As always, we have our main waiver article that covers every position at the surface level. But Fantasy Alarm members often play in deep leagues that require additional levels of research and nuance. That’s where this article comes in. We take things a step further to look at those deep streamers you might need to keep your team afloat. And we also look at the top stashes who might not be able to help us right now, but could contribute to a championship down the road!

Best Fantasy Football Streamers and Stashes For Week 5

What is a Streamer?

A streamer is a player that you can actually start in your lineup currently. They might not be the flashiest players, but they won’t get you a zero. In deeper leagues with a lot of starting spots, you may need to call on them from time to time - especially when bye weeks and injuries come around.

What is a Stash?

The stashes are players that have appealing upside for one reason or another, but aren’t reliable guys you can start now. Maybe they are injured, and you can put them in an IR spot. Maybe they are handcuffs that could have big upside if the starter gets hurt. Maybe they are rookies who need time to develop and carve out a role. Whatever it is, we want to keep an eye on them. And stash them on deep benches. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Quarterback Streamers

Matthew Stafford - Los Angeles Rams Yahoo: 43% | ESPN: 14% | Sleeper: 41%  

Stafford is the top streaming option right now, as we laid out in the main article. He’s thrown two or more TD passes in each of his last three games, and I could see him keeping that rolling on Thursday night against the 49ers. 

Tua Tagovailoa - Carolina Panthers Yahoo: 24% | ESPN: 22% | Sleeper: 23% 

Losing Tyreek Hill stinks, no question about that. But there aren’t many serviceable QBs out there with good matchups this week. The Patriots just took the Carolina Panthers out behind the woodshed this week with a great day for Drake Maye, and Tua does have a new redzone target, Darren Waller, at his disposal. Malik Washington will step up into a bigger role, and I think Tua should at least have a decent floor here vs. Carolina. Plus, he’s pretty widely available. 

NFL Week 5 Quarterback Stashes

Jaxson Dart - New York Giants Yahoo: 23% | ESPN: 21% | Sleeper: 34%  

Do we trust Jaxson Dart? Absolutely not. Do we want to stash him to see if he will run it a ton again? Yes. He’s been our top stash in this article all year; no reason to drop him now.  

JJ McCarthy, QB, Minnesota Vikings Yahoo: 40%| ESPN: 39% | Sleeper: 37%

This one is especially appealing if you have a free IR spot to throw him in. Sure, he did not start off all that hot. But you’d be hard-pressed to find better weapons than Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and, eventually, Aaron Jones. The schedule does get a bit better for the Vikings in the second half, right around the time McCarthy comes back. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Running Back Streamers

Kareem Hunt - Kansas City Chiefs: 41% | ESPN: 39% | Sleeper: 54%

Karrem Hunt was out top streamer last week, and he will be once again against Jacksonville. Hunt quietly flat-out played more and got more touches than Isaiah Pacheco this week, so maybe he can be even more than just a streamer. It’s just hard to put faith in a 30-year-old committee RB more than one game at a time. If you can’t get Woody Marks off the wire, this is probably the play. 

Chris Rodgriguez RB, Washington Commanders, Yahoo: 13%| ESPN: 5% | Sleeper: 33%

Chris Rodriguez continues to force a split in Washington. For many teams, the backup is relegated to ~25% of the work and very rarely gets any sort of high-leverage touches like goal line. C-Rod is at least in the mix for real, meaningful touches, which makes him a guy that you can toss in the lineup in a pinch. 

Justice Hill - Baltimore Ravens, Yahoo: 5% | ESPN: 12% | Sleeper: 10%

Justice Hill often plays a pretty big snap share as the Ravens' pass-down back. That actually quietly translates to a 40-50% snap share at times - last year he played more than 40% of the snaps in 10 games and at least 30% in every game he was healthy. The issues for a pass-catching back there have been two-fold. One is that the Ravens are a good team that is rarely playing from behind. The other is that Lamar Jackson is a mobile QB who doesn’t dump it down often. If Cooper Rush is the QB, the script could be flipped more often, like we saw this week, where Hill played 59% of the snaps and saw 6 targets. 

Tyler Allgeier RB, Atlanta Falcons, Yahoo: 35%| ESPN: 35% | Sleeper: 40%

Old reliable. He’s almost always there if you need him, hovering around 35% ownership. He almost always gets 5-10 touches a game unless the Falcons are completely getting blown out. The “break glass in case of emergency” player. 

NFL Week 5 Running Back Stashes

Brashard Smith RB, Kansas City Chiefs Yahoo: 2%| ESPN: 3% | Sleeper: 5%

Smith is a priority stash for us over the others because he has a real shot to carve out a role on his own here, without an injury to the starter. His playing time increased this week and we'd rather be a week early on guys like this than a week late. 

DJ Giddens RB, Indianapolis Colts, Yahoo: 3%| ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 10%

No change here. For streamers, we want guys who are playing some. For stashes, we almost want the opposite. Jonathan Taylor is one of the league’s best RBs in one of the top offenses. He plays a massive snap share. If anything were to happen to Taylor, that could be Giddens’s job. 

Blake Corum RB, Los Angeles Rams Yahoo: 27%| ESPN: 19% | Sleeper: 30%

Same thought process here - Kyren Williams routinely gets monster workloads because Sean McVay leans heavily on his top guys. Corum could be that guy if something happens. 

 

 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Wide Receiver Streamers

Malik Washington - Miami Dolphins, Yahoo: 4%| ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 5%

The Dolphins use the fullback and a bunch of blocking tight ends. That highly consolidates the snaps among the top guys. With Tyreek Hill out, Washington could step into a big role here. Or he could split snaps with Nick Westbrook-Ikhine-Ikhine-Ikhine. Either way, he’s the top streamer for us because it COULD turn into more than just a one-week stream - the season for Tyreek Hill is done. 

Jalen Tolbert - Dallas Cowboys Yahoo: 4%| ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 16%

In standard leagues where you need some juice, maybe you use Kavontae Turpin. But, in any sort of PPR league, Jalen Tolbert is getting the snaps with CeeDee Lamb out. And he’s getting the targets too, with six in each of his last two games. Is he super efficient on those? No. Does he offer some semblance of a floor? Yes. 

Kendrick Bourne - San Francisco 49ers Yahoo: 0%| ESPN: 0% | Sleeper: 2%

If Ricky Pearsall misses this week with a knee issue, it’s going to be Kendrick Bourne in that WR2 chair again. Like Malik Washington, the fullback and blocking tight end usage consolidates the snaps among the top guys. We like Washington better, though, because of the possible permanence of the job. 

NFL Week 5 Wide Receiver Stashes

Jalen Coker - Carolina Panthers, Yahoo: 9%| ESPN: 8% | Sleeper: 14%

Let’s be real - outside of Tetairoa McMillan, the Panthers' pass-catchers have been junk. Adam Thielen is gone. Xavier Legette was bad before he got hurt. David Moore stepped into his role - now HE is hurt. Brycen Tremayne is an interesting name because of his connection to Brad Idzik, but that’s for crazy deep leagues. Hunter Renfrow literally got released and only came back because Coker got hurt. Even tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders is hurt. Coker could step right in and be the WR2 here.

Luther Burden - Chicago Bears, Yahoo: 15%| ESPN: 12% | Sleeper: 33%

This guy simply is not playing enough. The bet here is on the talent and his role slowly growing as we proceed. Or maybe one of DJ Moore or Rome Odunze gets hurt, and it grows rapidly. If you can stash him on deep benches, give it a try. 

Tory Horton - Seattle Seahawks, Yahoo: 8%| ESPN: 6% | Sleeper: 21%

Klint Kubiak’s offense is not a good setup for the WR3. They use the fullback and a bunch of tight ends. But Horton has flashed every chance he’s gotten. If anything were to happen to JSN or Cooper Kupp, now he’s in one of those two WR chairs, and the upside is big right away. So he’s only a stash, but one that is a handcuff for two players. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 5 Tight End Streamers

Brenton Strange - Jacksonville Jaguars, Yahoo: 28% | ESPN: 23% | Sleeper: 33%

Darren Waller is our top priority off the wire. If you can’t get him, Brenton Strange is your next best streamer. We talked about it in the main article, but he offers a decent floor even if the ceiling isn’t all that great. 

Harold Fannin - Cleveland Browns Yahoo: 37%| ESPN: 33% | Sleeper: 61%

Fannin finally ran more routes than David Njoku. Sure, it was one more route, but it was symbolic, and it happened. This is still a pretty crowded team, but Cedric Tillman could be out this week, and every target matters. They play in London against Minnesota and should be throwing a ton again.   

NFL Week 5 Tight End Stashes

Mason Taylor - New York Jets Yahoo: 6%| ESPN: 3% | Sleeper: 11%

Don’t look now, but the rookie is finally getting involved. He got six targets in Week 3, then followed that up with seven targets this week. His 77% route participation this week is also one of his best of the season. If you’ve been holding, keep hanging on and, if you are struggling at the position in deep leagues, give him a look. Rookies can start slow, so starting your career with two meh games and two solid games is pretty darn good if you ask me. We still like Waller more, but both guys could end up as the top two targets on their team. 

Theo Johnson - New York Giants Yahoo: 5%| ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 5%

Theo Johnson hasn’t had the best usage for a tight end. He plays a lot of inline snaps and sometimes is asked to block on pass plays. But he does have a good athletic profile and, with the Malik Nabers injury leaving a lot of vacated targets, we have to try to stash some of these guys just to see where they are going to go.