ClutchPoints
We are five full weeks into the 2025 NFL season, and with that, you are three weeks into your fantasy football season. Injuries have ravaged the fantasy football landscape so far, but you can catch back up to your leaguemates – or stay ahead of them – with these Week 6 waiver wire pickups.
The depth of your fantasy football roster is already being tested, as this week alone we saw rookie running back Omarion Hampton get placed on injured reserve, and players like Brock Bowers and Terry McLaurin continue to miss time.
The following list includes players (except one) that are rostered on fewer than 50 percent of all ESPN rosters making the chances you can pick them up pretty high. Heading into Week 6, try your best to button up the edges of your roster as you look to start the season strong.
1. RB Michael Carter, Arizona Cardinals
41.8% Rostered
The lead back for the Arizona Cardinals is now Michael Carter, who entered Week 5 sharing an unknown split of the backfield with Emari Demercado. But after his Week 5 performance, there is no doubt that Carter is the lead back moving forward for Arizona.
Carter earned 23 touches in AZ’s loss to the Tennessee Titans, hauling in all five receptions while taking his 18 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown. With Trey Benson on the shelf for at least another three weeks, it looks like Carter will be the workhorse moving forward, as he earns his next shot at saving your fantasy football roster’s RB group against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6.
2. RB Rico Dowdle, Carolina Panthers
58.8% Rostered
Speaking of backup running backs, Rico Dowdle’s 206-yard performance against the Miami Dolphins cannot go unnoticed, and that is why he breaks the 50-percent roster-ship of this article. Stepping in for the injured Chuba Hubbard, Dowdle was the key cog in Carolina’s offense in Week 5, earning 23 carries and four targets (three receptions), accounting for 234 total yards.
Download averaged just under nine yards per carry in CAR’s win, as he found the end zone on the ground. Even when Hubbard returns, Dowdle looked so impressive that he will absolutely have an every-week role moving forward, music to the ears of those zero-RB truthers out there.
3. RB Hassan Haskins & Kimani Vidal, Los Angeles Chargers
0.0% & 0.3% Rostered
The four-week IR stint for Hampton opens up the backfield for the Los Angeles Chargers, as backups Hassan Haskins and Kimani Vidal are next in line. With neither jumping fully into the vacated role after Hampton’s second-half injury in Week 5, it remains a big question which back will take the top role.
For Haskins, he is the bigger back of the two, and his skill set leans more toward being the between-the-tackles option, giving him a solid floor as the main ball carrier. But for Vidal, he brings the pass-catching aspect to the backfield, which could...
