To those of you who picked up Tank Bigsby, Josh Downs or Tucker Kraft -- all of whom were featured in this space last week -- congratulations! Each player scored 15-plus fantasy points on Sunday, and Bigsby and Kraft are the top scorers at their respective positions in Week 5 heading into Monday Night Football. To those of you who didn't land any of them -- there's still good news! Each is rostered in less 40% of NFL.com fantasy leagues, so many of you still have a chance to nab them this week. Get to it!
OK, let's get wired.
The only rule here: Players must be rostered in less than 60 percent of NFL.com leagues to be eligible for the list.
QUARTERBACKS
ROSTERED: 50%
We have a beautiful marriage of an improving young quarterback and a highly favorable matchup here. Williams has now posted 17-plus fantasy points in two of his last three games, with Sunday’s outing against the Panthers the first overall pick’s best day yet as a pro. He posted 23.56 fantasy points in Chicago’s victory, throwing for 304 yards and a pair of TDs. Next up: The Bears travel to London, which hasn’t been super kind to NFL offenses in recent years. But if ever there were a time for that trend to be broken, this would be it. Chicago will face the Jaguars, who have allowed 23 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. In his 17th NFL season, Joe Flacco just had one of the better games of his career against the Jacksonville defense. If you’re streaming QBs, the time is right to take a chance on Williams.
ROSTERED: 18%
Cousins’ demise was greatly exaggerated. After throwing for fewer than 250 yards in each of the first four games of the season, the 36-year-old awakened to explode for a career-high (and a Falcons record) 509 passing yards in Atlanta’s thrilling win over the Bucs. Cousins became just the 13th player in NFL history with 500-plus pass yards and four or more pass TDs in a game. Now, we’re not going to see him airing it out nearly 60 times every week, but last Thursday night was our first indication that Cousins, despite his Achilles injury last season, can still put up massive numbers on any given week. He’s a strong streaming option for QB-needy managers this week against the Panthers, who just allowed 300-plus pass yards to Caleb Williams on Sunday.
ROSTERED: 1%
I know the fantasy floor with Jones can be scary, but it might be worth throwing caution to the wind for at least one week. He just posted his best fantasy output of the season (22.08 points) and he did it without the services of stud rookie Malik Nabers. Now Jones has a matchup against the Bengals’ woeful defense, which has given up 22.5 FPPG to quarterbacks in the past four weeks. Nabers could return from his concussion at home versus Cincinnati, and Jones has produced 18-plus fantasy points in three of the last four games. As risky as it might seem, when you consider state of the Bengals' D and Jones’ upward swing, the time could be right to roll the dice on Dimes.
Keep an eye on: Joe Flacco, who continues to prove he can still get the job done. He's the fantasy QB4 for Week 5 through Sunday's games after throwing for 359 yards and three TDs against the Jaguars in place of the injured Anthony Richardson. Now, Richardson practiced on a limited basis last week with his hip injury, so it seems possible he could be ready to return to face the Titans in Week 6. However, if he can't go again and you are in need of a streaming option, Flacco should be under serious consideration.
RUNNING BACKS
ROSTERED: 28%
I’ve touted Dowdle multiple times in this space and he finally delivered a ceiling-type performance on Sunday night. Against a tough Steelers defense, he handled a career-high 20 carries for 87 rush yards and made two catches for 27 yards and a diving touchdown, which translated to 19.4 fantasy points. It’s blatantly obvious at this point that Dowdle is the RB1 in Dallas, and as such, he should be rostered in more leagues.
ROSTERED: 3%
I tried to tell you. As Travis Etienne continues to deal with a shoulder injury, the Jaguars seem pretty content to lean on Bigsby in the ground game. The second-year back powered Jacksonville to its first win of the season on Sunday, toting the rock a team-high 13 times for a career-high 101 yards and two TDs, which was good for 25.9 fantasy points. Bigsby has been the Jaguars’ leading rusher in three of the four games in which he's received offensive snaps this season. Doug Pederson even sent him out on some routes for the first time this year, and Bigsby had a catch for 28 yards. Meanwhile, Etienne had just six carries for 17 yards, although he did do a bit of damage in the passing game (six catches for 43 yards). The Jaguars have a tough matchup this week against the Bears’ stout defense, and Pederson is not going to abandon handing the ball off to Etienne altogether, but I’d still recommend scooping up Bigsby if you can because of his efficiency. He leads the league with an average of 8 yards per carry.
ROSTERED: 2%
Tracy shined with Devin Singletary sidelined against the Seahawks, busting loose for 129 yards on 18 carries (7.2 per), including two runs of 25-plus yards. If Singletary returns from his groin injury in Week 6, Tracy likely will see his workload trimmed to something resembling his touches in Weeks 1-4, which wouldn’t be significant enough to warrant fantasy consideration in most leagues. Should Singletary need another week to get healthy, though, Tracy becomes a hot waiver-wire commodity. The Giants next have a date with the Bengals’ highly exploitable defense.
ROSTERED: 1%
LARGE CAVEAT ALERT: The Dolphins have a bye in Week 6, so we won’t see Wright again until Week 7, when Miami visits the Colts. It might be worth the stash in Wright’s case, though. De’Von Achane left Sunday’s game with a concussion, which cleared the way for Wright to see extensive work for the first time this season. He ran 13 times for 86 yards (6.6 per), while Raheem Mostert had 19 carries for 80 yards (4.2 per) in his return from injury. Folks will be flocking to the waiver wire for Wright if Achane needs multiple weeks to recover, but given the injury history of both Achane and Mostert, Wright is a good speculative add, especially in deep leagues.
Keep an eye on: Ty Chandler. The Vikings are on bye in Week 6, and Aaron Jones is clearly the RB1 in Minnesota when healthy, which is why it's worth monitoring news on the hip injury that knocked Jones out of the team's Week 5 win in London. The bye week gives him some time, but if he's going to need a longer recovery that costs him at least a game, Chandler would be worth targeting. Chandler had 14 carries on Sunday in a game where Jones exited early. ... Roschon Johnson is squarely on the radar after rushing for three TDs in the last two games. He's too TD-dependent to start in most leagues as the backup to D’Andre Swift, but then again, no one should be surprised if he has a rushing TD for the third straight week with the Jaguars' defense awaiting the Bears in Week 6.
WIDE RECEIVERS
ROSTERED: 47%
OK, this will be the last time I include Robinson here, no matter what his rostered percentage is next week. I’m not sure what else to say to convince managers he’s worth picking up. Through Sunday’s games, the only players with more targets than him (47) are his teammate, Malik Nabers (52), and the Jets’ Garrett Wilson (56). He’s tied for the third-most receptions in the league (32). That is elite volume. His floor looks to be around 10 points and he’s averaging 13.76 FPPG, so he’s been steady, producing with Nabers and without the sensational rookie, who missed Sunday’s game with a concussion. I realize Robinson is averaging just 4.5 air yards per target, which undoubtedly explains why he hasn’t been more widely embraced in fantasy circles, but he’s too valuable to ignore in any PPR format.
ROSTERED: 34%
Another week, another relatively quiet game for Lazard ... aside from his weekly touchdown! He’s averaging four catches for 48 yards per game, which is nothing to get excited about from a fantasy perspective. The thing is, he’s tied for the third-most TD catches in the league with four. He’s the league’s sixth-most targeted receiver in the red zone. Aaron Rodgers is looking for his old Packers friend when it’s scoring time, which makes Lazard a streaming option. Managers do have to be prepared for a possible letdown because of the TD reliance, but Lazard is producing even with the Jets’ offense sputtering as a whole and he has a matchup against the Bills’ beat-up defense in Week 6.
ROSTERED: 30%
Coming off his first NFL game with two touchdown catches, Mooney is working his way toward the must-start conversation. Yes, his drop nearly cost the Falcons a win in Week 5, but he still was targeted a team-high 16 times and finished with 31.5 points. He’s averaging 18.1 FPPG in his last four contests, scoring at least 14.6 in three of the four outings. As I mentioned earlier, Kirk Cousins isn’t going to throw 58 passes every week, but with a matchup against the porous Panthers up next, Mooney is at worst an appealing Flex option in most leagues.
ROSTERED: 18%
ROSTERED: 14%
These two are no strangers to this space, but it bears repeating: Pick ’em up! Pierce is now averaging an absurd 28.3 yards per catch (13 for 368) after reeling in three receptions for 134 yards and a TD against the Jaguars. He averages 25 air yards per target, which is 6.6 yards more than the next-closest player with at least 10 targets this season. There’s no denying he’s been feast-or-famine, but the feasting has been top-notch, as he’s scored 16-plus fantasy points in three of his five games. As for Downs, he’s been making much of his hay underneath, averaging just 5.5 air yards per target, but he’s been the Colts’ most targeted receiver since returning from injury in Week 3. He’s averaging 19.2 FPPG in the last two contests.
ROSTERED: 1%
The Tolbert breakout is looking very real. He set career highs in targets (10), catches (7) and receiving yards (87) against the Steelers on Sunday night. Oh, and he made the game-winning TD catch. He saw one more target than CeeDee Lamb did! We can’t count on that to become a weekly occurrence, but Tolbert has now posted 13-plus fantasy points in three of the last four games. With Brandin Cooks on injured reserve, I’d look to roster Tolbert if you can. Dak Prescott seems to have him in the circle of trust.
TIGHT ENDS
ROSTERED: 37%
Kraft has stacked consecutive juicy performances, setting a career-high with 88 receiving yards and two TDs in Week 5. He is now tied with George Kittle and Isaiah Likely for the most TD catches among all tight ends through Sunday’s games, with three. With the tight end position in rough shape, any TE-needy fantasy manager should be rushing to the waiver wire to put a claim in on Kraft.
ROSTERED: 23%
This probably comes as a surprise, but Parkinson is the second-most-targeted tight end in the league heading into Monday Night Football. He saw 13 targets on Sunday against the Packers and made a career-high seven catches for 52 yards. The Rams are on bye in Week 6, but given the shortage of quality options at his position in the fantasy realm, it might be best for you to get out ahead of the pack and scoop up Parkinson during his week off.
ROSTERED: 13%
Things are ugly for the Jets’ offense, but Conklin is seeing steady volume from Aaron Rodgers, which makes him a worthy add on the waiver wire. He’s been targeted 23 times in the last three games -- third-most of any tight end over that span -- and he’s scored 11-plus points in two of the last three weeks. He should be more widely rostered with so little depth at his position.
DEFENSES
ROSTERED: 18%
It was a rough first month for the Eagles defense, which enters Week 6 averaging a measly three FPPG. So, what are they doing in this article? Well, on this coming Sunday, they play the Browns, who are as good a matchup as any for a struggling team right now. Fantasy defenses have scored 11.6 FPPG against Cleveland in the last three games. Kevin Stefanski has already said he will not be making a change at quarterback, so that means we’ll see more Deshaun Watson against Philly. The Eagles are a great streaming option this week.
ROSTERED: 18%
The Texans defense has mustered a grand total of seven fantasy points over the last three games, but its fortunes are about to change. In Week 6, Houston will visit the Patriots, who have yet to score more than 20 points in a game and are averaging 8.6 PPG in the last three contests. Defenses averaged 14 FPPG against them during that latter span. After keeping Josh Allen in check on Sunday, DeMeco Ryans should not have much of a problem limiting Jacoby Brissett and Co. in Week 6.
