📝 News & Notes

• LAC RB Omarion Hampton placed on IR with ankle injury, out at least next 4 weeks

  My take: Hassan Haskins (also Harbaugh’s RB at Michigan) is likely next man up, with the expectation he’ll be the early-down and short-yardage back. Kimani Vidal is also likely to mix in though neither profile as strong pass-catching backs. The Chargers have already had one of the highest pass rates over expectation (PROE) this year and this is only likely to further that.

• Bengals HC Zac Taylor not willing to declare Jake Browning the starter going forward, noting “We’ll see where it goes. Like all personnel decisions, we have to evaluate it.”

  My take: I was concerned that the garbage time, broken plays would save Jake Browning’s job but this type of language often is followed by a QB change. Behind Browning is Brett Rypien, who shouldn’t excite us, but hopefully the Bengals will be willing to kick the tires on Jameis Winston, Russell Wilson, or Kirk Cousins (preferably in that order).

💰️ Waiver Wire Report

QB
Likely taken but top priorities if available: Caleb Williams, Daniel Jones
BAL Matthew Stafford ($3 - $5): Stafford is coming off back-to-back games of 375+ yards and 3 TDs. And now he gets a juicy match-up against a depleted Ravens defense that just gave up four passing TD each to both the Chiefs and Texans. Great one week play, decent plug-and-play beyond.
CAR Bryce Young ($1): If you need a spot start, Young faces the Cowboys in Week 6 who are giving up the most points to opposing QBs.
Players you can drop: Geno Smith, CJ Stroud

RB
Likely taken but top priorities if available: Trey Benson, Bhayshul Tuten, Aaron Jones Sr.
LAC Hassan Haskins ($10 - $15): If you’re desperate for a short-term fill in, Hassan Haskins is likely to be the RB1 for the Chargers for at least the next four weeks. He’ll be particularly useful this week vs. a Miami team that just gave up 200+ rushing yards to Rico Dowdle.
PHI Will Shipley ($1): Saquon Barkley missed Monday’s practice but Rapoport noted it was just general soreness and he fully expects to play Thursday Night. Still not a bad idea to roster Shipley in case things get worse for Barkley.
TEN Tyjae Spears ($1): Not someone you’ll be starting anytime soon but worthy of a bench stash for back half of the year
Players you can drop: Kaleb Johnson, Braelon Allen, Dylan Sampson, Chris Rodriguez

WR
Likely taken but top priorities if available: Chris Godwin, Jauan Jennings, Rashid Shaheed
ATL Darnell Mooney ($3 - $5): Available in 67% of Yahoo leagues, Mooney hopefully used the bye week to recover and will be back on the field in Week 6.
Jalen Coker ($2 - $4): Coker is set to return soon and HC Canales says “they’ll throw a lot at him and see how he responds.” Coker was one of my favorite late round picks prior to his injury.
SF Kendrick Bourne ($1): If we just extrapolate Bourne’s stats from last week, he’d be on pace to compete for the overall WR1 this year. But that game had no Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall, Brandon Aiyuk, or George Kittle.
DAL Ryan Flournoy ($1): Similar to Bourne, Flournoy thrived in a one-game sample as he moved up the depth chart from WR5 to WR3. Not buying this as a long-term option particularly once Lamb is back.
Players you can drop: Cedric Tillman, Josh Palmer

TE
Likely taken but top priorities if available: Darren Waller, Kyle Pitts Sr.
NYJ Mason Taylor ($2 - $4): Top waiver option but don’t be misled by the raw target numbers from the box score. He is still at best the #2 option in a very run heavy offense. But he has looked good and as a rookie, benfits from a wide range of outcomes.
NO Taysom Hill ($1): If you’re looking for purely upside, there is no TE who can match what Taysom can bring (in Week 11 last year, he put up 188 rushing + receiving yards and 3 TDs)
SEA AJ Barner ($1): Barner, a 4th round pick in 2024, is having quite the strong sophomore season as the lead TE for Seattle. He’s played 80%+ of the offensive snaps in 4/5 games and has a stat line of 14/134/4. The TDs will likely regress but there’s a possibility this is the beginning of a larger TE breakout.
NYG Theo Johnson ($1): 9.99 RAS and the 2nd most athletic TE in the past 37 years, Theo Johnson has shown to be one of Jaxson Dart’s favorite targets.
Players you can drop: Colston Loveland, Jonnu Smith, Evan Engram

📊 Poll of the Day

Yesterday’s poll: Who would you rather have rest-of-season? Jake Ferguson or Brock Bowers

Very, very interesting. If I had Jake Ferguson, I’d prob ride him out one more week and then see what I could possibly flip him for before CeeDee Lamb is back.

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