October 4, 2016

Tony Peters identifies deeper 2016 fantasy football PPR sleepers & Week 5 NFL waiver wire pickups. These PPR RBs, WRs & TEs should be added off the waiver wire as fantasy football sleepers.

What's up RotoBallers. Welcome to my deeper PPR league sleepers column for Week 5 of the NFL season. In this weekly article we are going to take a look at some deeper waiver wire options for PPR leagues, who could help out your team in this upcoming week.

Injuries have been mounting all over the league, giving way to many new names for PPR players to look towards as we enter the bye weeks and dog days of the fantasy football season. Though running back is a bit light this week when it comes to deep waiver wire suggestions, wide receiver continues to be the cup that overflows while tight end stays partially full.

The following waiver wire suggestions for Week 5 of the NFL season are all owned in 15% or less of Fleaflicker leagues.

Editor's Note: Once you're done here, be sure to read about more Week 5 waiver wire recommendations, for all other positions. Just click on any link: ALL - RB - WR - TE - QB - DEF - FAAB - CUTS

PPR Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Adds

Dontrelle Inman (WR, SD) - 2% Owned

Game-killing drop aside, Sunday was a massive day for wide receiver Dontrelle Inman. Coming into the Chargers' Week 4 matchup against the Saints, he had been mostly unused, catching 5-of-10 targets for 45 yards, and was essentially unowned in fantasy leagues of all shapes. But after catching 7-for-11 targets for 120 yards and a touchdown Sunday, that's about to change. With the Chargers sitting in last place in the AFC West with a 1-3 record and coming off an embarrassing loss, expect the team to come out guns a-blazing Week 5 against the Raiders, a team giving up the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season.

Eddie Royal (WR, CHI) - 12% Owned

After he was left as an afterthought during the Bears' Week 3 loss to the Cowboys, wide receiver Eddie Royal wasn't expected to be the focal point of the passing game Week 4. Yet, that is exactly what happened Sunday against the Lions as his 111 yards and one touchdown on seven targets put him atop the receiver pile. In retrospect, it makes sense that things broke in Royal's favor with fellow receivers Alshon Jeffery hampered by injuries and young Kevin White still learning on the job. With a tough matchup against one of the NFL's stingier defenses in terms of wide receiver fantasy production in Week 5 in the Colts, he won't find the end zone again. But Royal should be seen as quarterback Brian Hoyer's top catching threat going forward until those above him can get their acts together.

Robert Woods (WR, BUF) - 7% Owned

With star wide receiver Sammy Watkins being placed on the injured reserve list Friday, fellow receiver Robert Woods is now locked into the driver's seat of the top receiver slot for the Bills. He ended up being targeted 10 times, hauling in seven for 89 yards against a very good Patriots' defense that is ranked 23rd in points allowed to wide receivers this year. The Bills have three much-easier opponents to throw against coming up, starting with a Rams' defense that has allows the third-most yards to wide receivers with 847 and the most targets with 114, a recipe for fantasy delights.

Others: Jeremy Kerley (3% owned) finally made good on all the targets he has been receiving for the first time since Week 1 against the Cowboys and draws a similar middle-of-the-road defensive matchup Thursday against the Cardinals. Brice Butler (2% owned) was able to lessen the pain of no Dez Bryant on the other side of the field by going 5-for-9 for 41 yards and a touchdown, but his value is directly tied to Bryant's ability to play Week 5. Third-year receiver Corey Brown (0% owned) was one of the only bright points in the Panthers' 48-33 loss to the Falcons, though the uncertainty surrounding Cam Newton does take a bit of the shine off while facing a Buccaneers team giving up the most points to wide receivers this season.

PPR Running Back Waiver Wire Adds

Josh Ferguson (RB, IND) - 1% Owned

With little living in the waiver wire of value at running back owned in 15% or less of leagues, passing back Josh Ferguson is one of the lone gems (and even that is a stretch). Though he has essentially nothing to show as a rusher this season, he's now caught 17-of-21 targets for 117 yards over four games after Sunday's 7-for-10, 33 yard performance. Ferguson might not be able to land 10 targets again Sunday against the Bears, but desperate deep-leaguers should be able to at least squeeze another five out of him.

Kyle Juszczyk (RB, BAL) - 0% Owned

Running back Juszczyk broke out as a passing back unsurprisingly against the porous Raiders' defense in the Ravens' 28-27 loss Sunday, catching six of his seven targets for 56 yards. Considering that he came into the game with only four catches on six targets for 31 yards on the season, that wasn't hard to do. With rookie Kenneth Dixon rejoining the team and also featuring pass-catching back abilities, Juszczyk's time in the light may be short. But with a tasty matchup against a Redskins' defense giving up the second-most points to running backs this season, he should be able to put up a second straight PPR-useful performance.

PPR Tight End Waiver Wire Adds

Lance Kendricks (TE, LA) - 0% Owned

Though he has been anything but consistent this season, tight end Lance Kendricks is making enough noise to at least show up on PPR radars. As he's bounced between awful performance (two games with under two fantasy points) and acceptable (two with five-to-six points), he's caught 11-of-20 targets for 128 yards. Though the Rams' Week 5 matchup against the Bills looks bad on paper as they are ranked 25th in points allowed to tight ends this year, Kendricks had both of his good games against the similarly-ranked Seahawks (32nd) and Cardinals (28th).

Garrett Celek (TE, SF) - 0% Owned

With starting tight end Vance McDonald out with a hamstring injury, backup tight end Garret Celek took the reins against a Cowboys' defense that struggles to contain his position. He didn't burn them too bad, but catching all five of his targets for 79 yards was a solid effort from a player drawing his first start in quite awhile. If McDonald has to miss another game, those in need of tight end help in deeper PPR leagues should look to Celek. Though his Week 5 opponent the Cardinals are ranked 28th in points allowed to tight ends this season, as you now know from Kendricks' writeup above, they are very burnable from a PPR perspective.

Others: Cameron Brate (10% owned) made good on a solid Week 3 performance when the Bucs came up against a tough Broncos' defense Sunday by catching 5-of-8 targets for 67 yards and gets to follow that up with a Week 5 matchup against a Panthers' defense that is giving up the fourth-most points to tight ends this season. While Clive Walford (15% owned) has struggled the past two weeks, his Week 5 opponent the Chargers are ninth in points allowed to tight ends this season even after easily containing Coby "Invisible Man" Fleener in Week 4.