Week 5 is in the books. I hope you were able to grab Dylan Sampson last week because he’s going to be tough to acquire on the waiver cycle. As a reminder, I expect Quinshon Judkins, who recently signed, to supplant Jerome Ford. Dylan Sampson will continue to be involved as a third down back and receiver.
Waiver Wire Strategy for Week 5
Top 5 Waiver Wire Targets – Week 5
Here are my Top fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 5:
- RB, Woody Marks
- WR, Elic Ayomanor
- QB, Jaxson Dart
- TE, Darren Waller
- RB, Isaiah Davis
Waiver Wire Pickups by Position
Quarterbacks
- Jaxson Dart: 21.1% rostered – He runs. He’s been playing well as a passer, but those extra rushing yards are going to be what pushes him up the rankings. If you need a season-long answer at QB, Dart may be the best available option – even with Nabers out for the season.
- Marcus Mariota (if Daniels doesn’t start): 10.4% – he fills in for Daniels very well from a fantasy point of view.
- Carson Wentz (while McCarthy is out): 6.2% – Wentz is a better QB today than JJ McCarthy is. Wentz will score well thanks to Minnesota’s skill player personnel, but I wonder what will happen if McCarthy struggles. Will Minnesota take their lumps if McCarthy goes on a losing streak or will they try to make the playoffs?
- Trevor Lawrence: 29.2% rostered – he’s not scoring as well as I’d like, but the potential is still there.
Running Backs
- Woody Marks: 33.3% rostered – He out-snapped and out-played Chubb this week. I think Marks could be the Texans starter in 2026. My only question is if he can keep Joe Mixon off the field if/when he returns.
- Isaiah Davis: 0.3% rostered – I’m assuming as I write this that Braelon Allen tore an ACL. If that happens, then the Jets will be a two-man backfield and Davis will be one injury to Breece Hall away from being a very good fantasy back.
- Bhayshul Tuten – 47.5% rostered – Etienne is certainly the best RB on the Jaguar roster, but Tuten is a good player and could eat into snap share as the season moves on.
- Emari Demarcado: 2.5% rostered – With Benson taking over as the lead back, Demarcado is now the third down and 2-minute drill back in Arizona.
- Chris Rodriguez – 4.9% rostered – Jacory Croskey-Merritt plays roughly 30% of the snaps in Washington and is owned in 80% of the fantasy leagues. Chris Rodriguez plays roughly 30% of the snaps in Washington and owned in less than 5% of leagues. Rodriguez is a good fantasy option. He should be rostered.
- Kendre Miller: 5.6% rostered – Kamara is still the man, but Miller looks like a strong backup.
- Kareem Hunt – 38.8% rostered – I consider him the lead back in Kansas City, though the Chiefs running game is very weak at the moment.
- Kyle Monangai: 78% rostered – I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Monagai yet in Chicago.
- Joe Mixon (if you have an IR spot to stash): 64.2% rostered – He’ll be coming back at some point. If you have an IR slot, think about stashing Mixon. But will he be able to unseat Woody Marks when that time comes?
Wide Receivers
- Elic Ayomanor: 21.1% rostered – there is no question he’s the top Titan WR moving forward.
- Wan’Dale Robinson – 8.7% rostered – I’m surprised he’s not on more rosteres already. With Nabers injured, Robinson will be needed to keep the chains moving.
- Romeo Doubs: 36.7% rostered – I usually stray away from Packer WRs, but Doubs has consistently led the team in snaps. Yeah, he caught a lot of TDs last week, but I like that he’s consistently on the field for Green Bay.
- Darius Slayton: 3.6% rostered – Slayton will have more deep opportunities with Nabers injured.
- Isaiah Bond: 0.4% rostered – The hamstring injury to Tillman opens the door for Bond in the passing game.
- Brandon Aiyuk: 36.8% rostered – it looks like Aiyuk won’t be ready for week 6 as initially thought, but the 49ers WRs are beat up and when Aiyuk plays, he should be the top WR.
- Tory Horton: 6.4% rostered – His snap percentage isn’t increasing yet, but he’s looking very good with limited opportunities. If Cooper Kupp gets hurt, which is a safe bet by the way, then Horton could start to score very well.
- Marvin Mims: 21.5% rostered – Everyone is paying attention to Franklin in Denver after a huge week 2, but that’s what Denver does. They feature a guy and then you won’t hear from him again for weeks. Mims had the better game in Week 5 and I like his position in the Denver offense better.
- Troy Franklin: 43.4% rostered – All said about Mims, I still think Franklin has a ton of potential.
- Luther Burden III: 11.9% rostered – He’s slowly being integrated further into the offense. I think he’ll be great in this offense if he can find the field more. If either Zaccheaus, DJ Moore or Odunze are inured at some point, Burden could break out. If you have roster space, he’s worth stashing. Plus, he could always be further integrated after the bye week.
Tight Ends
- Darren Waller: 9.8% rostered – I’ve been talking him up all offseason and he finally played last night. He played roughly 28% of the Dolphin snaps in his first game action and hauled in 2 touchdowns.
- Mason Taylor – 3.2% rostered – His target and reception share have been increasing the past two weeks.
- Brenton Strange – 22.6% rostered – He plays a ton of snaps and gets plenty of targets. My only gripe is that the Jaguars tend to remove him from the field in red zone situations which doesn’t make a ton of sense to me.
- Harold Fanin Jr. – 32.7% rostered – He’s on the field quite a bit for the Browns. It feels to me like a breakout game isn’t an “if”, but a “when”.
- Elijah Arroyo: 1.5% rostered – He looked exceptional on Thursday Night Football vs the Cardinals. His fellow TE, AJ Barner, will limit Arroyo’s value. But Arroyo should be on your radar moving forward.
- Orando Gadsden II: 0.1% rostered – He was the best Charger TE last week. Keep a very close eye on him.
Defenses (DST)
- Jacksonville (vs Kansas City) – 7% rostered
- LA Rams (vs San Francisco): 29.2% rostered
- Arizona (vs Tennessee): 24.6% rostered