Fantasy Football: Playing the waiver wire for Week 5

Week 4 is in the books, so it's on to Week 5. Week 5 is also the start of bye weeks for this season, and an extra thing for fantasy football owners to navigate, with the Los Angeles Chargers, Cleveland Browns, Tampa Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks idle this week.

In an attempt to dive a little bit deeper in some spots for what looks like a light week for great waiver wire adds, and with bye weeks in mind, here's Week 5's edition of "Playing The Waiver Wire."

RB Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans

The revival of Derrick Henry came in Week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals (122 yards). But Spears had five carries for 40 yards and three catches for 18 yards himself, as he played nearly as many snaps as Henry did (35, to Henry's 39, according to PFF). The rookie has averaged more than six yards per carry in three of four games thus far.

Spears is top-10 among running backs in target share and yards per route run this season, and he is far outdoing Henry in yards per carry, routes run and other metrics.


If Henry were to go down to an injury, Spears would be an RB2 with weekly RB1 upside. He's still mostly an add-and-stash/Henry handcuff as bye weeks start, and it's hardly out of the question he'll have some stout standalone value as the season goes on.


ESPN Ownership: 20.3%
Yahoo! Ownership: 24%

QB Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Stafford suffered a hip injury in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts, but after the game he told ESPN's Sarah Barshop he'll "be out there" in Week 5 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles will enter Week 5 in the bottom-10 of the league in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks this season. Three of four opposing signal callers have thrown for at least 290 yards against them. Passing volume has been a factor, but there are no signs of that changing.

More touchdown passes (zero multi-touchdown games this season) would be nice. But Stafford has topped 300 yards through the air with double-digit rushing yards in three of four games. As long as he's good to for Week 5, he's a high-end streamer. And before a Week 10 bye, only Week 8 (Dallas Cowboys) stands out as a tough matchup.

Stafford looks like a nice option for those who have to navigate having a QB1 with a fairly early bye week.

ESPN Ownership: 33.6%
Yahoo! Ownership: 50%

RB Jeff Wilson, Miami Dolphins

Wilson could return from IR this week. and be added to the backfield cluster for the Dolphins. De'Von Achane led Miami's running backs in snaps in Week 4 against the Buffalo Bills, far outdoing Raheem Mostert in the fourth quarter (11 to 2). But the Bills also had a sizeable lead in a 48-20 win, so the value of that late-game snap distribution can be debated.

Mostert's injury history is well-known, and Achane is not built like a workhorse. Salvon Ahmed has been productive with his chances, but he's also been banged up or a non-factor at times.

Wilson is a pure add-and-stash this week, and it could go either way for him as a legit fantasy entity. But a potentially prominent piece of a good Miami offense is automatically worth a waiver wire flier in deeper leagues.

ESPN Ownership: 30.9%
Yahoo! Ownership: 27%