Week 5 marks the close of the first quarter of the season. Early-season reveals waivers have been picked over in deeper leagues. Managers should look for injury situations and deep roster reveals this week. This article will run through deep league waiver additions, focusing on Dynasty league formats. 

Players will fall into four primary categories: 

• Short-term Starters - Players capable of providing immediate production in deep leagues. 
• Proactive Pickups - Players who need the depth chart to be clear before them but are more available than other players in a similar role. 
• Deep Darts - Speculative players who have a chance at value.
• Dynasty Buys - Players unlikely to be on waivers, but whose values have changed, and the market may not have caught up. 

Quarterbacks

Short-Term Starters

QB Mason Rudolph, Tennessee (14% Sleeper rostered)

Will Levis left Monday night’s game with a right shoulder injury on a 3rd down-diving scramble. Without his helmet, Levis looked active on the sideline for the remainder of the game. Titans coach Brian Callahan’s press conferences this season give the impression he was simply waiting for the best opportunity to make the flip to Rudolph. Those around the Titans could be forgiven for feeling like the team might be 3-1 without Levis’s meltdowns against the Bears and Jets. 

Rudolph was the Steelers’ hero in 2023, going 3-0 over the final three games to push into the last AFC playoff spot. He was fantasy QB19 over this stretch and played the best football of his career. I do not believe it is reckless to speculate that he could be the Titans' starter for the foreseeable future. The Titans' talent is not far off from the supporting cast in Pittsburgh that helped Rudolph to his run. Project him as a fringe QB2 in Superflex and a potentially valuable piece as we enter bye weeks. 

QB Joe Flacco, Indianapolis (27% Sleeper rostered)

Flacco gives the Colts receiving options life. Both Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs were able to post massive games. The talent is there in those two, but their values could not differ more depending on which quarterback. 

There is optimism Richardson will be back in Week 5. But the injury seal is broken, and deep Superflex formats should still add Flacco.

Running Backs

Short-Term Starters

RB Kareem Hunt, Kansas City (77% Sleeper rostered)

Hunt carries enough name value he was added two weeks ago in most leagues. But his 77% should be 100%. The Chiefs looked comfortable featuring him in both the run and pass game. Samaje Perine vulturing a goal-line touchdown was the only thing preventing a monster game. It will be worth monitoring if that was just circumstance or if Perine is the goal line back, but Hunt is the back you want until Isiah Pacheco returns.

Carson Steele fumbled for the second straight game, getting benched after. It was fun at the moment, but Hunt and Perine are the lead here. 

Clyde Edwards-Helaire is also being mentioned. It is worth the proactive move if he is available in a deep league. Hunt and Perine have a chance to establish themselves before he returns. He is a lower priority. 

RB Trey Sermon (45% Sleeper rostered) / Tyler Goodson (4% Sleeper rostered), Indianapolis

Sermon is the priority target if Taylor is out. He was ineffective against a good defense, teeing off to stop the run as the Colts worked the clock. But the rebirth of Zack Moss in 2023 showed the value of running backs for Shane Steichen. Sermon is a fringe RB2 without Taylor. 

Goodson will likely hold more value if Flacco gets the start. He is a passing-down specialist with 13 career rushes and ten receiving targets. The Colts’ 12.5% 

The running back target rate is the third lowest in the league, though Taylor’s three catches in Week 4 were a season-high with Flacco. Goodson is only a target in deeper leagues.

Proactive Pickups

RB Isaac Guerendo, San Francisco (71% Sleeper rostered)

The 49ers are hopeful of having Christian McCaffrey in November. Jordan Mason looks excellent. But November is a long way off. If Mason missed time, Guerendo would be in one of the best positions in fantasy football. His roster number should be higher.

RB Ronnie Rivers, LA Rams (14% Sleeper rostered)

Blake Corum's rostership is 96% in deep leagues. Rivers' is 14%. Corum has now gone three of four games without playing an offensive snap. You should not drop Corum and pick up Rivers. But Rivers should be rostered in many more leagues. The Rams like him and believe he has a three-down skillset. 

Deep Darts

RB Jeremy McNichols, Washington (3% Sleeper rostered)

McNichols is as Fantasy Zombie as they come; a fifth-round pick of San Francisco's in 2017, he had not logged a rush since 2021.  The Commanders like him, and he has a passing-down skillset that compliments Brian Robinson Jr., but Ekeler should hopefully be back in Week 5. 

RB Hunter Luepke, Dallas (2% Sleeper rostered)

Luepke has edged out Ezekiel Elliott for passing down work over the last couple of weeks. Rico Dowdle has taken a step forward as the lead back, though this run game has struggled. Elliott did not enter Thursday night’s game until deeper into the contest. If Luepke can lock down passing work, he is a physical runner who could challenge for short-yardage opportunities, too. Once upon a time, John Kuhn had fringe fantasy relevance for Mike McCarthy. Luepke gives shades of him with slightly more agility. 

RB Aaron Shampklin, Pittsburgh (0% Sleeper rostered)

Pick up every active back in deep leagues. Jaylen Warren was already out, and Cordarrelle Patterson picked up an ankle injury and missed the second half. Jonathan Ward is the only other back on the practice squad. Carlos Washington Jr.. from the Falcons practice squad could be a name to watch if Patterson and Warren miss meaningful time. 

Dynasty Buys

RB Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville (86% Sleeper rostered)

Another player rostered in most leagues who should likely be in all. Urban Meyer drafted Travis Etienne Jr. specifically to play the NFL version of the Percy Harvin role. Doug Pederson drafted Bigsby. The Jaguars have exercised his fifth-year option, signing him through 2025. But a contract negotiation is looming. An 0-4 team does not need a former first-round running back who has been productive enough to warrant a significant contract conversation.  Trade rumors have started and will intensify. Bigsby falls into the overused "League Winner" category with the lead role. 

Wide Receiver

Short Term Starters

WR Tre Tucker, Las Vegas (67% Sleeper rostered)

Tucker's rostership spiked dramatically after a big Week 3 game. With Davante Adams out, the Raiders narrowed the wide receiver usage to almost exclusively Jakobi Meyers and Tucker (D.J. Turner played 42% of the snaps and saw one target). Questions surround Adams's future; the team will need Tucker if that future is elsewhere. Tucker is talented enough to deliver, posting a 5-41 line and adding a rushing touchdown on a day the Raiders played more ball control. 

WR Tutu Atwell (65% Sleeper rostered) / WR Jordan Whittington (73% Sleeper rostered), LA Rams

Atwell has played well enough the last two weeks that he may push Demarcus Robinson to stick as the WR3 when Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua return. 

Whittington jumped Tyler Johnson on the depth chart, leading the team in targets. Injuries create opportunities, and these two have responded. Kupp and Nacua will be out at least Week 5, with the Rams on a bye in Week 6. 

Proactive Pickups

WR Noah Brown, Washington (36% Sleeper rostered)

Brown arrived late after the final cuts. That was likely a significant factor in not playing any snaps in Week 1. Weeks 2 and 3 were quieter, with a snap share in the mid-20 %. He popped in Week 4, jumping to 67% of snaps, the second most of any receiver, and four targets, trailing Terry McLaurin’s ten and Olamide Zaccheaus’s six. Brown profiles as the best outside receiver opposite McLaurin on the roster. The depth chart is wide open, and he can lock down a regular role as the WR2 in an offense quickly emerging with a high fantasy upside. 

Deep Darts

WR Jake Bobo, Seattle (18% Sleeper rostered)

Bobo is locked in as the WR4 in Seattle. The top three will not change, with DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Tyler Lockett playing between 70-85% of snaps. But Bobo’s 30% would spike with any of the other three missing time. Geno Smith is leading the NFL with 1,182 passing yards. Your roster would need to be very deep, but Bobo is talented enough to provide relevance if the opportunity presents itself.

WR Mack Hollins, Buffalo (20% Sleeper rostered)

Hollins plays with Josh Allen and drew six targets in Week 4 while playing the most snaps of any receiver on the team. He is a desperation play who is touchdown-dependent, but in the deepest leagues, sometimes a player on the field with a chance at a touchdown is the best option. 

WR Robert Woods, Houston (14% Sleeper rostered)

The Texans have young receivers in John Metchie III and Xavier Hutchinson, who have bounced on and off deep rosters. With Tank Dell out in Week 4, Woods was the one to see a bump, logging 72% of snaps. Little production followed, which is expected, but like the Bills, the Texans are an offense in which anyone on the field can catch a touchdown. 

Dynasty Buys

WR Xavier Leggette, Carolina (96% Sleeper rostered)

Using the widest net to highlight Leggette as a "buy low." He posted a 6-66-1 line and looked good doing so. Leggette is a Catch-22 player in Dynasty. He was a polarizing prospect, so the person who believes in him the most in your league already rosters him. But after a slower start to his career and minimal camp buzz, he has weekly WR2 upside in the Andy Dalton offense. 

WR Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay (83% Sleeper rostered)

Wide netting as Wicks is not available in deep leagues, and he will not be available in any league now. Christian Watson is going to miss some time. Wicks is a must-start. The Packers always felt like one too many mouths. The receivers are hungry and will eat now.

Tight Ends

Deep Darts

TE AJ Barner, Seattle (16% Sleeper rostered)

Barner has been running as the Seahawks' TE2 since Week 1. The room shifted with the return of Pharoah Brown in Week 3, but Noah Fant’s playing time took the hit. Barner has earned five targets over the last two weeks after getting blanked the first two. He converted one of those in Week 4 into his first NFL touchdown, an athletic play on a drag route that he caught in stride and dove into the endzone to be a defender to the pilon. 

Barner was the seventh tight end selected in April’s draft. Still, he never generated dynasty buzz (TE55 on Keeptradecut.com) compared to players drafted in a similar range like Ja’Tavion Sanders, Theo Johnson, and Erick All Jr. who sit inside the TE20-29 range. Barner scored before all three. He has more yardage than Sanders and Johnson and more receptions than Johnson. Seattle is playing multiple tight ends in a crowded room, keeping this as a dart. 

TE Noah Gray, Kansas City (35% Sleeper rostered)

With Rashee Rice's possible season-ending, the Kansas City passing game production likely shifts heavily to Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy. At the moment, Justin Watson and Mecole Hardman played more in Rice's absence. The Chiefs had to get through this game, and the Chargers made it a survival exercise. It will be interesting to see if two tight end personnel is the answer, as Gray's four targets matched Worthy's for second behind Kelce's nine.

Dynasty Buys

TE Erick All Jr.., Cincinnati (60% Sleeper rostered)

All is another tight end rostered in many deep leagues. Are you sensing a theme? All has out-snapped Mike Gesicki in two of the last three games and has four catches in three straight. Besides All, Drew Sample is playing, as the Bengals heavily feature two tight end sets. With Tee Higgins returning and Andrei Iosivas's break out, it is fair to wonder how long until we see the team transition back to their more familiar three wide receiver personnel. All has the best chance of emerging as an every-down tight end. It may take an injury (Gesicki is already nursing a situation), but All could rarely leave the field if the flip comes. It's a better Dynasty-type move, but it needs to be on radars. 

TE Cade Otton, Tampa Bay (75% Sleeper rostered)

Otton is on most deep league rosters but deserves recognition. He has been TE8 over the last two games without the benefit of a touchdown, pacing to a 110 catch, and has had an 847-yard season over those games while playing almost every snap. At 25 years old, he represents the chance to solve some tight end woes for cheap, especially in Dynasty formats. His slow start may have soured managers and kept him under the radar for season-long total points. Jalen McMillan was out in this game, and his absence, combined with the blowout, led to an assortment of other receivers.

TE Tucker Kraft, Green Bay (71% Sleeper rostered)

Just like that, Kraft is a TE1. With Love at quarterback, Kraft is on pace for a 68 reception, 765-yard, 8.5 touchdown campaign. That is game-breaking in the current desert of tight-end production.