College Football Best Bets of the Week: Week 7
Walter Waddell
Week 6 is a pretty loaded week for fantasy football waivers, a step up from last week. Quarterback streaming is becoming more important, while backfields continue to change around the league.
At FTN Fantasy, we have a Waiver Wire Tool that ranks the top waiver adds of the week, while also recommending the amount of FAAB you should use on each player. And every Tuesday, I’ll break down the top five players listed in the tool, giving you the best case for each highly ranked player. With all of the key injuries impacting fantasy rosters, being able to add key players off waivers is as crucial as ever.
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Week 6
1. Tank Bigsby, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Yahoo! 23%, ESPN 10%
After a brutal rookie campaign, Bigsby is thriving in year two. He was stellar last weekend, rushing for 101 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Travis Etienne Jr. is apparently dealing with a shoulder injury that limited his playing time in the second half, but there’s no doubt Bigsby deserves more opportunities each week. He leads all qualified running backs with an absurd 47.1% avoided tackle rate, while ranking 14th in total avoided tackles (16), despite ranking just 45th in carries (34). It is entirely possible that the Jacksonville backfield could suddenly mirror the one in Cincinnati, which puts Bigsby in the flex consideration going forward.
2. Darnell Mooney, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Yahoo! 48%, ESPN 69%
Mooney went off Thursday, hauling in nine passes for 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was targeted a whopping 16 times, giving him at least six looks in each of his last four games. With the Falcons throwing the football more and Kirk Cousins looking more and more comfortable each week, Mooney is quickly becoming a WR3 in fantasy, if he hasn’t reached that status already.
3. Rico Dowdle, RB, Dallas Cowboys
Yahoo! 56%, ESPN 53%
Dowdle is available in less than half of leagues, but he’s still out there for those who need help at running back. He had his breakout game in Week 5, rushing for 87 yards on 20 carries against the Steelers, adding a receiving touchdown. He had 22 touches to Ezekiel Elliott’s six. Fullback Hunter Luepke is still operating as the team’s third-down running back, logging over 75% of the third down snaps over the last three weeks. But Dowdle is getting the majority of the touches in a good Dallas offense.
4. Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Yahoo! 75%, ESPN 66%
Just make sure he isn’t still available in your league. For the second straight week, Brown saw at least 15 touches, while taking some goal line work away from Zack Moss, who suffered an ankle injury on Sunday. His injury isn’t believed to be serious but regardless, Brown is seeing at least 12 touches per game going forward, and if Moss does miss any time, he should be viewed as a top-15 fantasy running back.
5. Kirk Cousins, QB, Atlanta Falcons
Yahoo! 51%, ESPN 45%
I mean, he just threw for 500 yards and four touchdowns. In all seriousness though, Cousins has looked much better lately, which has led to more confidence in the pass game in Atlanta. Since Week 3, the Falcons rank second in the NFL in neutral-script pass rate (69.2%) and with bye weeks not slowing down, Cousins has re-entered low-end QB1 territory. He has a very favorable matchup with Carolina up next.
Check the FTN Waiver Wire Tool for the full Week 6 waiver wire advice.
