Hey folks! We cannot understate the importance of being in on Week 6 waiver wire players early while the free agency acquisition budget (FAAB) price is cheapest (or free!), so you can add them to your roster. This is not just for adding them to your roster so your league mates don’t get them first; this will help you build a strong roster that has depth and can provide some additional cover from the chaos of the NFL season.

As we know, nothing goes exactly to plan in the NFL, so we want you to be as prepared as possible to weather the uncertain storm of injuries, role changes, scheme changes, and any other general chaos that can happen in a given NFL season.

I’m Kevin Tompkins, and while I may not have drafted a running back ever, I have picked up quite a few in my day as a noted Zero-RB guy; luckily, it won’t just be the running back position I’ll be helping you all with this season.

Each week, I’ll provide five players as look-ahead players for the next week, who could be THE waiver wire claims for the following week. But they won’t be available in your league because you already have them. We’re already looking ahead to Week 6 players, so you can be ahead of the game now that we’re into the bye weeks.

Note: I cannot be held responsible if these players get hurt in Week 5, so please don’t tweet me @ktompkinsii if that happens.

Week 6 Waiver Wire QB

Geno Smith (QB – SEA)

ESPN Rostership (43.5%)

The thesis for the 2024 Seattle Seahawks was primarily tied to offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb bringing a similar offense from what he had at the University of Washington to the NFL. Last season at Washington, Grubb utilized a massive amount of 11 personnel with Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan to great success and with Seahawks’ stalwarts like DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, it looked incredibly promising for an offensive bump post-Pete Carroll.

We’re starting to finally get that here after four games.

Geno Smith has three top-eight fantasy weeks out of four. While he’s only thrown for one touchdown in each of those games, the passing volume has absolutely been there, with 25 pass attempts in Week 1 but 44 in Week 2 and in Week 4, a season-high 56 pass attempts in their aggressive approach to stay in the game on Monday Night Football against the Detroit Lions.

The Grubb offense is starting to get dialed in, and Seattle also happens to lead the entire NFL in pass rate over expected (PROE) through four weeks. Passing in most situations with the second-highest raw pass rate at 67 percent will only get better for Smith and his fantasy prospects. With over half of ESPN leagues not rostering Smith for some reason, go and get him now before the influx of bye weeks.

Week 6 Waiver Wire RB

Tyler Allgeier (RB – ATL)

ESPN Rostership (42.8%)

Allgeier was a straight handcuff to Bijan Robinson for the first few weeks of the season. He logged just 18, 21 and 21 percent of snaps in the first three weeks of the season, with a handful of carries spelling Robinson. In Week 4, Allgeier’s utilization ramped up considerably as he ran more routes in Week 4 (12) than he had in the three previous weeks combined (nine). Allgeier’s 80 total yards on 10 opportunities (eight carries, two receptions) were huge toward the Falcons’ very public sentiment of wanting Allgeier to be used more.

While it’s likely Allgeier has been on benches as a contingent option, there’s a decent chance that, like the last two seasons, he may get standalone value on top of being an obviously valuable contingency play in the event that Robinson gets hurt. If he’s available in your league, go grab him, as the return on investment for Allgeier is massively high.

Tank Bigsby (RB – JAC)

ESPN Rostership (9.5%)

Tank Bigsby has had spurts of involvement within the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offense this season, but none more prominent than in Week 4, where he had a huge 58-yard run that capped off his efficient 90-yard day on the ground on just seven carries. Travis Etienne saw his snaps slip a little bit from the 69-72 percent range he had been sitting comfortably at all season, but Etienne did leave the game for a stretch due to a reported shoulder injury but came back.

Bigsby has at least shown he belongs and potentially deserves more work within this offense as the 0-4 Jaguars continue to flounder. Interestingly, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler floated a possibility that Etienne could be traded before the league’s trade deadline, which obviously would be a huge boon for Bigsby. Etienne has his fifth-year option picked up at $6.14 million, but there are no public talks toward any extension yet. With several running-back-needy teams in the NFL, Etienne could be attractive.

Likewise, with numerous running-back-needy fantasy teams, Bigsby could be the cure that ails them for the rest of the season.

Week 6 Waiver Wire WR

Jordan Whittington (WR – LAR)

ESPN Rostership (7.9%)

With the Rams’ wide receivers in a state of flux due to the injuries of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, the Rams seem to have shuffled some deck chairs on the Titanic in Week 4. Still, Jordan Whittington may come out as the victor here amongst the pass-catchers moving forward, as he got a huge bump in routes up to 97% and earned a team-leading eight targets in Week 4. Whittington may not be THE answer for the Rams, but he can be a PART of an answer to a larger question when/if Kupp and Nacua return to the Rams’ lineup.

Right now, the rotation for the Rams’ wide receivers is Demarcus Robinson as the intermediate routes receiver, Tutu Atwell as the deep thread, and Whittington taking sort of the shorter average depth of target (aDOT) role similar to what Nacua had been seeing. That role is incredibly value for target-earning, and Stafford’s hot reads would be one of two players: Kyren Williams or Whittington. While fantasy managers have been enamored with Dontayvion Wicks, Xavier Legette and Josh Downs, Whittington may still be out there for you to snatch up.

Week 6 Waiver Wire TE

Erick All (TE – CIN)

ESPN Rostership (1.8%)

Erick All is still an unknown name in broader fantasy football circles, as evidenced by his 1.8 percent rostership percentage, but he’s slowly and steadily getting notoriety thanks to his consistency. All has four targets and four receptions in each of the past three weeks, and his snaps have eclipsed the 50 percent range in two of the last three weeks. He even outsnapped Mike Gesicki and Drew Sample last week, though Gesicki still has a stranglehold in terms of routes.

The team has praised All for doing the right things, and his consistency has earned him more playing time as Gesicki’s production and snaps have come down in the past few weeks. All isn’t quite startable yet in fantasy, but he’s a “get in on the ground floor” player whose role in an effective and efficient offense with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and others may increase as we get deeper into the season.

Kevin Tompkins is a contributor to Optimus Fantasy Football. Find more from Kevin on X (formerly Twitter) @ktompkinsii and right here on Optimus Fantasy.