10 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets Heading into Week 6

Gary Barnidge, TE, Cleveland Browns

ESPN ownership: 38%
Yahoo ownership: 50%

It's still hard for me to believe that some dude named Gary Barnidge, who I would have assumed was an accountant based on name alone, has put forth three monster weekends in a row from the volatile tight end position in what appears to be a breakout season at 30 years of age. But I think, after further analysis, that the Barnidge train is here to stay.

Our own Matt Goodwin recently covered the emergence of Barnidge and came to a couple of conclusions that lend support to Barnidge's durability as a season-long TE1. First, Barnidge is second in Reception NEP among all tight ends, and has the highest Reception NEP per target (1.16) among this group. Second, Barnidge's speed compared favorably, and even slightly bested, to that of Travis Kelce and Tyler Eifert at his combine that took place in the Mesozoic Era of 2008. So while he might have lost a step since then due to age, he's still very athletic and a big-bodied pass catcher among a pass-catching corps with a bunch of sub-6'0" options in Travis Benjamin, Andrew Hawkins, and Taylor Garbriel.

With 26 targets in his last three games and at least 75 yards and a touchdown in each of them, Barnidge has earned the right to be owned in every fantasy football league. Luckily there's a decent chance he's still available. Pounce if you can.