Hey folks! We cannot understate the importance of being in on Week 5 waiver wire players early while the free agency acquisition budget (FAAB) price is cheapest (or free!), so you can add them to your roster. This is not just for adding them to your roster so your league mates don’t get them first; this will help you build a strong roster that has depth and can provide some additional cover from the chaos of the NFL season.

As we know, nothing goes exactly to plan in the NFL, so we want you to be as prepared as possible to weather the uncertain storm of injuries, role changes, scheme changes, and any other general chaos that can happen in a given NFL season.

I’m Kevin Tompkins, and while I may not have drafted a running back ever, I have picked up quite a few in my day as a noted Zero-RB guy; luckily, it won’t just be the running back position I’ll be helping you all with this season.

Each week, I’ll provide five players as look-ahead players for the next week, who could be THE waiver wire claims for the following week. But they won’t be available in your league because you already have them. We’re already looking ahead to Week 5 players, so you can be ahead of the game since bye weeks are coming soon.

Note: I cannot be held responsible if these players get hurt in Week 4, so please don’t tweet me @ktompkinsii if that happens.

Week 5 Waiver Wire QB

Andy Dalton (QB – CAR)

ESPN Rostership (7.4%)

Believe it or not, the haters and losers (of which there are many!) will tell you that the Andy Dalton experience will not last. Sure, you’re probably correct. But with byes coming up for quarterbacks like Jalen Hurts, Jared Goff and Justin Herbert, Dalton looks like a solid streaming quarterback likely available in your league right this second.

Rarely does a team look so different with the same personnel but just a different quarterback, but that’s precisely what happened to Dalton, who became the first quarterback in 2024 to throw for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns—not Mahomes, not Stroud, not Allen, but Dalton. We live in wild times.

The times, they are a changing, though, as Dalton’s weapons will get a slight modification as Adam Thielen hit injured reserve following a hamstring injury suffered on a touchdown grab in Week 3, so first-round rookie Xavier Legette will get the first crack as an outside receiver across from Diontae Johnson. With matchups like Cincinnati, Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington in the next few weeks, Dalton should be rostered in more than 7.4% of leagues.

The honeymoon will end sometime, but eat and be merry with Dalton as a plug-and-play fantasy quarterback for now.

Week 5 Waiver Wire RB

Roschon Johnson (RB – CHI)

ESPN Rostership (9.2%)

What if D’Andre Swift is this season’s Miles Sanders? Well, we need to find the Chuba Hubbard then, and the first man up is Roschon Johnson. Johnson assumed the RB2 role in a very peculiar way, given who previously had that role and how Johnson got it.

*record scratch*

Johnson: “Yup, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how we got here!”

Well, now that Johnson has the role, it’s only a matter of time before Swift doesn’t have HIS role. Swift is the clubhouse leader through three weeks with the worst rush yards over expected (RYOE) with -83. Couple that with a 17.1% success rate, and that’s somebody who won’t be toting the rock for any NFL team, much less the one that paid him $24m over three seasons this past March.

Johnson was at least mildly productive, with 62 total yards on eight carries and four receptions. Since the Bears apparently don’t ever want to use noted efficiency star Khalil Herbert, we’ll roll with Johnson as the mystery box option. He gets the Rams in Week 4, so if you pick him up, you can plug him right into your flex if you need to. But he could be a solid low-end RB2 with some spike-week potential moving forward.

Emanuel Wilson (RB – GB)

ESPN Rostership (8.3%)

Cue the Bernie Sanders “I am once again asking” meme with Emanuel Wilson, as he’s in this article for the second straight week. His rostership jumped up 6.4%, which is still far too low. Wilson led the Packers in rushing yards last week with 12 carries for 50 yards, two receptions for 35 yards, and a nifty touchdown on a screen pass.

While we’re never confusing Wilson with being the top back in the Packers’ offense with Josh Jacobs being healthy, the contingency Wilson provides if something happens to Jacobs is vastly underrated. The Wilson bet is the exact same bet we were using to draft Marshawn Lloyd, so we’ve been directionally accurate there. It’s just a different back we’re using.

Even if Jordan Love returns to guide the Packers after an MCL sprain suffered in Week 1, look for the Packers to ease him in by continuing to lean toward the run game. Maybe not to the degree they’ve been outwardly hiding Malik Willis, but the run game should be fruitful enough to make Wilson a deep-league dart throw in the flex and 12-team formats, a priority bench stash with excellent upside.

Week 5 Waiver Wire WR

Xavier Legette (WR – CAR)

ESPN Rostership (23.1%)

For all the reasons and more that we are recommending fantasy managers to pick up, Andy Dalton, the first-round pass catcher who will now assume a much more significant role thanks to an injury, is a natural target as well. Xavier Legette should slide right into 75-to-85% of the routes this week when the Panthers face the Bengals in Week 4.

Diontae Johnson is the Panthers’ clear top receiver, and Adam Thielen was the second target. But with Thielen hurt and placed on injured reserve, who else is scaring you or providing adequate competition for Legette as he assumed the mantle of the second pass-catcher? Jonathan Mingo? Tommy Tremble?

The Panthers will finally get a fair chance to see what Legette can do after using the 32nd-overall pick on him in this past April’s NFL Draft. If he’s still floating around on waivers, go ahead and worst, he’s a speculative add to your bench, and if he doesn’t pan out, you can drop him. He comes with virtually zero risk but a massive reward if he can cement himself as the starter in Carolina this season.

Week 5 Waiver Wire TE

Zach Ertz (TE – WAS)

ESPN Rostership (37.8%)

Look, it’s gross, I know. I’m touting an old and not contractually obligated to like it, but I must report it as a fact: Zach Ertz is a passable low-end TE starter in fantasy leagues.

With the search going global for the Commanders’ second target after Terry McLaurin, Ertz has been solid yet unspectacular in his first three games this season, averaging 8.3 fantasy points and putting up two straight top-10 fantasy weeks a the position. The bar is set so low for tight ends in 2024 that it may as well be a limbo pole, but Ertz’s peripherals have been pretty good thus far.

Ertz is being used a bit more downfield with an 8.4-yard aDOT, and for a TE, taking 22.3% of the air yards in three games, that’s nothing to gloss over. It’s the same for his 17.8% target share from an ascending quarterback in Jayden Daniels. He’s becoming a star before our eyes, which should trickle down to McLaurin, Ertz, and other options within the Commanders’ offense.

For Ertz’s sake, we hope we’ll get some touchdown equity in a shootout environment as the Commanders head to Arizona to take on the Cardinals in the game with the highest over/under total of the entire slate at 50.5. Scoop him up to get consistent scoring with some decent upside to boot. Plus… revenge game narrative, anybody?

 

Kevin Tompkins is a contributor to Optimus Fantasy Football. Find more from Kevin on X (formerly Twitter) @ktompkinsii and right here on Optimus Fantasy.