Week #5 Waiver Watch Of Truth
Welcome back to the Waiver Watch of Truth. Let’s dive right in and take a look at the top options on Waivers this week.
Quarterbacks
CJ Stroud, Houston Texans (54% rostered) – Still available in just over half of leagues, Stroud is proving to be the real deal. Three straight games over 20 fantasy points, and stood up to a tough Steelers’ defense in Week 4, with over 300 yards passing and 2 touchdowns. Stroud gets a decent matchup against Atlanta in Week 5, and a tough test in Week 6 against New Orleans before going on bye. He’s absolutely playable against Atlanta, and I would start him over several QBs typically locked in each week. I’m going to continue to mention Stroud until his roster percentage gets higher.
Mitch Trubisky, Pittsburgh Steelers (0% rostered) – Trubisky is available in just about every league out there and not someone I would suggest grabbing in single QB leagues, but could be a solid option in 2QB and Superflex leagues. Trubisky hasn’t been fantastic in his career, but he’s a veteran with a lot of starts under his belt. The Steelers’ offense has been putrid this year and takes on a tough Baltimore defense at home in Week 5, so not an ideal matchup but could be a fill-in if you’re struggling with guys like Burrow.
Taylor Heinecke, Atlanta Falcons (0% rostered) – A deeper stash for Superflex leagues, but Atlanta starter Desmond Ridder has been awful this season and the Falcons might make a switch sooner than later if they want to try and keep the season from falling apart. After starting 2-0 and now falling to 2-2, Atlanta might need to turn to Heinecke to give any kind of life to their offense. Heinecke has started a bunch of games as well, and would have a solid array of weapons in Atlanta. He’s given some QB1 performances in the past and could be a solid QB2 when he gets the nod.
Joshua Dobbs, Arizona Cardinals (9% rostered) – Should absolutely be owned in Superflex leagues but could be a decent streaming option in Week 5 against the Bengals. Bengals look to be on the verge of a lost season, and while the defense has been a tougher test for QBs, Dobbs has put up over 17 fantasy points in back to back games against Dallas and San Fran, two of the toughest in the league. Additionally, he put up 25 points in Week 2 against the Giants. Dobbs should be able to give you 15 points each week and has shown the ceiling to get up around 25.
Running Backs
Jaleel McLaughlin, Denver Broncos (2% rostered) – McLaughlin is an explosive rookie who hasn’t played much yet this season, but got a chance to showcase his abilities when Javonte Williams went down with a hip injury in Week 4. We could see Williams miss some time, and if that’s the case, I would imagine McLaughlin gets the lion’s share of opportunities for Denver. Samaje Perine has been pretty underwhelming this season, and when Williams went down, Denver turned to McLaughlin over Perine. He cashed in his opportunity with over 100 total yards and a score, and should be the #1 pick up this week while we wait to see the diagnosis on Williams.
Ronnie Rivers, Los Angeles Rams (1% rostered) – Not much outside of McLaughlin this week, so might be a good move to grab some high upside handcuffs, or even protect your own if you have Kyren Williams. Rivers is the immediate backup for Kyren and while he’s gotten 100% of the work the last few weeks, Rivers finally got some run with 11 opportunities for 57 total yards. He looked good in his limited action averaging over 5 a carry, and should get the starting role if something were to happen to Williams.
Keaton Mitchell, Baltimore Ravens (11% rostered) – Mitchell is a deeper league stash as an undrafted rookie who’s got a ton of explosiveness to his game. Even being undrafted, he still made the team while JK Dobbins was healthy, and Baltimore was patient enough with him to stick him on IR and keep him on the roster until he came back. He’s eligible to come off IR this week and the Ravens’ backfield has been uninspiring. Mitchell could give them some much needed juice, and the competition ahead of him isn’t very stiff.
Wide Receivers
Michael Wilson, Arizona Cardinals (6% rostered) – Wilson has been on the field a ton this season for Arizona, playing 67% of the snaps or higher in 3 of 4 games, and finally turned it into production this past week, catching all 7 targets for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns. We can’t bank on 2 touchdowns every week, but even for how tough the Cardinals have been this year, I still expect them to be in a negative game script more often than not. If Wilson can consistently earn around 7 targets each game, that's an opportunity worth throwing on the bench, and could see a bump when Kyler comes back.
Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions (53% rostered) – Williams is owned in over half of leagues, but definitely worth a mention as some big news came out this week that Williams’ six game suspension has been reduced to 4 games, and he is eligible to return this coming week. He gives the Lions’ offense a vertical element they’ve been missing this year, and while they’ve been fantastic, he can help elevate Detroit to bigger heights. If he’s available, he offers the most upside of any waiver pickup this week at WR and should definitely be grabbed.
Wandale Robinson, New York Giants (12% rostered) – A repeat mention from last week, Robinson continues to be eased into action with a low snap percentage, but they’ve been going his way when he’s there. After getting 5 targets on only 22% of snaps in Week 3, he got another 6 targets in Week 4. The Giant’s offense is desperate for playmakers, and as Robinson gets more acclimated, I imagine his snap share will increase, and he could be a nice option in PPR seeing 6+ targets consistently, with a ceiling for more if he becomes a full-time player.
Michael Gallup, Dallas Cowboys (22% rostered) – With Brandin Cooks dealing with a knee injury, Gallup has stepped up receiving 6+ targets in each of the last two weeks and producing double digit PPR points in both weeks. While Dallas has steamrolled most of their opponents, they’ve got some high-scoring offenses on the slate against the 49ers and the Chargers the next two weeks. Gallup had his best game in Week 4 when Dallas lost to Arizona, which they were trailing most of the time. If the San Fran and Los Angeles offenses can put up points against Dallas, Gallup should see a decent amount of opportunity.
Tight Ends
Jonnu Smith, Atlanta Falcons (2% rostered) – It’s not pretty as you probably want to stay away from anything involved in the Falcon’s passing game, but Smith has seemingly overtaken Kyle Pitts as the #1 TE option in Atlanta. He’s gotten 6+ targets in 3 straight games and is playing a high amount of snaps. 8+ PPR points in 3 straight weeks, Smith isn’t a flashy option, but with the wasteland at TE, 8 points a week doesn’t sound so bad.
Zach Ertz, Arizona Cardinals (35% rostered) – Evident by his roster percentage, people are still sleeping on Ertz or might have dropped him after his 2-point game in Week 3 against Dallas. Ertz bounced back with 10 targets and over 11 PPR points which doesn’t light the scoreboard, but Ertz has been consistent all year outside of the Dallas game. He should have had a bigger game in Week 4 since he dropped a wide open TD pass in the endzone, but 10 targets is hard to come by at TE, and Ertz has gotten it twice so far this season.
DST Stream of the Week
Last week I mentioned to roll with Kansas City if available, who didn’t dominate like expected, but weren’t a bad performance either, and also highlighted the LA Chargers as a sneaky play against the Raiders. LA turned in a great performance with 7 sacks and 3 turnovers, so let’s hope to keep the train rolling.
This week’s DST stream of the week is the Miami Dolphins. They’re rostered in 35% of leagues so a good chance they’re out there, and a better chance they’re available after the drubbing the Bills gave them in Week 4. This week Miami gets the Giants at home which Miami is a 9.5 point favorite, and the Giant’s offense has been abysmal outside of one half against the Cardinals. The Giants just gave up 11 sacks to the Seahawks and have been hampered by injuries. Even if Saquon Barkley returns, he won’t fix their offensive line issues, so I expect the Dolphins to get to Jones often, and a few turnovers are almost guaranteed each game from Jones at this point.
Good luck on the Wire all and as always, stay true.
