Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets & FAAB Advice: Tight Ends (Week 5)

Check out our top waiver wire targets for Week 5 of the 2022 fantasy football season.

If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup, based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team, and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets

Tyler Conklin (TE – NYJ): 42% rostered

• Next opponents: MIA, @GB, @DEN
• True value: $6
• Desperate need: $13
• Budget-minded: $4

Analysis: Incredibly, Conklin is the TE4 so far in 2022. He did see a reduction from his eight-target average with Zach Wilson stepping back into the starting QB role, which is somewhat concerning. Wilson attempted 36 passes and was even less efficient than Joe Flacco. Conklin is a decent streamer, even if his perch near the top of the positional rankings is on shaky ground.

Hayden Hurst (TE – CIN): 21% rostered

• Next opponents: @BAL, @NO, ATL
• True value: $5
• Desperate need: $9
• Budget-minded: $2

Analysis: Hayden Hurst loves playing for the Bengals. He has already been quoted raving about his role in the explosive passing game led by Joe Burrow. Hurst can still be a back-end TE1 option, even as his team’s fourth receiving option behind Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.

Irv Smith (TE – MIN): 49% rostered

• Next opponents: CHI, @MIA, BYE
• True value: $5
• Desperate need: $10
• Budget-minded: $2

Analysis: Irv has been just as disappointing as the Minnesota passing attack itself. Even so, the Vikings have not neglected to give the Alabama alum some decent target volume. I think the O’Connell offense will have weekly explosive upside until Week 10 against Buffalo, so Smith is as likely as any other TE to produce satisfactorily for fantasy.

Robert Tonyan (TE – GB): 32% rostered

• Next opponents: NYG, NYJ, @WAS
• True value: $4
• Desperate need: $8
• Budget-minded: $1

Analysis: Tonyan is one of my favorite TE streamers for the next three weeks. Each of the Giants, Jets and Commanders is putrid at covering the middle of the field. Tonyan found the end zone in Week 4 and will continue to be a valuable touchdown threat whom Aaron Rodgers trusts.

Taysom Hill (TE – NO): 29% rostered

• Next opponents: SEA, CIN, @ARI
• True value: $3
• Desperate need: $6
• Budget-minded: $1

Analysis: Hill is more of a novelty player these days who only seems to produce as a zone-read rusher with annoying TD upside. In deeper leagues, he might be a decent secondary or tertiary flex player in the next three weeks versus gettable defenses.

Stash candidates: Daniel Bellinger, Greg Dulcich

Analysis: Very deep leagues with TE-premium scoring offer fantasy managers the opportunity to stash players whose roles might expand in the future, for one reason or another. Daniel Bellinger has been a steady but underwhelming part of the awful Giants passing game, but the dearth of any redeeming talent at WR in New York, combined with a rash of injuries, puts him on watch to see that modest target volume rise as he adapts to the NFL.

The Broncos have been frustrating when it comes to providing fantasy managers a reliable option at TE. Albert Okwuegbunam has been a ghost in the receiving game and has struggled to earn more looks than Eric Saubert. Enter the talented rookie from UCLA, Greg Dulcich. He was quite impressive before injuring his hamstring in the preseason. He is an intriguing high-upside stash in deeper leagues.