By Chris Dell / Ben Martinez
Welcome to our Betting Predators Waiver Wire column, which will be more of a catch-all space and a serve as a supplement to our weekly waiver wire rankings on the website. Please note, all players listed below are owned in less than 33.3% of ESPN leagues. Thank you for reading, as always, and don't hesitate to reach out with your fantasy questions - @MaddJournalist on Twitter. BOL on your FAB bids/ waiver claims!
Quarterbacks
Trey Lance 18.7% - Finally the wait is OVER. The chosen one Trey Lance has arrived, and what fantasy debut it was for Lance as he scored 20.38 fantasy points in one half of football. Lance completed 50% of his passing attempts (9-18) for 157 yards, 2 touchdowns and also rushed for 41 yards. The bad news for Lance in Week 5, however, is that the 49'ers play the Cardinals on the road next week then have a bye week. Lance is still a great stash for the future, and the 49'ers schedule gets easier towards the end of the season. For a standard fantasy playoff schedule format he would be facing Atlanta (Week 15), at Tennessee (Week 16), and Houston (Week 17) if he finishes as San Fran's starter. Lance could very well be the quarterback you are using in the playoffs to bring home a fantasy championship. FAB Bid: 20-25%
Daniel Jones 33.2% - Danny Dimes entered Sundays contest versus the Saints on a majority of fantasy benches. Down 2 of his top 3 wide receivers, what does Jones do? Jones throws for over 400 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus gets the win in overtime, that's what he does. Scoring over 20 fantasy points in 3 of the first 4 weeks this season, Jones has established himself now as the perfect streaming quarterback to use in Week 5 and possibly beyond.. Unfortunately the Giants schedule does not get any easier though, with Dallas (Week 5), the Los Angeles Rams (Week 6), and the Carolina Panthers (Week 7) all on deck and all difficult matchups. The bright side here, however, is that Jones has put up +20 points games against Denver and New Orleans. If you are having quarterback woes dues to injuries or bye weeks, then consider Jones an excellent streaming option even against top tier defenses in the NFL. FAB Bid: 5-10%
Sam Darnold 18.3% - Move over Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray! Sam Darnold isn't afraid to tuck the ball and run, making it now 2 weeks in a row Darnold where has rushed for 2 touchdowns and brought his total to 5 on the year. That is the same amount rushing touchdowns as Jackson and Murray COMBINED in 2021. Now in all seriousness, Darnold isn't going to be breaking QB rushing recorders or relying on his feet the way the Jackson and Murray do, but this newly-added weapon to the Darnold arsenal makes him another great streaming option for the coming weeks. Unlike Daniel Jones, Darnold has an amazing schedule ahead, facing Philadelphia (Week 5), Minnesota (Week 6), at NY Giants (Week 7) and at Atlanta (Week 8). Including the five rushing Touchdowns, Darnold has also thrown for five touchdowns and has posted 300+ yards passing in his past three games in a row. He's firmly a low-end QB1. FAB Bid: 5-10%
Honorable Mention: Matt Ryan 29.4%, Taylor Heinicke 10.2%, Tyrod Taylor 4.0% (STASH)
Running Backs
Damien Williams 10.2% - The number one add and highest FAAB dollars spent for Week 5 will be Damien Williams, as he's guy who has proven it in the past with the Chiefs that he can be counted on to carry the bulk load of rushing attempts and catch the ball out of the backfield. With David Montgomery looking to be out for at least two weeks (and possibly much longeR), Williams should at the very least offer an RB2 role with PPR upside for more. And IF the news comes out Montgomery will miss the entire season, then quite frankly fantasy owners should consider using all of their FAB money on Williams as he should fight for his spot in the top 15 RB's for the rest of the season in fantasy. Williams was a COVID-19 ppt out last year and should be fresh to finish the year. Montgomery averaged 17.25 rushing attempts per game, scored double digit fantasy points in 3 of 4 games, and was targeted 4+ times in 2 of 4 games. FAB Bid: 30-35%
Kenneth Gainwell 24.6% - We've now featured Gainwell in numerous columns for both our waiver wire pickups and our previous 'top streamers of the week' article. We went so far as in Week 1 to say "the fact remains this coaching staff went out of their way to draft Gainwell and believe in his abilities. In an efficient run scheme with Hurts under center we wouldn't be surprised to see Gainwell eventually force Sanders into a true two-way committee, and maybe even take over this job." Well, we feel the same way now in Week 5, and the results are beginning to show us the same thing. Gainwell, who averaged nearly 10 touches per game in his first two career NFL appearances, is now coming off a game in which he finished second on the Eagles in targets (8), second in catches (6) and nearly second as well in receiving yards (58), all career highs from the rookie out of Memphis. He outproduced Miles Sanders on the ground in Week 4 too, outgaining the veteran RB 31 to 13 on the ground despite seeing less than half the amount of carries (3 to 7) than Sanders. He WILL take over this backfield sooner rather than later. FAB Bid: 15-20%
(EXCEPTION TO THE 33% OWNERSHIP RULE) Latavius Murray 34.2% - We're breaking the rules of the 33.3%, BUT, Latavius Murray is undoubtedly now the Baltimore Ravens RB1 to own moving forward after a solid game against a tough Broncos defense on the road at Mile High Stadium. Murray is still quite touchdown dependent unless his role expands to the receiving game (which Le'Veon Bell handled mostly in Week 3), but he still offers a solid floor as a flex option if Ty'son Williams continues to be a healthy scratch. With matchups versus Indianapolis (Week 5), the Los Angeles Chargers (Week 6) and Cincinnati (Week 7), Murray offers a great waiver pickup option right now for fantasy managers with running backs' bye weeks coming up and injuries. Murray was counted on to carry the bulk of the Ravens rush attempts with 18 vs. DEN while gaining 50 of his 59 yards after first contact. He's also scored 3 TD's in 4 games, locking down the BAL red zone role and gaining the trust of the coaches in the process. FAB Bid: 10-15%
Samaje Perine 1.5%/Alex Collins 0.9% - Joe Mixon is one of the few work horse backs left in the NFL, averaging 20.75 carries a game. IF and ONLY IF Mixon misses Week 5 against Green Bay, then Perine should be considered a borderline flex at the very least in all formats. While Perine is averaging just 3.1 yards per carry on 9 attempts this season, 24 of those yards have been after contact. Perine hasn't carried the ball more then 100 times since his rookie season five years ago, sure, and Cincinnati will work rookie Chris Evans out of the backfield on passing downs if Mixon misses any time. As for Seattle's backfield, well, something frankly smells fishy for the Seahawks and its not coming from the infamous Pike Place Fish Market. Chris Carson has been capped at 14 rushing attempts for three weeks in a row now and Collins clearly appears to be Carson's handcuff, going so far as to carry the ball 10 time for 44 yards in a tight divisional contest in Week 4. Carson played just 25 snaps to Collins' 22 snaps, and if Collins' solid play continues we could even be looking at standalone value here. Either way, the fact Collins received extended run in this offense despite no official injury tag for Carson is very promising. FAB Bid: 5-10%
Honorable Mention: Peyton Barber 18.6%, Giovani Bernard 11.9%, Jeff Wilson Jr. 7.0% (STASH), Darrell Williams 5.9%, Marlon Mack 5.2% (STASH), Justin Jackson 3.7%, Kyle Juszczyk 3.4%, Larry Roundtree 2.2%, Jeremy NcNichols 2.1%, Darrynton Evans 2.1%, Wayne Gallman 1.9%, Brandon Bolden 1.5%, Jaret Patterson 0.9%, Chris Evans 0.5%, Khalil Herbert 0.2%
Wide Receivers
Jamison Crowder 14.6% - Welcome back, Jae Crowder. Seven catches on nine targets plus a touchdown makes Crowder our number one wide receiver add in a week that might just be the least exciting on waivers for the wide receiver position so far this year. The Jets are always going to be playing from behind a ton and Zach Wilson will keep improving, raising up the fantasy profiles of his pass catchers in the process. With Crowder playing out of the slot, Elijah Moore's return ultimately shouldn't impact Crowder's playing time or production either. Crowder's impending free agency should also be extra motivation for the seventh year wide receiver to show out this year and get paid. With a favorable match up against Atlanta this week in London, Crowder could feast once more against a very bad defense. FAB Bid: 5-10%
A.J. Green 27.2% - The Cardinals' wide receiver situation is as confusing as ever these days, but with bye weeks coming up for many fantasy owners and their players, A.J. Green might just be the right fit for at least the short term. While Kyler Murray has slung the ball all over the field to our fantastic wide outs and even given life to tight end Maxx Williams in this offense, it's Green who has actually benefitted the most here. Left for dead on the side of the road in Cincinnati, Green has produced in Arizona and is leading the Cardinals in receiving yards with 248, trailing the team target leader Hopkins by one, and is tied in the lead with Kirk in +20 yard plays with 5. Green is averaging 12.95 fantasy ppg and scoring in double digits in his last 3 games. He might not be the Green of old, but he's good enough to help you win. FAB Bid: 5-10%
Randell Cobb 13.6% - It took Cobb a long four weeks, but he finally has his break out game and it's no coincidence it comes in the Packers' first game without MVS (and Allen Lazard moving from slot receiver to an outside role). Cobb took advantage of his newfound opportunity, posting 5 catches on 6 targets for 69 yards and 2 touchdowns. Cobb was still out-snapped by Adams, Lazard, Tonyan and Lewis and ran less routes then the first three mentioned, but he's still a good deep league/superflex add with larger bench sizes. In a standard 12 team league he's worth a short-term flier until MVS returns. FAB Bid: 5%
Honorable Mention: Sammy Watkins 31.1%, Nelson Agholor 26.8%, Elijah Moore 22.4%, Josh Gordon 18.9%, Zach Pascal 18.3%, KJ Osborn 17.6%, Terrace Marshall 14.0%, Rashod Bateman 12.6%, Quintez Cephus 7.1%, Van Jefferson 5.3%, Amon-Ra St. Brown 4.7%, Marquez Valdes-Scantling 3.4% (STASH), Kadarius Toney 3.2%, Kendrick Bourne 2.2%, Quez Watkins 1.8%, Dee Eskridge 1.1% (STASH), Chester Rodgers 0.8%, Kalif Raymond 0.6%, Freddie Swain 0.5%, Josh Reynolds 0.4%, John Ross 0.2%
Tight Ends
Dalton Schultz 21.6% - The third highest scoring tight end in fantasy (coming into Monday Night Football) is trailing only Kelce and Gronk (Waller has yet to play as of this writing). Schultz has become a must start going forward. Against the Panthers in Week 4 Schultz even out-snapped Cooper and Elliott, while tying Lamb with 48 snaps. Schultz also led the team with 8 targets and 6 receptions and has shown tremendous rapport with Dak Prescott even in games where Dallas hasn't needed to pass the ball much with big leads. Schultz won't pop for multiple TD's every week, but he can be a TE1. FAB Bid: 5-10%
Dawson Knox 20.0% - Knox has scored double digit fantasy points in back to back weeks now, outsnapping every skill-based player Buffalo has with 58, ranking third in routes run with 25, and was second on the team in targets with 8 in Week 4. Buffalo is one of if not the healthiest football team in the NFL right now and with weapons like Sanders, Diggs, Beasley, and Davis at wide out, Knox is still producing and Allen trusts Knox to catch everything thrown his way. Year 2 breakout underway. FAB Bid: 5-10%
Evan Engram 30.4% - Someone in your league that just added Evan Engram will probably drop him this week. Engram hasn't had the greatest return fantasy wise since his debut in Week 4, but the game script that the G-Men will have to use going forward works in the favor of Engram. At Dallas (Week 5), Los Angeles Rams (Week 6) and Carolina (Week 7) are all tough match ups that will force Daniel Jones to have to throw the ball more. With injuries to Logan Thomas and Rob Gronkowski and certain highly drafted tight ends like Robert Tonyan and Kyle Pitts being let downs, Engram could be the answer you are looking for and he's essentially a free square with nothing to lose if you nadd him. He's been targeted 6 times in each of his last 2 games and even recorded a rushing attempt inside the redzone. FAB Bid: 2.5-5.0%
Honorable Mention: Tyler Conklin 23.4%, Zach Ertz 16.4%, Anthony Firkser 6.9%, Juwan Johnson 5.2%, Blake Jarwin 5.2%, Cameron Brate 4.9%, Maxx Williams 3.1%, Ross Dwelley 0.1%, Ricky Seals-Jones 0.0%
D/ST
Dallas 22.5% (vs NYG)
Green Bay 20.8% (at Cin)
Chicago 20.3% (at LV)
Minnesota 16.5% (vs Det)
Las Vegas 10.9% (vs Chi)
Los Angeles Chargers 2.5% (vs CLE)