It was another injury-riddled week in the NFL with star players including Cincinnati Bengals’ receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins both suffering injuries as well as Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Philadelphia Eagles running backs Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby.
However, it was also a week of breakout performances from receivers Tetairoa McMillan with the Carolina Panthers and CeeDee Lamb with the Dallas Cowboys as well as running backs Kyren Williams with the Los Angeles Rams, Javonte Williams with the Cowboys and Kenneth Walker III with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Here is a look at the top five waiver wire pickups in fantasy football after Week 4 of the NFL season.
WR KC Concepcion, Cleveland Browns
Rostered in 50.8% of ESPN leagues
The Cleveland Browns offense has
actually been much better than expected with DeShaun Watson at quarterback. They are sitting at 3-1 because of their duo of rookie receivers, Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion. Boston gets more fantasy points, but Concepcion has also been getting targets. In fact, he has been targeted 17 times in the last two games and had five receptions for 64 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the New York Jets are not an ideal matchup, they just allowed decent fantasy production to some of the Chicago Bears’ wide receivers last week. He may not be the receiver who puts up 20 or 25 fantasy points, but he can put up solid production with the targets he is getting.
WR Roman Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers
Rostered in 3.6% of ESPN leagues
Roman Wilson has flown under the radar through the first four games of the season. However, he has exactly six targets in every game and a touchdown in each of the past two games against the Bengals and the Browns. His production is a little touchdown-dependent, but he is playing for the Indianapolis Colts and they have given up four touchdowns to receivers so far this season. Wilson has the potential to make it three straight games this coming week.
QB Kirk Cousins, Las Vegas Raiders
Rostered in 16.9% of ESPN leagues
With how well the Raiders have played, it is surprising Kirk Cousins has not popped up on very many fantasy radars. He is actually a top-10 quarterback in fantasy through the first four weeks and has over 20 fantasy points in each of the past three weeks. Cousins also has at least two touchdowns in every game this year. The New England Patriots will be a difficult matchup in this coming week, but the Chiefs were also a hard matchup and he still managed to produce. Especially with all of the quarterback injuries, Cousins is a viable option.
RB Ollie Gordon II, Miami Dolphins
Rostered in 62.3% of ESPN leagues
Ollie Gordon was named as a waiver wire pickup last week and while he is on a lot more fantasy rosters, he is still available in over 35 percent of leagues. He had a surprisingly productive day against the Minnesota Vikings with 100 rushing yards and a touchdown, which was the first rushing touchdown the Vikings had given up all season against a running back. Gordon also now has a touchdown in each of the past two games. The Bengals are not a more difficult matchup than the Vikings were, so he could have another really productive game against Cincinnati.
TE Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati Bengals
Rostered in 9.6% of ESPN leagues
Through the first four games, Mike Gesicki has three touchdowns. Miami has only given up two touchdowns to tight ends, but with Chase and Higgins potentially not playing, Gesicki is in line to get a lot more targets and probably find the end zone. It is hard to find many tight ends that can put up a lot of points so far, but Gesicki has the potential to go off against the Dolphins.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: 5 waiver wire pickups in NFL fantasy football in Week 5
