Fantasy Football Week 6 Running Back and Wide Receiver FAAB Bids: Hassan Haskins, Ryan Flournoy, and More

Random big performances make or break fantasy weeks. Sometimes, it's a kicker or defense randomly going off for 20-plus points and flipping a matchup, but more often, the random breakouts come from running backs and receivers who get extra opportunities for a week or two because of an injury in front of them.

We have multiple of those players below; the trick for fantasy owners is to try to determine what's real and could be repeatable and what was just a one-week anomaly caused by the matchup, game situation, or just plain luck. That's what we're doing here today.

Let's look at some of the hottest running back and wide receiver names on the waiver wire as we enter Week 6 and what reasonable FAAB bids might look like. Your roster needs and remaining budget might shift your numbers a bit, but this is a good baseline to start from. All bids are assuming a $100 FAAB budget.

Check out FantasySP's waiver wire tool to see the players who are being added most to fantasy teams each week!

Running Back

Michael Carter, Arizona Cardinals

Emari Demercado was supposed to be the guy. After both James Conner and Trey Benson went on IR in the span of a few weeks, Demercado seemed like the clear top running back in the Arizona backfield.

Then Sunday came, and Demercado handled just three carries to 18 for Carter (and four for Bam Knight). Carter dominated the passing work too, leaving scraps for Demercado. When the latter finally got a chance, he ran 71 yards then dropped the ball on the one-yard line before crossing the goal line to score the touchdown; it was a bad day for Demercado owners.

Carter is now the assumed top man taking over until Benson returns (Conner is out for the season). He was wildly inefficient, averaging just 2.8 yards per rush and 4.4 yards per reception, but it wasn't even close: Carter dominated the backfield work, even before Demercado dropped the would-be touchdown.

While Carter doesn't seem to have much of a ceiling, a guy set up to be a starting running back for at least the next several weeks is worthy of a fantasy roster spot. He will be under consideration for a flex spot and not much else, but that's still a valuable fantasy football player when injuries and byes start adding up.

Conservative Bid: $3-4

Need Bid: $6-8

Desperation Bid: $11-16

Rico Dowdle, Carolina Panthers

Dowdle was THE player of Week 5. He was the top fantasy scorer among all positions in both standard and PPR and surely won plenty of fantasy leagues as a late-week pickup who was hastily thrown into lineups.

With Chuba Hubbard ruled out for Week 5 as the weekend approached, Dowdle was a late fill-in, a player who had accumulated 83 rushing yards and 20 receiving yards over four games. He was more of a desperation fantasy play or someone who could take Hubbard's spot if you were without another option.

Dowdle ran for 206 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 28 more yards. He averaged 9.0 yards per carry. Some guys rack up huge yardage in a game mostly on one run; even if we take away his longest rush of the day (53 yards), Dowdle still averaged 7.0 yards per attempt.

It's about as good a day as a running back can have, and it will bring questions as to how involved Dowdle will be when Hubbard returns, which could be this coming week. Before Week 5, Dowdle only carried the ball 28 times versus 53 for Hubbard, with the latter also leading 13 receptions to five.

There's no denying what Dowdle did in helping lead his team to victory, and he probably earned more reps along the way. Rather than helping make Dowdle a fantasy fixture, that probably just hurts Hubbard's fantasy value. Dowdle is on a modest one-year contract, while Hubbard got an extension late last season. Hubbard will likely continue leading the way, and Dowdle's work will simply take away from the starter's load, making Dowdle a low-floor fantasy player heading forward (as odd as that is after a 200-yard day).

Conservative Bid: $1-2

Need Bid: $3-4

Desperation Bid: $5-6

Kendre Miller, New Orleans Saints

A 2023 third-round pick, Miller was supposed to make an impact immediately. Injuries have been a real issue since the end of his college career, though, and limited him to just 14 games in his first two seasons.

After a mostly anonymous start to the season, Miller now has double-digit carries in back-to-back games and actually led the team in rush attempts in Week 5; he played 26 snaps to Alvin Kamara's 37, by far the closest the two have bene in any game this season.

The easy prediction is to say that Kamara will remain in charge of the backfield, but is there something here? While the Saints took and kept a 12-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Miller was getting an extended look even when the game was close.

I still have to treat Miller as a backup player. The extra touches are great, but it has only been a few weeks, and he will always be splitting the backfield with Kamara, so Miller has a low fantasy ceiling. If the veteran suffers an injury, it will change things, but for the time being, Kamara is still in the RB2 range, and Miller is a fantasy bench player/handcuff.

Conservative Bid: $1-2

Need Bid: $3-4

Desperation Bid: $5-6

Hassan Haskins and Kimani Vidal, Los Angeles Chargers

A late addition here, it was announced Monday evening that Omarion Hampton would go on IR, leaving Haskins and Vidal leading the way. I wrote more about Hampton's injury, so I'll leave this brief.

Haskins and Vidal are likely to share the backfield, leaving both with capped fantasy ceilings. They are both worthy of a spot on a fantasy roster, but Haskins and Vidal might be better left on the bench until we see how things unfold.

This is an opportunity at a “starting running back,” but it's also a 50/50 call. LA is dealing with injuries to their offensive line, and Hampton could be back four weeks from now, so I'm staying modest with bids on the Charger backs. Having to pick one, I give Haskins to slight advantage.

Conservative Bid: $3-4

Need Bid: $6

Desperation Bid: $11

Wide Receiver

Kendrick Bourne, San Francisco 49ers

With both Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall out on Thursday, San Francisco needed a receiver to step up. Many thought that might be Demarcus Robinson, who returned in Week 4 from a suspension, but Bourne ended up being the guy, catching 10 of 11 targets for 142 yards.

Bourne also caught 10 of 11 targets in a game in 2023, and he once reached exactly 100 yards in 2022, but this was his best game in eight-plus professional seasons. He didn't even use a big reception or two to pad his stats, as Bourne's longest catch was for 35 yards.

The biggest issue is opportunity. That WR1 spot that Bourne filled in Week 5 is likely to have multiple suitors who slot in ahead of him most weeks, including Jennings and Pearsall returning as soon as next week; since the 49ers played on Thursday, those guys didn't have much time to recover from Week 4 but now have extra time to recover before Week 6.

Because of that and Bourne's lack of previous big games, I can't recommend spending much on him in FAAB. Bourne is a fine guy to have on your bench in case he finds more success, but the most likely outcome is that he gets pushed back down the depth chart.

Conservative Bid: $0

Need Bid: $1-2

Desperation Bid: $3-4

Ryan Flournoy, Dallas Cowboys

Well, someone has to step up with CeeDee Lamb out! George Pickens fills the WR1 role, but it will take more to fill the shoes of Dallas' top receiver, and Flournoy took on much of that burden in Week 5.

Flournoy was anonymous as a sixth-round rookie last season and started 2025 the same way. He had four catches and 35 yards before Sunday. Then he went out and led the Cowboys with six receptions and 114 yards.

KaVontae Turpin also missed Sunday's game, so Flournoy moved another spot up the depth chart and played 34 snaps as the team's third receiver, the most he has played this season. While Pickens and Jalen Tolbert played 47 and 46 snaps, respectively, Flournoy had more targets, receptions, and yards than both of them combined.

This is unlikely to continue. Turpin's status is uncertain, but he could return as early as this coming week. Lamb is expected to miss multiple games, though it's unclear when he will be back; a full-strength team is going to push Flournoy out of the rotation, killing his fantasy value.

It was fun for a week, but Flournoy isn't going to turn into a breakout star. He was lightly regarded entering the league and hadn't done anything of note before Sunday's game. Maybe this is a name we'll hear in the future, but Flournoy isn't a player to chase on the waiver wire right now.

Conservative Bid: $0

Need Bid: $1

Desperation Bid: $2

Xavier Hutchinson, Houston Texans

Hutchinson hadn't done much in 34 career games before Week 5. He had maxed out at three catches and 34 yards in any regular season game and never scored a touchdown.

While his three catches for 18 yards were close to his season averages, Hutchinson caught the first two touchdown passes of his career on Sunday, a national highlight for the former sixth-round pick. Houston looked as good as they have all season while Hutchinson was having a career day.

That's part of the problem: Houston's offense hasn't looked great, but they had a matchup against the most injured team in football, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Texans took advantage in every aspect. There won't be many more games like this one.

With Hutchinson only contributing at a low volume, he's unlikely to have big fantasy days. There are a lot of mediocre names making up the pass-catching ranks after Nico Collins, including Hutchinson, and none of those players look ready to step away from the crowd. Hutchinson remains on the outskirts of the fantasy radar, more of a deep-league bench player.

Conservative Bid: $0

Need Bid: $1

Desperation Bid: $2