Fantasy Football Waiver Wire, Week 6: Charcandrick West Looks to Fill a Huge Void in Kansas City

Jamaal Charles went down with a devastating knee injury and is done for the season. Maybe you are wondering if it’s Charcandrick West (owned in 7% of leagues) or Knile Davis (53%), who was drafted as the second back this year and had 134 carries last year for the Chiefs. If you want to take a chance on the guy more likely to make an impact, it’s Charcandrick West. Knile Davis is fast, but lacks vision and instincts. He is averaging 3.4 yards per carry on 215 career rushes.

West outperformed Davis in the preseason and impressed. (Arrowhead Pride wrote about West in the preseason.) Over the last couple of weeks, he has surpassed Davis. While Davis may get a higher percentage of the carries than he would have if Charles was there, I think West is the guy to have. He had 7 rushes to 2 for Davis after Charles’ injury (and 31 yards to 2). I think this is at least a 2:1 touches split in favor of West when healthy, maybe much more. If you are a Charles owner, you probably want to make a decent investment and try to acquire West.

As always, I try to list the top options in a variety of leagues, as I include the percentage of ownership in CBS Sports Leagues entering this week. Shallow Leagues include players owned in 50-70% of leagues. Average Leagues is for players available 25-49% of the time. Deep Leagues include players owned less than 25% of the time.

QUARTERBACKS

Shallow Leagues: Colin Kaepernick (52%) rebounded last week, and draws a very favorable matchup against a Baltimore team that cannot generate a pass rush and is near the bottom in yards allowed passing, just coming off a game where Josh McCown threw for over 400 yards.

Jay Cutler (53%) might get Alshon Jeffery back, and is coming off two good performances and gets Detroit.

Average Leagues: Teddy Bridgewater (41%) hasn’t done much statistically but draws his best matchup going against the Chiefs. Blake Bortles (48%) has put up good numbers but watch his injury status if you need a starter this week.

Deep Leagues: Josh McCown (18%) has been hot but plays Denver this week, so stash him, probably not a start. Brian Hoyer (5%) vs JAC is your deep starting option.

RUNNING BACKS

Shallow: Thomas Rawls (58%) got the start when Lynch was out again, and this time made a big splash. His value will go down when Lynch returns, but Lynch is also at an age when power backs have fallen off, and so Rawls is worth a longer term investment in case Lynch doesn’t recover fully.

Average and Deep Leagues: Antonio Andrews (23%) is not going to win you fantasy glory, but he might get you flex starts to get through other bye weeks. The next four weeks are Miami, Atlanta, Houston, and New Orleans. He got a touchdown to offset an ugly 7 carry for 9 yards line, but also got 3 catches for 45 yards. He’s the goal line option in Tennessee, and should be the preferred Titans option over the next month.

Chris Thompson (13%) could become a bigger play and move into a flex option; watch Matt Jones’ toe injury news this week.

Justin Forsett will probably be on the injury report with the ankle injury, and if he can’t go, Lorenzo Taliaferro (13%) would be the choice, though Taliaferro missed last week with a foot injury after being listed as probable. TJ Yeldon had a groin injury in the game Sunday that will be worth monitoring: Denard Robinson (14%) would be the player to add in case.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Shallow and Average Leagues: Willie Snead (42%) is worth an add for New Orleans, again showing up as Brees’ preferred target in this offense. Kamar Aiken (38%) has been productive for two straight weeks with Steve Smith out, Smith is expected back but Aiken is still an option.

Ted Ginn (42%) is still the top receiver in Carolina. He’s still widely available. Rishard Matthews (49%) gets Tennessee this week coming off the bye. Marvin Jones (43%) is worth a roster spot in deeper leagues, not a great starting option this week against Buffalo.

Deep Leagues: Ty Montgomery (20%) had a big day for the Packers in the WR3 role, and is worth adding in case given the offense he plays in. Jamison Crowder (8%) was heavily targeted as the Washington slot receiver, with 8 catches on Sunday.

TIGHT ENDS

Shallow Leagues: Gary Barnidge (59%) continues to light it up. Ride the Barn. Larry Donnell (50%) is your fallback option.

Average Leagues: Zach Ertz (41%) had his best game against the Saints D, and has a good tight end matchup going against the Giants.

Deep Leagues: Jacob Tamme (3%) could be a big part of the offense on Sunday. With Julio limited and Hankerson leaving the game last week, Tamme had 8 catches. It’s a short week and it wouldn’t surprise me if Julio sat the next one out.

OVERALL

Charcandrick West, RB, KC
Willie Snead, WR, NO
Gary Barnidge, TE, CLE
Antonio Andrews, RB, TEN
Thomas Rawls, RB, SEA
Kamar Aiken, WR, BAL
Ted Ginn, WR, CAR
Knile Davis, RB, KC
Ty Montgomery, WR, GB
Jacob Tamme, TE, ATL
Jamison Crowder, WR, WAS
Colin Kaepernick, QB, SF
Jay Cutler, QB, CHI
Larry Donnell, TE, NYG
Lorenzo Taliaferro, RB, BAL