Just when you thought fantasy football couldn’t get any harder, here come the bye weeks. It’s now more important than ever to win those battles on the fantasy football waiver wire. And it’s also crucial that you understand where your team lives in the current ecosystem. You need to approach the Week 5 fantasy football waiver wire quite a bit differently than you did, say, Week 2.

First off, do you have bye weeks either this week or next? You might need to spend big time if a player goes right into your lineup THIS week. Same goes for if you have three or four losses already. You can’t afford these wild “stashes” anymore. Forget about the handcuffs. Don’t eat bad matchups with your defense. You cannot afford to lose anymore - based on what we know about the odds of making the playoffs with even three losses at this point, it’s basically already must-win territory for you.

On the flip side, maybe you are one of those fancy folks who are 4-0. If that’s the case, you might have the luxury of focusing on upside stashes. Go ahead and grab Tyreek Hill or Joe Mixon. Grab the handcuff for your star running back. Only upside will likely crack your lineup, so play to win. Such is the luxury of the winning team on the fantasy football waiver wire. 

2026 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 5 Top Targets And Strategy

As we mentioned above, the key to navigating waivers is understanding your league and understanding what you need. We’ll give our guidance on whether to use your waiver claim or your FAAB, but every league is unique, so go with your gut for the final numbers.

You also need to know what kind of player you want to target. My rule of thumb is that, if the player goes DIRECTLY into my lineup at QB, WR, RB, or TE, I’m willing to use that top claim or a minimum 25% of your budget. This is a weekly game at its

We will do our best to differentiate whether this is a guy we can start right away or whether we like to have them on the bench to see if they break out. As always, if you play in deeper leagues like FFPC, check out our Streamers and Stashes article that gets down to the much lower-rostered players for those deep sleepers!

 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks

Deshaun Watson - Cleveland Browns, Yahoo: 9% | ESPN: 9% | Sleeper: 16% 

We finally got a primetime game so that folks could see what we’ve been talking about with Deshaun Watson. This is nothing like the complete shadow of Watson we saw a couple of years ago with the shoulder injury and the brutally bad offense. This team has weapons, they can actually move the ball, and Watson is actually converting in key situations like third down, fourth down, and the red zone.

More importantly than all that, Watson is running the football. Not just scrambling, but by getting designed runs called for him. His 25 carries are second only to 28 for Josh Allen among QBs. And if you remove kneel-downs, QB sneaks, and scrambles to highlight only the designed runs, both Allen and Watson are tied in those with 10 a piece. Folks who are still late to add him got lucky that most of the TDs were scored on the ground because it will be much easier to sneak Watson off the wire. One of these games, he’s finally going to break the seal and score a rushing touchdown, possibly two, and then he’s going to be added in a LOT of leagues. 

Waiver Priority: Low Priority

  • FAAB: 0-5%

Kirk Cousins - Las Vegas Raiders, Yahoo: 23% | ESPN: 17% | Sleeper: 40% 

Much to the chagrin of Fernando Mendoza fans, Kirk Cousins has been playing good ball. He’s now 3-1, with his only loss coming this week in a 27-30 game against the division rival and perennial powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs. It’s time to admit that the Raiders under Klint Kubiak are good, and they have great weapons. Cousins has also thrown multiple touchdowns in all four games. He offers zero mobility, but he’s still the QB8 in all of fantasy in 4-point TD leagues and an even more viable play in 6-point leagues. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Sam Darnold, Malik Willis, Geno Smith

NFL Week 5 Waiver Wire Running Backs

Will Shipley - Philadelphia Eagles, Yahoo: 2% | ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 0%

Tank Bigsby was one of our top handcuffs in the Streamers & Stashes article ever since the first time Saquon Barkley got nicked up. Well, Barkley left the game this past week with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. Tank Bigsby then stepped into the starting role and promptly suffered an even worse injury that requires surgery. Ain’t that just the way? 

One of the big issues with the modern NFL is that teams LIKE to split these backfields. So, if Saquon Barkley is set to miss major time here, there’s a very real possibility the Eagles try to add another back. At the very least, they will be activating one or possibly more of Dameon Pierce, Jaydon Blue, or Carson Steele from their practice squad. So, even though we are going to chase Shipley here as we would with any back set to potentially start some games, just know that the Eagles will likely be adding at least something else. Either that, or the injury to Barkley isn’t that serious - which would obviously be worse for Shipley. 

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

Keaton Mitchell - Los Angeles Chargers Yahoo: 35% | ESPN: 18% | Sleeper: 36%

There are a lot of directions you can go on the wire at running back this week. Emmanuel Wilson is certainly an option after he looked good this week. But you have to deal with Zach Charbonnett coming back, Joe Mixon reportedly signing, and even Robert Henry being signed from the Commanders' practice squad as well. All this action in a short time here has us wondering if there is maybe something going on with Wilson that we aren’t aware of yet.

One thing we are aware of is the running back situation in Los Angeles. Mitchell was already pushing the issue in the pass game, actually running the second most routes from a WR spot among all RBs, behind only Christian McCaffrey. This week he actually managed to get to the point where he split the snaps evenly with Omarion Hampton. Mitchell might actually be a better scheme fit for what they are trying to do, and they don’t seem shy about that. 

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

Joe Mixon - Seattle Seahawks, Yahoo: 4% | ESPN: 9% | Sleeper: 17%

This is obviously the ultimate wildcard here. And I’ll tell you what - the more shallow the league I’m in, the more likely I am to make this move. In shallow leagues or leagues where I already have running backs, only the highest upside option really has a chance to crack your lineup. So, even if the floor is super low on a guy who hasn’t played football in over a year off a mystery foot injury, the upside for Mixon is still higher than anyone else on this list. The last time we did see Mixon, he did actually look pretty good. 

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

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Emanuel Wilson, Austin Ekeler

 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Waiver Wire Wide Receivers

Tyreek Hill - Free Agent, Yahoo: 23% | ESPN: 25% | Sleeper: 55%

Look, everyone knows the deal here. It’s not much different than the Mixon play. Professional football is such a niche job, and the few guys that play it at an extremely high level are often truly “built different”, as the kids say. It’s why guys like Darren Waller and Keenan Allen can just continue to show up last minute and play better than all these young prospects that teams covet. There’s a real possibility that Tyreek Hill signs with a team and is simply better than any pass-catcher in the entire organization from day one. Hopefully you have been following our advice in the Streamers & Stashes articles and already have him (especially in ESPN leagues where he was still IR-eligible). Otherwise, you are in the sweepstakes with everyone else. He could be washed, but we have to see. 

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

Tre' Harris - Los Angeles Chargers, Yahoo 9% | ESPN: 6% | Sleeper: 15%

How many different injuries does Ladd McConkey need to suffer before they finally give him some time off? As it turns out, the answer seems to be two, as he tried to play through both the rib issue and now a foot issue before the foot issue has deemed him “week-to-week”. Each time he’s gotten nicked up, Tre Harris has taken over a big snap share.

But let us ask another question here. Is Quentin Johnston actually better than Tre Harris? Through four games now, I’m starting to wonder if maybe Tre Harris can run with one of these top two WR jobs and just keep it even when Ladd McConkey is back. In his four games, Johnston now has 1, 1, 2, and 3 catches. At what point do they just make Johnston the WR3?

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Chris Bell - Miami Dolphins, Yahoo 8% | ESPN: 5% | Sleeper: 17%

We are sticking with our guns here from last week’s article despite the zero-point game for Bell. It could have easily been a many-point game for Bell had he not just barely stepped out of bounds before a ~50-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Bell’s getting a big snap share, and he’s been passing the eye test from time to time. If you need a streamer with floor, maybe go Malik Washington, but if you want the upside stash, it’s Bell. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Malik Washington, Jalen Royals, Makai Lemon

NFL Week 5 Waiver and Yin & Yang Tight End

Mike Gesicki - Cincinnati Bengals Yahoo: 7% | ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 16%

This one always feels like a trap. And that’s because it might be. But BOTH Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins left this past week’s game with an injury. Even then, Gesicki only had a 68% route participation, as they still like to rotate the tight ends. But if you are streaming, it’s probably at least a decent short-term option while the Bengals figure out how long these guys could be out and what they are going to do. Gesicki has scored in three of his four games so far; in the other game, he did not catch a pass. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

T.J. Hockenson - Minnesota Vikings, Yahoo: 30% | ESPN: 54% | Sleeper: 40%

Everyone knows that Kyler Murray likes to scramble. What might not be immediately obvious is that Murray is also quietly among the league leaders in getting the ball out of his hands quickly. He often either releases the ball in under 2.5 seconds or he extends the play. He doesn’t really spend a lot of time working through his reads, which favors either the quick looks or the guys extending plays late.

Trey McBride was obviously a beneficiary of that for years, but now it’s T.J. Hockenson. Throw in the torn pec for Josh Oliver, as well as the recent injury to Justin Jefferson, and Hock is all of a sudden a solid option - at least for one more week before his bye, at least. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: AJ Barner, Brenton Strange
 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Waiver DST

Cleveland Browns, Yahoo: 14% | ESPN: 41% | Sleeper: 19%

I streamed the Cleveland Browns last week in a couple of spots against the Steelers, where they got me five sacks and two interceptions. They have a decent unit and, for once, the offense can sustain drives. This New York Jets team is obviously better than years past, but they’ve also suffered some injuries to guys like Breece Hall, Adonai Mitchell, Mason Taylor, and Omar Cooper Jr so they aren’t even the full-strength version of the new look Jets. 

Cincinnati Bengals, Yahoo: 23% | ESPN: 17% | Sleeper: 19%

This is more about playing whoever is facing the Miami Dolphins than it is loving the Bengals. That said, they have done a better job at getting after the quarterback with 14 sacks on the year so far, plus they’ve generated some turnovers. But it’s more about who they are playing. 

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Cowboys vs. TB, DET vs. ARI

NFL Week 5 Waiver K

Tyler Bass - Buffalo Bills Yahoo: 21% | ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 9%

Just going to keep throwing Tyler Bass out there as an option until he’s added in more leagues, just like we did with Harrison Butker (who is now finally rostered in more than 50% of leagues but will be dropped a bunch this week for his bye week, so we should have him back in the article next week). The Bills are a good offense, and they now have actual favorable kicking conditions at home with their new stadium. Sure, Josh Allen can convert fourth downs, but Bass has been perfect on the field goals they have asked him to kick thus far, and this team is always going to score in some fashion. 

Cairo Santos - Chicago Bears, Yahoo: 35% | ESPN: 29% | Sleeper: 8%

A lot of folks dropped Cairo Santos when Caleb Williams got hurt, as they figured the Bears were probably toast. As it turns out, BOTH Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent can play pretty darn well. So it’s time to start adding Cairo Santos back. 

 

 

 

Yin & Yang Tight End Chart

As always, this section below will be updated with Yin & Yang tight end rankings for the rest of the season each week. The way Yin & Yang tight end works is: if you have someone from the standalone section, you only need to roster one player. Beyond that, we are likely rostering two - someone to start and someone to stash. 

  • Standalone - Guys we currently trust that also have big upside.
  • Yin - A “safe” player that we can start while trying to hit on a breakout with a bench spot.
  • Yang - A higher risk, higher reward option ideally stashed on your bench for upside. 
  • Handcuff - Guys with minimal usage now who could have upside if the starting TE gets hurt.

[Check back for Week 5 Yin & Yang tight end update soon!]