Week 5 WR Waiver Pickups & Adds: Beam me up Scotty

Week 5 WR waiver wires are starting to look depressing. One piece of advice that I always try to give is that when players get added, others get dropped. The waiver wire does not end after Wednesday. Oftentimes in the middle weeks, when losing teams are tilting, good players will get dropped. That might be your best chance at a good WR this week. Do not blow all your FAAB on a guy that you do not like, as you never know when a player with real talent will be dropped out of necessity or tilt. Then, that is when you jump in with your FAAB or waiver wire priority.

Good WR Pickups

As you will see, there is no “great” pickup of the week like we saw in previous iterations of this article. There is no one close to Justin Jefferson or even a Russell Gage/Allen Lazard this week. Again the landscape is a little barren, but we as fantasy players must make due.

Tee Higgins

The closest thing this week to a top WW pick. Higgins has been trending in the right direction with Burrow every single week, and we are seeing exactly what that offense wants to do. That is, pass the ball. Last week Higgins showed his ability to be a red zone threat with two TDs, and this week he showed some prowess as a deep threat and YAC kind of player. Higgins now has 22 targets in his past three games. To find that on the waivers at this point is a godsend.

If the Bengals keep up this pace of passing the ball then I think that Higgins can be placed very close to that tier of a must pick-up. However, I am still not sold, like I was with Jefferson. Higgins is competing with a lot more talent on this roster with Boyd, Green, Tate, and even Mike Thomas/John Ross. Higgins is trying to climb away from the pack, but anytime there are so many options it is hard to be consistently fantasy relevant.

I would spend 5-10% FAAB on Higgins

Scotty Miller

With Chris Godwin out multiple weeks, OJ Howard out for the season, and Mike Evans getting a hyperextended knee on every play, Scotty Miller is starting to become one of Brady’s top choices. If not out of talent and connection, then out of necessity. Miller is coming off of a 7 target game, where he reeled in 5 receptions for 84 yards and a score. A great WR2 kind of day. I think that he can sustain this low-end WR2 kind of production for most of the year due to the fact that the other weapons on this offense cannot seem to stay healthy.

I will be honest, I am shocked at how well Brady has played. He looked like he had lost it last year, and even going into this year’s first game against the Saints, he looked atrocious. However, against a good Chargers’ defense, he dominated the game with limited weapons. This makes me much more excited about rostering Scotty Miller as a depth piece. If Brady can continue to play like he did Sunday, anybody with opportunity on that Tampa team is viable.

I would spend 3-5% FAAB

Tim Patrick

Tim Patrick had an amazing game against the abhorrent Jets. However, while he does not get to play that pathetic excuse for an NFL team every week, it is the opportunity that excited me. Patrick out-snapped just about every receiver. I was shocked to see him out there more than Jeudy, but that is what happened. Tim Patrick has good size and speed. With Courtland Sutton out it seems that Pat Schurmer is looking to him to fill that role.

It will be very interesting to see who ends up being the QB the next few weeks with Drew Lock out. I think that it was obvious that Brett Rypien and Tim Patrick had a connection. However, I think that Bortles can be just as good for this under-the-radar WR. Patrick is basically completely unowned in leagues so he should be out there, and he should not take much FAAB to get.

I would spend 1-2% FAAB

Tre’Quan Smith

Smith looked great in this game against a bad Lions’ secondary. The problem is that Michael Thomas is likely to come back next week, or at the least after the BYE against Carolina. I am not sure what that will mean for Smith who only had 1 target his first week with Thomas there. On top of this, Brees, despite the win, did not look great against Detroit. His arm is giving way and is just not fully there anymore, which means that he cannot fully utilize Smith’s skill set. Smith is a great deep threat, and I feel that if he cannot be utilized like that, then he is not a great stash. I think that Smith is a decent play if Thomas is out next week. However, I would not spend up for him, at all.

0 FAAB, just put him in the bottom of the WW selection.

Laviska Shenault Jr.

Shenault is a good play as a band-aid. This past week he had a great game against the Bengals, grabbing 86 yards on 5 receptions. Shenault looked much improved compared to the game against Miami, probably due to the fact that so much attention was going to Chark. Now he gets to play Houston and Detroit, two extremely plus matchups, before his BYE in week 7.

I think that Shenault is somewhat the ideal bench WR, as he seemingly is going to be grabbing you 10 points a week. He has a solid base of the 5-7 target range, he gets a few rushes, and the Jaguars are consistently going to be in high-scoring, passing game scripts. Shenault is probably not going to turn into an explosive league-winning player; however, he is a solid bench option that can do the patch work with injuries and BYE weeks coming.

I would spend 3-5% FAAB