đđWeek 5 Waiver Wire Report and Checking your League's Recent Activity
One man's trash is another man's buy low candidate
Now weâll begin to see fantasy owners start to lose patience with their picks. That will lead to a chance to add a guy you wouldâve been willing to trade for just a few weeks ago. Weâll get to that later, first lets talk waiver wire targets.
QB
Sam Darnold | CAR
I canât believe Iâm typing this but here I am... Sam Darnold has been good this year for the Panthers. Iâm not sure the rushing TDs will maintain their level of success but what has me liking Sam Darnold finally is the schedule in front of him. Philly, Minnesota, the New York Giants and Atlanta are who Sam Darnold plays the next 4 weeks. Defenses that have been subpar this year, at best. Darnold should be able to maintain his level of play against those teams, at worst.
RB
Latavius Murray | BAL
More on him later when I get to my tip for this week. It had seemed of late that the Ravens snaps and touches were trending the way of TyâSon Williams. Then with Leveon Bell entering the mix for the first time all season, Williams was shockingly the odd man out. Not just getting few touches or snaps but an outright healthy scratch after leading all RBs in snaps the first 3 weeks. Latavius Murray was the biggest benefactor and saw his snap count leap to the highest itâs been all season at 62%. He should be added in all leagues. Iâm not sure Iâd hit the eject button on Williams yet but itâs a REALLY bad sign for his outlook and a great outlook for people in leagues where Murray has been cut by owners.
Damien Williams | CHI
While David Montgomeryâs knee injury is reportedly not serious but Matt Nagy is hard to judge this year when it comes to injury status of players. Damien Williams is a great insurance policy for Montgomery owners who are looking at potentially being without one of their top RBs for at best a brief period of time. He performed well in relief of Montgomery and should continue to do so.
WR
Kadarius Toney | NYG
Kadarius Toney looked ELECTRIC in his first full taste of action with the Giants. He showed an ability to make plays happen after the catch that the Giants havenât had from their WRs since Odell Beckham Jr. I know the Giants will eventually have Sheperd and Slayton back but itâs hard to imagine the Giants not trying to find a way to get the ball in Toneyâs hands more after his week 4 performance. He should be added, especially in full PPR leagues where heâd be a great underneath compliment to Kenny Golladay.
Darnell Mooney | CHI
Darnell Mooney got 7 targets in week 4. It was the 3rd time in the first 4 weeks he has received 7+ targets in a game ans through 4 weeks he has been targeted more than Allen Robinson has. Itâs hard to say if that will continue, especially with Matt Nagy being so insistent on starting Andy Dalton when he gets back. That being said, Mooney has been a steady recipient of targets through the early part of the season and that shouldnât change depending on whoever is the QB.
TE
Dawson Knox | BUF
I held off on adding Dawson Knox last week because his 5 targets and only one red zone target (his first of the season) didnât wow me in week 3. Week 4 has changed my mind after he was the recipient of 8 targets and 4 of them in the red zone. Knox doensât have to dominate in targets to be valuable if he can play a Robert Tonyan type role for the Bills this season. Take what you can get from TEs and if thatâs a steady stream of TDs take it all the way.
Tip of the Week:
Sometimes we learn lessons from our own mistakes. That was me this week as I gave up too early on a player who I have on this list. I cut Latavius Murray in some leagues despite liking him as a long term option over WIlliams all year. I had begun to believe that TyâSon Williams would continue to dominate touches and that when the news came down the wire that Leveon Bell would be activated I assumed that Murray would lose the most touches and snaps and so I cut my losses and moved on. Well that proved to be a mistake I and almost 12% of ESPN fantasy owners made as he turned out to be the biggest winner of that move. Where am I going with this? While I gave up on Murray, maybe another owner wouldnât? If you had checked your leagueâs recent activity, youâd have seen I cut him and he was available to add in time for Sundayâs game if you had an open stop on your roster. Always take a second to see who in your league got cut when waivers process on Wednesday, especially at this point in the season. Now is when weâll see owners start to give up on players who have had slow starts to make their way to the waiver wire. Their current owners may have run out of patience with these players, but have you?