October 6, 2015

Ed Gorelik analyzes Week 5 sleepers available on your 2015 fantasy football waiver wire. These NFL running backs (RBs), wide receivers (WRs), tight ends (TEs) and quarterbacks (QBs) are fantasy football sleepers.

Waiver Wire Adds for Week Five

The fourth Sunday of the season is through, and the wackiness continues. The Jets toppled the Dolphins in London, while the Jay Cutler returned to the Bears to keep them from falling to the Raiders. And there's still another big matchup on tonight's Monday Night slate.

Week 4 was filled with some star-studded fantasy performances like matchup swinging games from Le'Veon Bell and DeAndre Hopkins, some unfortunate injuries to players like Steve Smith, and surprising performances from players that had already been written off like Tavon Austin and Doug Martin. Unfortunately, overall this slate of games didn't show a lot of potential waiver steals, but let's look at the players who represent the best waiver wire pickups going forward.

Below are some waiver wire pickups and sleepers for Week 5 who can have a potential impact for your teams. My piece won't cover all waiver wire adds and targets each week, as there are just too many with all the league types out there, but I'll be highlighting and prioritize the biggest impact players. Additionally, be sure to check out many more great RotoBaller articles and waiver wire analysis pieces at each position throughout the week, including risers/fallers, deeper league sleepers, rankings and more.

Week 5 Quarterback Waiver Wire Pickups

Sam Bradford (QB, PHI) - 58% Owned on Fleaflicker

There weren't any Quarterback performances this week that look good enough to make a QB worth picking up other than Sam Bradford's.

All the hype on Bradford took it's time to materialize, but against the Redskins it finally seemed like it came together. At least somewhat. Bradford threw 28 passes and connected on 15 with 270 yards and 3 passing touchdowns. That's just above 50% completion, which isn't great, but the touchdowns and yardage might show that this offense is going to be able to perform without needing a high volume. Regardless, the next opponent is far easier than the last one, as the Saints are currently ranked 32nd in the league in DVOA for pass defense and 31st in overall defense. That's as easy as a matchup can get for Bradford, making him an interesting waiver option this week for streamers/bye week fill-ins.

Other Quarterback Options: Nick Foles - 33% Owned, Brian Hoyer - 8% Owned, Jay Cutler - 25% owned, Alex Smith - 25% owned, Ryan Fitzpatrick - 12% owned, Michael Vick - 2% owned, Blake Bortles - 18% owned, Jameis Winston - 23% owned

Week 5 Running Back Waiver Wire Pickups

Duke Johnson (RB, CLE) - 47% Owned on Fleaflicker

Johnson is another player who's hype took time to materialize. Johnson is coming off his best game to date as a pro with 8 rushes for 31 yards and 9 receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown. Duke is still stuck in a pass catching role behind Isaiah Crowell but seeing as the Cleveland Browns project to be down often this year, that role is likely the more valuable of the two. This week, Duke's going to be seeing the Raven's defense- a team that should've been a good run defense but so far has been average. Baltimore's currently allowing on average 40 yards per game to running backs, at a DVOA rank of 21st making them amongst the easiest teams in the league to throw on when the target is a RB.

Ronnie Hillman (RB, DEN) - 52% Owned on Fleaflicker

It's surprising how low this ownership is. C.J. Anderson shows no hold on his starting job as he's been plodding his way to an unspectacular 2015 season. Meanwhile, Hillman started coming around this week showing much better running than Anderson, even outside of his big 72 yard run. It's becoming hard to ignore that Hillman is playing better than Anderson, even when the volume doesn't add up- and after this game there's reason to assume that he might start seeing more time. The Broncos see the Raiders next week, a pedestrian run defense with an offense that might struggle against what is shaping up to be one of the best defenses this year. With that in mind, the Broncos have a strong shot at being way ahead and giving a lot of carries to bleed the clock as a nurse they lead. It'll be a big opportunity for Hillman to potentially take over entirely from Anderson.

Other Running Back Options: Charles Sims - 49% Owned, Roy Helu - 14% Owned, Darren McFadden - 31% owned, David Johnson - 44% owned, Chris Thompson - 1% owned, Andre Williams - 14% owned, Charles Sims - 11% owned, Antonio Andrews - 9% owned, Cameron Artis-Payne - 2% owned

Week 5 Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Pickups

Tavon Austin (WR, STL) - 25% Owned on Fleaflicker

I'm not going to pretend that Tavon Austin deserves to be rostered but he should be considered. With the lacking amount of real talent on the Rams receiving squad, Tavon Austin stands out as the most obviously "talented" of the group. Essentially the argument for Tavon Austin boils down to this: someone on this offense has to get targeted and targets lead to production. This week, Austin saw 7 targets, caught 6 of them, and turned those into 96 yards and 2 touchdowns. This comes a week after a 5 target, 5 catch, 38 yard performance against the Steelers. If you've got a deep bench or are just lacking a bench player with upside, Austin could be the player that provides you with that spark your team needs.

Dontrelle Inman (WR, SD) - 1% Owned on Fleaflicker

Dontrelle Inman's name might bring up a lot of questions like "who is that?" but rest assured this is a player with some fantasy relevance. Inman was picked up by the Chargers from the CFL where he played two seasons that accumulated some not-so-impressive numbers. Still, the Chargers really liked what they saw out of him and signed him onto the team last year. Speaking of last year, in the two games Inman got the opportunity to start in place of Keenan Allen in 2014, he put up stat lines of 7 catches for 79 yards and 5 catches for 79 yards in back to back weeks. Coming in this week for an injured Malcom Floyd (concussion) and Stevie Johnson (hamstring), Inman had 3 catches for 88 yards including a big 68 yard reception. If either of Johnson or Floyd are going to miss time, Inman becomes part of the immediate lineup and as we all know, Rivers has no fear of spreading the ball around- giving Inman a lot of potential FLEX value.

On top of all that, the Chargers face the Steelers next week who are currently one of the worst passing defenses in the NFL. That leaves a lot of room for the Chargers offense to operate, and Inman could be a big beneficiary of that if either of the two WRs ahead of him miss time.

Willie Snead (WR, NO) - 4% Owned on Fleaflicker

All the hype was pointed towards Saints receivers Brandon Coleman and Brandon Cooks during the offseason. Meanwhile, Willie Snead has somehow managed to outdo them both. Snead currently leads the team in yardage (240 receiving yards) despite being 4th on the team in targets (22) and 3rd in receptions (16) and he's currently tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns (1). With Brees making his return to the lineup, he showed no fear of targeting Snead over and over as he separated from cornerbacks at will. Snead delivered, catching all six of his targets for 89 yards. With the supporting cast of receivers around him struggling, Snead's rise to relevance could be huge in an offense that has always made at least one fantasy star receiver a year.

Other Wide Receiver Options: Leonard Hankerson - 14% Owned, Allen Hurns - 22% Owned, Keith Mumphrey - 0% Owned, Stefon Diggs - 3% Owned, Chris Givens - 3% Owned, Cecil Shorts - 9% owned, Rueben Randle - 38% owned, Eddie Royal - 39% owned, Dorial Greene-Beckham - 18% owned, Ted Ginn - 33% owned, Ty Montgomery - 13% owned, Kamar Aiken - 2% owned, Michael Floyd - 34% owned, Cole Beasley - 10% owned, Kenny Britt - 10% owned, Jamison Crowder - 0% owned

Week 5 Tight End Waiver Wire Pickups

Gary Barnidge (TE, CLE) - 20% Owned on Fleaflicker

Man, let me tell you that I don't want to be endorsing Gary Barnidge. At 30 years old, with barely anything to show for his career, having a relevant fantasy season is so out of left field it's hard to believe.

It's actually incredibly similar to Justin Forsett last year, but I'm not going to make that comparison apples to apples just yet. Exactly like Tavon Austin's situation, there aren't great pass catchers on this team and whoever gets the targets has a chance to produce. So far, that person has been Barnidge who now has two straight weeks with at least 6 catches, 75 yards and a touchdown. In those two weeks he's seen 16 targets, second on the team to the even-more-surprisingly-fantasy-relevant Travis Benjamin.

Barnidge has an awful matchup this week against the Ravens, but he presents a chance at long-term value for the season if this start is real.

Ladarius Green (TE, SD) - 20% Owned on Fleaflicker

Green might see his value reduced next week, but I want to make a case here that he's been playing well. We all know that for the last two years the Chargers have been hyping him up, and we're now finally seeing what the results of that are. They have been very positive.

In the two games where Green started and finished he's seen six targets each. He finished one game with five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown, and another with four catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. Those are good numbers. That's an offense trying to get this player involved, and he's been showing up.

It's likely Gates cuts into Green's workload, but don't be so sure that he disappears until he actually does. This team wants Green to become their next tight end, and it's finally looking like he's on track to be that guy. On top of that, the injuries to Stevie Johnson and Malcom Floyd, if lasting, could leave plenty of targets on the field for both Gates and Green to share.

Other Tight End Options: Richard Rodgers - 25% Owned, Jake Stoneburner - 0% Owned, Antonio Gates - 62% Owned, Antonio Gates - 53% owned, Coby Fleener - 23% owned, Richard Rodgers - 16% owned, Larry Donnell - 38% owned, Jared Cook - 16% owned

Week 5 Defense (D/ST) Waiver Wire Pickups

Jacksonville Jaguars - 4% Owned & Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 8% Owned 

Yep, these two teams face each other this week. You can pick your poison if you're looking for a sleeper waiver wire defense because both of these teams have issues. Both quarterbacks are prone to getting sacked. Both quarterbacks are interception prone. Bother quarterbacks have weapons that can go off and completely ruin the choice you make. But either of them could also put up a multi-TD game.

So far, Bortles has only five games in his career without an interception, two of which have come this year. On the opposite end, Jameis Winston has only one game without an interception and two games with multiple interceptions. Expect an ugly game, and good luck figuring out which side is uglier.

Other Defense (D/ST) Options: New York Giants - 12% owned

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