We’re back for the 2019 Fantasy Waiver Wire Week 5 Start, Stash and Stream, where we break down the Free Agent landscape and give you the best picks for the short and long haul. We’ll keep building on our Week 4 Waiver Wire momentum.
Per usual, think of this Waiver Wire set-up kind of like dating. In the first category, you’ve met “the one,” the love of your life, and you want to keep him/her forever. Those are your “Starts.”
Next, you have the person you’ve known for a while, but you find yourself asking: what are we? One week in, one week out, holding on for comfort and little else… they’re the “Stashes.” You just can’t quit them.
And then you have that Tinder date that serves a one-time purpose, most often leaving you feeling dirty and hopeless, but occasionally a solo home run. These are your “Streams.”
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With all that went down Week 4, here’s what we can use going forward.
Note – Ownership % based on Yahoo; all players are less than 50% owned
Start
- Golden Tate, WR New York Giants (49% owned)
- Ronald Jones II, RB Tampa Bay Buccaneers (44% owned)
In what should be his last appearance in this weekly article for the remainder of the season, Golden Tate returns from suspension to assume his WR1 role for the revitalized New York Giants under Danny Dimes. Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram have reaped the rewards of the new QB, and now Tate can slide in, albeit against a challenging Vikings defense.
Don’t look now, but CJay’s boy, Ronald Jones has double digit carries in 3 of 4 games this year and even scored a touchdown on Sunday against the Rams. He’s showing that he can be the lead back in Tampa Bay for a team that’s needed one for the longest time. The game script has certainly helped, but Jones’ stat line of 19-70-1 was very productive — he also had two huge runs that were called back due to holding.
Stash
- Jamison Crowder, WR New York Jets (45% owned)
- Chris Herndon, TE New York Jets (19% owned)
- Jimmy Graham, TE Green Bay Packers (37% owned)
- Jaylen Samuels, RB Pittsburgh Steelers (30% owned)
- Ben Watson, TE New England Patriots (3% owned)
- AJ Brown, WR Tennessee Titans (10% owned)
- Jay Ajayi, RB Free Agent (4% owned)
- Sam Darnold, QB New York Jets (13% owned)
Jets WR Jamison Crowder finds himself down in the Stashes solely because it looks like Sam Darnold will not play in Week 5. In that case, keep him on your bench and get him ready to fire him up Week 6 when Darnold should come back. People forget Crowder caught 14 of his 17 targets with Darnold in Week 1. The same can be said for TE Chris Herndon — who will return from suspension in Week 6.
Jimmy Graham took a two game hiatus before returning to the fantasy landscape in Week 4, going for 6-61-1 on 9 targets. He’s a solid target and red zone option for Rodgers, and now with Davante Adams set to miss Week 5 in Dallas, Graham’s role should escalate.
Jaylen Samuels entered the 2019 season as one of fantasy’s top handcuffs. But after a slow start, he was dropped in most leagues. Following Big Ben’s injury, it looks like the Steelers will use their Swiss-Army Knife in a bunch of different ways. On MNF against the Bengals, Samuels rushed 10 times for 26 yards and a score, and he also added 57 yards on eight receptions. The team also used him as a Wildcat QB and on the field at the same time as James Conner. He needs to be added back onto rosters this week.
Ben Watson returns from his four game suspension this week for a Patriots team that’s in need of more offensive playmakers. New England has gotten diddly squat from their TEs this year, so hopefully the Under Armour mannequin can provide something from a depleted pass catching core.
Titans rookie AJ Brown was extremely productive in his limited touches last week, going for 3-94-2 on only 3 targets. He’s an explosive playmaker that you probably can’t trust on a weekly basis, but is a real boom-or-bust play in extreme scenarios.
Although Jay Ajayi is currently sitting on his couch, he’s fully recovered from his torn ACL and has notified teams that he’s ready to play again. Could the Giants plug and play Ajayi in Saquon Barkley’s absence? Or maybe the Packers since they hate Aaron Jones? Maybe even RoJo’s Bucs? Who knows, but he could be worth the stash if you have bench space.
Stream
- Philadelphia Eagles D/ST (38% owned)
- Geronimo Allison, WR Green Bay Packers (24% owned)
- Andy Dalton, QB Cincinnati Bengals (36% owned)
- Jacoby Brissett, QB Indianapolis Colts (35% owned)
- Tennessee Titans D/ST (24% owned)
- Cincinnati Bengals D/ST (2% owned)
- Tyler Eifert, TE Cincinnati Bengals (16% owned)
There are a lot of defensive streaming options in Week 5 based on some pretty nice matchups. The Eagles are home against the Jets who will likely be without Sam Darnold, so that offense is going to get nothing done with Luke Falk.
Geronimo Allison should see an increase in targets with Davante Adams injured. He can be an emergency WR3 if needed against the Cowboys after 3-52-1 game against Philly.
A trio of Bengals make the stream team between Andy Dalton, Tyler Eifert and the D/ST. The Cardinals have been the best defense to stream against, so this shouldn’t be much of a surprise. TE’s are FEASTING against the Cardinals, and Dalton shouldn’t have much to worry about from the defense. The Bengals defense itself should get plenty of sacks and we can pencil in at least one Kyler Murray turnover.
Despite getting crushed by the Raiders, Jacoby Brissett put up another 20+ fantasy points even without his guy TY Hilton. Now he’s gotta play the Chiefs on SNF. You need to step up your offense when facing Mahomes, so Brissett should have a high number of pass attempts in this contest.
The Titans D/ST welcomes Buffalo in Week 5 with the status of Josh Allen up in the air. Should Allen miss the game, it would be a great matchup against Matt Barkley. But even with Allen, the Titans defense has proven to be good enough on a streaming basis.
What do you think of JimboSlice’s Waiver Picks? Let him hear it. Plus, catch The Wolf’s thoughts on where these guys all slide in, and get any Waiver Wire questions answered LIVE during his Week 5 Rankings Rundown every Tuesday @ 7pm.
