Early Fantasy Football Waiver Wire For Week 5: Keon Coleman Priority Pickup

Week 4 was a continuation of the injury bug we saw in Week 3. Multiple fantasy stars like Saquon Barkley, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, DJ Moore and Rashee Rice were forced out of their respective matchups early due to injury. Luckily, none of these injuries seem to be especially long term. That being said, there are definitely some interesting names on the wire this week—and many of them are available in a majority of leagues.

FYI - the following players are ordered by position, NOT the order in which I would attack them on the wire. For detailed breakdowns on priority and pricing for each of these players, make sure to check out the premium version of this article—which drops weekly on Tuesday mornings. I dive deep into FAAB recommendations in multiple league sizes and formats, including Guillotine Leagues™️.

Without further ado, let’s get right into it:

Early Week 5 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

Quarterbacks

Jalon Daniels | TB

Roster: 17%

Let me preface this by saying that I am not going to tell you to go blow your FAAB budget on Jalon Daniels after this week. He finished with only 11.4 points. That said, he did show a very fantasy-friendly skill set while achieving those 11.4 points, with 6 carries for 55 rushing yards—leading all QBs in Week 4 on the ground.

I wouldn’t hold out much hope for Daniels to hold the job long term, but with Baker Mayfield now projected to miss the next 6-8 weeks with his thumb injury, he feels like an interesting stash. If he can show improvement in the passing game, the dual-threat skill set to unlock significant upside at the QB position is definitely there.

Running Backs

Emanuel Wilson | SEA

Roster: 73%

If you play in a sharp league, chances are Emanuel Wilson was picked up sometime this week after it was announced Jadarian Price was placed on IR. But, just in case he somehow happens to still be floating around on your waiver wire … treat him like the No. 1 pick up this week, hands down.

In his first full-game action as the lead back, Wilson shined:

21 carries, 81 rush yards
3 receptions, 39 receiving yards
100% of the redzone work among RBs

One thing that was extremely encouraging about Wilson’s usage—he had 46.2% route participation, ahead of his backfield mate George Holani. The Seahawks clearly feel comfortable with him serving as more than just a between-the-tackles bruiser, and in turn, I feel comfortable with him as a mid/high-end RB2 weekly until Zach Charbonnet returns to the fold.

Seth McGowan | IND

Roster: 19%

If you’ve read these waiver wire columns weekly, you know how much I’ve stressed the importance of rostering solid handcuff running backs. McGowan has shown he is firmly in that range to open the season.

In Week 4, McGowan received 6 carries behind Jonathan Taylor’s 20—the only two backs to see a carry. He was also trusted with a key fourth-down short-yardage conversion. I wouldn’t expect him to provide any standalone value as long as Taylor is healthy, but he deserves to be in that top-tier of pure handcuffs that need to be rostered.

Tank Bigsby | PHI

Roster: 58%

Speaking of handcuff running backs: if Tank Bigsby is on waivers in your league, he should be the top waiver pickup of the week. It’s now been two weeks in a row where Saquon Barkley has left early due to injury, and this hamstring injury seems like one that could potentially hold him out for at least another game.

After Barkley left, Bigsby handled a majority of work out of the Philadelphia backfield with 14 carries to Will Shipley’s 6. His finish in the boxscore was nothing spectacular, with 55 rushing yards and no receptions, but the underlying usage was solid with 10.1 xFP (RB19 on the week).

If Barkley ends up missing time, Bigsby is the back to roster in this Philly backfield. I’d look to spend up if you’re in need of a short-term fill in at RB.

Tyler Goodson | DAL

Roster: 5%

I wrote up Goodson in last week’s waiver wire column, and he’s still not rostered enough after Week 4.

If you’ve been reading my articles or watching my content from the last couple weeks of the offseason, you’ll remember how hard I was pushing you to draft/pick up Malik Davis in your leagues. He was looking like the true handcuff to Javonte Williams. That is, until he had a serious hip injury that put him on season-ending IR.

Goodson is essentially just Malik Davis 2.0. For the second straight week, Emari Demercado was a healthy scratch, and Goodson was the only RB outside of Javonte to see a carry out of the backfield.

Goodson needs to be rostered as one of the stronger handcuff options in fantasy going forward. You shouldn’t need to bid much here, just make sure you prioritize him as a stash on your rosters. Don’t wait until Javonte gets hurt and you’re forced to spend 80% of your FAAB. Just pick him up now.

Wide Receivers

Roman Wilson | PIT

Roster: 21%

Roman Wilson will probably be a popular pickup this week at the WR position, given the fact that he finished with 16.4 PPR points (WR16 on the week), but I’m less interested in him than I anticipate the market to be. While the per-route metrics looked solid on his 3-catch, 74-yard stat line, he had only a 16% target share. This was fourth on the team, behind DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman Jr. and rookie Germie Bernard.

Wilson is a fine weekly WR4 fill-in, just understand the weekly floor is extremely low given his low route participation numbers.

Antonio Williams | WAS

Roster: 37%

While Antonio Williams may not have had the most eye-popping performance in the boxscore with Terry McLaurin inactive, he was one 80-yard touchdown (negated due to holding) from being the top waiver wire addition of the week.

Serving as the Commanders' WR2 next to Stefon Diggs, Williams had some extremely awesome underlying utilization:

73.2% route participation (2nd only behind Diggs)
7 targets (2nd)
12.6 expected fantasy points (1st)

His 5.1 PPR points on the week could have easily been 20+ in Week 4. Williams has now flashed awesome utilization multiple times early in his rookie season, and while I don’t think he’s someone you’d feel super comfortable starting just yet, he absolutely needs to be rostered going forward.

Keon Coleman | BUF

Roster: 28%

With DJ Moore leaving early after re-aggravating a previous shoulder injury, it was Keon Coleman who served as the primary target for Josh Allen in the Bills’ Week 4 matchup against the Patriots:

77.8% route participation (2nd)
7 targets (2nd)
6 receptions, 116 yards (1st)

It sounds like Moore’s injury is not expected to be a “long-term thing,” but I’d feel confident about firing up Coleman in the back-end WR3 range if Moore is held out in Week 5 or beyond. Even outside of Moore’s injury— it’s clear the young receiver has matured while earning more of Allen’s trust this season, and there’s a chance he simply continues to break out in his third season.

Cyrus Allen | KC

Roster: 20%

If you were tapped into training camp hype this past summer, you’re probably very familiar with the rookie wide receiver Cyrus Allen. Coaching staff and beat reporters alike could not stop raving about all of the plays Allen was making, and it seemed like he was going to be a big part of their plans in 2026.

This has simply not come to fruition to start the season. But now, with Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton both leaving with injuries in Week 4, the Chiefs might not have much choice but to give Allen a significant route share going forward.

I covered Allen’s prospect profile in depth on my YouTube channel this offseason, and while it is far from bulletproof, there are definitely things to like. I’d be targeting Allen as a high-upside flier at WR after this week.

Dohnte Meyers | CIN

Roster: 5%

Ja'Marr Chase was knocked out of Week 4 early with a concussion, and while Tee Higgins carried the WR1 duties throughout the game, he was also diagnosed with an adductor injury late in the contest. Next man up: rookie UDFA Dohnte Meyers. Among all Cincinnati receivers in Week 4:

90.1% route participation (1st)
9 targets (2nd)
7 receptions, 82 yards (2nd)
14.5 expected fantasy points (2nd)

With Cincinnati playing the Miami Dolphins in Week 5 and their bye in Week 6, I would not be surprised if both Chase and Higgins are held out until Week 7. If this ends up being the case, Meyers could find himself leading the receiver room against a relatively soft Miami defense next week.

Tight Ends

Brenton Strange | JAX

Roster: 52%

Strange flashed some significant upside in Week 4, serving as Lawrence’s No. 1 target against the Bengals:

88.9% route participation (1st among all pass catchers)
8 targets, 36.4% target share (1st)
7 receptions, 95 yards (1st)

It’s tough to trust Strange on a weekly basis, but it’s encouraging to see that he has the capability to serve as a high-volume target earner in this offense. The Jaguars get a Week 5 date against the Eagles, who are a solid defense against tight ends so far this season. Still, if you’re struggling at the TE spot, I think you could definitely do worse than Strange as a streamer next week.