5 players to prioritize on the waiver wire for Week 5

It’s often easy to find yourself overwhelmed each week as you look at the waiver wire, wondering which player—or players, mind you—you should be adding to your fantasy football roster and spending your precious FAAB money on. All I hope with this article is that I can help you step away from the crippling panic you may find yourself in, and offer some clarity as to who deserves your FAAB money and attention this week on waivers.

Here are my top five waiver prioritize, in order, along with what percentage of your FAAB I think you should be directing towards them (percent rostered in Yahoo leagues, under 75% rostered).

1. Joshua Kelley (55% rostered, 15% FAAB budget)

If Kelley is available in your league, he needs to be your top priority. We’ve seen Kelley have plenty of success in the Chargers offense and with Austin Ekeler out significant time with a hamstring injury, the rookie seemingly is in line for a lot of work. Now Justin Jackson is also worth rostering given how the Chargers have run a two-back committee so far this season and Kelley struggling with fumbles as of late. I still think Kelley is the main running back to add, but Jackson is only 6% rostered so much easier to come by so don’t fret if Kelley is already gone in your league. (I’d also toss 15% of my FAAB Jackson’s way.)

2. Damien Harris (31% rostered, 20% FAAB budget)

The Patriots placed Sony Michel on IR with a quad injury and brought second year back Damien Harris off IR for Monday night’s showdown against the Chiefs. Harris then proceeded to lead the backfield in touches (17) and yards (100). The Patriots backfield is hard to trust week-in and week-out, but Harris won the starting job before the season started, he just then promptly got injured. Moving forward, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Harris lead the backfield on the ground and James White through the air.

3. D’Ernest Johnson (3% rostered, 15% FAAB budget)

Obviously the injury to Nick Chubb gives a huge boost to Kareem Hunt, who now is the Browns’ number one running back but you can’t ignore the fact Johnson carried the ball 13 times for 95 yards in place of Chubb Sunday against the Cowboys. Hunt himself is dealing with a groin injury so if he were to miss any time as well, it would seem as though Johnson would then become the Browns number one running back. That being said, I have Johnson this low simply because the Browns might have been running a two-back committee because they have two of the best running backs in the league. We might just see the entire backfield turned over to Hunt with Chubb out.

4. Tee Higgins (33% rostered, 20% FAAB budget)

It is time to take Tee Higgins seriously. Seriously. In three straight weeks Higgins as seen at least six targets and in the last two weeks he’s either caught a touchdown or gone over 70 yards. He has emerged as the Bengals number two wide receiver next to Tyler Boyd and in an offense that loves needs to throw the football 40 plus times, that’s a great sign for any pass catcher in Cincinnati. Higgins has a rock solid WR3 floor for the rest of the season.

5. Chase Edmonds (36% rostered, 10% FAAB budget)

It seems the Cardinals are employing the same backfield structure as the Browns, with Kenyan Drake taking all the carries and Edmonds taking all the catches. I know people are hot on Edmonds possibly taking the starting job from Drake and while that may happen, I’m not entirely sold it will. Edmonds has also not been great when rushing the ball so I’m not sure why Kliff Kingsbury would suddenly give Edmonds a huge rushing workload. For now though, Edmonds’ role offers plenty for PPR leagues as a weekly RB4 play and possible Flex/even RB2 upside depending on the matchup.

Also, honorable mention to Robert Tonyan who now leads the NFL in touchdowns along with Mike Evans. Who knows what his role will look like with Davante Adams back on the roster, but might as well see what happens with him safely on your roster.