Top Fantasy Football QB, RB, WR, TE Waiver Wire Targets, Stashes, and Streamers (Weeks 5, 6, 7, 8)

October 3, 2026

John's fantasy football waiver wire targets at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end for Weeks 5, 6, 7, and 8. His top Fantasy football streamers to target.

The players you snag on waivers early in the season can often be the difference between your team making and missing the playoffs. Even if you're 3-0 right now and have an excellent team, you don't want to fall behind because you slept on some waiver pickups.

Injuries to star players can happen at any time, which could leave you without viable starters for many spots on your starting lineup if you don't act quickly and get replacements. It's not ideal to rely on players you didn't draft to win games, but you never know what will happen.

Even if a waiver pickup only has a few good games, that may be all you need to fill in starting gaps on your roster and survive with a winning record. So which players at QB, RB, WR, and TE should you pick up off waivers for Weeks 5, 6, 7, and 8 for fantasy football in 2026?

Jacoby Brissett, QB, Arizona Cardinals

Brissett gave us a taste, yet again, of what the Cardinals offense can do in garbage time for fantasy football. Arizona got blasted by divisional rival San Francisco 49ers. As the game got out of hand, we got to see flashes of 2025 Brissett, and he finished with three total touchdowns and 25.6 fantasy points.

The Cardinals play a ridiculous stretch of offenses later in the season. They are at their best for fantasy football when they get crushed early in the game. Brissett is the best garbage-time fantasy football quarterback in the NFL, and his pass-catchers benefit massively as a result.

The Cardinals have the perfect setup to rack up a mountain of garbage time fantasy points.

Week 5 Opponent: Lions
W6: Rams
W7: Broncos
W8: Cowboys
W10: Rams
W11: Chiefs
...
W16: Saints
W17: Raiders

That's 8 good offenses that could easily blow them out.

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) October 2, 2026

He should be a priority waiver pickup for the upcoming stretch of games against tough offenses, especially in the upcoming weeks starting with Week 5. In his 12 starts last season, he averaged 19.6 PPR fantasy points, which is absolutely awesome for a player you can get for free right now.

He's only rostered in 17 percent of leagues.

Kirk Cousins, QB, Las Vegas Raiders

Another fantasy football cheat code at the signal-caller position is literally just whoever is the starting quarterback in the offense designed and run by Klint Kubiak. He's the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. In just one offseason, they've gone from one of the worst offenses in the NFL to a 3-0 team.

Cousins is the QB9 overall in fantasy football after three games despite having nearly no rushing upside. He's thrown nine touchdowns, three in each contest, and turned the ball over just three times. He scored 22.2 PPR fantasy points against the New Orleans Saints in Week 3.

Brock in business! #LVvsNO | 📺 Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/vGjKdCxmyM

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 27, 2026

Cousins is a QB who's capable of running an offense effectively. He follows instructions, makes the right reads, delivers accurate-enough passes, doesn't try to play out of structure too often, is good at breaking down defenses, manages the pocket well, and can audible plays effectively when he doesn't like the looks.

"Game Manager" is almost an insult at this point, but he's a solid QB that Kubiak can utilize to run his offense well. That matters in fantasy football. Cousins is one of the better waiver pickups at his position right now -- despite his excellent play so far, he is still only 39 percent rostered.

Najee Harris, RB, New York Giants

Harris is the clear RB2 for the New York Giants right now. He's supplanted running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (knee), who has gotten almost zero playing time through three weeks. His habit of getting crushed in pass protection led to the Giants signing Harris, who is starting to get a bigger workload.

Tracy is dealing with a knee injury right now and is practicing in a limited fashion. But even in the three games he's played, he's hardly taken snaps and has only seen three carries. He massively blew a blocking rep that led to Jaxson Dart getting hit hard earlier in the year and coughed up a costly fumble on a carry in Week 1.

Tyrone Tracy fumble... pic.twitter.com/uQlUUs2YhM

— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) August 22, 2026

This happened after a play in the preseason in which Tracy fumbled the ball without even being touched by the defense. His Giants tenure may be close to being over. Harris is now the direct backup and handcuff to lead running back Cam Skattebo.

Generally, it's hard to get much more than a high-upside handcuff when perusing the waiver wire for running backs in fantasy football, except in cases in which the starter gets injured. Harris is a good player to stash on benches, as he'd move into a workhorse role if Skattebo missed time.

Ted Hurst III, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 0-3 to start their 2026 season despite there being high hopes for their offense entering the year. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield (thumb) is set to miss at least three weeks with a thumb injury. He wasn't playing well even when he was on the field, though.

Hurst, a mid-round draft pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, is one of the few bright spots for the team right now. He hasn't had many opportunities, but he's made the most of them, taking his six receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown. And he's playing in more than 70 percent of his team's offensive snaps each game.

Bucs Rookie WR Ted Hurst has a chance to be Special... pic.twitter.com/dd9T99C8ZV

— RealBucsTalk (@RealBucsTalk) September 16, 2026

Hurst has an 88th route-win-rate percentile ranking, yet has seen a low rate of targets. He's looking like one of the gems of this draft class. The looks will come; these things just take time for rookies. He's an excellent bench stash with a potential breakout looming.

Mayfield has played very poorly this season. There's a chance undrafted rookie backup Jalon Daniels, who will start for the next few weeks, can be a more productive passer.

Tre' Harris, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers are dealing with major problems with their pass-catching corps right now. WR1 Ladd McConkey (foot) is currently dealing with a foot injury and likely playing through broken ribs right now. He's been less productive than expected.

Chargers WR Quentin Johnston hasn't been hurt, but his play is leaving much to be desired. Despite plenty of hype heading into the season for Johnston in offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel's system, Johnston still struggles to make plays.

Tre Harris gave us plenty to believe in against Buffalo.

6/7 for 76 yards. Led the team with career highs in catches, targets and yards. 30 YAC. 3 first downs. Two 20+ plays.

He’s giving Herbert every reason to keep looking his way. pic.twitter.com/Xf3AXKhVip

— Tino ⚡️ (@TinoFromTheQ) October 3, 2026

And with injuries to tight ends David Njoku (fibula) and Charlie Kolar (forearm), not to mention tight end Oronde Gadsden II failing to replicate his meteoric rookie season success, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has started looking Harris' way more.

The Ole Miss product didn't do much his rookie season, and offseason hype didn't follow him around much. But he was clutch in Week 3 when his number was called, and made a multitude of solid catches. He also ran some excellent routes and got open against a variety of coverages.

WRs take time to develop in the NFL, and we can write off his poor rookie season as insignificant. The way things are shaking out, though, he should be added in all leagues and stashed on benches, and in deeper leagues, he has WR3/flex appeal.

Tyler Higbee, TE, Los Angeles Rams

The injury to Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (groin) could be something that lingers for the rest of the season, which would cause him to miss multiple games. There's also widespread speculation that he has a sports hernia injury, which could require surgery that would sideline him for up to eight weeks.

In Nacua's absence, the Rams tight ends got much more heavily involved in the offense in Week 3. Higbee, at 33 years old, scored 20.2 PPR fantasy points by catching eight of his 11 targets for 62 yards and a touchdown.

Tyler Higbee, are you kidding me???? pic.twitter.com/qRObDfMW6b

— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) September 28, 2026

Higbee is a talented TE who is clearly still capable of playing at a high level. Being stuck behind Nacua and another elite wideout, Davante Adams, just has a way of making good-but-not-incredible players disappear in the smoke.

Higbee should be a starter in fantasy football leagues in Week 4, as the Rams other top tight end, Terrance Ferguson (ankle) was placed on the injured reserve. The veteran tight end can have legit TE1 upside for the next month.

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