Fantasy Football 2019 Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice
Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the ownership percentage coming from Yahoo.com.
Quarterbacks
Jacoby Brissett, Colts (35% Owned): Brissett couldn’t lead the Colts to a victory at home in what looked like a favorable matchup, but you don’t really care much about wins and losses as a fantasy owner. You’re concerned with production, and Brissett put up numbers against the Oakland defense, even without his star receiver T.Y. Hilton. Brissett threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns, and threw in 19 rushing yards on five carries. The rushing hasn’t been there for Brissett, but he’s mobile-ish and a big body near the goal line, so I do expect some rushing touchdowns before the season’s out. He also has plus matchups for the next three weeks: at Kansas City, and home for Houston and Denver, all of whom are outside the Top 15 in Defensive DVOA per FootballOutsiders.
Running Backs
Ronald Jones III, Buccaneers (44% Owned): Jones will continue to be difficult to trust, but at this point he’s got to be owned almost universally. He saw 14 carries against the Giants in Week 3, and that total rose to 19 against the Rams. He turned those attempts into 70 yards and a touchdown; it wasn’t the most efficient game you’ll ever see, but Peyton Barber was limited to just nine carries so the baton might’ve been passed. The Bucs offense still revolves around Jameis Winston and their two star receivers, so Jones isn’t going to be more than an RB2 at best for now, but with bye weeks approaching he’ll be a useful fill-in.
Jordan Wilkins, Colts (2% Owned): Marlon Mack left Week 4 with an injury, and we won’t have clarity on his status by the time waivers clear. That means putting in a bid on Jordan Wilkins, who has been very efficient in extremely limited work in 2019. In Week 2 he put up 82 yards on just five carries, and then rushed for 17 yards this past week on four attempts. With the Chiefs on deck – the worst rushing defense in the NFL through the first three weeks – Wilkins is a must-start if Mack can’t go.
Wide Receivers
Diontae Johnson, Steelers (5% Owned): In the preseason I mentioned that Johnson could be a Martavis Bryant-esque player (strictly on the field!) if given the opportunity. So far, that’s come to fruition. Johnson has lapped James Washington for targets, and he’s making big plays. In Week 3 he caught three balls for 52 yards and a touchdown. He took advantage of the Bengals last night for six receptions, 77 yards and another score. Johnson has a clear rapport with new QB Mason Rudolph, and has benefitted from defenses focusing on teammate Juju Smith-Schuster. He’s seen six targets in back-to-back games, and hasn’t been targeted fewer than four times in 2019. Right now he’s a high-upside, high-risk FLEX but another week like this and suddenly he’ll be looking like a nice little WR2.
Geronimo Allison, Packers (24% Owned): Allison isn’t having the year I’d hoped for him with Matt LaFleur on the sideline, but he has scored in two of the past three games, and I expect his role to increase for as long as Davante Adams is sidelined. I wouldn’t go crazy with FAAB; we don’t know if Adams’ injury is serious, and Allison’s low target share has been alarming. But he’s definitely a receiver Aaron Rodgers looks for in the end zone, so I’m very comfortable firing him up in three-WR formats.
Cole Beasley, Bills (12% Owned): Beasley can’t be ignored like this any longer. He’s been over 40 yards in every game this year, and received 10 and 13 targets, respectively, in each of the last two games. Beasley is becoming a PPR machine, hyper-targeted in a Bills offense that lacks quality pass-catchers. Beasley is far from a big-play threat, and he’s not going to find the end zone much, but if your league rewards receptions, he’s a high-floor FLEX and a WR2 in full-PPR. I am a bit worried about him if Josh Allen can’t go, and he’s stuck with Matt Barkley, but even then he runs such short routes he may still be able to pad his reception total.
A.J. Brown, Titans (12% Owned): Brown looks like an actual monster on the field. He’s freakishly big for a wide receiver, he’s fast AF and he runs super crisp routes. If he wasn’t on the Titans, he’d probably be making a bigger splash this season, and as it is he’s had two huge games already. Last week he put up 94 yards and two touchdowns on just three catches. In Week 1, he totaled 100 yards, again on just three grabs. The Titans need to wake up, put him on the field for more snaps, and feed him. Brown has yet to see even 50% of the snaps in a game. That’s a disturbing misuse of a first round wide receiver who is clearly setting himself apart as a game-changer. Expect Mike Vrabel to look at the film, have his jaw drop, and get Brown a bunch more targets moving forward.
Preston Williams, Dolphins (9% Owned): Williams remains the most targeted Miami Dolphin. Last week he was thrown to seven times, catching four passes for 46 yards. He’s not going to be super appealing most weeks because this team is appallingly bad, but in a bye week crunch you can plop Williams into your lineup and at least feel confident he’ll have the opportunity to not throw up a doughnut.
Tight Ends
Jimmy Graham, Packers (37% Owned): Graham has been off the fantasy radar because he has been a touchdown-dependent option in Green Bay who has a painfully low target share. In Week 4, however, he saw nine targets and scored a touchdown. That’s more likely to be the case with him for as long as Adams is out with his foot injury. Graham will still be risky, but at minimum he should see enough of a rise in targets in this window to avoid putting up zeroes.
Chris Herndon, Jets (19% Owned): Herndon has some buzz, because of his 39-catch, four-touchdown campaign last year. At TE, those qualify as useful numbers. He will have a role once he’s back in the lineup in Week 6, and going for him now will probably allow you to spend very little, or possibly $0 in FAAB. I don’t view him as a particularly enticing weekly play, but some folks are in dire straits at the position. Herndon has some big play upside, and reliably reels in his targets (69.6% catch rate).