrelle Pryor ($12)
Still available in 67.5% of ESPN leagues as of last week, Pryor is a potential tonic for the owners of Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Michael Vick and other stat-deficient or injured quarterbacks. For a supposedly unrefined passer, Pryor has looked remarkably refined lately. He’s thrown for 502 yards and three TDs over his last two games and is quietly completing 68.3 percent of his passes. And of course, the running potential is highly attractive. The former Ohio State star is averaging 57.3 rushing yards per game.
Next up: Chiefs, BYE, Steelers
Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill* ($2)
With Miami’s bye coming up this week, budget-conscious fantasy owners who are planning a couple of weeks ahead should be able to grab Tannehill cheaply. He’s been a consistently solid performer this season, with at least one TD pass and at least 236 passing yards in each of his five starts. Unfortunately, his offensive line is putting him at risk of greater bodily harm.
Next up: BYE, Bills, Patriots
Ravens QB Joe Flacco ($2)
We’re cheating a little here, as Flacco was owned in a smidge more than half of ESPN leagues (51.6%) as of Monday morning, but the rate of Flacco ownership has been trending downward and will continue to do so after Flacco’s failure to throw a TD pass in Baltimore’s Week 5 win over Miami. Lack of pass-catching weaponry has been a problem for Flacco, and that TD-INT ratio (5-to-8) isn’t pretty, but this week’s home matchup against Green Bay makes Flacco an attractive one-week Band-Aid.
Next up: Packers, Steelers, BYE
