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Alex's fantasy football WR waiver wire pickups for Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season. Free agent wide receivers to add, stream, and stash off waivers.
Welcome back, RotoBallers, to Week 5's edition of our fantasy football wide receiver waiver wire pickups. Can you believe that we're nearly (essentially) a quarter of the way through the season? Time flies! Week 4 has graced us with another Monday Night Football doubleheader (NYJ/MIA, CIN/DEN), so we haven't quite mined all of this weekend's data yet. Even so, there were plenty of happenings to talk about.
Sunday night's matchup between the Cowboys and Packers was full of fantasy goodness, undoubtedly altering the outcome of many a fantasy matchup. There were quite a few massive performances to go around in Week 4, but the biggest news of the weekend is the potential loss of New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers (knee); more on that below. For now, we'll do our best to prepare for all potential outcomes.
With bye weeks beginning in Week 5, now is the perfect time to plan for when you may be without a few of your starters. This upcoming week may be marginally more challenging to navigate, as Chicago, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta all take a week off. Still, all assets listed below are available in greater than 50% of leagues and, as always, are featured in priority order. That said, please consider your league's scoring when evaluating prospective claims. Good luck in your matchups next week!
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Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Darius Slayton, New York Giants - 2% rostered
Both Giants' wideouts will get a mention this week with the injury to Nabers (knee), and the more I watched Jaxson Dart play, the more it feels like Darius Slayton is the pass-catcher to target in New York. Slayton saw one fewer target than running mate Wan'Dale Robinson (four), but caught the same number of passes as the latter (three) and gained an extra 30 yards (44).
More so, Dart missed Slayton on a fairly wide-open touchdown and didn't see him streaking on another potential one.
Those will come as the rookie field general grows more comfortable. I was actually impressed with his first start, especially since it came against a tough Chargers defense. Dart didn't look over-matched, was able to extend plays effectively with his legs, and did a fair amount of damage as a rusher.
With all this in mind, he only attempted 20 passes in Week 4. There's room to grow, but the Giants will lean on Cam Skattebo and the ground game to ease Dart's burden, at least early on. In turn, neither Slayton nor Robinson projects to post gaudy numbers. However, Slayton should get the more valuable targets.
This feels very similar to the Keenan Allen/Quentin Johnston situation we had following Week 1, albeit a "lite" version. Robinson has the higher floor, but Slayton has the higher ceiling.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kansas City Chiefs - 3% rostered
JuJu Smith-Schuster has done this quite a few times in recent history -- popping off for a decent fantasy finish to have fantasy managers clamoring over him on the waiver wire. Notably, he's found a way to vanish shortly thereafter every time, usually because of injury. When the veteran is healthy, however, he typically performs well, and now is an excellent time to utilize him with bye weeks right around the corner.
TO THE NINES 🙌 pic.twitter.com/y2s4l7Xf8d
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) September 28, 2025
The return of teammate Xavier Worthy opened up a lot of room for the other receiving options in KC, so despite Smith-Schuster's mediocre 4/36/1 line, he was second on the team in targets (six) and has now hauled in at least four catches in three of four outings. Fellow wide receiver Rashee Rice's impending return will likely significantly dent Smith-Schuster's target share and playing time, but that won't happen until Week 7.
Troy Franklin, Denver Broncos - 32% rostered
Troy Franklin's ownership is down slightly from last week, which isn't surprising considering he caught just two passes for eight yards in their loss to the Chargers in Week 3. As of this writing, Denver has yet to compete against the Bengals in Week 4's finale, but Franklin should still be on your radar.
As reported in last week's feature, the Oregon alum is out there on nearly as many snaps as teammate Courtland Sutton. Furthermore, the snap gap between him and Sutton (25) is much closer to that of Franklin and the next-closest Denver wideout (Marvin Mims Jr. [50]).
The jury is still out on the play-calling in Denver, but you can sign me up for Bo Nix's second option in the pass attack any day.
Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers - 39% rostered
I penciled Romeo Doubs in for the feature this week as soon as he crossed the goal line for the first time in Sunday night's wild 40-40 tie with the Cowboys. Little did I know he'd erupt for a week-winning six-catch, three-touchdown effort. You'd like to see more than 58 receiving yards, but such is life when you're a receiver in the Packers' offense.
Doubs again led Green Bay's WR corps comfortably in snaps, and continues to be a favorite of quarterback Jordan Love's down in the red zone.
A HAT TRICK FOR ROMEO DOUBS
📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/05PXhoW8V0
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 29, 2025
The California native is the only Packers wide receiver to record a target inside the opponent's 15-yard line, and the only one to command more than one inside the 20 (three). Even though the overall volume may not be there for the fourth-year pro to garner weekly WR1 status, he's a solid fantasy play.
Despite Love falling outside the top 10 in red zone pass attempts, he's tied for second in touchdowns (five). Doubs has the best chance to catch one when the Pack is threatening.
Elic Ayomanor, Tennessee Titans - 31% rostered
I don't blame you if you're tired of reading about Elic Ayomanor, but his ownership should be higher. Forget the fact that Tennessee got goose-egged by the Houston Texans in Week 4, as rookie signal-caller Cam Ward faced yet another staunch defense to start his NFL career, and let's focus on the positives instead.
For starters, Ayomanor led Tennessee in targets (seven) and receiving yards (44), and per early snap data, he led the Titans' wideouts there, too.
As evidenced already, Ward's growing pains will limit the Stanford alum as he continues to adjust to life in the NFL -- the young QB missed him on what would have been another big gainer in Week 4. Still, Ayomanor continues ascending, and if he's going to start running as Tennessee's No. 1 option out wide, the spike games will come, as will more consistency.
It'd be nice to see some more out of Ward, but Ayomanor is a firm hold in redraft leagues, and increasingly more interesting by the week in dynasty.
Deeper Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Pickups
Wan'Dale Robinson, New York Giants - 49% rostered
With Giants' wide receiver Nabers (knee) suffering what is thought to be a torn ACL, teammate Robinson -- and all Giants' pass-catchers -- should get a bump in production. The University of Kentucky product didn't have a particularly productive day in rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart's NFL debut, reeling in 3-of-5 passes for 14 yards.
He did lead New York in targets, though, and figures to operate in a 1A/1B fashion with Darius Slayton for as long as Nabers is sidelined.
Robinson isn't an overtly exciting player, but he'll benefit from an increased opportunity share. Moreover, he typically operates closer to the line of scrimmage and should give Dart a reliable option underneath. It might not be pretty, but there's some decent PPR upside for the 24-year-old when the Giants eventually give the rookie signal-caller a bit more freedom.
That said, Robinson loses quite a bit of value in standard leagues.
Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts - 4% rostered
There isn't much to go off of here with Alec Pierce (concussion) inactive for Week 4's 27-20 loss to the LA Rams, but he's still worth noting considering Daniel Jones' improved play. While Pierce sat with a concussion, it wasn't teammate Josh Downs operating as the No. 2 WR, but former Texas Longhorn Adonai Mitchell.
The second-year pro had a decent game in his own right (3/96), but Pierce should slot back into his role once healthy.
Mitchell lost a costly fumble on Sunday, which doesn't bode well for his playing time moving forward. Aside from that, Pierce appears to be the preferred option anyway. We'll need more tape on him to verify, but if he genuinely has begun to work more in the intermediate area of the field as he did in Week 3, it will raise his fantasy floor and ceiling.
If the Illinois native can get cleared for Indy's matchup with the Raiders in Week 5, he'll be a nice bye-week fill-in.
Isaiah Bond, Cleveland Browns - 0% rostered
Isaiah Bond has gotten run as the Browns' third wideout, but came into this Sunday's contest with the Lions ranked as the team's seventh-leading receiver in terms of targets and yardage. Bond got a bump in playing time during the 34-10 loss after teammate Cedric Tillman (hamstring) left the outing with an injury. Tillman entered the game without a designation, but battled hand and hip injuries during practice this week.
Bond turned his extra playing time into a team-leading 58 receiving yards, while his target (six) and reception totals (three) both placed second. The rookie is a burner, providing Cleveland with a legitimate deep threat to stretch the field, which should be beneficial in multiple ways.
great grab for a HUGE gain#CLEvsDET on FOX and NFL+ pic.twitter.com/MCydufCGxe
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 28, 2025
It's unclear how long Tillman will be out of service, but Bond becomes more interesting while that's the case. Additionally, the Browns continue to sport one of the highest pass rates in the league. It's only a matter of time before someone in this room of pass-catchers breaks out.
Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers - 9% rostered
This was a strange week for wide receiver production. The studs did their thing, and not many secondary options stood out, so we'll look ahead this upcoming week with another speculative add. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young's play against New England wasn't the most inspiring display, but a hobbled Chuba Hubbard and defensive back Christian Gonzalez tying up rookie Tetairoa McMillan all afternoon make it clear that Carolina needs another set of arms for its offensive weaponry.
Enter Jalen Coker (quad). There's a caveat here, and it's that Coker's availability is clouded in the short term. He was initially expected back for the team's Week 5 meeting with Miami, but it doesn't appear that he'll return when eligible. It isn't ideal, but in addition to the Panthers being bereft of depth at the skill position, the second-year pro had some nice outings as a rookie -- including a 110-yard outburst in Week 15.
Despite the inconsistencies early on, I think Young and Carolina will turn it around on offense. If your league has a few IR spots, there's little reason not to take a chance on Coker.
Thanks for reading, and happy hunting!
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