Fantasy football waiver wire targets for Week 5

Every Monday during the NFL season, I am going to be presenting you with my top three waiver wire claims to prioritize for your fantasy football teams. I will also include a shortlist of “other options”. These are players worth consideration if your team is in a bind, but not ones that take priority over the top three. I will also make a point to focus on players that are rostered in under 50% of ESPN leagues, though there may occasionally be exceptions to this guideline

After Week 4 concludes, we’ll have approached the 25% mark for the 2021 season already. It goes quickly, huh? Week 4 provided us with more waiver wire fireworks, with the tight-end landscaping looking confusing as ever with C.J. Uzomah finishing #1 at the position and a dual-position player (more on this later) lighting the fantasy football world on fire.

Below are my top three priorities on the waiver wire ahead of Week 5.

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Cordarrelle Patterson is a must-add | Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets

(73.9% rostered in ESPN leagues)

As stated in the introduction, there are occasionally going to be exceptions in these waiver pieces and players who are rostered in over 50% of leagues will be included. This is one of those exceptions. Patterson made a splash in Week 4, posting three receiving touchdowns on the back of 5 catches for 82 yards as well as six carries on the ground for an additional 34 yards.

Currently ranking inside the top-12 in PPR formats among running backs, Patterson has been the most surprising start to the fantasy season. While a weekly start if he’s on your roster, he’s the epitome of a player that I want to sell high on, hence my interest in him on the waiver wire. He ran only 12 routes in Week 3, scoring on 25% of those, and played under 50% of the overall snaps. He continues to get outproduced from a snap and route standpoint by Mike Davis, indicating that this could crash sooner rather than later. Snag him, trade him, and reap the rewards.

Dalton Schultz is an every-week starter at tight end | Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets

(21.6% rostered in ESPN leagues)

At such a fickle tight end position, waiver wire gems are typically hard to come by. That is not the case with Dalton Schultz, who’s turned into arguably the biggest beneficiary in the Cowboys’ offense since Michael Gallup went down.

Schultz has drawn at least six targets in three of four games this season, catching at least six passes in all three of those games, and has most recently logged three touchdowns over the last two weeks. He also grabbed a strangle-hold on the snap share in Week 3, playing 48 snaps to Blake Jarwin’s 32 and running 14 routes to Jarwin’s four. In such a potent offense, he’s a tight end worth starting every week moving forward.

Latavius Murray is a worthy FLEX option | Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets

(34.2% rostered in ESPN leagues)

After being ruled as a surprise healthy inactive in Week 4, Ty’Son Williams’ role in this Ravens’ offense seems to have gone by the wayside. With Latavius Murray warmed up, he led the backfield in Week 4 and it looks like this was a sign of things to come.

In Week 4, Murray saw 45 snaps and 18 carries while also running 16 routes (albeit without a target). He wasn’t a game-breaker, but he turned those 18 carries into 59 yards and a touchdown against a stout Denver front seven. Even with Lamar Jackson operating as the primary rushing option in this offense, the Ravens run enough where Murray now carries a massive ceiling if he truly is the RB1 moving forward, especially with Le’Veon Bell (or what’s left of him) operating as his only backfield competition.