Week Five Waiver Wire WRs
Week Five Waiver Wire: QB RB WR TE
Week four is behind us and some of you are starting to appreciate that this is a passing league. Yet you keep passing on all the waiver wire value at wide receiver. Some of you thought there was no chance Calvin Ridley would have back-to-back multi-touchdown games. And you were wrong. Some of you thought Amari Cooper would never have WR1 numbers again. And you were wrong. Some of you thought fantasy football could be fun. And oh boy were you wrong. Lucky for you, there are waiver wire running back options available to save you from yourself. If I don’t mention someone whom you think I should be talking about, just know there are many reasons why I overlooked them. Maybe they are owned in most leagues. Maybe they are so bad I don’t even consider them. Maybe it’s because your opinions cannot be trusted. After all, you are here. So let us examine what the best week five waiver wire WRs are.
Taylor Gabriel – Owned in 6% of leagues – Taylor Gabriel has quietly been a significant part of the Chicago Bears offense. The problem is, nobody in their right minds wants any part of a Chicago Bears offense. Especially Bears fans. Week four showed Bears fans something they had never seen before: An offense systematically destroying a defense. And Taylor Gabriel was a big part of that with 7 catches for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns. With the Bears on their bye, it probably isn’t worth grabbing him from the week five waiver wire WRs. However, if the Bears are on the cusp of turning things around on offense, Taylor Gabriel will be a very valuable fantasy commodity. You just have to ask yourself – do I trust the Chicago Bears on offense?
Keke Coutee – Owned in 1% of leagues – Keke Coutee, in his first start of the NFL season, had one heck of an impact. 11 catches for 109 yards was pretty impressive. He was one of the standouts for Houston during training camp but hadn’t seen the field due to a hamstring injury. Targeted 15 times in week four, he is definitely someone worth monitoring, and if you have the space to spare, you could even pick him up from the week five waiver wire WRs. But temper your immediate expectations.
Dede Westbrook – Owned in 14% of leagues – If you feel like going on the ride or die run with Blake Bortles, then Dede Westbrook could be the sidecar of your nightmares. On the one hand, Westbrook is leading Jacksonville in all significant categories for wide receivers. On the other hand, Westbrook does not have a lot of favorable matchups over the next few weeks. In week five, he does get to face off against a Kansas City defense that has given up the 10th most fantasy points to wide receivers, which makes him a decent deep league play among week five waiver wire WRs.
ABSURDITY CHECK – A.K.A WHY AREN’T YOU LISTENING TO ME!
Geronimo Allison – Owned in 45% of leagues – Last week, I questioned why Geronimo Allison is not owned in every league. Through four weeks, he is the WR26. That means that not only should he be owned in all leagues, he probably should be in your starting line-up. And yet, here he sits on the waiver wire. Are you trying to make Jeff Krisko cry? I thought I only needed to write this once, but apparently, I need to write this again: Geronimo Allison should be owned in all formats. Snatch him off the pile of week five waiver wire WRs and never look back.
Chris Godwin – Owned in 47% of leagues – While slightly less egregious than letting Geronimo Allison remain on the waiver wire, not owning Chris Godwin is equally dumb. Currently the WR39, Chris Godwin was fairly consistent through three weeks of the season. You might be thinking, but what about week four? He looked pretty bad against the Chicago Bears. Yeah, well everyone looks bad against the Chicago Bears defense these days. While you probably don’t need to grab him from the week five waiver wire WRs, since he is on a bye week, he should definitely be owned in all leagues.
Other notable week five waiver wire WRs to monitor
Taywan Taylor — Owned in 3% of leagues
Ted Ginn Jr. — Owned in 35% of leagues
Mohamed Sanu — Owned in 32% of leagues
