0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. Guarno. You know we are back to help make you a smarter fantasy football manager.
0:07The manager that is staying two to three moves ahead of their league mates.
0:11The manager that is beating their league mates to the waiver wire to stash players before they break out.
0:17I'm Lucas Wenzel here with FantasyPros bringing you my top five waiver wire stashes ahead of week six and next week's waiver run as well.
0:25So without further ado, let's dive right on in.
0:28The first player on our list this week is Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Kendrick Bourne who is rostered in 28% of leagues.
0:35With Marvin Harrison Jr. now on the Houston Texans, I am curious to see how the Cardinals wide receiver usage evolves here over the next few weeks.
0:43Obviously, Trey McBride and Michael Wilson, they're going to be at the top of the pecking order here.
0:49No questions about that, but will the Cardinals continue rolling out Jalen Brooks for 39 snaps?
0:53Reggie Virgil, 13 snaps week over week. That doesn't seem like it's going to get it done.
0:59Thus far, Kendrick Bourne has actually been pretty much restricted to three wide receiver sets and 11 personnel.
1:04Now the good news for him with that context is that the Cardinals have run the 10th most plays out of 11
1:11personnel this year and they're throwing the ball 78% of the time when doing so, which is top three in the league.
1:18You also can't ignore that he now has two games under his belt this year with eight targets, 70 plus receiving yards
1:25and two top 30 finishes in full PPR formats.
1:28Even with a season low snapshot last week, Bourne still ran a healthy 2.19 yards per route.
1:33He was targeted on 22% of his routes. Neither of those are like jaw dropping numbers, but both are healthy and absolutely nothing to shrug off here.
1:41The reality is the Cardinals are going to find themselves in plenty of garbage time shootout scenarios just as they did last week against the Detroit Lions.
1:50They have upcoming matchups with the Rams, Cowboys, Seahawks, Rams again, Chiefs, Commanders and Eagles.
1:54All matchups will either be trailing in or be able to exploit the opposing secondary.
1:59Even though the wide receiver types of Jalen Brooks or Reggie Virgil may be out on the field more in two wide receiver sets.
2:07Kendrick Bourne possesses something that they just simply don't have, and that's experience in Mike LaFleur's offense, which ultimately could give him
2:13the leg up and make this a quality stash rest of season.
2:17The second player on our list this week is Los Angeles Chargers running back Kamani Vidal, who is rostered in 23% of leagues.
2:24Two weeks in a row, Vidal makes this list, and I'm a bit surprised his roster percentage hasn't shot up more after what we talked about last week.
2:33The fear is that this backfield would become a three headed monster for the Chargers, and we're starting to watch that come to fruition.
2:40Kamani Vidal led the Chargers in snaps last week.
2:43He led the backfield in routes run, and even though Hampton still led the way with 14 carries, Kamani Vidal was given
2:50eight, which was two more than Keaton Mitchell in this backfield.
2:54So two weeks in a row now, Vidal has given you double digit fantasy points and finishes of the RB 26 and the RB 21.
3:01So what has practically changed to produce this? Amarian Hampton's role is just collapsing right in front of our eyes.
3:08Per Nathan Yonke, Amarian Hampton started the season playing 75% of early down snaps, 18.8% of third down snaps, and then 40% of snaps during two minute drills.
3:16In week five, those shares have completely dissolved down to 43.6% of early down snaps, and Hampton did not play a single
3:23snap on third down or in the two minute drill.
3:26Now, part of that is because the Chargers are rolling out four backup offensive linemen currently.
3:31Kamani Vidal is their most trusted pass protector, thus he's seeing the field more in those scenarios to try and provide some sort of relief to Justin Herbert.
3:40I know we typically don't like targeting these crowded backfields, but you also have to ask the question of what happens if
3:47one of these backs is removed from the rotation, is removed from the equation?
3:51If Amarian Hampton gets injured, how high does Kamani Vidal's snap share rise?
3:55If it's Keaton Mitchell who gets injured, how high will Kamani Vidal's receptions then climb?
4:00There's still sneaky opportunity here in the midst of a nightmare that is the Chargers offense this year.
4:05And so long as Kamani Vidal's role continues to expand, I'm willing to stash him as potentially the top back on the Chargers depth chart right now.
4:14Next up on our list is Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy, who was rostered in 13% of leagues.
4:20I'll start off by saying that Ryan Flournoy is definitely more of an insurance policy than he is a standalone piece in this Dallas Cowboys offense.
4:28Obviously, when you have CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens ahead of you, they are going to eat first.
4:33The crumbs are what trickles down to Ryan Flournoy at the end of the day.
4:38But what happens? What happens if CeeDee Lamb or George Pickens is removed from the picture?
4:43Lamb only played 57% of the snaps and picked up a quad injury on Thursday Night Football in Week 5.
4:49Flournoy had two receptions of 25 plus yards en route to a 90-yard performance.
4:54He even ran 3.21 yards per route. And on the season, he's top 20 in yards after catch per reception.
5:00And we actually do have proof from last season as to what happens to Ryan Flournoy's role when one of CeeDee Lamb
5:07or George Pickens is removed from the picture. Albeit, it was in a perfect shootout environment.
5:12But Ryan Flournoy had nine catches for 115 yards and a score against the Lions in Week 14 when CeeDee Lamb was
5:19forced to exit the game with a concussion. Look, we know the identity of this Dallas Cowboys offense they want to throw.
5:25They're going to throw again. And they're going to throw the ball some more after that.
5:30They are fourth in pass play rate this year, and they lead the league in pass rate over expectation.
5:36And with how woeful this defense is at stopping their opponents, this team is almost always going to be throwing the football on offense.
5:44So as I said, you're not getting a standalone piece with Ryan Flournoy, but it's clear as day that he would be
5:51the top waiver wire ad if anything were to happen to CeeDee Lamb or George Pickens.
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6:48The next player that slides in here is Los Angeles Rams tight end Terrence Ferguson, who is rostered in 13% of leagues.
6:55Look, I'm going to get ahead of the curve on this one.
6:59Ferguson isn't eligible to return from IR until week eight against the Los Angeles Chargers at the earliest.
7:04It's been reported he's going to serve a short stint on the injured reserve list.
7:09But if you have the extra roster spot or somehow an extra IR spot with all the injuries this year, go scoop up T-Ferg right now.
7:17If you're staying one to two moves ahead of your league mates, they're going to be considering Ferguson next week, the week before he's eligible to come back.
7:26What's the harm in stashing him right now instead?
7:29And the reason why I'm still all the way in on Terrence Ferguson is because of what we've seen from Tyler Higby in his absence specifically.
7:37In week two, we got exactly what we hoped for from T-Ferg.
7:40He was the third tight end in 13 personnel operating as the pseudo wide receiver three in this offense, which led to
7:47six catches on nine targets for 54 yards and a score.
7:51The tight end eight on the week. He was actually technically the second option in that offense.
7:56After his injury in week three, though, check out what Tyler Higby has done because the Rams are still running 13 personnel,
8:03three tight end sets at a league high 30 percent of their plays.
8:07Week three versus Denver, eight catches on 11 targets for 62 yards and a score.
8:11The tight end six on the week. Week four versus Philadelphia, five catches on six targets for 67 yards.
8:17The tight end 14. Week five against Buffalo, five catches on six targets for 83 yards.
8:22And the tight end 11. All the buzz this offseason is that the Rams wanted to expand Ferguson's route tree, start utilizing
8:29him as this field stretching third option in the Rams passing game.
8:33And we saw that it literally manifested itself in week two.
8:36This Rams team loved him coming out of the 2025 NFL draft.
8:40They couldn't believe they got him in the second round.
8:43And Ferguson's average depth of target shattered previous leaders at tight end over the last five years in his rookie season.
8:50This Rams offense is good. You want pieces of it, right?
8:53They produce fantasy points. And once Terrence Ferguson returns to the lineup and produces another productive outing, it's going to be way
9:00too late to add him to your roster, especially if your league mates are considering adding him next week before he returns.
9:07Let's just get him stashed right now. And lastly, the fifth player on our list this week is Houston Texans wide receiver
9:14Jalen Knoll, who is rostered in 8 percent of leagues.
9:17I know this team just traded for Marvin Harrison Jr.
9:20You might be thinking we're just chasing the last two weeks of production from Jalen Knoll.
9:25But I do think there is more underneath the surface here.
9:28You've seen the juice from Jalen Knoll now that Nico Collins is back in the lineup over the last two weeks.
9:35He had a 50 yard, 54 yard catch in week four.
9:38He caught all five of his targets for 41 yards in a score.
9:42And week five, he's 29th in wide receiver usage over these last two weeks.
9:47He's running 3.12 yards per route because the field opens up more when Nico Collins is playing on the outside next to you.
9:54So what does happen when you add Marvin Harrison Jr.
9:57to the picture now? You can spread this offense out even more.
10:01They'll figure out how Marvin Nico will play the X and Z roles in this offense.
10:06That's up for debate right now. But Jalen Knoll is solidified in the slot with even less attention on him.
10:12The Texans posted a season high 63% neutral pass rate last week.
10:16And wouldn't you expect them to double down on that now after acquiring Marvin Harrison Jr.?
10:21Their offensive line can't run block. David Montgomery is still injured.
10:24Why would you not keep throwing the ball with Stroud who has looked significantly better with Nico Collins in the lineup?
10:30You add Marvin Harrison Jr. You've got a reliable Jalen Knoll in the slot.
10:35Dalton Schultz. Why would you not double down on that?
10:38So I'm intrigued enough by this semi-new look at Texans offense with Marvin Harrison in the picture now.
10:44And while some people might actually look away from Jalen Knoll because of that, I actually think it's worth stashing him in
10:5014-plus man leagues to see what kind of untapped upside there might actually be with Jalen Knoll.
10:56And there you have it. Those are my top five waiver wire stashes ahead of week six.
11:01Go sprint your waiver wire right now just to make sure that none of these guys are still available.
11:07They're all rostered in less than 30% of leagues, so there's actually a good chance that they might still be available on your waiver wire.
11:15Thanks again for tuning in. Make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Pros YouTube channel as well and turn on those notifications
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11:45This is Pat Fitzmaurice. I hope you enjoy this episode of the show, which is sponsored by Accredited Debt Relief.
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