Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups
Another week of NFL football down, another week of misery and heartbreak in the books. Once again, you find yourself in need of a playmaker, whether it is because of an injury, poor performance, or a bye week. Never fear, there is always the waiver wire. These four players should be available in your league and could definitely help your team.
Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore Ravens, 49.6% owned
Flacco has put up some pretty good numbers against soft defenses, but pretty bad numbers against good defenses. Three of his next four games should be pretty high scoring, against Cleveland, at San Francisco, and against San Diego.
Playing at Arizona in week 7 could be problematic, but coming out of the week 9 bye, the schedule really lets up. Starting in week 10, the Ravens play Jacksonville, St. Louis, at Cleveland, at Miami. Flacco should really rack up points in seven of the next nine weeks.
Charles Sims, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 33.6% owned
Sims is starting to rack up some points. He is becoming a trusted target for rookie quarterback Jameis Winston which adds value in PPR leagues. Sims scored 13.2 points against JJ Watt and the Houston Texans, then he scored 14.3 points against the Carolina Panthers.
Of the Buccaneers’ next five opponents, four of them are ranked 25th or worse in fantasy leagues against the running back. They play Jacksonville, at Washington, at Atlanta, against the Giants and Cowboys. Their bye week is coming up in week 6.
Tavon Austin, WR, St. Louis Rams, 10.9% owned
Austin had a monster week in Arizona, catching 6 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns. That was good for 29.6 points. Austin has also scored on a punt return.
This is a good time to pick up Austin, but only if you can afford to have him sit on the bench for a couple of weeks. The Rams travel to Green Bay this week and have a bye week next week. After that, expect Austin to score big. The Rams play Cleveland, San Francisco, at Minnesota, against Chicago, at Baltimore, and at Cincinnati. All of those teams are giving up points to the wide receivers.
Clay Harbor, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars, 0.2% owned
Harbor scored 13.3 points at New England (I know, it was garbage time, but still, it was at New England) and 7.1 in Indianapolis. Expect to start seeing some red zone targets, if the Jags can get into the red zone.
The Jaguars play at Tampa Bay next week, which might be tough, but then they have home games against Houston and Buffalo, and Harbor may be able to score big against them.
