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You really can't get any better drama than the NFL. As Scott Van Pelt once said, sports is the ultimate in reality TV. No scripts, no Hollywood producers and no agendas. Just pure reality and drama. And sometimes, the reality is devastating. Jamaal Charles is one of the best RB's in NFL history, PERIOD. His career is even more impressive considering that he's been on one of the most vanilla offenses in modern day football, and never played with a "good" QB. To see him go down in a heap on a cut that he's made hundreds of times in his career was truly a sad sight. I want all of my readers to remember that these are real people, and not just statistics for our silly game. Fantasy football is wonderful, but people that callously comment or berate players because of their fantasy team need a kick in the hind quarters. A real person destroyed his knee; have some empathy.
With all that being said, we now have to look at alternatives to Charles. To the average fan, Knile Davis is the the no-brainer add as one of the most heralded handcuffs in all of fantasy the last few seasons. The average fan is wrong. Below are the Week 6 waiver wire adds, with a man named Charcandrick in the top slot.
Charcandrick West, RB, KC
As a Jamaal owner in multiple leagues, I drafted Knile Davis as a handcuff, but dropped him a few weeks back when it became clear that West leapfrogged Davis for the backup RB role in KC. West, a second year player out of Abilene Christian, has shown some glimpses in the preseason and in spot duty for Charles. He's the top waiver wire priority this week, as is typical when a workhorse RB heads to IR and his backup immediately vaults into every week RB2 consideration. If you're a Charles owner and play in a FAAB league, I'd spend 30-40 percent of remaining budget on West. Now the only thing he needs is a nickname that's a little easier to say.
Willie Snead, WR, NO
The real WR1 for the Saints has finally stood up. It's not Brandin Cooks. It's not Brandon Coleman. It's a guy that none of us heard of until two weeks ago, who may have the coolest fro in the NFL. Snead has quickly become Brees' favorite target, and since the Saints stink, he should get plenty of targets in catch up/garbage time mode.
Brandon LaFell, WR, NE
LaFell is due to come off the PUP list next week, which means this is the week to add him. The Patriots have the best offense in the NFL right now, and without a true WR1. LaFell is a decent talent, but having a pissed off Brady and an attention grabbing beast like Gronk make LaFell an every week WR3 with WR2 upside.
Dan Herron, RB, BUF
Boom Herron may be the defacto RB1 for the Bills in their week 6 matchup against the Bengals. McCoy and Williams are looking very shaky heading into the week, and Boobie Dixon is also limited with a calf injury. Not a great matchup on paper, but any RB looking at 12-15+ touches is worthy of a roster spot.
Thomas Rawls, RB, SEA
Rawls should already be owned in most leagues, especially by Beast Mode owners. He is, however, only 48 percent owned in Yahoo! leagues. Rawls torched the Bengals defense to the tune of 169 rushing yards on 23 carries and a TD. Carroll has voiced concern over Lynch's hamstring, and with Rawls recent performance, I wouldn't be surprised if the Seahawks play it safe with their franchise RB.
Knile Davis, RB, KC
This is the CYA waiver add, in case Andy Reid pulls a complete 180 on the RB depth chart. Davis has been returning kickoffs, and went multiple weeks without an offensive snap. The wild card here is that Davis has had some big games with Charles sidelined in the past, and if West falters, they may hand the job back to him. Bottom line, both players need to be rostered until it all shakes out. West still remains the top priority.
Coming off a bye week, the Vikings get a home matchup against the newly JC-less Chiefs. I think Mike Zimmer and company come AFTER Alex Smith, knowing that he can't/won't exploit their aggressiveness. Turnovers and sacks seem very likely, unless of course Andy Reid trots out Cairo Santos every time the Chiefs pass the 40-yard line.