Week 5 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Debate: Tank Bigsby Vs Will Shipley

We debate whether you should be targeting Tank Bigsby or Will Shipley on the Week 5 waiver wire.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Tank Bigsby (8) reacts after a run against the Los Angeles Rams during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was forced out of the Eagles' Week 4 loss due to a hamstring injury in the first quarter. This is already the second game that Barkley has been forced from this season.

While the injury is not believed to be overly serious, there is still a strong chance that it forces Barkley to miss at least one game. We hope to have an update soon on the full extent of the injury. If Barkley does, in fact, miss time, fantasy football owners will be looking to target Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley on the waiver wire this week, but which one should you target?

Waiver Wire Debate

RB Tank Bigsby, Philadelphia Eagles

Bigsby will be the top target on the waiver wire in this backfield, and probably the top waiver wire target overall this week. While Bigsby and Shipley split the snaps evenly at 48%, Bigsby led the way on the ground, carrying the ball 14 times to Shipley's six.

Bigsby finished the game with 55 yards on 3.9 yards per carry. It looks like he is the preferred rusher, and he is definitely the better goal-line option. Still, despite seeing more volume, he once again wasn't all that much better than Shipley.

RB Will Shipley, Philadelphia Eagles

There is a strong chance that Shipley is on the field more than Bigsby if Barkley misses time. There hasn't been one game this season when Bigsby played more snaps than Shipley; most notably, they split snaps at 48% in Week 4, and Shipley played on 51% of the snaps to Bigsby's 34% in Week 2 when Barkley exited with a stinger.

While Bigsby does see more volume, Shipley could see increased opportunities thanks to his high snap count. The team clearly prefers him as a blocker, and he could lead the backfield when it comes to pass-catching. In Week 4, neither back caught their lone target, but we'd expect that Shipley will see more targets moving forward. This could be much more of a split backfield than most people are expecting it to be.

Verdict

Bigsby will be, and should be, the top waiver wire target in this backfield. However, that doesn't mean that Shipley holds no value. He will likely be on the field for more snaps than Bigsby, and his blocking ability should lead to him getting more targets.

Nevertheless, Bigsby is still the better option. He's going to handle more carries, and he should dominate down in the red zone. The goal-line work alone puts him over the top as the more valuable rusher in this backfield.

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