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Chip Bayless FEATURED Football Latest 

Top Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 6

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By Chip Bayless (click Howie for more Chip)

 

 

 

1) Ray-Ray McCloud III

If I hadn’t already told y’all bitches about Tank Bigsby leading the NFL in rushing efficiency last week, he would easily be #1 on this list.

Instead, it’s a goofy-looking WR wearing the number 34 who likes to punch people in the helmet who tops this week’s most-useful waiver wire claims.

While Ray-Ray McCloud has never been more than a punt returner or gadget player, this season he finds himself playing the role of one of the top-3 receivers in a pass-heavy offense.

During this week’s Thursday Night Football broadcast, the broadcasters shared the fact that during production meetings they had learned that the Falcons’ WR coach lobbied hard in the offseason for McCloud to have a legitimate role as a WR in the Atlanta offense despite his history.

As anyone who played even high school football knows, having your position coach in your corner is monumental, and this season it’s paying dividends for both McCloud and the Falcons.

Atlanta draws up at least few screens for McCloud every game, showing that they view him as a special playmaker with the ball in his hands.

The speedy gamebreaker has thus far been turning those looks into significant production while using his elite speed and agility to find the crevasses in the defense for addition Cousins targets, simply due to the nature of being wide open.

Thus far McCloud has had at least five targets, three receptions, and forty receiving yards in 4/5 weeks, and he’s had at least six catches, fifty yards, and 11 fantasy points in back-to-back games now.



McCloud has a clear role carved out in this Falcons offense, and so far among 2024 WRs he ranks:

  • Tied for 14th in receptions (per ESPN)
  • 18th in targets
  • 22nd in YAC (per ESPN)
  • 26th in receiving yards (per ESPN)
  • Tied for 27th in receptions for 1st downs (per ESPN)
  • 33rd in fantasy points

Ray-Ray’s target share has been significant, and so far he’s accounted for just over 18% of all of Atlanta’s targets, which for context ranks higher than other much more well-known names like Deebo Samuel, Tee Higgins, Tyler Lockett, Rome Odunze, Tank Dell, and Jordan Addison to name a few (as reported by FantasyPros).

The Falcons’ supposedly third receiver is also playing 87% of snaps so far, a figure that sits at 16th among all receivers. At the moment McCloud is playing a higher percentage of snaps than DK Metcalf, Marvin Harrison Jr., Justin Jefferson, Chris Godwin, Nico Collins, Lamb, Diggs, and Pickens.

McCloud has been making good on being inside the top-20 in targets as his efficiency and advanced stats are incredibly impressive, especially for someone who is available in the majority of fantasy leagues.

According to ESPN analytics, McCloud ranks 13th in receiver catch rating, boasts the 27th-best overall receiver rating, and ranks inside the top-40 WRs in routes, yards per route, open rating, and YAC rating.

His returning skills are a huge boost for his production as McCloud has elite ball-carrier vision and is adept at breaking tackles and creating yards for himself.

In terms of all 2024 receivers, McCloud is currently tied for 25th in yards after contact (per FantasyPros) and is tied for 24th in catches for 10+ yards.

Available in 97% of ESPN leagues, the Falcons’ dynamic playmaker can already be considered a FLEX or WR3 in 12-team (or deeper) PPR leagues, and if he keeps performing like he has over the past two weeks he’ll be a consistently startable solid WR2.

 

 

2) Jalen Tolbert

Much like Ray-Ray McCloud, Jalen Tolbert is a speedster who is creative with the ball in his hands and has quietly put together a starting performance in the majority of his contests despite being a very underrated and secondary option as a WR in his offense.

Fortunately, both the Falcons and the Cowboys throw the ball in spades, and the Cowboys have either been playing from behind or they have been playing an insanely close game in every single one of their games except for Week 1, which naturally buoys the fantasy stock of all Dallas pass catchers.

Although, if there was one receiver you would want to own in this offense outside of Lamb, it would undoubtedly be Jalen Tolbert.

His workload is definitely significant considering so far he’s ran the 14th-most routes of any receiver (per OptaStats).

Tolbert also has the 12th-highest red zone target share in the league with 31% of the Cowboys’ red zone targets, a figure that ranks well above CeeDee Lamb.

Among WRs, Tolbert’s notable rankings are:

  • 29th in fantasy points
  • 18th in ADOT (per Pro Football Reference)
  • Tied for 34th in receptions for 1st downs (per ESPN)
  • Tied for 34th in catches
  • 35th in targets
  • 36th in yards

Tolbert has had at least three catches, five targets, forty receiving yards, and 13 fantasy points in 3/5 weeks thus far.

According to ESPN analytics, Jalen Tolbert also has the fifth-highest receiver catch rating and is graded as the 22nd-best receiver overall in terms of overall receiver rating.


With Brandin Cooks out, Tolbert is coming off the best game of his season in which he had 10 targets, scored 21 fantasy points, reeled in the game-winning touchdown, and may have solidified his role as the number two receiver in the Cowboys offense opposite Lamb.

Available in 93% of ESPN leagues, you can immediately start Tolbert as a trustworthy FLEX/WR3 if Cooks doesn’t play again in Week 6, and if Tolbert keeps putting up 13+ fantasy points in the majority of his contests then he’ll be bonified fantasy WR ROS.

Hopefully the Cowboys are as aware of Tolbert’s efficiency (28th among WRs in yards per target) as casual fans are and as statistics show. As a final Tolbert statistcal note, he does rank 26th among all NFL receivers this season in passer rating when targeted (per Pro Football Reference).

 

 

3) Rashod Bateman

While Bateman certainly isn’t one of the first players to come to mind when you’re scouring the waiver wire, he has few critical things going for him.

Bateman’s playing almost every snap, has a significant target/air yards share as he’s thus far accounted for 27% of all the Ravens air yards (, plays in one of the best offenses in the league, has put up at least seven fantasy points in 4/5 games (including double-digit fantasy points in two of his last three weeks), and is an underrated player overall when it comes to his talent level.

In terms of this year’s crop of fantasy wideouts, Bateman currently ranks:

 

Remember, just a year or two ago before Zay Flowers was drafted, many were hyping Bateman and lauding him as the potential answer at receiver for the Ravens, and the team’s top deep threat.

While that role of being the Ravens’ WR1 never materialized, Bateman hasn’t lost the speed that once led to him being considered the Ravens’ top explosive just a few seasons ago.


As we’ve seen in two of Bateman’s last three weeks, the WR2 role that it looks like Bateman has carved out in this high-scoring offense is enough to warrant fantasy value.

Bateman is still a valuable field-stretcher in Baltimore and has clear chemistry with Lamar, and there’s a reason that his average depth of target (ADOT) ranks 10th-best in the league through five weeks (per Pro Football Reference).

Bateman has also improved his hands and has reeled in some mind-blowing catches this year, and is clearly one of Lamar’s top-3 most-trusted targets.

Available in over 90% of ESPN leagues, at the moment Bateman is merely an intriguing grab-and-stash, but if he keeps performing like he has over the past three weeks he’ll end the season as a startable FLEX/WR3, and probably a life-saver some weeks for some teams stricken with bye weeks and injuries galore.

 

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