10 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets Heading into Week 6

Charcandrick West, RB, Kansas City Chiefs

ESPN ownership: <1%
Yahoo ownership: 8%

As a man with many Jamaal Charles shares, I write this recommendation behind eyes filled with tears. But in the next-man-up business of the NFL, someone will have to take the duties Charles unwillingly surrendered with he went down with what is currently feared to be a season-ending torn ACL yesterday.

In his stead, Charcandrick West got the majority of touches against the Bears, taking 7 rushes for 31 yards and catching a pass for five yards. While not an altogether impressive stat line, the fact that he out-snapped former handcuff darling, Knile Davis, is telling.

Davis put together a couple of RB1 games last season when Charles was banged up, but looking at the analytics, he was actually the least efficient running back in the NFL among running backs who toted the ball over 100 times in 2014, sporting a miserable -0.16 Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP) per rush. Through Week 4, on an albeit limited sample size of five attempts, West has put up an efficient 0.02 Rushing NEP per rush.

West has been heralded as a player with future breakout potential prospect based on his SPARQ scores entering the league, which measure explosiveness and power for NFL prospects. The athleticism is there, but he hasn't gotten much opportunity running behind Charles, one of the best running backs in the NFL in the last 14 years.

At the very least, rostering a running back who figures to get the majority of his team's touches is worth a waiver gamble. Shoot West to the top of your claim order if you're hurting at the position after Charles' injury.