Early Fantasy Football Waiver Wire For Week 6: Target Germie Bernard

Week 5 was one of the more enjoyable weeks we’ve had so far this year from a fantasy perspective. Tons of blowup performances from the biggest stars across the league and not a whole lot of injuries. While nobody is going to complain about this, it does lend itself to one of the more low-key waiver wire weeks so far. That being said, don’t click away just yet, as the underlying utilization data shows us there are still some very intriguing adds here.

FYI, the following players are ordered by position, NOT the order in which I would attack them on the wire. For detailed breakdowns on priority and pricing for each of these players, make sure to check out the premium version of this article, which drops weekly on Tuesday mornings. I dive deep into FAAB recommendations in multiple league sizes and formats, including Guillotine Leagues™️.

Without further ado, let’s get right into it:

Early Week 5 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

Quarterback

Jalon Daniels | TB

Roster: 19%

While Jalon Daniels didn’t light the world on fire from a fantasy perspective on Thursday night, he did look completely in control of the Tampa Bay offense:

19/25, 189 passing yards
7 carries, 23 yards
0.24 EPA/dropback (QB8 on the week)

While he finished with only 13.9 points, I’m really coming around on the idea that Daniels could serve as a reliable streaming option as long as Mayfield remains out. He provides some of the higher rushing upside of any QB across the league, and has looked solid in the passing game as well.

Running Back

Kendre Miller | NO

Roster: 37%

In a game where many (including myself) thought Alvin Kamara would serve as the lead back in New Orleans, it was actually Kendre Miller carrying a majority of the work. The only problem? The total work to go around was minimal, with only 17 total carries and 3 targets to go around. That being said, it was Miller leading the backfield here with 10 carries (59%).

The bad news here: Miller ran only 3.7% of the routes and was not targeted. It’s clear his receiving upside is significantly limited, especially with Kamara sharing the backfield.

While I think it’s worth mentioning him in this column, I wouldn’t view Miller as anything more than a desperation RB3 on a weekly basis. Don’t go blowing your waiver budget on him.

Raheim Sanders | CLE
Rostered: 16%

Raheim Sanders was the only running back outside of Quinshon Judkins to get a carry out of the Cleveland backfield in Week 5, getting 4 carries to Judkins’ 14.

The real draw here: Judkins seemed to finish the game banged up:

This is one we’ll want to monitor over the next day or two. If Judkins looks like he’s going to miss time, Sanders should slot in as a pure handcuff in that backend RB2 range in Week 6 against the Ravens.

Seth McGowan | IND

Roster: 19%

If you’ve read these waiver wire columns weekly, you know how much I’ve stressed the importance of rostering solid handcuff running backs. McGowan has shown he is firmly in that range to open the season.

In Week 5, McGowan received 6 carries behind Jonathan Taylor’s 20—he was one of only two backs to see a carry. He was also trusted with a key fourth-down short yardage conversion. I wouldn’t expect him to provide any standalone value as long as Taylor is healthy, but he deserves to be in that top-tier of pure handcuffs that need to be rostered.

Wide Receiver

Makai Lemon | PHI

Roster: 66%

While most of the spotlight is going to be on Darius Cooper after he scored a long touchdown, Makai Lemon is the guy I’d want to add from the Philadelphia passing game. In Week 5 with DeVonta Smith sidelined:

88.4% route participation (T-1st)
7 targets (2nd)
5 receptions, 43 yards

While the boxscore finish for Lemon wasn’t anything crazy, he quietly found himself the most involved in the Philly offense that he’s been all season. I was a big fan of Lemon’s prospect profile entering the league—he was an 88th percentile WR prospect in the CUPPS model—and it’s encouraging to see him find more of a rhythm this week.

The first round rookie receiver might not be available in your leagues, but if he is, I’d view him as one of the priority adds of the week.

Efton Chism | NE

Roster: 10%

Chism was an intriguing deep-sleeper add after Mack Hollins was placed on injured reserve ahead of the Week 5 matchup, and his utilization did not disappoint:

73.7% route participation (2nd)
6 targets (1st)
5 receptions (1st), 57 yards (2nd)
11.0 expected fantasy points (WR26 on the week)

As long as A.J. Brown remains sidelined, I actually really like Chism as a stable weekly option in this Patriots passing offense.

Germie Bernard | PIT

Roster: 21%

Bernard was a guy I was very excited for this week. From my Friday Cupps’ Cupboard segment:

When Michael Pittman missed Week 2, Bernard was the main beneficiary. He ran 85% of the routes and was second on the team with a 22.5% target share - behind only DK Metcalf … he’s my favorite stash ahead of Week 5.

In another game without Pittman (now placed on IR), Bernard was the clear beneficiary once again:

94.1% route participation (2nd)
29.6% target rate (1st)
8 targets (1st)
6 receptions, 80 yards (2nd)

The rookie receiver looked like the best option on the field in Week 5, and it’s clear Aaron Rodgers trusts him. I hope you picked him up ahead of this week, but if not, I’d be looking at Bernard as the top pickup on the week.

Christian Kirk | SF

Roster: 13%

The 49ers' receiving corps is just about as depleted as it could possibly get (please Mike Evans and George Kittle, stay healthy), but they saw another significant loss this week with Deebo Samuel going down due to a hamstring injury.

After he left, we saw a mix of Jacob Cowing, Brandin Cooks and Khadarel Hodge picking up routes. I don’t think any of these guys are the answer to the WR2 question behind Evans if Deebo misses time. My best bet here would be Christian Kirk, who opened the year on injured reserve, but could potentially be activated next week.

He’s rostered in only 13% of leagues right now, and I think Kirk could sleepwalk into serious volume next week if Deebo misses time. You should hopefully be able to sneak in a low-cost bid to get him before Week 6.

Tight End

Brenton Strange | JAX

Roster: 57%

I wrote up Strange as my favorite add at the tight end position in last week’s edition of this waiver wire column, and Strange continued to impress in Week 5 against the Eagles:

88.9% route participation (3rd among all pass catchers)
8 targets, 23.5% target share (1st)
7 receptions, 68 yards
15.6 expected fantasy points (TE5 on the week)

After two weeks in a row of encouraging production and utilization for Brenton Strange, I think he’s quickly approaching the startable back-end TE1 range on a weekly basis.

Pat Freiermuth | PIT

Roster: 37%

Pat Freiermuch had a breakout game in Week 5:

79.4% route participation (4th among all pass catchers)
6 targets, 21.4% target share (T-2nd)
5 receptions, 44 yards, 2TD

Through five weeks, Freiermuth is now sitting at 12.1 PPR points per game—putting him at TE10 on the season. It’s worth mentioning that he is outperforming his role by a bit (12.1 actual PPG vs. 10.2 expected PPG), but regardless, I think it’s still time we start putting him in the back-end TE1/high-end TE2 range on a weekly basis.

Guys I Would NOT Recommend Spending On: