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👍 Prepare Your Waiver Wire Claims

👍 Prepare Your Waiver Wire Claims

Strengthen your team for Week 6

Joe Holka
October 10, 2023

WE ARE BACK.

It's The Touchdown Press Newsletter. Your #1 source for all things fantasy football, DFS, and sports betting, along with 10,000+ fellow degenerates.

If you don’t put in the work on Tuesday, you won’t win your matchup on Sunday.

Today in 5 minutes or less, you’ll learn:

Who was good and bad in Week 5 🎉
Priority Waiver Wire targets for Week 6 ✍️
Buy-low guys to aim for in trades 📉
The latest player news and notes 🏈

STUD QB: Justin Fields (CHI)

Maybe we always just give him a few warm up weeks.

Just like in ‘22, Fields is upping his performance after a slower start, and on Thursday night he scored a season-high 33 fantasy points against the Commanders.

That rapport with D.J. Moore is looking great, and fantasy owners can revel in the 4 passing TDs he provided them.

He’s also 2nd in the league in designed rush attempts by a QB, according to the stats from Matthew Berry’s Fantasy Life:

DUD QB: Lamar Jackson (BAL)

I expected more out of Lamar going against a Steelers team that’s been somewhat mid. But he didn’t come through.

Instead, he was out of sync, connecting on 57% of pass attempts, and throwing a pick. He scored just 10.9 fantasy points. There’s no doubt that better days are ahead for Jackson, but Week 5 wasn’t it.

STUD RB: Travis Etienne (JAX)

The Jags are London’s darlings after the last couple of weeks.

ETN went wild on Sunday morning against Buffalo, rushing for 152 yards on over 5 yards per carry, adding 4 receptions for 48 receiving yards, and scoring twice.

DUD RB: James Cook (BUF)

Cook had his lowest output of the season for the Bills across the pond on Sunday morning, and his first time falling under double-digit PPR points in 2023.

If it wasn’t for his 3 receptions, things would have looked even worse. He rushed for -4 yards on 5 carries. Yikes.

STUD WR: Ja’Marr Chase (CIN)

With apologies to D.J. Moore, Chase was the best WR on NFL fields in Week 5 with the performance we’ve been waiting for.

Some people were starting to worry if maybe the Bengals were broken, or had taken a big step back on offense with Joe Burrow’s health in question.

Chase helped put those fears to rest with his 15 receptions, 192 yards, and 3 TDs vs. Arizona Sunday.

DUD WR: Nico Collins (HOU)

The ups and downs in Houston are completely expected with their young roster, but Collins only being able to muster 6.9 PPR points a week after breaking 30 is slightly disappointing.

Fantasy managers who own Collins in season-long play are probably frustrated by the yo-yo output the last few weeks. Here’s hoping he can find some more consistency.

STUD TE: George Kittle (SF)

Kittle joked after the game that it’s a lot more fun when they don’t tackle you, in a big flex after scoring 3 TDs and finishing as Sunday’s top TE, one week after failing to break 2 PPR points.

Kittle’s in an offense with a lot of touch competition, so the volatility may continue, but this week he’s top of the heap.

DUD TE: Hunter Henry (NE)

The Patriots look like the current worst team in the NFL.

Henry was at least earning targets at some consistency, but he failed to secure either of his 2 targets against the Saints.

Putting up donuts is not typically how you earn fantasy clout.

THE BEST TUESDAY LINKS

3 things your friends probably already read this week… so you’ll probably want to catch up 👇🏻

• 🏆 The only link you can find my redraft rankings this week

• 💥 My favorite PrizePicks & Bets this week

💰 The DFS Masterclass

A free e-book to teach you how to win more on DraftKings & FanDuel

#5: QB Sam Howell (WAS)

If you need a QB, Howell is looking more legit as a streamer each week. He just had his career-high 388 yards on 37-of-51 passing, with 2 TDs.

He’s also dropping back at the highest rate in the league as Washington often has to work to keep pace. The volume and the talented group of pass-catchers will keep Howell relevant.

Plus, did you know that Howell is 6th in the NFL in passing yards, tied for 8th in completion percentage, and 12th in total rushing yards?

Chart courtesy of Fantasy Life:

#4: WR Josh Downs (IND)

We’ve sort of been watching this Colts team and trying to figure out the pecking order behind Michael Pittman. Downs is looking like the second guy after hauling in all 6 of his targets for 97 yards, and the WR17 PPR finish.

Indy’s Week 6 opponent, the Jaguars, are relatively vulnerable vs. WRs. If Gardner Minshew is the starter, you can expect an uptick in the Colts’ passing volume, which should benefit Downs.

#3: RB D’Onta Foreman (CHI)

Khalil Herbert suffered a high ankle sprain on Thursday night, which is projected to keep him out multiple weeks. Additionally, Roschon Johnson is in the league’s concussion protocol and could also miss time.

Enter Foreman, the veteran with enough pop to step in and contribute just as the Bears are starting to click. Of course, Johnson’s status won’t be fully known until later in the week, so keep an eye on it as your league’s wavier deadline approaches.

#2: TE Tyler Conklin (NYJ)

Alright, so maybe Zach Wilson isn’t completely ready to be a fantasy-worthy QB every week, but that might be just fine for Conklin’s fantasy prospects. Sometimes you just want to find some consistency at this position.

He’s had at least 5 targets in each of the last 4 weeks, and has PPR finishes of TE13, TE16, and TE13 in those time frames. If the Jets continue to show marked improvement, Conklin becomes a viable streaming option as the bye weeks ramp up.

CLICK HERE for my #1 Waiver Wire Pickup of Week 6

#5: WR Darnell Mooney (CHI)

With the improvement of Justin Fields, we need to continue to look at the Bears’ receivers. Last week I wrote about Cole Kmet as a must pickup on waivers, but today I’m looking at Mooney as a buy-low option (If he’s unowned in your league go ahead and pick him up, obviously).

If Fields and the passing game do continue to improve, defenses are going to start to devise ways to get D.J. Moore, and Mooney is the number 2 receiver there, despite not securing any stats this Sunday.

#4: WR Chris Olave (NO)

People expected Olave to feast against the Patriots after a disappointing Week 4 showing in which he only managed 1 catch for 4 yards. Instead, we got another mid performance with just 2 catches and 9.2 PPR points.

Don’t be fooled though, Olave is a WR1 and will get back on track quickly. In Weeks 1-3 he got 11, 10, and 11 targets, looking every bit like the guy we projected we’d see this summer.

The Saints also have some intriguing matchups coming up, both with teams who are poor against WRs (Colts), teams who push the pace (Jaguars), or both (Vikings).

#3: RB Tony Pollard (DAL)

He had a tough go vs. the 49rs but the fact remains he’s the Cowboys’ bell-cow, and they need him to help make Dak Prescott’s offense run.

A down week might be the best time to pull the trigger on a deal for Pollard. The schedule gets a little easier on RBs going forward with upcoming tilts against the Chargers, Panthers, Giants, and Commanders, to name a few. Plus, there’s the underrated part of Pollard’s game, which is that he’s been targeted 4.4 times per week in the passing game.

#2: WR Tee Higgins (CIN)

Joe Burrow is back, and the fact that the rebound came without Higgins on the field may open a door with a willing trade partner.

Ja’Marr Chase was DOMINANT without Higgins across from him, which also may temper expectations for when he returns. But I think the Bengals are still the star-studded unit that makes perennial runs deep into the playoffs. Higgins will continue to be one of the major pieces of that, and get back to his WR2 status.