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Matt MacKay's must-have fantasy football bench stashes and sleepers ahead of Week 6. He picks high-upside players to stash on your teams who can emerge as starters.
As the injuries keep piling up amidst the arrival of bye weeks, building and maintaining quality roster depth is critical to staying competitive in fantasy leagues. Week 6 has Atlanta, New Orleans, San Francisco, and the New York Jets on bye, while star players like Christian McCaffery and Nick Chubb have already been ruled out with hamstring and knee injuries. It's difficult to ignore the ADP used on a particular player, but each week can vary dramatically regarding their usage. Understanding the opportunity within a team's position group and their upcoming opponents is now more important than the draft capital used to acquire a player a couple of months ago.
The depth chart is shuffling daily as we get into the second quarter of the fantasy football season, meaning practice reports hold immense value. Keeping an ear to the beat wire can prove to be the difference in knowing which players to stash off of league waiver wires ahead of potential week-winning performances.
Let's look at the latest high-upside players to target and stash entering the first bye week of the 2021-22 NFL season.
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Alex Collins, Seattle Seahawks
Seattle has morphed into a nearly unrecognizable offense with the absence of Russell Wilson after he injured his finger in Week 5 on Thursday Night Football, replacing him with veteran quarterback Geno Smith. However, much attention has shifted away from the Seahawks backfield, which is being maintained by fifth-year running back Alex Collins. Chris Carson will miss Week 6 with a lingering neck injury that kept him out against the Rams in Week 5. Collins failed to return value with the workhorse role, but it was against a Rams defense ranked 16th in fantasy points allowed to running backs. He will get an opportunity to redeem himself against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football in Week 6, which is a tough defense to run on but more vulnerable against the pass. With Smith under center, Collins could receive a lot of check-down passes, which is where he returned value in Week 5, catching two of three targets for 25 yards against the Rams. He has also not committed a turnover on 33 touches this season, which bodes well for his outlook even when Carson returns. Stash Collins and treat him as a low-end RB3 against the Steelers if deciding to Flex him in Week 6.
Jerick McKinnon, Kansas City Chiefs
Jerick McKinnon is the ultimate utility back that can provide relief for teams when it's needed. The Kansas City Chiefs are now using Darrel Williams as their RB1 after placing Clyde Edwards-Helaire on Injured Reserve due to an MCL sprain. Against a stingy Buffalo defense that ranks among the best units in the league, McKinnon only carried once for two yards but caught both of his targets for 13 yards. He has caught all three targets from Patrick Mahomes for 27 yards while playing on just 13.2 percent of the Chiefs' snaps this season. In his last three seasons, McKinnon has at least 33 receptions and 250 receiving yards. He is an excellent stash in PPR formats and should see increased touches with Edwards-Helaire on short-term IR.
Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson has steadily improved his passing ability since entering the league. He is coming off of scorching the Indianapolis Colts defense with 442 passing yards and four touchdowns, connecting twice with wideout Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and tight end Mark Andrews. These are the only two consistent offensive weapons Jackson can lean on, but the impending debut of first-round rookie wideout Rashod Bateman will change everything. He's a much bigger target than Brown. He is also more robust with contested catches, an essential factor considering Jackson has the worst protection rate percentage amongst quarterbacks in the top five for passing yards through five weeks. Sammy Watkins and Devin Duvernay will quickly fade to irrelevance within the offense, so make sure to prioritize stashing Bateman on your bench, as he will soon become a weekly starter in fantasy lineups.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
An underwhelming Detroit Lions wide receiving corps contains a hidden gem in rookie wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown. The collarbone injury Quintez Cephus suffered in Week 5 has placed him on IR, leaving a perfect opportunity for St. Brown to become a target hog while continuing to develop chemistry with quarterback Jared Goff. He caught seven of eight targets for 65 yards in Week 5, while KhaDarel Hodge only hauled in one of his five targets for 17 yards. T.J. Hockenson has also been playing through injury and has not been nearly as dominant as he looked to begin the season, which has resulted in running back D'Andre Swift becoming the favorite target within the offense. St. Brown is due for a touchdown soon, as Kalif Raymond and Cephus each have a pair of scores, with the opportunity to be the Lions' leading receiver in many of their upcoming games. Stash him off of league waiver wires as a WR3 with WR2 upside moving forward, depending on his ability to find the end zone.
Parris Campbell, Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have looked fairly concerted and disjointed with their offense through five weeks, but their most recent performance saw third-year wideout Parris Campbell get heavily involved. Campbell has dealt with numerous injuries throughout his tenure in the league, so it's exciting to see his full potential unleashed as the team's WR2 behind Michael Pittman Jr., with T.Y. Hilton recovering from a neck injury. Carson Wentz found Campbell six times, connecting for four receptions and 56 yards. Most encouraging is that Campbell's snaps increased from 44 percent to 55 percent from Week 4 to Week 5, along with his targetshare doubling. Campbell, barring any health setbacks, is a tremendous wide receiver to stash as he continues to build up his confidence and chemistry with Wentz.
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Recent reports have stated that second-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will start under center against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 6 after spending four weeks on IR with injured ribs. He led the Dolphins to a win against the New England Patriots in Week 1, where he used his legs to find the end zone once before tossing another touchdown. A chaotic rookie season forced Tagovailoa into the starting role, but the offseason afforded him more time to adapt to the offense and the personnel brought in to enhance its potency. Rookie wideout Jaylen Waddle boosts the appeal of rostering Tagovailoa, who has chemistry and experience with Waddle from their collegiate days at Alabama. If you're streaming a quarterback weekly and want to target a consistently viable low-end QB1 or high-end QB2 moving forward, Tagovailoa is the perfect prospect.
David Njoku, Cleveland Browns
Baker Mayfield tends to favor the tight ends within the Cleveland offense, as they have a stable of talent within that particular position. In Week 5, David Njoku was the beneficiary, drawing all seven targets amongst the Browns' tight end corps and catching them for 149 yards and a touchdown, finishing as the TE2. Njoku played on 63.9 percent of snaps compared to Austin Hooper's 72.2 percent. However, Mayfield only looked at Njoku in the passing game. The absence of Nick Chubb due to a knee injury in Week 6 could see the Browns air it out more, as they have surpassed 30 attempts in three consecutive outings. Njoku is the most athletic and carries the most upside between Harrison Bryant and Hooper, as he was a former first-round pick back in 2017 and dealt with injuries that frequently kept him sidelined in 2019 and 2020. With the widely variable outcomes that define the tight end landscape, stashing Njoku is a great move that could pay off in a big way as the season progresses.
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