10 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets Heading Into Week 5
Week 5 offers just one premiere add, and he's someone unlikely to be available in most leagues. For the most part, this is another "save your FAB" week.
Here are some of the best additions you can make to your squads based on everything we know so far. (I'll stick to players rostered on 60% of Yahoo teams or fewer and also list some other viable pickups who may be available in shallower leagues or relevant only in deeper leagues).
Quarterbacks
Teddy Bridgewater, Carolina Panthers
Roster Percentage: 19%
Most bad teams are usually bad because they have bad quarterbacks and bad offenses. This is why choosing losing quarterbacks is usually a losing strategy. It is true that teams throw more when they're trailing, but if those attempts come from a bad quarterback, they'll be inefficient, and those quarterbacks likely won't sustain drives.
Every once in awhile, however, a team with a good offense has a defense so bad that it springboards their quarterback into seemingly unlimited attempts. That's the case with Matt Ryan and Dak Prescott this season, and while Teddy Bridgewater isn't on their level, he does a poor man's impression of this phenomenon.
On top of this, Bridgewater has one of the league's best supporting casts, and delivers just a dash of Konami code as he displayed this Sunday with a rushing touchdown.
Running Backs
Joshua Kelley, Los Angeles Chargers
Roster Percentage: 54%
Chances are Joshua Kelley is unavailable in your league, so I won't rub it in by going on too much about him here. He does technically fall below 60% rostership though, so if he is available, go get him and don't skimp on the FAB with Austin Ekeler expected to be sidelined multiple weeks.
Justin Jackson, Los Angeles Chargers
Roster Percentage: 5%
Much likelier to be on the waiver wire is Justin Jackson, the former Northwestern Wildcats phenom. Kelley will have more fantasy utility, but Jackson has the more robust receiving history and is likely to carve out enough carries to be more than just a pure satellite back.
Malcolm Brown, Los Angeles Rams
Roster Percentage: 37%
Malcolm Brown may well have been dropped after Darrell Henderson's apparent takeover of the backfield. Surprisingly, Brown out-touched Henderson 14 to 9 in Week 4, including 5 catches for Brown, compared to 1 for Henderson. Cam Akers may be back soon, and Henderson is still probably preferred over Brown, but Brown still has some value.
D'Ernest Johnson, Cleveland Browns
Roster Percentage: 1%
Nick Chubb's injury saw Kareem Hunt as the lead back, but maybe not the clear workhorse that many would think. D'Ernest Johnson, not Hunt, lead the Cleveland Browns in carries after Chubb went down. It's clear the Browns want a rotation, and Johnson was the first guy they turned to in an effort to make that happen.
Word of caution -- Johnson's 4.86 40-yard-dash makes Josh Jacobs look like Chris Johnson. Speed score is important at the running back position, so maybe look at Johnson's teammate instead.
Dontrell Hilliard, Cleveland Browns
Roster Percentage: 0%
Much better. Dontrell Hilliard is an interesting prospect, with much better athleticism and better production than Johnson. Hilliard actually caught the only pass in Cleveland's backfield.
Again, despite Johnson and Hilliard's usage, Hunt is the main guy without Chubb -- Hilliard and Johnson will fight over scraps. The saving grace is that you will have to give up very little to acquire Hilliard.
Ke'Shawn Vaughn, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Roster Percentage: 6%
Ke'Shawn Vaughn was hyped up in the offseason, and with LeSean McCoy and Leonard Fournette (as well as Kenjon Barner) banged-up, Vaughn may see some work this Thursday. Ronald Jones is still likely to be the guy, but with a respectable prospect profile, just a little bit of action may be all that Vaughn needs to kickstart his career.
Like the Johnson and Hilliard adds, this is a low percentage play, but Vaughn checks a lot of boxes.
Others to Consider:
Duke Johnson (18%), Brian Hill (28%), Jamaal Williams (12%), Jordan Wilkins (1%)
Wide Receivers
Tim Patrick, Denver Broncos
Roster Percentage: 1%
Tim Patrick did his best Courtland Sutton impression Thursday. Despite uninspiring college production, Patrick is at least big and athletic. He's also getting targets and locked into a year-long role as the Denver Broncos X-Receiver. That will do in a pinch, but check for a few of the more-rostered players first.
Others to Consider:
Brandon Aiyuk (57%), Russell Gage (53%), N'Keal Harry (34%), Tee Higgins (33%), Tre'Quan Smith (27%), Laviska Shenault (24%), Greg Ward (19%), Cordarrelle Patterson (8%), Miles Boykin (3%)
Tight Ends
Dalton Schultz, Dallas Cowboys
Roster Percentage: 52%
Dalton Schultz is what we thought we were getting in Hayden Hurst. With 24 targets in 3 games since Blake Jarwin's injury, it seems like Schultz will be a fixture and an immediate contributor for tight end-needy teams. The only downside is how quickly the fantasy community caught on, as he's already on 52% of rosters.
Robert Tonyan, Green Bay Packers
Roster Percentage: 25%
With Aaron Rodgers playing at peak form so far this year, tied for the lead league with 0.45 Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) per dropback, all weapons for the Green Bay Packers are instantly more valuable. With Robert Tonyan seeing more than 60% of snaps and possessing the necessary athleticism for the position, there's really no reason he can't see a breakout season. As a bonus, you can even add Tonyan before the Monday night game, depending on when you're reading this.
Others to Consider:
Logan Thomas (26%), Drew Sample (3%), Dawson Knox (2%)
