Waiver Wire Analysis: Week 5

As a refresher, The Drop List consists of players who are no longer must-have assets, recommended additions are available in over 50% of Sleeper, ESPN, or Yahoo leagues, the Watch List contains in-depth notes on fringe waiver adds, and Deep Leagues includes player notes on potential waiver adds in 14-team and 20-round leagues.

If your roster is top-heavy and exclusively limited to the best long-term stashes, we recommend reviewing the One Injury Away list ahead of Week 5.

It’s offensive to fantasy football that Geno Smith, the QB9 in points per game, is available in a majority of Yahoo (45%) and Sleeper (42%) leagues while Aaron Rodgers (QB19) is rostered at all.

Zamir White fumbled (for an ensuing defensive touchdown) in the fourth quarter against Los Angeles, leading HC Antonio Pierce to claim Alexander Mattison will get “more reps” moving forward.

See Kareem Hunt‘s blurb amid the RB Rankings for any discussion on Carson Steele and Samaje Perine. In short, both can be dropped for Hunt and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, in that order.

Christian Watson was carted off with an ankle injury against the Vikings and is expected to be placed on injured reserve. Given the organization’s history in bringing him along slowly with 25%, 9%, 46%, and 41% of the team’s snaps in his first games back, Watson is projected to be unusable for fantasy through November.

Jalen Nailor was an afterthought behind Jordan Addison, earning two targets (7.4%) on only nine routes run. He can be dropped in the 14-team leagues he was being FLEXed in without Addison the three games prior.

Let me be clear: I am not advocating for you to drop Mark Andrews so much as letting you know it’s ok given Baltimore’s predictable game plans against the Bengals (31st in rushing Success Rate) and Commanders (28th). With 18 routes (46% participation) to Isaiah Likely‘s 25 (64%) the past two games, Andrews is a streamer and should be treated as such.

Averaging a career-worst 1.06 Yards Per Route Run (29th among TEs), Kyle Pitts has yet to finish any higher than third on his own team in target share. Much like Andrews, he’s a weekly streamer when the matchup calls for it (and that’s it).

Dalton Schultz’s season-high 12.8% target share from Sunday is a moot point since Tank Dell (chest) is expected back in Week 5. Schultz converted his meager 10% target share in his first three games into 11.8 total PPR points.