Week 4 is upon us, and that means it’s now time to start thinking about Week 5 fantasy football waiver wire stashes. While your leaguemates concentrate on the immediate fixtures, you can gain an edge by looking to next week’s fixtures and seeing which players might be worth picking up ahead of time to gain an advantage.
Instead of fighting things out on the waiver wire next week, these players could join your roster for free, now. We use rostership data from Yahoo, which provides a large sample size and tends to be fairly reliable. We understand you’ll be dying to say ‘he’s not available in my league’ to every suggestion, even regarding players available in fewer than 10% of leagues. However, by selecting players typically rostered in 50% or fewer of leagues, we should have a good range of players available in many leagues.
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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Stashes Ahead of Week 5
Week 5 Bye Weeks
- Atlanta Falcons
- Chicago Bears
- Green Bay Packers
- Pittsburgh Steelers
Jaxson Dart (QB – NYG) | 21% Rostered
The Giants gave Russell Wilson the grace of one more week after a scintillating performance against the Cowboys in Week 2, but it was always clear the Giants had started to turn its attention to first-round rookie Jaxson Dart. According to many reports, Dart shone throughout the summer’s training camp, and while he was a raw prospect, the Giants don’t really have the time to be patient, given that jobs are on the line.
Jaxson Dart is this year’s Bo Nix.
Dart was PFF’s highest-graded passer in the entire NCAA in 2024 (91.9 Passing Grade).
He’s also mobile (7.4 rushing attempts per-game; qualifies as a “Konami Code” QB).
Dude is completing 75% of his passes & already has a rushing TD this… pic.twitter.com/J0saL1bjAd
— David J. Gautieri (@GuruFantasyWrld) August 17, 2025
Dart finished his college career with 495 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. If he can bring that level of rushing to the NFL, Dart can have a similar floor to Drake Maye, who many people also thought was pushed into the starting lineup too soon. In Week 5, Dart plays the Saints, who have allowed the eighth-most points per game to opponents.
Bryce Young (QB – CAR) | 18% Rostered
It’s not been pretty for Bryce Young, with him barely scoring double-digit fantasy points against the Falcons when they won 30-0. Young finished as the fantasy QB27, but the truth is the Panthers were on cruise control from their first drive to their last drive, with the Falcons being ineffective.
In Week 5, though, Young gets to play one of the worst defenses in the league. The Dolphins have allowed the second-most fantasy points to quarterbacks through three games, allow the second-highest catch rate and average two passing touchdowns allowed per game. Young is an ideal streamer if your quarterback is on bye.
Tyler Allgeier (RB – ATL) | 36% Rostered
The best backup running back in the league will appear in this column until he reaches the 50% rostered mark or higher. Tyler Allgeier had 26 carries across the first two weeks of the season, more than James Conner, Omarion Hampton, Jahmyr Gibbs and Kenneth Walker, yet people still see him only as a backup.
Allgeier snuck in a touchdown to help his value in Week 2, and it shouldn’t surprise people to see him stay involved. Week 3 was disappointing for Allgeier, but it was for most players on the Falcons. In 2024, Allgeier ranked 10th in explosive run rate and seventh in juke rate, and the Falcons appreciate that. If you’re looking for bye week cover, Allgeier isn’t a sure thing, but he does offer standalone value.
Blake Corum (RB – LAR) | 27% Rostered
Another week goes by, and Blake Corum looks really good despite Kyren Williams getting the bulk of the work. Corum is averaging over seven yards per carry. Per Pro Football Focus (PFF), he has gained a first down on 57% of his runs.
Williams has seen his running back rush share decline for three straight weeks, dipping from 94% to 71%. He’s also yet to see a double-digit target share in any game. If you’re inefficient with touches, don’t get receiving work and don’t break big runs, sooner or later, you’re going to give up touches to those who do. Corum looks like one of the best handcuff running backs in the league.
Woody Marks (RB – HOU) | 25% Rostered
Houston will let us know what we need to know about the running back position this weekend. Nick Chubb is posting a respectable 4.1 yards per carry, and, somewhat surprisingly, he ranks fifth in yards before contact per attempt. That could be noteworthy against a Titans defense allowing the second-highest mark in that category. The Titans have allowed the second-most rushing touchdowns (six) and the fourth-highest explosive run rate.
Woody Marks is at his best when targeted out of the backfield. More of this, please.
Marks had more career catches in college than Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton and TreVeyon Henderson…combined. pic.twitter.com/B9FLQX5WE3
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) September 15, 2025
If the Titans want this backfield to be Chubb’s still, then the matchup is good enough for them to try and prove it. After all, the Titans rank third in running back fantasy points allowed. If not, I hope you have Woody Marks stashed on your roster. Over the last three weeks, he’s seen his snap share increase from 12% to 48%.
Christian Kirk (WR – HOU) | 35% Rostered
Much was made in the last few months of the Texans choosing to double-dip on Iowa State wide receivers in the draft, selecting Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel inside the first 80 picks, but neither is making an impact so far. The Texans are desperate for help alongside Nico Collins.
In Christian Kirk’s 2025 first action of the season, he ran the second-most routes at wide receiver for the Texans, turning them into a 22% target share. Kirk failed to turn that target share into a good fantasy day, though, with 5.5 PPR points, but it was his first game action since Week 8 of last year and against a Jaguars defense that is better than it’s getting credit for.
This week, though, the Texans play the Titans, who allow the fifth-most wide receiver fantasy points, before taking on the leaky sieve defense of the Ravens in Week 5. We’ve seen Kirk be a PPR scam before, and if he’s on the field consistently, C.J. Stroud should utilize him to get the ball out fast and mitigate his woeful offensive line.
Elic Ayomanor (WR – TEN) | 30% Rostered
In back-to-back weeks now, Elic Ayomanor has been the Titans’ most reliable wide receiver and best threat in the passing game. Ayomanor has also been a top-30 wide receiver in fantasy in both of those weeks, scoring 15.6 and 13.8 PPR points with a touchdown in both games. Cam Ward has only thrown two touchdown passes so far, and Ayomanor has caught both of them.
Cam Ward and Elic Ayomanor will NEVER forget their first TD.
You won't either. #Titans
No. 1 = 1 of 1.
Special QB in Nashville. pic.twitter.com/hOEMxVa85f
— Justin M (@JustinM_NFL) September 14, 2025
Among the rookie wide receivers, Ayomanor has the third-highest target share and also ranks third in yards per team pass attempt. There’s not much more Ayomanor could be doing better; he just needs Ward to play better. This week, the Titans play the Texans, followed by the Cardinals, both teams with reasonable defenses. In Weeks 6 and 7, they face the Raiders and Patriots, which could be potential blow-up spots as bye weeks hit hard.
Colston Loveland (TE – CHI) | 37% Rostered
It’s fair to be disappointed that the Bears haven’t found ways to help Colston Loveland hit the ground running, given that they spent the 10th overall pick on him. It’s also worth pointing out that the Bears have taken a moment to heat up this season.
Loveland ranks 36th in route participation among tight ends, and when the ball has been sent his way, it’s typically been downfield, with his average depth of target (aDOT) being the highest among all tight ends to see five or more targets (13.7). That tells us two things:
- The Bears believe he can win downfield.
- When things start clicking, the work he’s getting will be high value.
Managers are dropping Loveland after a combined 8.8 PPR points in three games, but the Bears have an early bye week in Week 5, and rookie production typically picks up after their bye weeks. That wouldn’t be surprising for Loveland, as the Bears play the Commanders and Saints in Weeks 6 and 7, two teams that rank in the top 12 in fantasy points allowed to the position.
Isaiah Likely (TE – BAL) | 15% Rostered
The Ravens elected to keep Isaiah Likely out for Week 3 when it looked like he might have made his season debut, instead making sure he could hit the ground running in Week 4 in a massive matchup between the Ravens and Chiefs.
The last time Likely played at Arrowhead, he scored 30.6 points and put up career highs in fantasy points, yards, receptions and targets, and looked incredible. That’s not necessarily set to repeat here, but outside of last week, the Ravens have been desperate for some juice at the tight end position. Likely has much more in his legs at this stage than Mark Andrews does.
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