With three primetime games remaining, Week 4 has already been fantastic. The Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings improved to 4-0 with the Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills looking to join them with wins on Monday night.
Week 5 starts the cycle of bye weeks, so you’ll have to be especially savvy as you get your roster ready for the coming weeks. Next week, the Lions, Titans, Eagles and Chargers will have the week off, so you’ll have to fill in for those players in your starting lineups.
Whether you’re looking to cover for bye weeks, improve your depth, replace injured players or just get some fresh options, the good news is that there are some great options on the waiver wire. Every season, key fantasy players emerge as the weeks goes on, and many of those players can be grabbed off the waiver wire in season-long leagues.
Before we hit some of the top options at each position, let’s take a look at some of the injuries to watch coming out of Week 4.
Injuries to watch coming out of Week 4:
- QB Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts
- RB Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
- RB Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars
- RB Tyler Badie, Denver Broncos
- WR Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs
- WR Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers
- TE George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
- TE Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints
With those injuries in mind, here are some of my top names to watch for on waiver wire Week 5:
WR Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers
The Packers’ offense looked totally different on Sunday with Jordan Love under center instead of Malik Willis. The game script also called for the Packers to air it out since they were rallying from behind against the Vikings. Christian Watson departed the game with an ankle injury, further opening the door for Wicks.
Wicks was targeted a massive 13 times by Love as the Packers tried to storm back. He hauled in five catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns to finish as the third-most productive WR on Sunday’s slate.
Wicks was only targeted a total of nine times in the first three weeks of the season, but did have a touchdown in Week 2 against the Colts. He’s clearly a top option in the red zone and should continue to get plenty of work while Watson is out. He’s a great grab off the waiver wire this week.
If you’re in one of the 13% of leagues where Wicks is already owned, there are several other options widely available at wide receiver. Some of the other top options available include the Colts’ Josh Downs, the Panthers’ Xavier Leggette, the Rams’ Jordan Whittington, the Eagles’ Parris Campbell and the Raiders’ Tre Tucker.
QB Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers came up just short of moving to 4-0 as they lost to the Colts in Indianapolis. Even in defeat, though, Fields posted an extremely impressive performance.
He finished as the top QB of the week with only the primetime games remaining. Fields threw for 312 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 55 more yards and two more touchdowns. Fields was also a top-12 QB last week and has settled into a productive role in the Steelers’ offense.
His dual-threat ability gives him an extremely high ceiling and makes him a playable option in almost any matchup. He and the Steelers host the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, and he’ll be a top option at the position after the success of Lamar Jackson two weeks ago and the Cowboys’ defense dealing with multiple injuries.
If Fields has already been scooped up in your league (still only 30% owned), Sam Darnold has looked great and is owned in just over 50% while Andy Dalton has looked solid in his two starts.
RB Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville Jaguars
I featured Bigsby in my first Waiver Wire post of the season, but the second-year running back is still only owned in barely over 10% of fantasy football leagues. Right after I featured him, Bigsby missed Week 2 with a shoulder injury. He was able to play through the issue in Week 3 but was limited to just nine snaps.
In Week 4, Bigsby was back to his full usage and played 29% of the Jaguars’ snaps. He looked extremely effective and racked up 90 rushing yards. He broke off a 58-yard run in the third quarter and was given two chances to finish off that drive with a touchdown, although ultimately he didn’t score. Bigsby was noticeably absent in the fourth quarter, though, as the Jaguars went back to Travis Etienne Jr., who struggled as the Texans rallied to beat the Jaguars.
Etienne was banged up early in the game, and the Jaguars could look to reduce the wear-and-tear on him while also getting Bigsby more involved going forward. Next week, the Jags will continue to search for their first win at home against the Colts.
It’s also definitely worth double-checking to see if Chase Brown or Bucky Irving are available in your leagues since they seem to be getting more work in their timeshares and bring very high ceilings. Trey Sermon is worth considering if Jonathan Taylor’s ankle injury is an issue, while Panthers rookie Jonathon Brooks is eligible to return from the IR next week as well. Jeremy McNichols had a breakthrough game for the Commanders, but his role is uncertain when Austin Ekeler returns from his injury.
TE Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tight end continues to be a tricky position to find reliable production this season. Tucker Kraft was actually the most productive option at the position in Week 4, but I like Cade Otton as a better pickup going forward since he is so involved in the Bucs offense.
Otton has been targeted a total of 17 times in the last two weeks. He totaled 13 catches for 99 yards in those two games but hasn’t scored a touchdown yet this year. Last year, he had four touchdowns and finished with 455 yards while playing all 17 games with Baker Mayfield and the Bucs.
Baker obviously trusts Otton and should continue to funnel targets his way when the Bucs visit the Falcons and Saints in the next two weeks—both critical divisional battles. Whenever the Bucs have to throw a lot, Otton will be a fringe TE1 with good upside, which makes him the best option on most leagues’ waiver wires. He’s only owned in about 15% of leagues.
Seahawks DST
If you’re looking for a streaming DST in Week 5, check out the Seahawks, who are available on 75% of waiver wires. The Seahawks have not played yet in Week 4, but they have at least looked good in the first three weeks of the season. They have given up an average of only 13 points per game while forcing three turnovers and piling up 12 sacks.
They’ll be on a short week after playing in Detroit on Monday, but they’ll be coming home to host Daniel Jones and the Giants. New York has turned the ball over six times in their four games while allowing nine sacks and averaging only 15 points per game.
If Seattle is off the board, some other waiver wire options to consider include the Packers (at the Rams), the Colts (vs. the Jaguars) and the Bears (vs. the Panthers).
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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