You’re likely figure out where you stand in your fantasy football team. And, if your team is struggling, perhaps you would benefit more from our Week 5 Streamers article. If your team is loaded up and only upside will crack the lineup, however, this article includes our best Fantasy Football Stashes that don’t have much utility now but could have big upside if things break right down the stretch. 

 

 

Maybe players have already graduated from this article to become legit fantasy football waiver wire adds or even every-week starters (like Jordan Mason). So, we’re going to keep digging through the wire looking for narratives that could pay off BIG down the stretch. That’s when it matters most for fantasy football, after all. 

Best Fantasy Football Stashes For Week 5

We are ideally going to look at players that are rostered in less than 50% of leagues on Yahoo, ESPN or Sleeper Fantasy as those are the guys that are generally actually available. 

We know there are leagues of varying sizes and depths, so we’ll try to cover our bases. And we’ll obviously let you know what it is that makes these players the best fantasy football stashes in Week 5. So, let’s dive in!

 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Quarterback Stashes

Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots, Yahoo: 3% | ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 13%

Jacoby Brissett continues to play terribly. And Jerod Mayo continues to say that Brissett is the starter. And that’s fine. The time will come eventually for Drake Maye. Starting Drake Maye in fantasy football against the Jets, 49ers, Dolphins, or Texans doesn’t really sound like a lot of fun to us anyway.

Eventually, the team will turn to Drake Maye though. And I know the offensive line is ugly. But, in fantasy football, simply the WILLINGNESS to run the ball as a QB creates a great floor for fantasy football. Look at Daniel Jones on bad Giants teams even though he runs a 4.8 forty. 

In only 62 preseason snaps, Drake Maye ran the ball seven times and scored a touchdown. In the one drive he got out there in Week Three, he ran the ball twice. It’s worth stashing him in deeper formats just to see if he’s willing to run when he gets in there. And that’s especially worth it in superflex. 

Daniel Jones, QB, New York Giants, Yahoo: 8% | ESPN: 15% | Sleeper: 14%

We have not really changed our stance on Daniel Jones. We don’t think he’s a great passer. But he’s getting a lot of help from mega star Malik Nabers and the sure-handed Wan’Dale Robinson underneath. That’s allowed for him to put together some pretty competent passing games compared to years past.

But what we really care about is the rushing. Right now, Daniel Jones is on pace to run the ball ~97 times. If he were to play at least 16 games and run the ball 90+ times without finishing as a QB1 in fantasy, he would be the first QB to do so since Colin Kaepernick. I’m not saying Daniel Jones isn’t capable of being in the company. But typically, the willingness to run creates a pretty good floor in fantasy. 

  • Honorable Mention: Aidan O’Connell, De’Shaun Watson, Bo Nix

 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Running Back Stashes

Braelon Allen, RB, New York Jets, Yahoo: 52%| ESPN: 46% | Sleeper: 62%

Allen has crossed over into the 50%+ range and deservedly so. But we always like to mention these guys in the stashes article going into their bye week. Teams get an itchy trigger finger when it comes to these guys and dropping someone who’s on their bye week makes a lot of sense in their mind. If he hits the wire, scoop him up. 

Ray Davis, RB, Buffalo Bills, Yahoo: 11%| ESPN: 9% | Sleeper: 17%

The thought process has not changed here even if the Buffalo Bills did lose this week and have to abandon their run heavy game script. Joe Brady and the new look Bills want to run the football. If anything happens to James Cook, Ray Davis is the obvious next man up. 

Like Braelon Allen, we want talented players behind other talented players in good offenses. It already worked with Jordan Mason.

Keaton Mitchell, RB, Baltimore Ravens, Yahoo: 10%| ESPN: 6% | Sleeper: 10%

Watching Derrick Henry this year has been a thing of beauty. Which makes us ask ourselves - what happens if Derrick Henry goes down? Obviously, Justice Hill would take on a bigger role. But he’s not built to be an every down back at the NFL level. They’d need someone else to help take on the brunt of this job.

And Keaton Mitchell would be the perfect candidate. He’s coming off an injury so you can technically throw him in an IR spot since he has not been activated from the PUP list yet. He could be back in October, but many expect that to be November, so this really is more of a long-term IR play. 

But the way the Ravens offense is humming right now, we want any and all possible paths to a piece of this running game. Mitchell might be the one with the most upside after how good he looked last season. There is a reason they were willing to let JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards both walk this offseason. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Wide Receiver Stashes

Ja’Lynn Polk - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 9% | ESPN: 16% | Sleeper: 20%

Ja’Lynn Polk got the bump up to our main article but he’s really still more of a stash than someone you want to start right away. Check that article for the full details on that but the short and sweet is this: he just led the team in snaps, routes, and targets this week and, eventually, we’ll see a QB change.

In VERY deep leagues, Kendrick Bourne is someone who could be worth a look as well. He’s eligible to return from the IR soon and you never quite know who a rookie QB will lean on. 

Jalen McMillan - Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Yahoo: 3%| ESPN: 3% | Sleeper: 9%

McMillan suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out his past week. In his spot, Trey Palmer stepped up and scored a touchdown before suffering an injury of his own. Now Sterling Shepard is the “next man up” for that role. 

But we don’t really care about those guys much because rookie Jalen McMillan has already surpassed them on the depth chart. The idea here is that McMillan is essentially a handcuff for both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on a team where the targets are highly consolidated among the top guys. 

We just watched what Jauan Jennings was able to do in a similarly consolidated offense when a starter was out. Evan is on the wrong side of 30 and Godwin has been dealing with the same neck issue that popped up last year so we’re keeping an eye on the talented rookie. 

Roman Wilson - Pittsburgh Steelers, Yahoo: 2%| ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 9%

Roman Wilson was picked on the second day of the 2024 NFL Draft which is where a lot of impact players come from. But he’s yet to play an NFL snap. Mike Tomlin gave us some insight this week as to why that it is, but it makes a lot of sense - even though Wilson is healthy now, he wasn’t healthy for long enough before his injury to get up to speed with the offense. 

Tomlin explains that he got hurt in only the 6th padded practice so he’s basically starting from square one. When you look around this receiving room though, there isn’t much behind George Pickens. Van Jefferson is the definition of a journeyman. Calvin Austin is more of your slot/gadget/return man than he is a true #2. 

Roman Wilson might not be an NFL #2 either and he certainly has some work to do to learn the offense. It’s certainly not the same caliber of prospect but Odell Beckham. missed this first four games of his rookie year, took a couple games to get ramped up, and the rest was history. We’re hoping Wilson can make impact before the year is done. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Tight End Stashes

*For those looking for it, our updated Yin & Yang Tight End chart is in our Week 5 Waiver Wire Article

Hunter Henry - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 51%| ESPN: 45% | Sleeper: 57%

If you check the Waiver Wire article, we are still looking to stash Hunter Henery at least. One down week doesn’t change course completely for us. And, if someone drops him, we are adding. 

Hayden Hurst - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 1% | ESPN: 5% | Sleeper: 4%

It’s ugly out there but we laid out in the Waiver Wire article why Hayden Hurst is one of the few tight ends who has some semblance of a path to being a top two target on their team without needing someone to get hurt. 

Ben Sinnott - Washington Commanders, Yahoo: 3%| ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 13%

Right now, you have Zach Ertz in the pass-catching tight end role with John Bates in the blocking role. We can’t help but ask ourselves - what would happen if Ertz were to go down? They wouldn’t make John Bates the pass-catcher all of a sudden. It would likely be the rookie Ben Sinnott.

They made Ben Sinnott a second-round pick, just like the Cardinals made Trey McBride a second-round pick. Catching lightning in a bottle doesn’t happen often but Jayden Daniels looks good, and these are basically the same conditions that led us to Trey McBride. As long as Ertz stays healthy though, it’s a stash and wait game. 

 

 

 

Why Do We Stash?

Obviously, it would be nice if our entire roster was just chock full of stars. Maybe your lineup is (some of my dynasty leagues certainly are). But, for most of us, there will be holes. That’s why we highlight the Top Waiver Wire Adds each week as well as the Best Streamers to get you by. 

The best fantasy football stashes though? These are the guys that win you the title. That came out of the woodworks down the stretch like rookie Odell Beckham. or Amon-Ra St. Brown. And it’s our job to find them BEFORE they break out!