Fantasy football waiver wire: Best running backs available in Week 6

We are entering the middle grind of the fantasy football season. With the bye weeks in full force and the injuries continuing to pile up, the waiver wire is more important than ever in this stretch of the season.

Week 5 was another bad day for injuries, but running backs were relatively unaffected. Ty Montgomery and Wendell Smallwood sat out, but at least there weren’t any Dalvin Cook-level disasters this week.

This week’s bye teams are the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, and Seattle Seahawks. That means Ezekiel Elliott, LeSean McCoy, Joe Mixon, and Giovani Bernard aren’t available, so it’s going to be another week of diving for streamers. Here are the top running back options owned in 50 percent or less of Yahoo! leagues.

Collins seemingly had a chance to run away with the starting job, but a Week 4 fumble drew the ire of John Harbaugh and Buck Allen led the Raven’s backfield in Week 5, getting 25 touches while Collins had only 12. Collins did produce 55 rushing yards, but he didn’t see the ball on the goal line and was a non-factor in the passing game. Collins’ flex window is probably closing, but he gets another good matchup in the Chicago Bears next week.

With Paul Perkins out and Orleans Darkwa battling a calf injury, Gallman got a shot to take over the backfield. He answered the call with 82 total yards on 16 touches, showing more burst and life than most of the running backs the Giants have trotted out this season. The Giants have also lost most of their wide receivers to injury, so Gallman’s presence in the passing game is a huge plus for PPR owners. He’ll be on the RB2 radar if Darkwa and Perkins are out in Week 6, though the Denver Broncos are a tough matchup for Gallman.

Foreman was cutting into Lamar Miller’s workload in recent weeks, seeing at least 10 touches in three straight games. It wasn’t to be in Week 5, however, with Foreman seeing just five touches for 37 yards. He also lost a fumble, which didn’t help the Texans in a 42-34 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Miller is still firmly entrenched as the starter, but Foreman figures to stay in the game plan. He’ll have some flex appeal when the Texans face the Cleveland Browns this week. The Texans will likely have to lean on their offense after losing J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus for the season.

Despite Bilal Powell missing time with an injury, McGuire couldn’t do much on the ground against the Browns, finishing with just 30 total yards on 13 touches. The sixth-round rookie has shown some flashes this year, but he has yet to find the end zone and is the clear third fiddle behind Powell and a healthy Matt Forte. In addition, the Jets’ offense is still weak despite their surprising 3-2 record. McGuire is worth adding as Powell insurance, but he likely doesn’t have much standalone fantasy value.