Week 6 fantasy football waiver wire must-adds

There were plenty of letdowns and injuries to go around in Week 5 of the NFL season. Every Tuesday, we will dive into a handful of the top fantasy football pickups available that week and why they could be of value for fantasy owners looking to give their teams an extra boost.

Here are the top waiver-wire adds for Week 6:

1. K.J. Osborn, WR, Minnesota Vikings (rostered in 22% of fantasy leagues)

Justin Jefferson was placed on injured reserve and he’ll be sidelined for the next four games. Someone has to pick up the slack; enter Osborn. He had a season-high nine targets in Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and he should be in line for a similar volume of targets going forward.

Osborn can play in the slot or split out wide, and with an extremely favorable matchup this week against the Chicago Bears, who rank 31st against the pass, Osborn could be primed for a big week. He makes sense as a WR2 or flex start this week.

2. Emari Demercado, RB, Arizona Cardinals (rostered in 1% of fantasy leagues)

With James Conner expected to miss a handful of weeks with a knee injury suffered Sunday against the Bengals, it’s presumed that Demercado will get the bulk of carries for Arizona until he returns. The 24-year-old rookie totaled 45 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries against Cincinnati.

The Cardinals lean heavily on the run — they rank fifth in the NFL in rushing yards (716) — so Demercado could have value as a flex start or a fringe RB2 for owners dealing with injuries or the bye week.

3. Roschon Johnson, RB, Chicago Bears (rostered in 35% of fantasy leagues)

The Bears announced that Khalil Herbert will miss several weeks, so Johnson’s stock is understandably on the rise. Even when Herbert was healthy, Johnson was still logging decent fantasy numbers, which should only get better with a bigger workload.

Johnson has averaged nearly five yards per carry this season and he adds value as a solid receiver out of the backfield. Chicago has ran the ball 24 times per game over the last two weeks, and if Johnson is getting anywhere from 12 to 15 of those with three or four targets as a receiver, he could have decent upside as an RB2 or a flex starter this week.

4. Logan Thomas, TE, Washington Commanders (rostered in 9% of fantasy leagues)

Thomas has had two really good weeks sandwiched around two underwhelming weeks, but his last game was his best so far in which he caught nine of his 11 targets for 77 yards and a touchdown.

The 32-year-old TE has an extremely favorable matchup this week against the Atlanta Falcons, who have allowed the second-most fantasy points to tight ends this season. Unless you have T.J. Hockenson, George Kittle, Sam LaPorta or Travis Kelce, you should be adding Thomas to be your TE1 this week.

5. Gardner Minshew, QB, Indianapolis Colts (rostered in 1% of fantasy leagues)

With Anthony Richardson ailing for the next few weeks, it’s Minshew’s show for a while. He’s been remarkably efficient in relief of Richardson this season, completing nearly 69% of his passes for 553 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Not to mention, the Colts have won all three games in which he’s attempted 10 or more passes.

Minshew isn’t the athlete that Richardson is, but he’s a better pocket passer at this point, and he seems to have a good rapport with Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs. Minshew shouldn’t be relied on as a QB1 by any means, but if you have a bye coming up or are trying scrambling because of an injury, Minshew is a nice safety net.

Honorable mention

Chuba Hubbard, RB, Carolina Panthers: Hubbard has essentially been splitting carries pretty evenly with Miles Sanders. He’s averaging 1.3 more yards per carry and he has just three fewer receptions than Sanders.

Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts: Downs is second on the Colts in receptions (23) and targets (33), and he’s coming off his best game of the year in which he caught all six targets for 97 yards.