Fantasy Football Week 5 Wide Receiver Preview: No shortage of Calvin Ridley replacements on the waiver wire

Calvin Ridley will not be making the trip across the pond to face the New York Jets, which puts his Fantasy managers in a tough spot. Unlike running back, when a receiver goes down, it's not generally a backup on his team that replaces him on a Fantasy roster. 

That's not to say I don't think Olamide Zaccheaus has upside against the Jets. He does, but he also projects as my No. 48 wide receiver. In deeper leagues, that might be the best you can do. But a trio of my top-36 wide receivers for Week 5 are still available in at least 40% of leagues. Let's target them first.

Hunter Renfrow ranks the highest of the three as a borderline top-25 receiver. Renfrow has at least 10.7 PPR Fantasy points in every game this season and the Bears have been pretty bad against slot wide receivers.

Speaking of slot wide receivers, Jamison Crowder is playing Ridley's Falcons in Week 5 and just saw nine targets in his first game back with the Jets. While that's just a one game sample, Braxton Berrios had 18 targets the first two weeks of the season in the same role.

While both Renfroe and Crowder are short area PPR specialists, DeVante Parker may have the highest upside of them all. Parker faces a Buccaneers defense that has all kinds of injuries and has surrendered a ton of huge games to wide receivers.

If all of these guys are rostered in your league, Zaccheaus may be your best bet. Though I do have a few more options below.

Here is the rest of the Week 5 WR Preview:

Week 5 WR Preview

Who's Out

Numbers to Know

Matchups That Matter

Waiver Wire Targets

DFS Plays

Projections

WR Preview

Who's Out

The following players are not being projected to play Week 5 at this time. Here's what it means:

Julio Jones WR

PHI Philadelphia • #80
Age: 35 • Experience: 14 yrs.

Josh Reynolds is interesting if Julio Jones and A.J. Brown miss another week.

Chase Claypool WR

BUF Buffalo • #83
Age: 25 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Diontae Johnson and Najee Harris are the only Steelers worth starting.

Will Fuller WR

MIA Miami • #3
Age: 30 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Target share should be safe for Devante Parker, Jaylen Waddle, and Mike Gesicki.

D.J. Chark WR

LAC L.A. Chargers • #17
Age: 27 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Laviska Shenault and Marvin Jones should dominate targets for the Jaguars.

Calvin Ridley WR

TEN Tennessee
Age: 29 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Zaccheaus should be the biggest winner at receiver, but we expect more targets for the running backs and tight ends

WR Preview

Numbers to Know

• 22.5 -- Pass attempts per game for the Saints. Hopefully that increases when Michael Thomas returns. 
• 32.3 -- Receiving yards per game for JuJu Smith-Schuster. In non-PPR leagues he may just be droppable.
• 37.1% -- Brandin Cooks still leads the NFL in target share, but he has another tough matchup in Week 5.
• 163 -- Jakobi Meyers has now gone 163 targets without a touchdown. That's the only reason we aren't more excited about him as a No. 3 receiver.

• 14.6 -- Laviska Shenault's air yards ballooned to 14.6 without D.J. Chark in Week 4. This type of usage could turn Shenault into a must-start receiver.
• 32 -- Michael Pittman has 32 targets over his past three games. He's one of my favorite buy-low options right now.

WR Preview

Matchups that matter

Matchups that matter

Robert Woods WR

HOU Houston • #2
Age: 32 • Experience: 12 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ SEA LAR -1.5 O/U 54.5

OPP VS WR 22nd

PROJ PTS 14.3

WR RNK 26th

YTD Stats
REC 15	TAR 25	REYDS 172	TD 2	FPTS/G 11.5

Jamison Crowder WR

WAS Washington • #80
Age: 30 • Experience: 10 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ ATL ATL -3.5 O/U 46

OPP VS WR 24th

PROJ PTS 9.6

WR RNK 40th

YTD Stats
REC 7	TAR 9	REYDS 61	TD 1	FPTS/G 19.1

DeVonta Smith WR

PHI Philadelphia • #6
Age: 25 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ CAR CAR -4 O/U 45

OPP VS WR 5th

PROJ PTS 11.3

WR RNK 36th

YTD Stats
REC 18	TAR 31	REYDS 237	TD 1	FPTS/G 11.9

Josh Reynolds WR

DEN Denver • #8
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ JAC TEN -4 O/U 48.5

OPP VS WR 23rd

PROJ PTS 5.2

WR RNK NR

YTD Stats
REC 6	TAR 9	REYDS 59	TD 0	FPTS/G 6

WR Preview

Waiver Wire Targets

Week 5 Waivers

Hunter Renfrow WR

LV Las Vegas • #13
Age: 28 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs CHI LV -5.5 O/U 44

OPP VS WR 27th

WR RNK 35th

ROSTERED 56%

YTD Stats
REC 22	TAR 30	REYDS 249	TD 2	FPTS/G 14.7

Renfrow is a much better add in PPR and he's more of a floor play than a ceiling play, but it's not like he doesn't have any ceiling. You should expect 10-plus points from catches and yards each week and consider the touchdowns a bonus.

Jamison Crowder WR

WAS Washington • #80
Age: 30 • Experience: 10 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ ATL ATL -3 O/U 46

OPP VS WR 24th

WR RNK 33rd

ROSTERED 52%

YTD Stats
REC 7	TAR 9	REYDS 61	TD 1	FPTS/G 19.1

Crowder slides right into the role he had last year, and the role Braxton Berrios held down for the early part of this year. His profile is similar to Renfrow's, though I'd expect the Jets to have a less prolific offense. There's also some long-term risk that Elijah Moore takes targets away.

DeVante Parker WR

PHI Philadelphia • #1
Age: 31 • Experience: 10 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ TB TB -10 O/U 48

OPP VS WR 32nd

WR RNK 42nd

ROSTERED 60%

YTD Stats
REC 17	TAR 32	REYDS 242	TD 1	FPTS/G 11.8

Parker is much more likely to make your day in one play than Renfrow or Crowder.

Olamide Zaccheaus WR

WAS Washington • #13
Age: 26 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs NYJ ATL -3 O/U 46

OPP VS WR 3rd

WR RNK 48th

Zaccheaus should be available just about everywhere, and should see at least six or seven targets.

Josh Reynolds WR

DEN Denver • #8
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ JAC TEN -4.5 O/U 48.5

OPP VS WR 23rd

WR RNK NR

ROSTERED

Reynolds has a great matchup with Jacksonville if both A.J. Brown and Julio Jones remain out.

Stashes

Josh Gordon WR

TEN Tennessee • #19
Age: 33 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Gordon is drawing rave reviews at practice and has already been promoted to the active roster. You can't start him in Week 5, but he may flash in prime time, and you'll be glad you have him on a roster if he does.

WR Preview

DFS Plays

Top Play

Diontae Johnson WR

CAR Carolina • #18
Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs DEN PIT -1 O/U 40

OPP VS WR 16th

PROJ PTS 14.8

WR RNK 7th

YTD Stats
REC 23	TAR 35	REYDS 233	TD 2	FPTS/G 19.4

As bad as this offense has been, it still runs through Najee Harris and Diontae Johnson. Johnson is a No. 1 receiver priced like a low-end No. 2.

Contrarian Play

Brandin Cooks WR

DAL Dallas • #3
Age: 30 • Experience: 11 year

Weekly Breakdown

vs NE NE -9.5 O/U 39.5

OPP VS WR 5th

PROJ PTS 14.3

WR RNK 20th

YTD Stats
REC 28	TAR 39	REYDS 369	TD 1	FPTS/G 17.9

Bill Belichick against a rookie quarterback is rightfully going to scare people away from the Texans. And in cash games I would avoid them as well. But Davis Mills is locked on Brandin Cooks, and I expect he'll keep slinging it into coverage. That type of volume for a talented player at a low roster rate is exactly what we're looking for in a contrarian play. Bonus: It's a revenge game.

WR Preview

Heath's Projections

So who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 5 rankings for every position, plus see which QB is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that has out-performed experts big-time.