Good W.I.L.L Hunting - Week 5 Waiver Wire

Every Tuesday, @TrueNorthFFB's very own Will Harris @itsharristime will be providing you with his W.I.L.L (Weekly Insights to Lead Your League). He’ll provide an in-depth positional look at the top waiver wire adds of theweek that are rostered on less than 40% of Yahoo leagues. @itsharristime will also give you three Professor Lambeau Picks just in case you cannot get the recommended waiver add for each position. How Bout Dem’ Apples looks at the stat lines of last week’s waiver wire insights and how @itsharristime fared.

QUARTERBACK

Justin Herbert- rostered @ 17%, Los Angeles Chargers

We’re still trying to figure out what kind of blood bond that Chargers Head Coach Anthony Lynn has with Tyrod Taylor after a baffling statement after Sunday’s game vs Tampa Bay. The fact is that Justin Herbert is the best quarterback currently on the Chargers roster.

Many of us went into the season thinking that game manager Tyrod Taylor would be an effective QB option in Superflex leagues with a bevy of YAC options at his disposal. A dismal Week 1 showing, followed by a strange hole punctured in his lungs before the Chargers Week 2 game, has thrown that thinking for a loop. Factor in the emergence of Herbert after his emergency start in Week 2, and you have to think that Lynn will do what’s best for this team.

What’s best for this team is playing the rookie Herbert. Through three games, Herbert has thrown for over 900 yards and 5 TDs, and hasn’t had to rely much on his legs, which could unlock further upside as he’s been compared to Josh Allen for his rushing ability. What is even more encouraging is looking deeper at Herbert’s passing metrics. He’s #4 in yards per reception (YPR), a 78.6% true completion rating, and has averaged 20 f/pts through three games. If for some reason Lynn does go back to Tyrod early in the week, you can pivot and add Teddy Bridgewater who has a plus matchup versus the Falcons.

Herbert, if given continued starts, could go beyond this week and help win leagues. Here is his upcoming schedule: Saints, Jets, Dolphins, Jaguars and Raiders before the Chargers Week 10 bye.

This schedule and Herbert’s quick rapport with his receiving corps and a rushing upside that has yet to be unlocked, should take the league by storm. A ringing endorsement by Week 4 opponent and reigning QB GOAT Tom Brady doesn’t hurt either, saying the rookie QB had “...all the abilities, got a great arm.”

Professor Lambeau’s Picks

• Teddy Bridgewater- 20%, Carolina Panthers

• Kirk Cousins, 29% - Minnesota Vikings

• Daniel Jones, 34% - New York Giants

RUNNING BACK

Chase Edmonds. - rostered @ 34%, Arizona Cardinals

Bob Dylan said it best “oh, the times they are a changin.” Even with all of Kenyan Drake’s claims that he’ll be making fantasy players smile this season with his play, it looks like a foot injury might be hampering him through the first four weeks of the season. If it isn’t the foot injury, then there are bigger issues here for fantasy managers that hoped Drake would be an anchor RB1 for 2020.

It’s not all doom and gloom, with Chase Edmonds being available in 66% percent of Yahoo leagues. Edmonds 15 f/pts in Week 4 should come as no surprise to people that have followed the running back since he was drafted in the 4th round by the Cardinals in 2018. In limited duty, Edmonds has been productive if not explosive for fantasy purposes with his 2019 35 f/pt Week 7 performance vs the Giants coming immediately to mind. In this game with Drake out, Edmonds received a 96.9% opportunity share. With that opportunity, he produced, and in Week 4 against the Panthers, Edmonds made the most of his 37% snap count rushing for 16 yds, and hauled in 5 catches for 24 yds and a score. Though Edmonds was still out-snapped by Drake (64%), Edmonds made more with his snap count generating 15 f/pts to Drake’s 3.50 f/pts.

You have to think that Kliff Kingsbury is familiar with Bob Dylan’s song and that Drake’s abyssal performance versus Carolina’s nearly non-existent run defense will signal it’s time for change.

Professor Lambeau’s Picks

• Damien Harris - 26%, New England Patriots

• Tony Pollard, 22%, Dallas Cowboys

• Duke Johnson- 18%, Houston Texans

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WIDE RECEIVER

Tre’Quan Smith - rostered @ 27%, New Orleans Saints

I talked about this on the latest episode of the Jet Sweep Show. I’ve been incredibly impressed by the fantasy community as a whole over the past two seasons and how data driven and quick to spot trends we’ve been as a group.

But what the heck went sideways withTre’Quan Smith then?

He literally checks all the boxes:

• College production = Check

• Size speed specimen = Check

• Hyper efficient given limited targets = Check

• Increase in target share due to injury = Check

Then why are we still sleeping on Tre’Quan? This should have been an automatic add after Michael Thomas’ Week 1 high ankle sprain. That he is still available in 77% of leagues is obscene.

Even with a Thomas return, high ankle sprains are serious injuries that tend to linger. Think about Saquon Barkley in 2019, when he went down with one. It wasn’t until the end of the season that he was able to return to some level or normalcy.

Go and get Tre’Quan.

Professor Lambeau’s Picks

• Tee Higgins - 33%, Cincinnati Bengals

• Tim Patrick- 1%, Denver Broncos

• Laviska Shenault Jr. - 24%, Jacksonville Jaguars

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TIGHT END

Robert Tonyan - 31%, Green Bay Packers

Well, here at True North, we like to admit our mistakes. And with Tonyan, I’ll be the first one to admit that I was all in on sophomore Jace Sternberger and Tonyan was an afterthought. I should have listened to Green Bay insiders that were murmuring about Tonyan all off-season. In hindsight, it should have been clear that with the departure of Jimmy Graham, that Tonyan would be leaned on in a Green Bay passing game that added no weapons this off-season.

Tonyan fits into a TE breakout in a whole host of categories. He’s hyper athletic, has had time to adjust to the NFL (age 26) and is in an offense devoid of a clear passing targets outside of Devante Adams and Aaron Jones. Tonyan could slide into that #3 option role for the Packers and go against my rule of “avoid all Green Bay receivers not named Davante Adams”.

Tonyan introduced himself to the fantasy football community on Monday Night Football with Adams missing yet another game with a nagging hamstring injury against Atlanta. He absolutely roasted the Falcons defense for 6 receptions, 98 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tonyan is everything we dreamed Jimmy Graham would be in this offense and more. Even with Green Bay on a bye for Week 5, he’s the top add in an already dreary looking tight end pool. Stash him away for a favorable upcoming schedule after the bye with Tampa, Houston and Minnesota all lined up to see the new TE1 for the Packers.

Professor Lambeau’s Picks

• Greg Olsen - 22%, Seattle Seahawks

• Mo Alie-Cox - 33%, Indianapolis Colts

• Drew Sample- 3%, Cincinnati Bengals

HOW ABOUT DEM' APPLES

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, Miami Dolphins - 23.30 f/pts, 315 Yds, 1 TDs

Jeff Wilson Jr., RB, San Francisco 49ers - 2.90 f/pts, 6 Yds,

Andy Isabella, WR, Atlanta Falcons - 2.30 f/pts, 3 Yds, 2 receptions

Mo Alie-Cox, TE, Indianapolis Colts - 8.30 f/pts, 13 Yds, 1 reception, 1 TD

Thank you for reading my waiver wire article. Make sure to come back next week and please leave a comment or message me on Twitter @itsharristime

Edited by: Joe Simonetti (@joesimonetti77)

Graphic work: Dan Made Graphics (@DanMadeGraphics)