Top fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 5

You know what’s an awful part of fantasy football that everyone has to deal with? Injuries. And there were plenty this weekend as a few starting backs went down (can someone in Jacksonville sacrifice their hamstring so Leonard Fournette will finally have a healthy one?), a couple of wide receivers left games early, and multiple tight ends got banged up, the one position you thought couldn’t sustain anymore injuries (pour some out for Tyler Eifert, again). Injuries suck.

So, here are the players you should be instantly adding to your fantasy team to help replace some of those injured stars (percent owned in Yahoo leagues).

Also, since Ginger Nic does an undervalued QBs to add article each week (look for that either today or tomorrow), I figured I don’t need to step on his toes and include quarterbacks in this list. Buuuuuuut if you want to add a quarterback, it’s Mitchell Trubisky. Get him.

RB Nyheim Hines, Indianapolis Colts (14 percent owned)

Welcome to the Nyheim Hines breakout week! If you’ve been listening to the RB1 podcast, you know that Clark has been preaching the coming of this day for weeks and you should already have this man nicely stashed on your bench. I do. However, if you’ve been to busy to listen to the gospel of Clark, now is the time to correct the error of your ways and get Hines onto your team. While he didn’t do much on the ground, Hines caught nine balls for 63 yards and a touchdown and is becoming an integral part of the Colts’ passing game.

RB Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns (19 percent owned)

Chubb looked like pre-injury Chubb against the Raiders on his two long touchdown runs. Ultimately, it was two home run plays on only three carries—final stat line: three carries, 105 yards and two touchdowns—which isn’t exactly the kind of production you can reliably start week to week. Hopefully the Browns will look to get Chubb more touches in the coming weeks after his explosion. At the very least, if you have space on your bench, he’s a good handcuff to Carlos Hyde who’s averaged under 3.0 yards in half of his games so far this year.

RB Mike Davis, Seattle Seahawks (2 percent owned)

With Chris Carson inactive for this game, everyone thought this would be the time we finally saw first-round pick Rashaad Penny hit the field. Alas, that didn’t happen as it was Mike Davis who came in and gave the Seahawks some sign of life on the ground. Davis tallied 124 total yards and rushed for two touchdowns. Fingers crossed that even the Seahawks can’t ignore a performance like that an commit their backfield to Davis moving forward.

RB Tarik Cohen, Chicago Bears (62 percent owned)

Normally I don’t include players over 50% owned but just in the rare off chance Cohen is available in your league, GET HIM! Finally we saw him used as the multifaceted back he is rushing for 53 yards on 13 carries—taking touches from Jordan Howard, much to my and many Howard owner’s dismay—and added 121 yards on seven catches and a touchdown. With Trubisky seeming like he’s getting this offense, don’t be surprised if that COHENsides (nailed it) with Tarik’s stock rising.

WR Dede Westbrook, Jacksonville Jaguars (17 percent owned)

Westbrook will surely be the most popular Jaguars’ receiver to be added this week after Blake Bortles’ big game Sunday as well he should. Unlike Donte Moncrief who’s touchdown dependent (but might also be worth a stash), Westbrook received 13 targets Sunday against the Jets and clearly is a go-to target for Bortles when Bortles is on. Next the Jaguars face the Chiefs and we all know what that means fantasy wise. Get and start Westbrook.

WR Keke Coutee, Houston Texans (2 percent owned)

Nothing to see here other than a rookie receiver missing the first three weeks of the season and then receiving 15 targets on his first game back. Yup, nothing to see, keep moving folks. Coutee hauled in 11 catches for 109 yards as the speedy receiver added yet another field stretcher to the Texans’ offense. With Will Fuller leaving Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury, Coutee was able to help fill that void and likely will be filling it moving forward (no word on Fuller’s expected absence). He’s a tempting add and at least worst a stash in deeper leagues.

WR Ryan Grant, Indianapolis Colts (4 percent owned)

I’ve seen Grant’s name pop up in a couple of lists throughout the season so far and each time I’ve scoffed because he hasn’t put up any absurd games yet. But what he has put up is steady production this season, scoring double digits in three of the four games this year. He may not be a WR1 but he certainly is comfortably bathing in FLEX pools and could dip his toe into WR2 waters moving forward. Plus, T.Y. Hilton is unlikely to play Week 5 against the Patriots which gives Grant even more value.

WR Taywan Taylor, Tennessee Titans (3 percent owned)

Yes, I’m talking about the Kiboshed Titans BUT they did take a nice step into fantasy relevance, and my good side, Sunday putting up 26 in overtime on the Eagles. While it was Corey Davis who had the big game (FINALLY) catching nine balls for 161 yards and a touchdown, Taylor also had a good game as the second receiver, catching seven balls on nine targets for 77 yards. We’ve seen WR2’s around the league have serious fantasy value (*cough* Calvin Ridley *cough* Tyler Boyd *cough*) and Taylor could be the latest to join the list.

TE Geoff Swaim, Dallas Cowboys (0 percent owned)

Swaim has two big things going for him: he’s the Cowboys’ clear cut starting tight end and he’s definitely available in your league. That’s about it. His 16 targets for 11 catches and 106 yards and a touchdown so far this season certainly doesn’t paint the picture of a disruptive tight end but he’s averaged six targets the last two games and could certainly fall into the endzone against a Texans’ defense that’s allowed the second most touchdowns to tight ends this season.