2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 5: Geno Smith, Kareem Hunt, More

We are now four weeks into the NFL season. And though it still feels like a small sample size of games, that’s almost a quarter of the NFL season. Unless you play in an unusual format, no one is truly eliminated from playoffs through four weeks.

But, if you have started 0-4, it might be time to make some drastic moves. And the 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 5 is the perfect place to get your 2024 season on track. 

If you are hurting at the wide receiver position especially, this might be the week to strike. There are some upside plays, some safe PPR plays, even a deeper stash to grab off the 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 5.

So, let’s dig into all the positions here and hash out which direction to go to put you back on pace for the fantasy football playoffs!

2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 5 Top Targets

If this 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 5 is your first time seeing this series, here’s a little idea of how we break it down. 

There are too many articles out there who don’t take into account YOUR team needs. Whether you just want the best player, you want someone to start now, or you are loaded and you want the best upside stashed, we have you covered. And we break it down like this:

• 2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 5: This is the current article where we focus on the best waiver wire picks for any format or team needs. Guys that can potentially be started now but also have season long upside
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Streamers Week 5: These are players that are decent starts for Week 5 but might not have great long-term upside (perhaps it’s just a good matchup or the starter has a short-term injury, for instance)
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Stashes Week 5: These are players that are very difficult to trust in a lineup right now. But we believe in the talent and the possibility of upside down the stretch. Every year there are certain rookies or backups that get a big opportunity and run with it at some point - like Trey McBride last year.

The 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 5 you are currently looking at is free for everyone. The Week 5 waiver wire stashes and Week 5 waiver wire streamers articles are for Fantasy Alarm members only.

If you aren’t a Fantasy Alarm member yet, you can not only get 40% off your annual membership if you sign up right now or 50% off your first month with promo code LETSGO, but we are offering a 7-day free trial RIGHT NOW! You can check out everything we have to offer this week and decide if it's right for you!

NFL Week 5 Waiver Wire Quarterback

Justin Fields - Pittsburgh Steelers, Yahoo: 32% | ESPN: 34% | Sleeper: 42%

Last week we had Justin Fields in the main Week 4 article for best Waiver Wire picks and he’s once again the top claim - we expect this is the week he crosses the 50% rostership threshold on most platforms (just like Sam Darnold from last week’s article) so it’s probably your last chance to grab him and the last time he’ll be in the article. 

So, if you are desperate at QB, it might be time to drop that bag. Early on in the season it felt like Justin Fields was operating an offense that was built for Russell Wilson, not for him. As we’ve gone on and it’s seemed more and more clear that he is the guy, they’ve incorporated more of those elements to get fields moving. 

This week he not only threw for 300+ yards (something he had only done one time in three years), but he also scored two rushing touchdowns which is more his calling card. Believe it or not but Arthur Smith’s offense has Fields on pace to throw for nearly 1,000 more yards than his best previous season. 

And it’s not like he has premium weapons now compared to DJ Moore, Darnell Mooney, and Cole Kmet. The mobility alone was reason to pick up fields but now he absolutely needs to be rostered.

• Waiver Priority: Medium Priority
• FAAB: 5-10% (or more if he starts for you right away)

Geno Smith - Seattle Seahawks, Yahoo: 45% | ESPN: 29% | Sleeper: 42%

We’re not saying that Shane Waldron is a terrible offensive coordinator. But his system really is not ideal for three WR sets. As a former tight end coach, he loves rotating his tight ends and two tight end sets. The Seahawks, having three great wide receivers, decided it was time to let Shane Waldron and his guys Will Dissly and Colby Parkinson hit the road.

In walks Ryan Grubb, who had tremendous success at Washington with Michael Penix Jr at quarterback and Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk, and Jalin McMillan at wide receiver. In fact, all three wide receivers were drafted in the first three rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. 

He’s opened the offense up in Seattle which has allowed Geno to average 337 yards passing over the last three games. He’s yet to throw more than one passing touchdown in a game but, once that starts happening, he won’t be sitting on wires for long. Geno has also been willing to run the ball here or there which is a nice bonus for fantasy gamers. 

• Waiver Priority: Low or Free Add
• FAAB: 0-5%

NFL Week 5 Waiver Wire Running Back

Kareem Hunt - Kansas City Chiefs, Yahoo: 36% | ESPN: 21% | Sleeper: 37%

We had been stashing Hunt where we could just to see how things would shake out. And, not that we have seen, Kareem Hunt needs to be a priority add. Isaiah Pacheco has a broken leg - it could be a long time before he’s back and even longer before he’s back to being an every-snap player. The Chiefs have to do something in the meantime.

If this past week is any indication, that “something” is Kareem Hunt. he led the team in snaps, he led the team in carries, and he ran 13 routes to 16 for Samaje Perine. Carson Steele found himself on the backburner playing on 11 snaps to 28 for Hunt and 25 for Perine. 

Hunt took a big enough share and looked good enough in his first game to effectively consider him the starter moving forward. For the Kansas City Chiefs. Who just lost Rashee Rice. Hunt might be in for a lot of work. 

• Waiver Priority: Top
• FAAB: 15-20%

Rico Dowdle - Dallas Cowboys, Yahoo: 49% | ESPN: 43% | Sleeper: 56%

We feel like a broken record saying this in these articles but he’s still technically at or below 50% on some of these platforms. Meaning he’s out there in some of these leagues. I repeat - there is a starting NFL running back, in this economy, on waivers in some leagues.

The “competition” with Zeke Elliott is effectively over. Zeke played 10 snaps this week. Dowdle is leading the team in snaps, carries, routes, targets, you name it. When the bye weeks and NFL injuries hit, you’re going to need bodies. And this one isn’t speculation like some others. He’s the lead back for the Dallas Cowboys. 

• Waiver Priority: Medium Priority

Trey Sermon - Indianapolis Colts, Yahoo: 1% | ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 1%

From what I understand, this might be shaping up more like one of those “injuries that look bad when you see it but might not actually be that bad” type of injuries. But there has never really been a “mild” high ankle sprain that hasn’t been worrisome for us. Like the dreaded turf toe, it’s one of the more notoriously fickle of the NFL injuries. 

They could hold Jonathan Taylor out for a game or two over an abundance of caution which would see Trey Sermon get the start. And we watch Zack Moss thrive under these very same conditions so adding him has to be worth some consideration, even if it just amounts to a short-term spot start. And that goes double for anyone that has Jonathan Taylor on the roster. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add or Late Priority
• FAAB: 0-5% (more if you have Taylor)

NFL Week 5 Waiver Wire Wide Receiver

Xavier Legette - Indianapolis Colts, Yahoo: 14% | ESPN: 25% | Sleeper: 39%

The question this week for WR needy teams will be Xavier Legette vs. Dontayvion Wicks. There are a couple slot WRs we like as well as a deeper add but these two are the upside plays. Both should have full-time roles for the foreseeable future as we wait to see what happens with Adam Thielen (hamstring) and Christian Watson (high ankle sprain). 

With Thielen out, Legette actually led Panthers wide receivers in snaps with 61 of 70 and he ran 38 of a possible 44 routes this week. In leagues with FAAB, I’m not likely to go over the top for either given how many good options there are this week - I’ll likely put reasonable bids out for a couple of guys and hope that I get one without dropping my whole budget. 

With Legette he has the bonus upside that comes with rookies, and he’s got a pretty clear path to being a top two target on the team along with Diontae Johnson. With Wicks, he still needs to contend with guys like Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, and Tucker Kraft. That gives Legette the narrowest of edges for us, especially after how well he played this week. 

• Waiver Priority: First
• FAAB: 10-15%

Dontayvion Wicks - Green Bay Packers, Yahoo: 14% | ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 18%

We warned fantasy gamers that Dontayvion Wicks was more of the “next man up” in this offense. The Packers like Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson on the outside with Jayden Reed in the slot making Wicks a rotational piece at best. Many of the folks who drafted Wicked ended up dropping him to waivers when this turned out to be the case for the first few weeks.

But this week Christian Watson suffered what looked like a high ankle sprain meaning that it is time for the “next man up”. Wicks has had issues with drops, but he has explosive upside when he does get his hands on the ball in space. Now is the time to add Wicks, especially if you are looking for a streamer to start right away. 

We’ll have to monitor the injury news for Christian Watson to determine how much of a priority Wicks should be. As you know, Romeo Doubs has been one of the top names in our Stashes article while we waited for the return of Jordan Love. His role was always fairly secure but there will certainly be more clarity than ever for him now as well. 

• Waiver Priority: First
• FAAB: 10-15%

Wan'Dale Robinson - New York Giants, Yahoo: 26% | ESPN: 27% | Sleeper: 46%

There is certainly a preferred format for Wan’Dale Robinson - and that’s full PPR. In standard leagues I might not even both. The low aDot slot receiver has not really racked up the yards, but he has been absolutely peppered with targets. 

His 38 targets through four games would be a 160+ target pace if it holds. We don’t expect that pace to stay consistent, but he doesn’t need 160 targets to be fantasy relevant. 

And the upside for Wan’Dale might not be as high as some other guys as he’s technically more of a “pure slot” receiver that comes out for three WR sets (which has led him to only play a 60-65% snap snare in most games. But he and Malik Nabers are clearly the top two preferred targets here and there is something to be said about that. 

• Waiver Priority: Medium Priority
• FAAB: 5-10%

Josh Downs - Indianapolis Colts, Yahoo: 25% | ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 34%

One of the big reasons we don’t feel the need to spend up on Wan’Dale Robinson is we feel you can get something very similar, if not potentially better, from Josh Downs. Both are “pure slot” receivers, playing about 60-65% of the snaps. 

Downs has actually run 95% of his routes from the slot in the two games he has played. And both Downs and Robinson are now looking like the clear second target on their team. Josh Downs was in our Stash article when he was hurt and, in this article, last week so you probably already have him in a couple of spots. 

Typically, an injury to the quarterback would be a bad thing for the pass-catchers but, in this case, going from the mobile Anthony Richardson to the gun-slinging Joe Flacco could actually temporarily help the value of Downs, if Richardson were to miss time. 

• Waiver Priority: Medium Priority
• FAAB: 5-10%

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

We always love to see our guys graduate from the Stashes or Streamers article to this article for best waiver wire picks. And though Polk is still more of a stash or deep league play than he is a true “add and start” play in most leagues, we quietly saw a big change in his usage this week. 

He also had this play which would have made for a big day had it counted (Polk himself retweeted this video with the words “catch” so he believes that it should have).

We’ve been noting that Polk has been playing with the starters some though it was still largely a rotation that favored the veterans. This week we saw a nice change in usage for Polk where he started then led all Patriots pass-catchers in snaps, routes, and targets. 

The Patriots have been a fairly rough team so far but not every game is going to be against defenses like the New York Jets or San Francisco 49ers. The hope here is that Polk can maintain this WR1 role, and that Drake Maye will eventually start and feed him the football. Kendrick Bourne is set to return eventually and that’s probably the last hurdle for Polk’s role.

• Waiver Priority: Low Priority of Free Add
• FAAB: 0%

NFL Week 5 Waiver Tight End + Yin & Yang TE

YIN (Good Floor, Low Ceiling)

Zach Ertz - Washington Commanders, Yahoo: 30% | ESPN: 37% | Sleeper: 50%

We know what Zach Ertz is at this stage. In Kliff Kingsbury’s offense he lines up as “big slot” often and serves as the safety blanket for the rookie QB. He’s never been particularly elusive in his career and, at nearly 34 years old, that’s not going to change now. 

But he continues to be a guy you can plug into the lineup, if need be, to give you a decent floor - especially in PPR. He had his lowest target total yet with 3 this week but it was a blowout. Plus, a two-point conversion bolstered his final numbers.

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: 0%

Colby Parkinson - Los Angeles Rams, Yahoo: 26% | ESPN: 34% | Sleeper: 32%

Is he a special talent? Not really. His 4.77 forty and 23rd percentile burst score per Player Profiler leave a lot to be desired. But he does have a couple things going for him here that make him a solid placeholder for you while you try to hit a breakout tight end (if there’s going to be one this year).

First, he plays a ton. He’s third in snap share behind Cade Otton and Tyler Conklin (who are other non-sexy Yin options). Second, the team is dealing with some serious injuries to guys like Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. That has now allowed Parkinson to get 5 or more targets in 3 out of 4 games. 

He’s had some tough matchups so far, but he has a good matchup this week vs the Packers which are a bottom five team in DVOA against the tight end position so far this year, per FTN. The over/under is set at 48.5 so we’re hoping for a shootout.

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: 0%

YANG (High Risk, High Reward)

Hunter Henry - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 37% | ESPN: 35% | Sleeper: 38%

I understand if folks are willing to give up on Henry - you only have so many roster spots. But the same things that made Pat Freiermuth appealing for us this year (who is currently a top five tight end on the season), are intriguing for Hunter Henry.

After dealing with an ankle injury during last week’s game that slowed him down against the Jets, Henry returned to playing a big snap share. His 50 snaps and 32 routes this week were second only among Patriots pass-catchers to Ja’Lynn Polk. The Patriots obviously aren’t a great team right now and their schedule isn’t incredible, but they don’t have to play the Jets or 49ers defense every week.

We saw what Henry is capable of in Week 2 when he caught 8 of 12 targets for over 100 yards. We’ve seen his redzone prowess, scoring the second most TDs of any tight end last year. We’re hoping that, at some point, the Patriots make a change to Drake Maye. And maybe that can be the spark that Henry needs to have upside as one of the few tight ends that can be a top two target on his team. 

• Waiver Priority: Late or free add
• FAAB: 0% 

Hayden Hurst - Los Angeles Chargers, Yahoo: 1% | ESPN: 5% | Sleeper: 4%

A lot of the “Yang” options are already stashed like David Njoku and T.J. Hockenson. The hope is that they can return from injury to claim a top two spot on the pecking order for their team. After that it’s pretty slim pickings out there in the world of potential upside tight ends. 

We might need an injury to jar things loose, as we’ve seen with Dallas Goedert in recent weeks. For now, one of the few guys that oddly has that kind of path is Hayden Hurst. In that tight end room, he’s led in snaps and routes run. And he’s playing more of his snaps virtually every week from a WR spot than he is inline. 

The team has taken a fairly run-heavy approach thus far so the pass attempts across the board have been fairly low. We’d need to see a game where this team is actually forced to throw, which hasn’t really happened yet. The tight end landscape is pretty grim. 

• Waiver Priority: Late or free add
• FAAB: 0%

Week 5 Yin & Yang Tight End

As promised, here are our updated Yin & Yang Tight End rankings going into Week 5. If you are not familiar with this strategy, the full write-up on it is available in our 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Guide. 

The short and sweet is that, if you don’t get an elite tight end, you roster two – someone “safe” to start early on (Yin) and the highest risk, highest reward option on the bench (Yang). As you can see, we separate who we consider a Standalone tight end option where we only care about their bye week vs. the situations where you should roster two. 

You can use your own judgment on that based on your league size and you can also roster two Yang tight ends if you want to play the high risk, high rewards game or two from the Yin side if you are super conservative. We’ll be updating this throughout the season.