The easy work of Weeks 1-4 has come to an end for fantasy football owners. Outside of dealing with injuries, the early portion of the season is relatively easy because owners just have to pick the best matchups to exploit to try and win their weekly contest.
Things are going to start getting harder in Week 5 with the first byes of the season set to kick in as the Browns, Chargers, Seahawks and Buccaneers are out of action. Nailing those fantasy pickups each week is crucial now as the right bye-week filler can make the difference between a victory and a crushing loss.
Without any further ado, let's take a look at the top fantasy pickups for Week 5. All rostered percentages, as always, are based on Yahoo! leagues.
5. Top Fantasy Football Pickups For Week 5 - Arizona Cardinals WR Michael Wilson
Arizona has been a place fantasy owners have largely avoided this season outside of James Conner thanks in part to the long-term injury absence of Kyler Murray. There is reason to take a closer look at the Cardinals, however, as Joshua Dobbs has helped them play competitive football against some strong teams in the early going.
One big beneficiary in Week 4 was wideout Michael Wilson, who caught all seven of his targets from Dobbs for 76 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The target volume is a season-high for Wilson, who had a total of nine targets entering the week, but this performance should earn the trust of the Cardinals' coaching staff going forward.
Wilson is rostered in just one percent of leagues and is a worthy waiver flier after doing well against a strong San Francisco defense. It's understandable to grab Wilson for a week and put him on your bench to see if the targets continue to flow his way but teams short on options in Week 5 could do worse than throwing Wilson in against the Bengals.
4. Top Fantasy Football Pickups For Week 5 - Chicago Bears TE Cole Kmet
Tight end is already a difficult position to fill when all 32 teams are playing. Adding in the bye weeks creates a bigger problem, especially with Week 5 sending David Njoku to the bench.
One man who appears poised to help is Cole Kmet, who came to life in Week 4 after a rough first three weeks to the season. The re-emergence of Justin Fields' ability to move the Bears' offense directly benefitted Kmet, who caught 7-of-9 targets for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
The two spikes marked the first time this season that Kmet has found paydirt, which is a positive development for his fantasy appeal. The target volume is also still strong for Kmet, who has had at least six targets in every game except for a two target outlier in Week 3's blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
That game may have led to some frustrated owners dropping Kmet, who is rostered in 53 percent of leagues. Owners in need of tight end help should run to the wire for Kmet, who has a fun matchup on Thursday night against a Commanders' pass defense that was torched by the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
3. Top Fantasy Football Pickups For Week 5 - Green Bay Packers WR Romeo Doubs
Sometimes it is easy to forget the Thursday night game in terms of fantasy relevance but the Packers have been mostly competent on offense this season. Although Jordan Love still has a ways to go as a must-start option, his receivers haven't been complete duds either.
The most intriguing Packers' pass catcher at the moment is Romeo Doubs, who has been in Green Bay's offense for two years and has stayed healthy. Doubs has been peppered with targets in the past two games, getting 12 in Week 3 and another 13 in Week 4, converting the latter into nine receptions for 95 yards.
That kind of target volume won't last as Christian Watson rounds back into form after an early-season hamstring injury but Doubs has clearly gained the trust of the Packers' coaching staff. Love's strong connection with Doubs should also keep him heavily involved in the game plan, which is a valuable thing in the bye week portion of the season.
Doubs is rostered in 54 percent of leagues so there is an opportunity for just over half of fantasy owners to go add him to their virtual receiver room. A Week 5 matchup against Las Vegas' suspect pass defense should also be beneficial for Doubs, who could find the end zone for the second time in three weeks.
2. Top Fantasy Football Pickups For Week 5 - Denver Broncos RB Jaleel McLaughlin
The dreaded injury bug has risen to claim another victim in Week 4 as Denver's Javonte Williams had to depart Sunday's 31-28 win over the Chicago Bears early with a hip issue. The timing has to be incredibly frustrating for Williams, who just now looked to be fully over last year's ACL tear, but it did create an opportunity for backup Jaleel McLaughlin to step up.
McLaughlin split time with Samaje Perine after Williams left the game but was very impressive with his carries, turning seven of them into 72 yards. There is also pass-catching appeal for McLaughlin, who turned three targets into three receptions for 32 yards and a touchdown.
The big question here is Williams' status going forward and there is every reason to expect that Denver will be cautious with him given his previous injury history. A short-term absence would benefit McLaughlin, whose strong performance in Week 4 would likely earn him a bigger share of the workload than Perine in the near future.
Very few fantasy owners had even heard of McLaughlin prior to this week as he is rostered in just two percent of leagues. Keep a close eye on the injury reports in Denver but teams in need of a fill-in running back for Week 5, when Jerome Ford, Kenneth Walker and Rachaad White are all on bye, should take a shot on McLaughlin.
1. Top Fantasy Football Pickups For Week 5 - Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud
It feels like C.J. Stroud has become a regular participant in this column. Despite hyping him up after both Week 2 and Week 3, fantasy owners have been slow to move on Stroud, who is rostered in only 46 percent of leagues.
It's understandable to be a bit gun-shy on taking a Texans' quarterback on, particularly since Stroud's strong games came against division foes Indianapolis and Jacksonville, but his Week 4 performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers should open eyes. Stroud was efficient against Pittsburgh's strong defense, completing 16-of-30 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns.
Those totals marked the third consecutive week Stroud has thrown for at least 280 yards and two or more touchdowns, a performance that will net you over 20 points in standard leagues. There have been plenty of uneven quarterback performances in the early going, including injury issues for Joe Burrow and a general failure to launch (prior to Week 4) for Justin Fields, making Stroud a good option for any team in need of help under center.
This should (it really should guys, come on now) be the last call on Stroud, who has a fun matchup on tap in Week 5 against a very burnable Atlanta Falcons' secondary. Leaving 20+ points a week on the waiver wire isn't smart business so Stroud is the choice as the top fantasy pickup of the week.
