Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 6: Top Free Agent Adds Include Rashee Rice, Josh Downs, K.J. Osborn, more

Justin Carter's fantasy football wide receiver waiver wire pickups for Week 6 of the 2023 NFL season. His free agent WRs to add, stream and stash off waivers.

With Week 5 mostly in the rearview, it's time to look ahead to Week 6. It looks like it's a good week to hit the waiver wire if you need a running back, but it might not be the best week to need help at wide receiver after a week that mostly saw highly-rostered players have the biggest games.

Below, you'll find some wide receivers that you should be targeting on the fantasy football waiver wire ahead of Week 6. Not all of these waiver wire options are the same. Some players may be better in PPR or deeper leagues, so it’s not a one-size-fits-all comparison. Use your best judgment when deciding which of these players is the right fit for your roster.

Be sure to also check out our Waiver Wire Adds for Week 6 for help at all the skill positions. All players on this list are around 50% rostered or below.

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Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Pickups For Week 6

Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts - 9% rostered

The Colts might have the most defined wide receiver room in the league. Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, and Alec Pierce were the only wideouts targeted on Sunday. And on the season, the only other wide receiver with any targets is Isaiah McKenzie, who has five of them.

Rookie Josh Downs has played really well this season. On Sunday, he caught all six of his targets for 97 yards. He has at least five targets in four of the five games this season and has clearly established himself as the team's No. 2 receiver. He's my top waiver add because there's no end in sight to his improvement.

K.J. Osborn, Minnesota Vikings - 9% rostered

K.J. Osborn is my No. 2 wide receiver addition right now, but he can jump to the No. 1 spot if we learn more about Justin Jefferson's hamstring injury over the next few days. If it looks like Jefferson's going to miss any time, Osborn becomes a must-add ahead of the Week 6 contest with the Bears.

This week against KC, Osborn was targeted a season-high nine times, catching five passes for 49 yards. He'd be in line for a similar or greater workload if Jefferson is out, though he'd still be third in the pecking order behind Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson.

Update: Jefferson has been placed on IR and will miss at least four games. I do think there are still a lot of mouths to feed in Minnesota so Osborn isn't a fantasy WR1/2, but he's a usable WR3 play because of his volume with Jefferson sidelined.

Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs - 39% rostered

The situation with the Chiefs wide receivers remains the same, which is that no one has really separated from the pack. But I do think if someone does emerge, it'll be rookie Rashee Rice, who caught four of his five targets this week for 33 yards and a touchdown. He's seen five or more targets in all but one game so far and has a juicy matchup with the Broncos on deck. It could be made even juicier for him if Patrick Mahomes is without his top target Travis Kelce, who got banged up on Sunday. If you're playing a boom/bust receiver in that matchup, Rice feels like he might be the one to go with.

Josh Reynolds, Detroit Lions - 41% rostered

Josh Reynolds worked as the No. 1 wide receiver for the Lions this week with Amon-Ra St. Brown out, catching four of his five targets for 76 yards and a touchdown.

His future outlook is tough to figure out, though. St. Brown's return likely pushes him down a bit, and Jameson Williams should start to earn more targets. That's why I'm not quite as high on Reynolds as his numbers this week might suggest I should be. Still, he's worth adding and can start in your flex spot until/if Williams overtakes him.

Curtis Samuel, Washington Commanders - 17% rostered

Curtis Samuel has seen an increase in usage over the past two games, with 15 combined targets and 13 combined receptions over that span. That includes Thursday's six receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown in a 40-20 loss to the Bears. Samuel is a fast player who can make things happen with the ball in his hands, and he's now had 50-plus receiving yards in three consecutive games, and four of the five games this season.

Wan'Dale Robinson, New York Giants - 24% rostered

The Giants offense just hasn't been good this season. Quarterback Daniel Jones threw for 119 yards this week, the third time he's been held under 150 yards this season. Something just isn't working.

But I do think there's some upside for Wan'Dale Robinson. He was targeted six times this week, catching five of those. That's the good news. The bad news is he had just 18 yards. But if you think things will get better at some point for this Giants offense, Robinson's worth a speculative add since he's become the No. 1 wide receiver in the Meadowlands.

Wide Receiver Deeper League Pickups For Week 6

Jonathan Mingo, Carolina Panthers - 8% rostered

Rookie Jonathan Mingo was targeted seven times this week, catching a career-high five passes for 48 yards. The Panthers don't have a very scary receiving group, so Mingo's growing role makes him worth keeping an eye on. It's not tough to imagine him being Bryce Young's top target in the second half of the season.

Trenton Irwin, Cincinnati Bengals - 0% rostered

With Tee Higgins (rib) out this week, Trenton Irwin saw a huge increase in workload. He'd been targeted once all year coming into this one, but he saw 10 targets in Cincy's win over the Cardinals. Irwin caught eight of those for 60 yards. If Higgins is back, Irwin's completely off the fantasy radar, but there's value as a deep-league fill-in if the Bengals hold Higgins out again.

Nelson Agholor, Baltimore Ravens - 1% rostered

Nelson Agholor dropped an easy touchdown in Sunday's game but still finished with four catches for 64 yards. The talent's obviously always been there with Agholor, but so have the miscues. Sunday reminded us of that. If you're desperate for someone who could make a big play, Agholor is in play. But he could also drop a big play.

Justin Watson, Kansas City Chiefs - 0% rostered

While Rashee Rice, who I mentioned above, seems like the most likely Chiefs wide receiver to breakout, I do think there's some deep league appeal with Justin Watson, who has become Patrick Mahomes' go-to deep option. On Sunday, he was only targeted three times but caught two passes for 56 yards. His volume is low, but he's had 45 or more receiving yards in four of five games so far. He's worth adding as a deep-league boom/bust play.

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