Fantasy Football Week 5 FAAB Report: Woody Marks, Kenneth Gainwell, Romeo Doubs, and 9 Other Waiver Wire Targets
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Welcome to the Week 5 FAAB Report!
We’re still dealing with some injury fallout from Week 3, and Week 4 wasn’t exactly kind on the injury front either so we’ve got our work cut out for us. With Trey Benson coming in above our roster percentage threshold last week, we have another similar situation this week where I’m going to bend the rules a bit. Doing so allows us to focus on an “empty out your pockets” player that should be unavailable in all leagues after this week.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at three players at each position that we should all be adding to our fantasy football rosters.
(Note: just so we don’t waste anyone’s time recommending players who are rostered in your league, I’m going to use 30% rostered on ESPN as the cut-off point for this article)
Quarterback
QB Jaxson Dart, New York Giants
FAAB recommendation: 5 percent of budget
We covered Jaxson Dart last week as a speculative add, and the Giants named him as their starter within 24 hours so maybe Head Coach Brian Daboll is a faithful reader! Dart didn’t have a fantastic first NFL start statistically, but he still put up 19 fantasy points as he added 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground to his 111 passing yards and one passing touchdown. He’ll have his work cut out for him as star WR Malik Nabers will be out for the rest of the year with an ACL tear, but Dart has enough of a floor to be a top-20 fantasy quarterback every week.
QB Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
FAAB recommendation: 4 percent of budget
Sam Darnold doesn’t provide the rushing floor that Jaxson Dart does, but he offers a little more upside as he can sling the ball and has the weapons (weapon?) to do so. Darnold is currently QB20 on the year, but has topped 15 fantasy points in each of his past three games after a rough Week 1. I don’t love Darnold’s upcoming schedule against Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, and Houston, but he’s worth a spot start if you’re stuck at quarterback with some of the bye weeks coming up.
QB Michael Penix, Atlanta Falcons
FAAB recommendation: 3 percent of budget
Michael Penix is a tough player to figure out as he’s had a bit of a yo-yo season, but he’s put up two weeks of 18 or more fantasy points. It’s worth pointing out that he’s also put up two weeks of six or less fantasy points, so there’s a bit of risk here. Nevertheless, Penix has some great weapons around him and has a lot of upside depending on his matchup. I’m only putting him at three percent, however, as he has a bye week this week and has a tough schedule of Buffalo and San Francisco in Weeks 6 and 7.
Running Back
RB Woody Marks, Houston Texans
FAAB recommendation: 75-80 percent of budget
This is the guy we’re all here for this week. We had him as our lead running back add last week (hopefully you got ahead of things!), and we’re keeping him here as our “empty out your pockets” add this week. Marks has taken control of the Texans’ backfield and touched the ball 21 times in Houston’s win over the Titans. Marks’ touches turned into 27 fantasy points in PPR leagues (69 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, four receptions, 50 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown), and he has the chance to be a top-15 fantasy running back for the rest of the season.
RB Kenneth Gainwell, Pittsburgh Steelers
FAAB recommendation: 20-25 percent of budget
I don’t want to get too carried away here as Gainwell’s big Week 4 (99 rushing yards, 35 receiving yards, and two touchdowns) came with Jaylen Warren out. But we also can’t ignore that type of production either. While the Steelers backfield is going to get messy (especially with rookie Kaleb Johnson seeing his first multi-touch game of his career), Gainwell is going to be a big part of it and should be scooped up where he’s available.
RB Emari Demercado, Arizona Cardinals
FAAB recommendation: 3-5 percent of budget
While Trey Benson was the big add last week, Emari Demercado almost put up just as many fantasy points as Benson in Week 4. Demercado only touched the ball four times against the Seahawks, but he was used as the team’s third-down back and found the end zone late to tie the game. Though the Arizona backfield belongs to Benson, Demercado has some value as a bye week flex play for those in deeper fantasy leagues.
Wide Receiver
WR Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers
FAAB recommendation: 10 percent of budget
We spent some time covering a three-touchdown waiver receiver last week, so I think we need to do the same with Romeo Doubs this week. Similarly to last week, I think this will be the high-water mark for Doubs this year, but we have to pay attention to his eight targets especially. With Jayden Reed out, Doubs is the Packers’ WR1. While that may not mean a ton in the Packers’ run-first, spread-it-around offense, Doubs is still worth a pickup in most fantasy leagues.
WR Elic Ayomanor, Tennessee Titans
FAAB recommendation: 5 percent of budget
We covered Ayomanor last week, and we’re going to do it again this week. The rookie hasn’t exactly exploded onto the season (mostly because the offense in which he plays is anemic), but he’s consistently seeing 5-7 targets a week and has two touchdowns on the season. If the Titans can get their offense at least a little unstuck, Ayomanor should have weekly flex value in deeper fantasy leagues.
WR Darius Slayton, New York Giants
FAAB recommendation: 3-4 percent of budget
I’ll give a nod to Panthers WR Jalen Coker as a speculative add here too, but he could still be a week or two away from returning. With Malik Nabers now out for the season, Darius Slayton will emerge as a starting wide receiver for the Giants. While he doesn’t have massive upside, Slayton should see 5-7 targets every week and has enough talent to be a borderline fantasy starter in deeper leagues.
Tight End
TE Mason Taylor, New York Jets
FAAB recommendation: 7-8 percent of budget
Taylor has been on this list before, and he’s finally starting to make us look good. Over the past two weeks, the rookie has seen 13 targets and has put up nine catches for 83 yards. That’s not exactly league-winning stuff, but he’s emerging as the Jets second receiving option behind Garrett Wilson so there’s a decent chance Taylor could be a borderline TE1 if he continues to see this type of usage.
TE Theo Johnson, New York Giants
FAAB recommendation: 5 percent of budget
Similar to Darius Slayton, Theo Johnson will benefit from the Malik Nabers injury. He saw five targets in Week 4 and turned those into three catches for 18 yards and a touchdown. We’re likely looking at a touchdown-dependent player here, but tight ends are always a young quarterback’s best friend so Jaxson Dart could help elevate Johson to be a more valuable fantasy asset.
TE Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins
FAAB recommendation: 3-4 percent of budget
No, it’s not 2019. Darren Waller is, again, on the fantasy radar. Waller’s two-touchdown night against the Jets probably would have put him here to begin with, but Tyreek Hill’s season-ending injury will provide the veteran with some extra opportunities moving forward. While I’m not too excited about Waller just yet (he only saw four targets), he’s worth an add in deeper fantasy leagues.
Once a top-ranked fantasy gamer on ESPN, Nick Raducanu has been playing fantasy sports for over 25 years. His written fantasy coverage includes stops at Rotoworld, Rotowire, and The New York Times.