Waiver Wire Targets for Week 6 (2025 Fantasy Football)

Week 6 is in the books.  I hope you were able to grab Dylan Sampson last week because he’s going to be tough to acquire on the waiver cycle. As a reminder, I expect Quinshon Judkins, who recently signed, to supplant Jerome Ford.  Dylan Sampson will continue to be involved as a third down back and receiver.

Waiver Wire Strategy for Week 6

Top 5 Waiver Wire Targets – Week 6

Here are my Top fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 6:

1. TE, Darren Waller
2. RB, Hassan Haskins or Kimani Vidal
3. TE, Mason Taylor
4. RB, Michael Carter
5. WR, Elic Ayomanor

Waiver Wire Pickups by Position

Quarterbacks

• Sam Darnold: 14.4% rostered  – I don’t think he’ll score as well every week, but he is now 5 weeks into his new offense and playing extremely well.
• Jaxson Dart: 43,7% rostered – he came back down to earth a bit with the Saints, but he still moves the ball well and can use his legs.
• Trevor Lawrence: 25.7% rostered – I wonder if Lawrene sill begin to rush more after it paid dividends against the Chiefs.  If so, he could be a steal at this point in the year.

Running Backs

• Hassan Haskins(0.5% rostered) or Kimani Vidal (0.1%) – The smart money is on Haskins to start.  He and Harbaugh had history together at the University of Michigan.  He looks like a tougher runner than Vidal. Though I will admit Vidal looked better last week. 
• Michael Carter: 41.9% – I recommended Demercado heavily last week as you know.  The horribly stupid goal line fumble aside, Demercado is the better runner.  I truly don’t know what AZ is doing.  Demercado has a career YPC average of 6.7(!!!) on just under 90 carries.  Those long runes are not flukes.  He does it all the time.  Carter is a good 3^rd down back, but he shouldn’t be handling the ball.  That rant aside, it’s hard to believe Demercado will wrestle attempts away after blowing the game for AZ last week.
• Kendre Miller: 20.9% rostered – I’m surprised to say that he looks like a better runner these days than Alvin Kamara.  It appears as though the Saitns coaching staff agrees.
• Emari Demarcado: 59.7% rostered – I was feeling smug and self assured on his breakaway TD run.  Then he literally dropped the ball.  What a dufus.
• Isaiah Davis: 5.8% rostered – Frankly, I expected more last week.  He needs an injury to Hall to really do anything.
• Bhayshul Tuten – 36% rostered –  I’m not impressed with him to this point.  Making matters worse, I think fellow rook LeQuint Allen may be the better running back, though he hasn’t had an opportunity to show it yet.
• Kareem Hunt – 31.3% rostered – I think Brashard Smith will eventually limit Hunt’s value further, but he is scoring more points than Isiah Pacheco.  No surprise there from my point of view.
• Kyle Monangai: 3.8% rostered – If you have an extra roster spot, it’ll be worth picking up the rookie to see if he’s further involved after the bye.  I don’t think he will, but it’s worht a look.
• Joe Mixon (if you have an IR spot to stash): 58.6% rostered – The Texan backfield shifted towards Chubb in week 5 just when we all though Marks had taken it over.  When Mixon comes back… whenever that will be… I think the job is his for the rest of 2025.

Wide Receivers

• Elic Ayomanor: 37.5% rostered – Ridley had the better week 5 game, but Ayomanor has been the better season-long performer in my opinion.  The Titans offense might play with more confidence after stealing the game away from Arizona last week.
• Romeo Doubs: 44.9% rostered – He’s not exciting, but he’s consistent.
• Tory Horton: 4.0% rostered – One injury to Cooper Kupp and Horton will be a fantasy breakout.  Otherwise, we may have to wait for the bye.
• Isaiah Bond: 0.4% rostered – I think Tillman could hurt his value this season when he returns from injury.  But for now, Bond has a chance to break out.
• Ryan Flournoy: 0.1% rostered – I was impressed as anyone, but Flournoy benefitted from injuries.  You can’t expect this performance every week.  When Lamb isi back in the lineup, Flournoy will disappear.
• Kendrick Bourne: 6.5% – Similar to Flournoy, Bourne needed about 18 or 19 injuries to be the top 49er receiver.  I don’t envision Bourne continuing to surge.
• Darius Slayton: 32.1% rostered – Slayton didn’t play well last week.  He needs to step it up.  By the way, the Giants gave him 3 years and $36m last offseason.  I could be wrong… but maybe they should have put that $12m per year into an extension with Saquon.  Call me crazy…
• Brandon Aiyuk: 34.7% rostered – He’s still a long ways away, but if you have a roster spot, he’s worth the stash.  The stats that Bourne put up could go to Aiyuk in a few weeks.
• Troy Franklin: 43.5% rostered – I’m not excited by Franklin, but he’s clearly the second best Broncos receiver and he looks like he’s getting better each week even if the stats don’t prove it.
• Luther Burden III: 8.8% rostered – If he can just crack the starting lineup, he’ll be great.  Anything can happen after the bye week for rookie skill players.  I’m excited to see how he performs this week.

Tight Ends

• Darren Waller: 48.4% rostered – I don’t know why Miami stopped throwing to him, but 5 receptions on 5 targets for 78 yards and a TD in the first half proves Waller still has juice.
• Mason Taylor – 8.2% rostered – He’s very quietly amassing a ton of targets and yardage.
• Theo Johnson: 5.6% rostered – I noticed this in the preseason, but wasn’t sure how it’d pan out in the regular season.  The Giants use Theo Johnson to work the short routes and move the chains when Nabers is out of the lineup.  I don’t love that the Giaints are also giving Daniel Bellinger a lot of targets.  You can’t count on a ton of TD receptions for Johnson each week, but I don’t think last week’s offensive involvement was the last we’ll see of Johnson.
• AJ Barner: 0.9% rostered – I’d rank him higher, but Elijah Arroyo looks really good as well. 
• Brenton Strange – 44.7% rostered – I’m worried about his hip injury.  Stay tuned.
• Harold Fannin Jr. – 23.8% rostered – Gabriel will throw plenty of passes Fannin’s way.
• Orando Gadsden II: 1.1% rostered – I like his potential, but I’d like to see more output on the field.

Defenses (DST)

• Jacksonville (vs Seattle) – 17% rostered
• LA Rams (vs Baltimore): 48.4% rostered
• LA Chargers (vs Miami): 35.3% rostered