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Top Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 5

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By Chip Bayless (click Howie for more Chip)

 

 

 

 

1) Tank Bigsby

Let me put this delicately: if you have Travis Etienne on your fantasy team and don’t have Tank Bigsby, you are absolutely fucked.

After his Week 4 performance, being the most effective Jacksonville rusher so far all season (5.9 yards per carry so far compared to Etienne’s 4.6), and rumors that this backfield could flip, Bigsby will be one of the most-claimed players on waivers in Week 5.

Rostered in just under 7% of ESPN leagues at the moment, you can bet your life savings that figure will increase to at least 25% in Week 5.

In both Weeks 1 and 4, it was surprisingly Bigsby who led the Jaguars in both yards per carry and in rushing yards – by more than 30 yards.

Among all RBs, Tank Bigsby is currently:

Bigsby runs with an almost perfect combination of power and speed, enabling him to have the versality to be a trusted and demoralizing between-the-tackles runner in addition to being a home-run hitter the coaching staff looks towards to bail out inefficient offensive drives.


While Bigsby’s workload has been too unpredictable to warrant a starting spot in lineups, he’s absolutely worth a stash and will be worth starting if he receives close to (or more) than ten touches consistently.

After all, he turned just seven carries into 90 yards in Week 4, notching an astounding 12.9 yards per carry average.

Defenses seemingly aren’t even remotely concerned with stopping the Jaguars’ most efficient back either: he’s faced the fifth-fewest stacked boxes of any RB thus far.

 

 

2) Josh Downs

While Downs did play his first game of the 2024 season against Chicago last week, this was truly his first fully healthy week without any limitations in terms of snap share or targets.

In Week 3 against the Bears, Downs manages to accrue five targets and snap three of them for 22 yards (but a meager five fantasy points) in his first – and albeit limited – action of the season.

He followed his Week 3 warmup game with a strong nine targets resulting in eight catches for 82 yards and a touchdown as he scored 22 fantasy points in PPR leagues.

Despite only playing two weeks, one of which was limited, Downs’ current WR ranks are:

With Anthony Richardson going down with a hip injury, Joe Flacco came off the bench like Uncle Rico coming off the stoop and started firing passes all over the field with confidence, and the chemistry he had with Downs certainly has to be encouraging for fantasy owners looking for Downs to solve their WR woes.


Another encouraging factor was the fact that it was clear that Downs wasn’t merely being force-fed targets as his burst and change of direction skills were clearly back to where they were before his injury.

He was wide open on many of his routes and had defenders chasing him in and out of his breaks.

Downs also demonstrated elite ball skills that were seemingly completely de-rusted despite missing out on the months of preseason practices and games that we take for granted in other players.

Downs attacked the football and snatched catches away from his body with his natural hands, and the quickness with which he turns upfield after receptions is maybe the best on the Colts roster.

Finally, while this might mean nothing at all, Joe Flacco and his AARP card did repeatedly shout out Josh Downs in his post game interview for his short and intermediate work and seemingly views him as his go-to receiver when Pittman isn’t.

 

 

3) Andy Dalton

QB waiver wire prospects are pretty bleak at this point in the season, but if you own Anthony Richardson for instance or have been starting a mediocre or struggling quarterback, Andy Dalton is legitimately worth a look.



The bottom line is the year is 2024 and Panthers Andy Dalton has scored at least 14 fantasy points in each of his starts so far, just like we all predicted.

He’s also thrown for at least 220 yards and two TDs in both those games while being efficient with his passing attempts (currently 8th in adjusted net yards per attempt).

Some of the windows Dalton has fit throws into have been flat-out phenomenal, and he’s without a doubt earned himself at least a QB2 job next season, if not the chance to compete for a starting/bridge role for a team that needs him – whether that be one rebuilding or a playoff team with an injured or recovering QB.

Although Andy Dalton is clearly dying at least some of his beard hair at this point considering his age (no 40 year-old ginger has completely Trump-orange hair), at the moment Dalton sits, in terms of quarterbacks:

Dalton has been throwing with top-notch anticipation and awareness, setting his receivers up for big gains with YAC opportunities. It also helps both Dalton and the entire Panthers offense that he has one of the quickest releases in the league and is making correct, quick decisions on almost every passing attempt

It’s worth noting Dalton is currently averaging the 2nd-fastest time to throw in the NFL, holding the ball only an average 2.35 seconds on average (according to Next Gen Stats).

He’s reading defenses, setting protections, making the right checks and audibles, and running the Panthers offense like he’s the Bryce Young they selected on draft day instead of the bust with the giant backpack.

While Dalton certainly isn’t known for a powerful arm, he’s had some insanely impressive deep passes, and those balls combined with his ability to throw on the run doesn’t seem to limit the Panthers in terms of any plays in their playbook.

If Andy Dalton keeps scoring around 15-25 fantasy points on a weekly basis, he’ll be a QB1 as far as fantasy purposes go.

If you have a QB like Tua, Anthony Richardson, or someone on a bye, Dalton is certainly worth starting consideration, especially since the Panthers are a bad football team and are throwing much of the time due to playing from behind.

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2 thoughts on “Top Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 5”

  • Anonymous
    October 2, 2024 at 5:16 pm
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    The fact that Doug is still a head coach is the worst thing about the NFL

    Reply
  • Anonymous
    October 2, 2024 at 10:20 am
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    Got TANK this morning bb 😤 💨

    Reply

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