Week 4 has been a fireworks display, jam-packed with long touchdowns, big-time performances, and wild finishes. What’s shocking is that despite the gaudy numbers that were produced all across the league, it was once again the injuries that will primarily serve to alter the fantasy landscape moving forward. The tight end position was ravaged on Sunday, with Will Dissly and Tyler Eifert suffering season-ending injuries, while Rob Gronkowski and O.J. Howard left their games with impairments as well. Wide receivers weren’t spared from the carnage either, with Geronimo Allison sustaining a concussion, while both T.Y. Hilton and Will Fuller exited with hamstring injuries. Leonard Fournette’s hamstring issue also reared its ugly head on Sunday, preventing him from finishing a game once again.
By this point, most fantasy teams have been impacted by injuries to some extent, especially after this week. T.J. Yeldon would likely be thrust to the top of the waiver wire rankings with Fournette primed to miss time, but these rankings only include players who have relatively low ownership rates, which isn’t the case with Yeldon. We’re all trying to assess what the future holds for our ailing rosters, and figure out how to recoup lost production in both the short- and long-term. Which largely unowned players will rise up from the fallout to give your fake football squad the proverbial “cortisone shot” it needs to keep on chugging? That’s what our featured pundits are here to break down for you today. Plus, they’ll dish out some solid advice on low-owned defenses that can pile up the points for you in Week 5.
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Featured Experts:
Mike Tagliere – FantasyPros
Ken Zalis – Pressbox
Jon Collins – Fantasy Sports LR
Bobby Sylvester – FantasyPros
Bill Enright – FFChamps
*Ownership % derived from a consensus of Yahoo & ESPN leagues
Q1. How much are you willing to spend (FAAB %) on your favorite waiver wire target (or two) and why do you like him?
Ronald Jones (RB – TB) | Nyheim Hines (RB – IND)
“If there are two players I’d aim to snag off the waiver wire this week, they’d be Jones and Hines. It’s extremely hard to find running backs on the waiver wire, so why leave one potential starting running back and one who plays 40-plus snaps sitting there for someone else? The Bucs offensive line is straight-up offensive and it was a losing battle for Peyton Barber, but at least Jones offers some home-run potential. With the bye week here, they can make the transition to the player they spent a high second-round pick on. Hines fits the skill-set that Andrew Luck has at this point in time and has a great matchup against the Patriots in Week 5. I’d be willing to spend five to 10 percent on either of them, depending on how dire my RB situation was.”
– Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros)
Vance McDonald (TE – PIT)
“The TE position was hit by a rash of injuries this weekend, compounding on the injury woes owners have experienced all season. Whether you’re looking for a one-week fill in or something longer term, I’d be willing to invest 10-15% of my FAAB budget into McDonald. I know that Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster are currently duking it out to be the apple of Big Ben’s eye, but this offense (particularly sans Le’Veon Bell) can produce three fantasy-relevant pass catchers and McDonald is now cemented as option number three.”
– Jon Collins (Fantasy Sports LR)
Keke Coutee (WR – HOU)
“This week has more worthwhile pickups than any other week by far, but the top pickup would typically rank fourth or fifth among the best choices in other weeks. To me, that is Coutee, who I’d spend up to five percent of my FAAB to acquire. He is a threat to take any reception to the house and with Will Fuller likely to miss some time, Coutee could continue to see a large enough role to produce for a few weeks. In his first ever NFL game this weekend, Coutee caught 11 out of his ridiculously high 15 targets.”
– Bobby Sylvester (FantasyPros)
Wendell Smallwood (RB – PHI)
“The only healthy running back on the Eagles roster, Smallwood may have played a complementary role to Jay Ajayi in Week 4, but Ajayi’s back fracture isn’t healing anytime soon, nor is Darren Sproles‘ hamstring or Corey Clement’s quad. That puts Smallwood in line to see an expanded role and increased practice reps with the first-team offense. His usage was consistent for back-to-back weeks, which isn’t typical for the Eagles’ committee. Sure, Ajayi ran well against the Titans, but we know Doug Pederson wants to employ an RBBC and right now Smallwood’s best ability is his availability. According to FantasyPros’ ownership consensus, Smallwood is available in 95% of leagues! I’d spend anywhere from eight to 12 percent of my FAAB to acquire him.”
– Bill Enright (FFChamps)
Tyler Kroft (TE – CIN)
“Kroft performed pretty well in 2017 without Eifert. After Sunday, the tight end position has become a complete mess, so getting one you can play each week seems like a better option than streaming. I’d spend up to 15 percent of my budget on Kroft this week.”
– Ken Zalis (Pressbox)
Q2. For owners renting a D/ST in Week 5, what readily available option (under 40%) should they target and why?
“Just like last week, your first option should always be the defense playing the Bills. This week it’s the Titans who draw the best matchup, and they’ve just happened to rack up 11 sacks over the last three games themselves while allowing just 46 combined points over the last three weeks.”
– Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros)
“The Titans have been playing sound defense all season and travel to Buffalo coming off a big win over the Eagles at home. Buffalo’s one week aberration is now firmly in the rearview after being shutout by a modest Packers defense. We’re back in “Pick on the Bills” mode. Lather, rinse, repeat.”
– Jon Collins (Fantasy Sports LR)
“When a player gets labeled the chalk, it’s always for good reason and when it comes to streaming defenses in Week 5, the overgrown cats from Carolina are the chalk. It’s a bit of a perfect storm for the Panthers D/ST as they are just coming off a bye and thus available in 60% of Yahoo leagues. Plus, they play a Giants team that gave up three sacks to the Saints, six to the Cowboys, and four to the Texans…all while scoring fewer than 20 points in three of their four games. Meanwhile, the Panthers have eight sacks in three games and have forced six turnovers on the year, which bodes well for their defense considering the Giants are -2 in turnover margin.”
– Bill Enright (FFChamps)
“With Tennessee being the obvious choice, I’ll gladly scoop up the Arizona Cardinals as my streaming D/ST this week. They travel to San Francisco to take on C.J. Beathard, who is among the most turnover-prone QBs starting next week. Arizona hasn’t had one huge week yet, but they do have multiple sacks every single week and have forced four turnovers this season.”
– Bobby Sylvester (FantasyPros)
“Tennessee would be the main selection since they can get after the QB and have a great matchup against Buffalo in Week 5, but I’ll go a little contrarian and select the New Orleans Saints in a matchup at home against Washington this week. The Saints were one of those sleeper defenses during the draft season after a great finish to 2017, but things haven’t gone as planned for that unit. However, they held the Giants down on the road in Week 4 and looked like the defense we thought they were. Hopefully, they are now back on track.”
– Ken Zalis (Pressbox)
Thank you to the experts for naming their top waiver targets. Be sure to give them a follow on Twitter if you’re not already doing so and check out our latest podcast below for more great advice.
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