Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Fantasy Football WR Waiver-Wire Options Heading Into Week 5

Every week, we examine players that may be available on your league's waiver wire that could help your team in the short and/or long term.

For a player to be listed, he must be owned in 50 percent (or less) of Yahoo! leagues. The goal is to provide recommendations of players that have a greater chance of being available on your league's waiver wire. Of course, your league's size and settings could significantly impact whether these players (or better options) are available in your particular league(s).

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With that said, here are some wide receiver waiver-wire options that I like heading into Week 5 (Yahoo! ownership in parenthesis):

[Note: Players listed below are sorted by my preference to add.]

1. Devin Funchess, Carolina Panthers (26 percent)

An injury to Greg Olsen (and in-game injury to Kelvin Benjamin in Week 3) has led to Funchess getting 25 targets in the past three games with minimums of four catches and 58 yards in each of those weeks. The Week 5 matchup against the Lions may not be as favorable as last week, but there are more favorable matchups on the horizon as the Panthers face the Eagles, Bears and Buccaneers -- all plus matchups -- in the following three weeks.

2. Will Fuller, Houston Texans (32 percent)

One game, two touchdowns. Pretty good. If you remember back to last season, Fuller did something that only one other player (DeSean Jackson) did -- begin his career with back-to-back 100-yard games. Of course, things went downhill from there. While he's currently the WR2 behind DeAndre Hopkins, Deshaun Watson has played well and there could/should be some big games in Fuller's future even if there will be some weekly boom or bust with his rest-of-season outlook.

3. Danny Amendola, New England Patriots (50 percent)

Missing Week 2 with a concussion, Amendola has six catches and seven targets in two of his three games played this season. Even if Brandin Cooks and Chris Hogan both have more upside than Amendola, the slot receiver has some upside any week he's healthy given the trust Tom Brady has in him. To help his cause this week, the Patriots play on Thursday Night Football against the Buccaneers, who have allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers this season.

4. Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams (44 percent)

Kupp has six-plus targets in three of four games and has finished with at least 60 yards and a touchdown in two of four. The Rams have brutal matchups upcoming against talented outside corners -- SEA, JAX and ARI before their Week 8 bye, but Kupp may have more success from the slot in those matchups than Sammy Watkins may have on the outside.

5. Jaron Brown, Arizona Cardinals (8 percent)

With 29 targets in his past three games, Brown has at least 11 targets in two of those games as he finished with 8/105 on 12 targets, all career highs, in Week 4. Given the injury to David Johnson, it's perhaps no surprise that the Cardinals have called a pass on a league-high 69.93 percent of their plays. And no team has run more plays (71.5/G) than the Cardinals.

Given the injury history of John Brown, Jaron's recent role in the offense and two very favorable matchups on the horizon against the Eagles and Buccaneers, he offers fantasy owners a solid bye-week replacement as byes begin this week.

6. John Brown, Arizona Cardinals (39 percent)

See Jaron.

If healthy, John has more upside than Jaron on a weekly basis, and the team has been throwing the ball more than any other team with a couple of exploitable matchups on the horizon. The Eagles and Buccaneers both rank in the top-three most generous fantasy defenses to opposing wide receivers this season.

7. Robby Anderson, New York Jets (20 percent)

It's hard to get too excited about Anderson, but I expected him to be the team's most productive receiver, which isn't really saying much, but he's been more productive recently. With six targets in each of the past two games, Anderson has a total of 154 yards and a touchdown in those two games. On a positive note, the Jets will face the Browns and Patriots in the next two weeks.

- More Fantasy Football Waiver-Wire Advice Heading Into Week 5

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