Fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 5 in 10-team leagues

Finding suitable pick-ups off the waiver wire is not for the faint of heart, but in smaller fantasy football leagues, you may have more options than usual. As the NFL season flips the page toward Week 5, there are more than a few worthwhile pickups to help you survive the first bye week of the year or to help bolster your roster in light of injuries.

Below are some of the top candidates on the waiver wire for smaller fantasy leagues, with the rostership limit increased to 60 percent.

Week 5 Fantasy football waiver wire pickups in 10-team leagues

Jaylen Warren, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

Rostership: 59.9%

Warren just manages to slider under the 60 percent rostership threshold, but his availability is the benefit of playing in smaller fantasy leagues. The Steelers running back has steadily increased his volume of carries each week, having rushed eight times for 29 yards while hauling in six passes for 26 yards in Week 4. That amounted to an 11.5 PPR fantasy performance last week, and he could be heavily involved as a check-down option in Week 5, should Mitchell Trubisky be forced to play in relief of Kenny Pickett.

Samaje Perine, RB, Denver Broncos

Rostership: 56.8% ESPN

Broncos RB1 Javonte Williams reportedly suffered a hip flexor in last week’s win over the Chicago Bears. Williams did not play in the second half, and reportedly will not miss much time, but that only boosts Perine’s fantasy stock in the near term. Jaleel McLaughlin is also a name to consider here, but Perine’s veteran experience makes him the bell cow for now. Perine logged a season-high 11.8 PPR fantasy points in the season opener against the Raiders.

Joshua Palmer, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

Rostership: 47.0% ESPN

Palmer now has back-to-back double-digit fantasy performances, including a 10.7 PPR outing against the Las Vegas Raiders last week. The Chargers wideout saw eight targets, managing to haul in three of them for 77 yards, and looks every bit like the viable replacement candidate for Mike Williams. So long as Los Angeles continues to bring rookie receiver Quentin Johnston along slowly, the time is now to maximize Palmer’s fantasy relevance.

Romeo Doubs, WR, Green Bay Packers

Rostership: 33.9% ESPN

If Doubs is still somehow left waiting on the waiver wire, do yourself a favor and add him to your roster. Green Bay’s loss to the Detroit Lions last week wasn’t pretty, but the Packers wideout still put together a convincing fantasy performance. Doubs earned 13 targets, hauling in nine catches for 95 yards and a total of 18.5 PPR fantasy points. With Luke Musgrave in concussion protocol, and with Christian Watson slowly working back from injury, Doubs should be Jordan Love’s top target in the short term.