Hopefully the waiver wire has been kind to you thus far as many early round draft picks haven’t panned out. I’m looking at you C.J. Anderson, Demarco Murray, and Lamar Miller. Throw in the injuries to Dez Bryant, Alshon Jeffery, Big Ben, and Tony Romo and you have yourself the unpredictability of the NFL season in full force. All the aforementioned disappointments make the waiver wire the most important method in fielding a competitive roster, therefore use your waiver selection wisely. Good luck in Week 5 and don’t forget the Panthers, Dolphins, Vikings, and Jets are all on byes.
Fantasy Football Add/Drop – Week #5
Quarterback
Add – Jay Cutler
Look who has risen from the fantasy dead once again to make for an interesting bye week/injury replacement. As mentioned above Romo and Big Ben are still on the injury list while Cam Newton is on a bye week. The ultimate Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Cutler came back earlier than expected from his hamstring injury to play his best game of the season, earning the Bears’ first victory of the season albeit against the poor Raiders defense. Cutler can self-implode at any time but he gets another favorable matchup in Week 5 against a Chiefs defense which is surprisingly having issues getting to the quarterback and has issues on the back end. If Alshon Jeffery suits up it further adds fuel to the Cutler waiver wire add train.
Notables – Mike Vick, Blake Bortles
Drop – Colin Kaepernick
It’s time to cut bait on this enigma which in Clay Matthews’ words “You ain’t Russell Wilson bro.” Teams have stacked the box against the 49ers utilizing an eight man front and in some instances a nintj man in the box to stuff Carlos Hyde and the run game. This ultimately means defenses have no worries about Kaepernick beating them with his arm and thus far he hasn’t proved them wrong. There was some buzz on how he trained in the offseason with Kurt Warner and even more buzz when he closed out Week 1 on Monday Night Football with an above average performance. His last 2 games have been atrocious throwing for a grand total of 227 yards and 0 TDs compared to 5 interceptions. It is time to panic, you can’t play that bad and expect to stay on fantasy rosters.
Running Back
Add – Ronnie Hillman
The tables seem to be turning in the Denver Broncos backfield as starting RB C.J. Anderson is not producing to the level of expectation of many fantasy owners thus far in Gary Kubiak’s outside zone blocking scheme. Enter Ronnie Hillman who was highlighted by CPGM before the season started as a late round running back to target due to his running style fitting the scheme. I am no nastradamous but it seems like my prediction is coming to fruition as Hillman has outplayed Anderson so far leading the Broncos to implement an even 50/50 split. The more Anderson struggles and the more Hillman breaks off long runs like his 72 yard TD run on Sunday the more carries Hillman will get over Anderson. Scoop up Hillman as you will be rewarded once he gets the majority of the touches in the Broncos backfield.
Notables – Duke Johnson, Cameron Artis-Payne, Christine Michael
Drop – Alfred Blue
Time is about up on Alfred Blue as the bell cow RB Arian Foster is back in the lineup. The Texans limited Foster’s playing time due to it being his first game back from his groin injury plus the game got out of hand early giving the team no reason to insert Foster back in the game. As the weeks go by it’s just a matter of time before Blue gets fazed out of the lineup. Don’t expect Blue to make a difference going forward because he was losing playing time to Chris Polk even before Foster played in Week 4.
Wide Receiver
Add – Allen Hurns
Kudos to CPGM Juice for going out on a limb in his AFC South predictions stating that Allen Hurns would lead the Jaguars in receiving yards and touchdowns. The hype at the beginning of the season was all about fellow sophomore receiver Allen Robinson but Hurns has quietly led the team in receptions, only 16 yards behind Robinson, and is tied with Robinson with 2 TDs so far in the 2015 season. Right now it’s a toss up who will eventually lead the team statistically but one thing is for certain, Hurns is here to stay. He is the top waiver wire addition in my estimation and will continue to roll for the Jaguars.
Notables – Ty Montgomery, Willie Snead, Dwayne Harris, Stefon Diggs, Eddie Royal
Drop – Marques Colston
QB Drew Brees had his best game of the season on Sunday night throwing for 359 yards and 2 TDs and Marques Colston only secured 4 of his 5 targets for 19 yards. Colston is no longer Brees’ go too guy and has fallen behind Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead within the offense. With C.J. Spiller getting healthy Colston’s duties as the check down option will be all but non-existent making him irrelevant in fantasy leagues.
Tight End
Add – Antonio Gates
Antonio Gates’ four game suspension could not have been lifted at a better time for the San Diego Chargers as the receiving core is battling injuries with Malcom Floyd and Stevie Johnson dealing with ailments. Although I don’t see an end to fellow TE Ladarius Green, we all know Phillip Rivers loves him some Gates. Gates will be heavily involved in the passing game and red zone opportunities making him a good fantasy option as touchdowns drive fantasy. Scoop Gates as he gets a tasty matchup against the non-existent Steelers secondary.
Drop – Vernon Davis
Has anyone found Vernon Davis yet after he posted 13 TDs in 2013. After a forgetful 2014 season where Davis only caught 26 passes the tight end’s 2015 season has started in unspectacular fashion with only 8 receptions and missing the last two games with a deep bruise to his knee. Right now updates state it is a pain tolerance issue and he is day-to-day. But it doesn’t matter if he gets back on the field or not because he hasn’t shown us anything since 2013 and the 49ers pass offense has been anemic with Colin Kaepernick at the helm. Cut bait now and find another option.
Defense
Add – Bengals D
Geno Atkins and the Bengals defensive line is looking like 2012-13 version. As long as the front four is getting after the quarterback the back end will fix their issues making the Bengals D a great pick up.
Drop – Ravens D
Since the season ending injury to Terrell Suggs the Ravens defense has looked uninspired. Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Haloti Ngata, nor Suggs is walking through that door making the Ravens defense a shell of its former self.
