Every week, plenty of fantasy football sleepers emerge with big weeks, especially at wide receiver with big games. Sometimes the “hits” come out of nowhere, but most of the time there are some contributing factors to predict success.
There are cheap receiver options available on the 10-game main slate and on many leagues’ waiver wires who have a chance to make an impact this week. While these players all rank well outside my top-25 plays at the position, they are still bargain options with upside if you need an emergency option for your team this week.
Here are my top five sleeper wide receivers for Week 5:
Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders ($4,100)
The Raiders will be without Davante Adams (hamstring) this week and maybe forever, depending on if they trade him away as is his “preference.” Without Adams, Tucker should step into a starting role for Vegas and he brings a very high ceiling for a play at just over $4,000 on DraftKings in DFS contests like the NFL $3.25M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].
Tucker was a third-round pick in 2023 out of Cincinnati but only had 19 catches in his rookie year. He’s already almost matched that total this season and could surpass it with a good week against the Broncos.
Two weeks ago, Tucker broke out against the Panthers with seven catches for 96 yards, a touchdown and 22.6 fantasy points. With Adams out last week, he started and caught 5-of-6 targets for 41 yards. While he didn’t catch a touchdown, he did run for a score on this play:
“Sticks” will be busy againt this week, especially with Jakobi Meyers ($5,500) likely drawing coverage from Denver’s shutdown corner Patrick Surtain. The Broncos have given up big games to secondary receivers in the past few weeks, and Tucker will look to continue that success and have his own surge this week as a great value play for DFS or a high-ceiling, plug-and-play option for season-long leagues.
Darius Slayton, New York Giants ($3,900)
The Giants head to Seattle this week but will be without key parts of their offense. Malik Nabers (concussion) has already been ruled out and Devin Singletary ($6,300; groin) is doubtful. While Tyrone Tracy Jr. ($4,300) will likely take over in the backfield and Wan’Dale Robinson ($5,600) will be lined up for a huge workload, Slayton could also get a big boost and be a strong play under $4,000.
Robinson is already getting a ton of targets, so he may not be able to take on too many more of Nabers’ looks. He’s also been limited in practice with a heel injury, although he doesn’t have an injury designation this week. Instead of more looks going to Wan’Dale out of the slot, Daniel Jones ($5,200) could look to get Slayton more involved, who will likely run many of Nabers’ routes from the outside.
Slayton led New York in targets and receiving yards last season. He has at least four targets in three of four games this season and is coming off a season-high 56 receiving yards last week against the Cowboys. He and Jones have had a solid connection in the past, and especially if the Giants are forced to air it out against Seattle, Slayton could get loose for a big play or two.
After last Thursday’s loss, coach Brian Daboll had good things to say about Slayton’s possible upside:
Kendrick Bourne, New England Patriots ($3,800)
The Patriots’ passing attack led by Jacoby Brissett ($4,900) hasn’t offered much production this season, but they will get a boost this week from the activation of Bourne from the reserve/PUP list.
Last year, Bourne was the Pats’ best pass catcher in a similarly struggling offense. He posted at least two receptions in all eight games before going down with a season-ending ACL tear and finished with 37 catches for 406 yards and four touchdowns.
He could reclaim his role as the team’s No. 1 receiver once he’s fully healthy, and getting him so extremely cheap for DFS this week makes him an intriguing play. He’s high-risk since he hasn’t played this season and may be on a snap count, but he brings a lot of upside against the Dolphins this week and as a season-long stash going forward.
Mack Hollins, Buffalo Bills ($3,100)
The Bills won’t have Khalil Shakir this week against the Texans, and while Keon Coleman ($4,700) is probably going to get most of the attention, don’t sleep on Hollins as another strong option for Josh Allen ($7,700) to rely on.
Hollins has drawn a lot of criticism from Bills fans after playing the second-most snaps on the team at WR and only managing one catch for five yards despite six targets. The bright side of that result is that the opportunity appears to be there for the veteran, but the downside is that he hasn’t been able to convert those chances to anything meaningful for fantasy yet this season.
Still, his salary is barely over the minimum and gives you a player already involved with more work at least this week with Shakir out. He was already playing over 60% of the team’s snaps on a regular basis and was more targeted last week than any other wide receiver.
You could take a chance on the rookie Coleman breaking out for a salary that is $1,600 higher. Instead, though, you can take a flier on Mack and use that salary savings to upgrade at another position.
Bo Melton, Green Bay Packers ($3,300)
All right, now it’s really time for a flier. The Packers are likely going to be extremely thin at wide receiver with Christian Watson (ankle) doubtful and Romeo Doubs (personal) suspended.
Melton has been getting hyped as a sleeper play because of his superior per-route metrics on a very small sample size. In 2023-24, he has a TPRR of 29.7% in his 101 routes and a YPPR of 2.69. If you aren’t totally familiar with the metrics, just know that in the top seven of fantasy points per route run, he joins Tyreek Hill, Nico Collins, Malik Nabers, Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb and Amon-Ra St. Brown–not bad company to keep.
Melton finished last year with 105 yards and a touchdown in Week 17 and 62 more yards in Week 18. He came up empty this season until catching one of three targets for 28 yards last week.
While Jayden Reed ($6,500) has the potential to be the No. 1 WR overall this week and Dontayvion Wicks ($5,000) was my top waiver wire pickup this week, I’m also very high on Melton getting in the mix against the Rams. Depending on how the situation plays out with Doubs, Melton could be a great season-long stash as well.
If you have to go with a punt play and are looking to swing for the fences, sprinkle some Melton into your lineups for this weekend to make them extra spicy!
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
