Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Wishlist - Week 5 (2023)
It was a rather successful week for the Waiver Wire Wishlist for Week 4. For the likes of C.J. Stroud, De’Von Achane, Romeo Doubs and Jake Ferguson, they had instant fantasy impact right out of the gate. The rest of the suggestions can’t be written off either. Let’s keep the ball rolling into Week 5!
If you’re in a deeper league and find these waiver wire articles suggesting guys closer to the 40-percent threshold I tend to follow, you’re in for a treat!
Each week, I will develop a list of must add targets for fantasy football leagues. My goal is to keep each suggestion under 40-percent owned in Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues. At least one of my suggestions will be owned in less than 10-percent of Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues. I will also strive to have at least one player per position (QB, WR, RB and TE.)
Week 4 Results
C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans) - 21.84 Points
De’Von Achane (Miami Dolphins) - 27 Points
Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears) - 2.5 Points
Ezekiell Elliott (New England Patriots) - 4.2 Points
Melvin Gordon (Baltimore Ravens) - 5.4 Points
Tank Dell (Houston Texans) - 3.9 Points
Quentin Johnston (Los Angeles Chargers) - 2.8 Points
Romeo Doubs (Green Bay Packers) - 18.5 Points
Jake Ferguson (Dallas Cowboys) - 18.2 Points
Week 5 Suggestions
Quarterback
C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans) - Owned in 47% of Yahoo and 32% of ESPN Leagues
As long as Stroud continues to fall within the perimeters of this series, he will be included. Let’s start our discussion on Stroud off with this, through his first four games as an NFL quarterback, he had yet to throw an interception. Crazy. He also threw for 306 yards a week ago in a thumping of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That is now the second time in his early career he has thrown for over 300 yards. This is quickly becoming an offense that we as fantasy managers want a part of and why not start with the guy the entire offense revolves around?
Joshua Dobbs (Arizona Cardinals) - Owned in 5% of Yahoo and 21.% of EPN Leagues
I often suggest just one quarterback each week but with Stroud over 40-percent owned in Yahoo leagues, I’ll give a second quarterback this week. Dobbs is having a great start to the season if we can look past his Week 1 outing. Dobbs is having a Geno Smith-esk season after spending nearly six years as an NFL backup. He had a great showing against a stout 49ers’ defense in Week 4 where he threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns on top of rushing the ball 12 times for 48 yards. He definitely adds rushing upside which is great for fantasy. He gets a matchup with the struggling Bengals this week. It was also reported that Kyler Murray will not come off the PUP list when he’s eligible so we may get to see Dobbs for a bit longer.
Runningbacks
Jaleel McLaughlin (Denver Broncos) - Owned in 3% of Yahoo and 0.5% of ESPN Leagues
If you’re in the market for a runningback this week isn’t your week. This first suggestion has a lot to do with the status of Javonte Williams who left Sunday’s come-from-behind victory over the Chicago Bears with a hip injury. McLaughlin came in and quickly was favored over Samaje Perine. McLaughlin ran the ball seven times for 72 yards and caught all three of his targets for 32 yards and a touchdown. If Williams is to miss any tie, McLaighlin could be the favorite for an increased workload for the struggling Broncos.
Devin Singletary (Houston Texans) - Owned in 15% of Yahoo and 32.9% of ESPN Leagues
At this point, this is still Dameon Pierce’s backfield but he has been struggling to start the season. He had a better week this week against the Steelers where he ran the ball 24 times for 81 yards but is still averaging just 2.8 yards-per-carry on the season. Singletary is averaging 3.5 yards-per-carry himself. This is a Texans’ team trending in the right direction so to me, it’s a matter of time before they turn to the hotter-hand of Singletary. This is not an instant impact type of play but more so a stash and wait.
Melvin Gordon (Baltimore Ravens) - Owned in 2% of Yahoo and 1.2% of ESPN Leagues
With Gus Edwards’ extensive history of injury and in return, poor production, this is a backfield that’s up for grabs. Edwards has already dealt with a nagging injury this season as well. Gordon looked very good on his limited touches against the Browns. He ran the ball just three times but averaged seven yards-per-attempt. He also caught his one target for 23 yards. This is another backfield that can shift to Gordon’s favor any given week.
Wide Receivers
Michael Wilson (Arizona Cardinals) - Owned in 2% of Yahoo and 1.4% of ESPN Leagues
Well, I already suggested Dobbs so might as well suggest one of the guys catching the football from him. Wilson caught his first touchdown of his career early on in the 16-35 loss to the 49ers and followed that up with a second touchdown. He saw seven targets on Sunday, catching each of them for 76 yards to go along with the two scores. It wasn’t like Wilson was absent from the Cardinals’ previous games as well as he caught two balls for 86 yards in Week 3 and three balls for 56 yards in Week 2. It’s obvious that he’s developing a connection with Dobbs and I believe this is just the beginning for Wilson.
Tyler Boyd (Cincinnati Bengals) - Owned in 37% of Yahoo and 43.1% of ESPN Leagues
Tee Higgins suffered a fractured rib in Sunday’s loss to the Titans and his availability for Week 5 is now in question. Higgins stated that the rib injury isn’t going to keep him out for an extended period of time and didn’t rule out the possibility of playing this upcoming Sunday but I don’t think we’ll see him this week. Enter Boyd who offers value even if Higgins is on the field. He has seen at least seven targets in each of the Bengals’ last three games. On the season he has seen 27 targets, catching 17 of them for 127 yards. It’s a matter of time before Burrow and this Bengals’ offense gets going so even if Higgins is to play Sunday, get Boyd while you can.
Rashee Rice (Kansas City Chiefs) - Owned in 36% of Yahoo and 11% of ESPN Leagues
Rice has now seen the second most targets in back-to-back weeks from Patrick Mahomes. That alone should tell you that you have to roster this guy. Rice hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 1 but has seen 12 targets over the last two weeks. The Chiefs are about to enter a very favorable stretch of their schedule in terms of fantasy value for wideouts. They get the Vikings (who have allowed the third most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers,) Broncos (sixth,) Chargers (first,) Broncos (sixth) and Dolphins (17th) before they enter their bye. Lets not forget that Rice is a rookie and just getting used to the pace of the NFL. Now’s the time to grab him as he could very easily become Mahomes’ go-to receiver.
Tight End
Jonnu Smith (Atlanta Falcons) - Owned in 1% of Yahoo and 0.4% of ESPN Leagues
Let’s start this discussion off by saying that as long as Desmond Ridder is the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, Kyle Pitts will be a non-factor. That is evident as Smith has essentially outperformed Pitts across the last three weeks. Smith saw a team high six targets and receptions for 95 yards in the Falcons’ 7-23 loss to the Jaguars in London. Smith has now seen at least six targets across the last three weeks, including eight in Week 3. He has 15 receptions in those last three games as well. For a position that’s tough to find production, Smith is available in less than one-percent of all leagues.