Only two teams are on bye this week – the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans – but the impact is still being felt. With injuries piling up across all positions, many fantasy football managers will be searching the free-agent pool for a streamer to get them through Week 6.
Most of the top options are usually scooped up during weekly waiver runs, but that’s not always the case. Some players fly under the radar, whether it’s because of name recognition, lack of long-term value or a poor matchup on paper. If you’re streaming, you don’t care about any of that. You just want production.
To help, here are 10 players and one defense you can stream to win Week 6.
*Streamers are players who are rostered in 50% or fewer of Yahoo! leagues.
Fantasy football streamers for Week 6
Quarterbacks
Brock Purdy and Lamar Jackson remain out, and now Kyler Murray could join them after missing practice all week with a foot injury.
Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
It hasn’t been a pretty season for Young, but if there’s any team that can make a quarterback look good, it’s the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys are allowing the second-most passing yards per game and have given up the second-most passing touchdowns. That makes them the worst fantasy defense against opposing quarterbacks.
Young should also get some help with Jalen Coker and Ja’Tavion Sanders expected to return from injury.
Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ers
Jones has played well filling in for Purdy, finishing as a QB1 in two of his three starts.
This week he faces the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who just allowed Sam Darnold to throw for 341 yards and four touchdowns. Tampa Bay, on the season, has given up the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, making this a favorable matchup on the slate for Jones.
Running backs
Adding to the laundry list of injured running backs this season is Omarion Hampton.
Hassan Haskins, Los Angeles Chargers
Speaking of Hampton, Haskins is likely the next man up for the Chargers, and he gets a strong matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
Streamer of the week in Week 5, Rico Dowdle, just gashed the Dolphins defense for 206 yards and a touchdown. Don’t expect Haskins to reach that level, as it was an outlier performance.
Haskins will also split work with Kimani Vidal, but this matchup should be enough for him to be a worthwhile streamer even in a 60/40 split.
Kimani Vidal, Los Angeles Chargers
Haskins’ backfield mate for Week 6 is rostered in even fewer leagues than Haskins.
The matchup is favorable, and even if Haskins is the primary back, there should be enough opportunities for Vidal to produce against the weak Dolphins defense. Greg Roman, the Chargers’ offensive coordinator, confirmed that both backs will factor in significantly.
Kendre Miller, New Orleans Saints
It happened: Miller out-carried Alvin Kamara. That is not something anyone would have expected before the season, but here we are.
The matchup is tough against the New England Patriots run defense, which allows the fourth-fewest points to opposing running backs. However, volume is the key when looking for streamers, and Miller has it.
Wide receivers
Last week’s streamer, Darius Slayton, landed on the injury list with a hamstring issue. The 49ers receivers are still questionable to play, and now Chris Godwin is trending toward missing the game.
Kendrick Bourne, San Francisco 49ers
Bourne had a strong Week 5, catching 10 passes for 142 yards. Don’t expect a repeat performance, but he should see plenty of targets again with Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall likely to miss time.
Even if one of those two returns, Bourne remains a viable option against the Buccaneers, who have allowed plenty of production to opposing receivers this season.
Troy Franklin, Denver Broncos
The Broncos and Franklin face the New York Jets in Week 6. The matchup looks worse on paper than it actually is, at least for everybody not named Courtland Sutton.
Sutton will likely be shadowed by Sauce Gardner, leaving the rest of the Broncos receivers to go against the Jets secondary that struggle.
The Jets rank 26th against WR2s and 29th against WR3s according to DVOA. That is excellent news for Franklin, who functions as the No. 2 receiver.
Sterling Shepard, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
With Chris Godwin back on the injury list, Shepard should see a major increase in usage. In Week 3, when Godwin was inactive and Mike Evans was injured early, Shepard posted a 4-catch, 80-yard performance.
As a bonus, if Godwin misses, Tez Johnson could be a deeper league dart throw after a solid Week 5 showing.
Tight ends
Favorite streamer of the year Brenton Strange is now on IR, but other options are emerging.
Mason Taylor, New York Jets
What does Taylor need to do to be rostered in more leagues? Over the last three games, he has 25 targets and 18 receptions.
The matchup against the Broncos is not ideal, but few tight ends see this kind of usage. His 25 targets rank third behind only Jake Ferguson and Trey McBride, while 18 receptions rank second behind Ferguson. That is strong company.
AJ Barner, Seattle Seahawks
Barner has been a touchdown machine this season, already scoring four times. Last week he upped his game, catching all seven of his targets.
Don’t expect that usage again, as his previous season high was three targets. Still, it is hard to ignore the red-zone role he is seeing.
Defense
This is another tough week for streaming defenses with top defenses all having great matchups. Of course, those defenses are highly rostered.
Washington Commanders
The Commanders have issues on defense, particularly in the secondary. Still, they remain a top-10 fantasy defense thanks to having the third-most sacks in the league.
The Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams have only allowed seven sacks in four games this season. However, as noted by A.J. Applegarth on The F6P Hour Podcast, Williams has been sacked six times in two games, both against top-10 teams in total sacks. Facing the Commanders, expect a few more, making them a strong streaming defense.