Week 4 was incredibly frustrating from a fantasy football perspective. In the early games, there were a bunch of no-name players scoring touchdowns, the Browns surprised the Ravens on the road, Patrick Mahomes didn’t record a single touchdown, the Patriots’ defense carried them to victory once again, and the Atlanta Falcons continue to disappoint. Week 4 was definitely an unfortunate series of games with a few takeaways for the your waiver wire and FAAB pickups, including some guys you may need to rush back out to get before Week 5 that you may have dropped.
The following players are the hottest additions heading into Week 5.
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Fantasy Football FAAB targets: Quarterback
Jacoby Brissett IND; FAAB Bid: 5%: There are some possible quarterback streams this week -- Kirk Cousins (@ Giants) and Andy Dalton (@ Cardinals) in particular - but Brissett might be a good matchup play this week who turns into a hold going forward. He's thrown for at least two touchdowns in every game this season, and he's done some of that with T.Y. Hilton dinged up. When he has his full complement of receivers, the Indy passing game should function pretty well all season, and a potential shootout with Kansas City awaits in Week 5.
WEEK 5 DFS LINEUPS:
Y! cash | Y! GPP | FD cash | FD GPP | DK cash | DK GPP
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Fantasy Football FAAB targets: RB
Ronald Jones II TB; FAAB Bid: 20%: Both Jones and Peyton Barber found the end zone in a shootout with the Rams on Sunday, but Jones led the team in carries with 19 compared to Barber’s nine. Jones has more than 200 all-purpose yards on 35 touches over his past two games, and he’s played a role in the awakening of the Tampa Bay offense. Believe it or not he actually has three games with at least 70 rushing yards so far, which you’ll take from a guy available on waivers. He only has one touchdown through four games, but more should come. A big concern for Jones and Winston is that Tampa’s travel schedule is absolutely brutal the next few weeks, as they travel back from Los Angeles, then go to New Orleans, Tennessee, Seattle, and London. The NFL subjecting a team to that kind of schedule is completely asinine.
Jordan Howard PHI; FAAB Bid: 15%: This recommendation is coming largely because of his big game Thursday night against the Packers. He finished with 87 yards rushing and three touchdowns, giving him four in his past two contests. He’s gradually seen more carries as the games have progressed, so hopefully this is a sign that Howard is becoming the lead back in Philadelphia. Miles Sanders has still seen double-digit touches in each game, but he hasn’t done much with them (including scoring). This situation is fluid, but things are heading in the right direction for Howard. (Note: He's owned in 56 percent of Yahoo leagues.)
WEEK 5:
Top waiver pickups | FAAB planner | Trade values | Snap counts
Fantasy Football FAAB targets: WR
Jamison Crowder NYJ; FAAB Bid: 12-15%: Crowder’s stock took an immediate hit once Sam Darnold started missing games. Don’t forget that Crowder saw a whopping 17 targets in Week 1, and then Darnold got mono and ruined my mojo. Crowder has struggled with the subpar quarterbacks the Jets have started the last couple games, but hopefully Darnold is a full go next week. It would be great for his fantasy prospects just to see him get back to eight or nine targets each game with a promising young quarterback throwing him the ball.
Geronimo Allison GB; FAAB Bid: 10-12%: Allison is a pretty interesting waiver addition if Davante Adams has to miss any time with his turf toe injury. The Packers don’t believe the injury is serious, but both Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allison proved to be pretty valuable once Adams left last Thursday’s game. The Packers offense hasn’t been as explosive as we’ve seen in previous years, but last Thursday’s game just might be a push in the right direction for this team.
WEEK 5 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Golden Tate NYG; FAAB Bid: 7-8%: He was mentioned last week, and he’s coming off his suspension so he’s ripe for the taking. Daniel Jones has developed some solid chemistry with Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram, but there’s an opportunity for Tate to get a good amount of targets, as well. He was a pretty big free agency acquisition for the Giants, so they’d obviously like to get their money’s worth out of Tate, and another weapon at Jones’ disposal can’t hurt. The Giants have some tough games coming up against the Vikings and Patriots, so he’s a bit risky to play right away, but he'll likely pay off over the long term.
WEEK 5 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
A.J. Brown TEN; FAAB Bid: 4-5%: Brown doesn’t get many targets. He has just 17 through four games. However, he had a very big game on Sunday against Atlanta, turning two of his three targets into touchdowns. Hopefully this chemistry-building exercise with Marcus Mariota blossoms into some more looks. He has some nice big-play potential with 10 catches for 223 yards through four games. His teammate, Corey Davis, is available in shallower leagues, and if you want him you’ll have to spend some more money. But Davis only has 18 targets through four games and just one touchdown. We’ve seen his upside and it’s solid, but he and Marcus Mariota can just never string it together consistently.
Mohamed Sanu ATL; FAAB Bid: 2-4%: In a surprising development, Sanu actually led the Falcons in targets this past Sunday. Matt Ryan looked his way a dozen times, and Sanu turned it into nine catches for 91 yards. He hasn’t scored yet, but through four games he now has 24 catches on 31 targets for 239 yards. He’s seeing enough work to warrant consideration as a deeper league flex play in PPR leagues, and hopefully he finds the end zone sooner rather than later.
MORE WEEK 5 DFS: Stacks | Values | Lineup builder
Fantasy Football FAAB targets: Tight End
Benjamin Watson NE; FAAB Bid: 6-7%: Players returning from suspension is quite the theme this week. Watson, like Tate, is available to play now. Tom Brady certainly is missing a big body target to get the ball to in the red zone since Rob Gronkowski retired. Watson will be a breath of fresh air, since things haven’t gone well with Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo. Watson turns 39 in December, but there’s a need for a big target in this offense to help move the chains.
Jason Witten DAL; FAAB Bid: 5-6%: It’s not a great week when you’re looking to add Witten off of waivers. He has at least three receptions in each game this year. He scored a touchdown in each of his first two games and then had 54 receiving yards last week. He’s not a great option, but he’s serviceable in deeper leagues. He does have a tougher game next week against the Packers, but he should still get his typical workload, which can provide for a decent floor.
Tyler Eifert CIN; FAAB Bid: 3-5%: This is if you’re looking to get a jump on the Cardinals' next opposing tight end. The Cardinals once again failed to defend an opposing team’s tight end well, as Will Dissly finished Sunday’s game with seven catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. They’ve now given up a touchdown to a tight end every week. Life now has three guarantees: Death, taxes, and the Cardinals sucking wind against tight ends.
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Fantasy Football FAAB targets: D/ST
Unfortunately the Dolphins are on bye next week, so they cannot be picked on. We’ll get through this together, though. There are still a few good streaming options next week, but they aren’t particularly overwhelming.
Tennessee Titans: The Titans host the Bills next week, and Josh Allen’s status for the game is currently up in the air. Allen left last week’s game against the Patriots with a potential concussion, so he might not even play in Week 5, which means Matt Barkley might get the spot start in a tough road game against Tennessee. The opening line has the over/under at 38.5, the Titans have allowed just 62 points through four games, and they just held the Falcons to 10 points and 58 rushing yards while sacking Matt Ryan five times. They shouldn’t have any trouble next week if the Bills are without Josh Allen .
San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers host the Cleveland Browns on Monday night, and they’ll be fresh off their bye week. After three games, the 49ers ranked second in defensive DVOA according to Football Outsiders with nine sacks and seven forced turnovers. The Browns hit their stride this past week against the Ravens, but let’s see how they fare in another prime-time game. Their last two offensive performances on national television didn’t go well, and it doesn’t appear as if enough people realize the 49ers have the makings of a solid defense.
Cleveland Browns: Oh, hey, look at that -- the 49ers opponent made the list too. It’s not so much hedging against the 49ers as it is recommending a good D/ST. Myles Garrett alone has six sacks on the season, and the Browns defense just held the Baltimore Ravens' explosive offense to ten points through three quarters. The Ravens got a little more aggressive in the fourth quarter and garbage time so they padded the stat sheet a little bit. This Monday night pairing currently has an over/under of 47.5, which is a little too high for a couple of good defenses.