Waiver Wire Stashes For Week 6
By Matt Barker
You’d be hard pressed to find a running back taken in the top 3-4 rounds of fantasy drafts that hasn’t either exited a game briefly, have had their snaps limited or missed at least a game due to injury so far into the season.
Unless of course your name is Derrick Henry and you are immortal.
This week is a handcuff special. Elite or high volume lead running backs are taken high in fantasy drafts, and due to the capital spent on these players, losing them can be catastrophic to the success of your roster. It can be difficult to manage with only a limited amount of bench spots, but if you can handcuff your top two running backs you can sleep a bit easier knowing you have a backup plan.
So here’s my top handcuffs to stash before this weeks games:
Kenneth Gainwell (RB – Philadelphia Eagles) 35% owned in ESPN leagues
One of the more obvious handcuffs by now, Kenneth Gainwell is effectively splitting time and touches with Miles Sanders now and often looks the better player. He got 8 targets and 3 carries last week, with Sanders. He is currently RB28 in standard scoring, with Sanders.
If something happens to Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell is going to step into 15-20 touches a game and in an offense where Hurts is throwing short dump offs at the 2nd highest rate in the league, there’s going to be tons of opportunity for the rookie to not only fill in for Sanders but potentially run away with the job entirely. Somehow, he’s still only 35% owned on ESPN leagues so go and get him now before Sunday games start and lineups are locked.
Deep leagues – Khalil Herbert (RB – Chicago Bears) 5% owned in ESPN leagues – David Montgomery is out at least 4 weeks, so upsteps Damien Williams who also suffered an injury last week. In the event Williams’ injury is reaggravated in week six, Herbert will step up and handle the load. Chicago would likely look for a veteran FA but Herbert flashed in preseason enough to have some confidence in him.
Samaje Perine (RB – Cincinnati Bengals) 34% owned in ESPN leagues
Joe Mixon is currently nursing an ankle sprain and is listed as questionable for week six vs Green Bay Packers. If he is declared out, Perine likely steps into the majority of Mixon’s workload, making him a plug and play flex option for this week and more if the injury lingers. Last year we saw a Mixon injury linger and linger for weeks, so it’s a smart move adding Perine now and seeing what happens, especially if you are the Mixon owner.
Deep leagues – Chris Evans (RB – Cincinnati Bengals) 2.4% owned in ESPN leagues – backup to Samaje Perine. Zac Taylor announced it would be a committee approach if Mixon is absent so Evans will definitely get some snaps. And in the event Perine goes down, Evans is next man up.
Jaret Patterson (RB – Washington Football Team) 1% owned in ESPN leagues
Antonio Gibson is currently questionable for week six and has been reported that he has been playing through a stress fracture in his shin…I’m no doctor but, a shin fracture sounds…not ideal. It’s been reported that ‘it doesn’t hurt badly and doesn’t seem to serious’, but in the event that Gibson is either declared out this week or is active but reaggravates the shin mid game, we could see Jaret Patterson step into the early down role that Gibson occupies for the Football Team.
Yes, McKissic will get a few more carries on top of his 3rd down pass catching role, but he isn’t an early down guy. My bet is Patterson is the guy to handle 10-15 carries in the even Gibson misses time, and that’s worth a shot on your bench to see how it plays out.
Deep leagues – Devine Ozigbo (RB – New Orleans Saints) 0.1% owned in ESPN leagues – Tony Jones Jr, Alvin Kamara’s backup is injured for multiple weeks. Dwayne Washington is merely a special teams guy, so up steps Ozigbo in Kamara’s absence should anything happen.
MATT BARKER
FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST
A Packers fan with a soft spot for Washngton, Matt will likely revert to WFT when Aaron Rodgers departs. Based in London, Matt has followed the NFL for 9 years and become an extremely keen fantasy player/data lover. Find him on Twitter @mattjbarks.