If you need running back help on your Fantasy team, the waiver wire won't have too much to offer in Week 6, though there will be one player you'll absolutely need to make sure isn't available: Alexander Mattison. Dalvin Cook left the Vikings Sunday night loss to the Seahawks with a groin injury, and though he tried to play through it, he ended missing the rest of the game and will require an MRI. If you're in one of the 28% of CBS Fantasy leagues where Mattison is available, he's the No. 1 priority for Week 6, assuming we don't here anything about Cooks status before Tuesday evening. There may be one or two guys other guys worth chasing, but there aren't any obvious targets at the position this week.
If you're looking for playmakers in the passing game, on the other hand, get excited. Because there is some huge potential coming out of Sunday's games. Travis Fulgham and Chase Claypool are the two primary names you'll want to know about this week, as they absolutely dominated the Eagles-Steelers game and both have an opportunity to serve as a priority option moving forward. Claypool, the rookie second-rounder, has the best chance of the two to be a high-value Fantasy option, but both should be high on your list of targets for Week 6.
Early Week 6 waivers
The top priority
Starting with Claypool, who looks poised to be next in the long line of Steelers star receivers after his massive four-touchdown game Sunday. Claypool is an incredible athlete, a 6-foot-4, 238-pounder who ran a 4.42 40-yard dash, and that alone makes him stand out in a Steelers receiving corps led by the 6-foot-1 JuJu Smith-Schuster and the 5-foot-10 Diontae Johnson.
Claypool came into Week 5 averaging 25.2 yards per catch on his first six catches, and seven more catches for 110 yards and three touchdowns on 11 targets — all of which led the team. Plus, he added a 3-yard touchdown run for good measure, scoring on a misdirection play near the goal line. He's got rare size and speed, and with Smith-Schuster taking a step back in the offense (five targets Sunday, 24 through four games) and Johnson struggling to stay healthy (he's missed time with a concussion and has dealt with knee and toe injuries so far this year before leaving Sunday's game with a back injury), it's not out of the question that Claypool could be the No. 1 guy here moving forward. And it wouldn't be unheard of in Pittsburgh — Johnson led the team in targets and catches last year as a rookie.
If Claypool is the top target on waivers, Fulgham is the wild card. A sixth-round pick in 2019, Fulgham has bounced around the NFL already this season, having been waived by the Lions and Packers (twice) before catching on with the wide receiver-needy Eagles. He caught a game-winning bomb in Week 4 and then absolutely dominated an elite Steelers defense Sunday.
In a game where the Eagles passed for 276 yards, Fulgham had 152 of them on 10 catches and 13 targets. He won out of the slot, and he won out wide; he made plays down the field and he scored in the compressed area near the goal line. He did what basically no other wide receiver has been able to do for the Eagles since roughly mid-season last year: He looked like a No. 1 option.
That isn't to say he will be moving forward, and the Eagles needs won't be so great when Alshon Jeffery (foot), DeSean Jackson (hamstring), and Jalen Reagor (thumb) are healthy, potentially within the next few weeks. However, he's more than earned more chances, and given the need and opportunity, make him worth a look on waivers.
Break the bank for Claypool, but make sure you get a bid in on Fulgham. The Fantasy Football Today podcast broke down Sunday's action and the top waiver targets, so listen below, subscribe here, and then check out my top picks:
Week 6
Early Waiver Targets
