Week 6 Wide Receiver Rankings - PPR Leagues

We have gotten through the four-team bye and in Week 6 only Minnesota and Tampa Bay are scheduled for a break, which makes this week pretty straight forward. I’m not too worried about this bye because the only start-able guys on those teams are Mike Evans and Stefon Diggs.

During the bye weeks I always like to give advice on who is the best waiver-add of the week. With the slim bye, maybe you aren’t looking to pick a WR, but I would not shrug off the free agency market this week. There are a couple of guys in FA that I think are going to be valuable in the coming weeks. If you don't add them this week, they will definitely find a home elsewhere. I'll tell you who they are in my analysis after the rankings.

BYE WEEK: Minnesota, Tampa Bay

Cameron Meredith - This is one guy in FA that you should grab. Meredith is taking over for Kevin White after his season ending injury and the workload is completely his. He was in on 93% of the snaps last week and has been targeted almost the same amount as White was. He has a lot of potential coming into a offense where Brian Hoyer has emerged as a passing monster. In the last three weeks since he came into the starting job, Hoyer leads the league in passing. Meredith is their big receiver standing at 6'3 and looks to be a good deep threat and high yardage target. He's not an add-and-start candidate because you probably have more solid options with so little teams on the bye, but he is for sure an add-and-stash. He may just become a target monster.

Alshon Jeffery - The above points on Meredith lead me to Jeffery. He has been an extreme disappointment this year and I don't think things will get better this week. Let me rattle off some supporting points: he is fourth in targets on the team, with Hoyer under center he hasn't been higher than third on the team in targets, and last week Hoyer threw the ball 43 times, six were to Jeffery. In a PPR league targets are everything and Jeffery is not seeing enough to make him a WR1 we thought of him to be. He and Hoyer are not on the same page and you can see Jeffery visibly frustrated on the field and on the sideline. You may be thinking, why is he rated higher than Meredith then? I think he is a much more consistent option than Meredith. I'm not saying bench Jeffery, he still produces around 12 points each week, but I don't see a stellar game out of him. He's a low-end WR2 this week and really going forward until Hoyer starts looking more his way.

Sammie Coates - This man is my number one option on the waiver wire this week; a must-pickup. He has emerged as the number two WR in Pittsburgh, one of the best passing offenses in the league. He is taking over the role that Martavis Bryant has left behind. That is a pretty powerful spot, one that brings with it a lot of looks and a lot of production. Big Ben loves tall receivers and at 6'2 Coates fits the build as the tallest in the WR core. Unlike Meredith, I would add-and-start Coates. With Meredith it's kind of a 'wait and see' type of game, but with Coates that WR2 value in Pittsburgh translates to a lot of fantasy points. Some may say that Meredith's production could just be a spike in the chart, but Coates should have these types of spikes consistently going forward. Pick him up, a WR2 in Pittsburgh is an easy WR2 in fantasy.

Jeremy Kerley - Here's a name I never thought I would be talking much about in fantasy, but here I am. In the past two games Kerley has amassed 14 targets for 190 yards and two scores. The next best guy during that span for the 49ers is Quinton Patton, who has three catches for 29 yards. See the difference? Kerley is the number one option is San Fran and can be used as a flex going forward. However, those numbers were with Gabbert under center. Colin Kaepernick is getting the nod this week. I still think Kerley is the best option and Kaepernick should use him enough in this offensive scheme to warrant him flex value. Kerley is available in almost all leagues.

Golden Tate - I have lost faith. In the offseason I thought that Golden Tate was the guy in Detroit. When Calvin Johnson was out a few game due to injury last year, Tate lit up the stat sheet. He had the best rapport with Stafford coming into the season and a pair of the stickiest hands in the league. I thought that he was going to be the leading receiver in this offense, but I was wrong. Marvin Jones came in and stole that title right away, becoming Stafford's go-to guy. Even Anquan Boldin has done better than Tate. I said a few weeks ago to wait on Tate, but the time has come. I don't see a miraculous comeback. Maybe, just maybe he will have a good game one week, but let's be honest he will be on your bench for it. Don't waste a roster spot for someone who won't provide anything to your team. Time to call Tate into the coaches office and tell him to hand in his playbook.

Have lineup questions? Let me know on Twitter @NickPetraccione.