04 Oct Fantasy Football: Week 5 Waiver Wire Targets
By: Mike Stromme – @stromme_93
Week 4 was a quiet week for waiver wire activity. I really hope you enjoyed the vacation, because Week 5 won’t be so forgiving! There are TONS to be looking for on you waiver wires this week!
Here are a few targets you really have to keep an eye out for this week.
Jerick McKinnon, Minnesota Vikings:
In the wake of the news of Dalvin Cook’s torn ACL, there’s been a ton of speculation that Latavius Murray would pick up the slack in his absence. And, while he did come into the game when Cook left, I wouldn’t say he’s an automatic lock for workhorse-like duties in the Vikings’ backfield.
Remember Jerick McKinnon? The RB who monopolized touches for this team a year ago after Adrian Peterson went down? Yeah, he wasn’t cut; he’s still very much on this team and should work his way into the mix for carries with the loss of Dalvin Cook. While he might be the reason why the Vikings went on a RB blitz this offseason, aggressively pursuing Murray in free agency and then drafting Cook with their top pick, he’s still proved to be effective in a pass-catching role.
A season ago, McKinnon caught 43-255-2 on 53 targets in 15 games. This Vikings’ team is a pass-first offense under OC Pat Shurmer; they threw the ball 64.7% of the time once Shurmer was promoted to OC a season ago and while they’ve thrown the ball just 53.8% of the time in 2017, I expect those numbers to increase due to the loss of Dalvin Cook.
I’m not saying DON’T pursuit Latavius Murray, I’m just warning you to tread lightly in terms of FAAB and waiver priority. This backfield could be more of a time share than many will think.
Geronimo Allison, Green Bay Packers:
Let me preface this advice with a bit of a disclaimer: Geronimo Allison isn’t going to be “Mr. Right”, but more of a “Mr. Right Now”.
Allison is firmly-planted as the fourth WR on the Green Bay depth chart, that alone has a minimal fantasy impact. However, if just one of Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb or Devante Adams goes down, Allison suddenly becomes a VERY
Geronimo Allison automatically becomes fantasy relevant when any of the big three Packer WRs are out of the lineup. (Image from Pinterest).
intriguing fantasy option. And, as fate would have it, Devante Adams is still in concussion protocol following that nasty hit he endured by Bears LB Danny Trevathan last Thursday night.
If Adams isn’t ready to go by Sunday, Allison automatically oozes flex-appeal. In Week 3 against the Bengals, he filled-in for the injured Randall Cobb. He finished the game with 6-122-0 on 8 targets and was just a dozen yards away from scoring the winning TD in overtime. In a Week 17 clash with the Detroit Lions last season, Allison started the game in a similar fashion, and went off for 4-91-1 on 6 targets.
The Green Bay Packers get the Dallas Cowboys in Jerry’s World this Sunday. The Cowboys have been getting shredded all season long! Trevor Siemian, Jared Goff an-d Carson Palmer combined for an average of 62.1% completion percentage, 270 YPG and a TD-INT ratio of 8-1. Imagine what kind of damage Aaron Rodgers and this passing attack can do to this defense.
Allison is a premium streaming option this week.
Charles Clay, Buffalo Bills:
On the surface, the thought of running out to the waiver wire to pick up Charles Clay seems a little comical. However, with the loss of Jordan Matthews and the lack of another legitimate WR option on this team, Charles Clay becomes sort-of the last man standing for eligible targets for Tyrod Taylor. Zay Jones, the Bills’ second round pick this spring, hasn’t progressed as quickly as many would have thought. Charles Clay is the only pass catcher on this team outside of LeSean McCoy that has any sort of real chemistry with Tyrod Taylor.
In his first four games, Clay has been targeted less than 6 times just once. Last week in Atlanta, he was targeted a team-high 7 times for 5-112-0. He was also the team’s most targeted option in Week 1, when he was targeted 9 times.
Without Jordan Matthews on this team, Clay automatically becomes a Top 15ish TE in most formats on sheer volume alone. He’s going to come in handy for the next little while, an excellent bye week option at the TE position.
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