Keepers, Sleepers, and Jeepers: Week 5

By Adam Filadelfo (@FNTSYArchitect)

With another week of fantasy football in the books, owners now look forward to week five of this quick moving season and that means it is time once again to get those waiver wire moves in. Between injuries and bye weeks, most owners are always looking to the waiver wire to add some new talent to their team whether it be for depth or other reasons. Week five should be no different. It's time to take a look at which players are worth an add and which you may want to let another owner bid on.

Keepers

Eli Manning- Quarterback- New York Giants- While the first two weeks of the season had fantasy owners not considering adding Eli Manning to their rosters as the Giants as a team were looking like they may be contending for the top overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft, the last two weeks have been vastly different. Eli Manning has looked like a totally different quarterback. Maybe he's finally learning the new offense or maybe it's been the quality of the opponent but Eli Manning has gotten fantasy owners' attention as of late and should be a hot waiver wire add heading into week five. With nine touchdowns to go with five interceptions, Eli Manning is now averaging almost 23 fantasy points per game and over his last two games has 19.6 fantasy points and 37.1 fantasy points respectively. Week four saw Eli Manning finish as the number one fantasy quarterback and fantasy owners should expect that trend to continue in week five versus the Atlanta Falcons defense.

Mike Glennon- Quarteback- Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Even if Josh McCown were healthy enough to start for the Buccaneers, Mike Glennon is the clear cut choice to lineup under center. Glennon got the Buccaneers offense rolling in week four and scored over 17 fantasy points while tossing two touchdowns and over 300 yards. Fantasy owners should expect Mike Glennon to continue on as the Tampa Bay starter.

John Brown- Wide Receiver- Arizona Cardinals- John Brown may be an afterthought seeing how the Cardinals were on their bye in week four but his week three performance should have him on fantasy owners radars heading into his week five matchup versus the Denver Broncos. Through three games this season, John Brown has 15 targets to go with nine receptions for 109 yards and three touchdowns. He's averaging almost 10 fantasy points per game so far as a rookie and in a heavy pass offense like Arizona, should continue to see a steady dose of targets come his way.

Sleepers

Jarius Wright- Since his rookie season in 2012, Jarius Wright has been talked about as  a player to keep an eye on. His rookie season in 2012 saw Wright play seven games and have 36 targets (over five targets per game) while last season saw him receive 53 targets over 15 games (3.5 targets per game). So far in 2014, Wright has 16 targets through four games (four targets per game) while hauling in 11 of those targets for 169 yards. He's averaging 5.5 fantasy points per game this season and could continue to trend in the right (no pun intended) direction provided Teddy Bridgewater is healthy and starts each week. The Vikings offense has shown of late that they can put up points with Bridgewater at the helm and a plethora of weapons at his disposal.

Eric Ebron- Tight End- Detroit Lions- Week four may have been his coming out party where fantasy owners saw Eric Ebron out play starter Brandon Pettigrew to the tune of 12 targets for six catches, 72 yards and a touchdown. At this point in his career, Brandon Pettigrew has to be an afterthought to both fantasy owners and the Detroit Lions seeing how he has never lived up to his hype.  Ebron had 12 targets to Pettigrew's five. Week four could have been an anomaly or the real deal. Ebron may have to prove he's ready to be a fantasy stud by having more than one good game. It is worth pointing out that Ebron had a good game versus the Jets, a team that is allowing under  nine fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends and ranks mid pack when defending against the tight end position.

Brian Tyms- Wide Receiver- New England Patriots- Coming off of his suspension, Brian Tyms is eligible to play in week five versus the Bengals. Tyms may be just what the Patriots offense needs. A receiver that can get downfield and stretch the defense seeing how all these dink and dunk passes to Edelman just aren't working. During the preseason, Tyms put up 11 catches for 188 yards and two touchdowns so he is capable of being fantasy relevant. While he won't help fix the Patriots offensive line issues, he could be another weapon for Brady to throw to and Brady owners will be just fine with that.

Jeepers

Darrin Reaves- Running Back-Carolina Panthers- With the injuries to DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, it's next man up in Carolina and that could mean one of two guys for the Panthers. Darrin Reaves being one of those guys. The rookie out of Alabama Birmingham will be forced to run behind a putrid offensive line but does provide some value in PPR formats as he's seen six balls thrown his way and has caught  three of them. It's hard to use a waiver wire claim on a running back who may or may not be the starter for a team that has offensive line issues.

Fozzy Whittaker- Running Back- Carolina Panthers- Part of the reason it may be hard for fantasy owners to trust Darrin Reaves so much is because of the other running back in Carolina, Fozzy Whittaker. While neither back may be worth owning long term, fantasy owners that are desperate for help with the position may want to take notice of either of these two running backs. Just don't expect much if anything from either. At least Whittaker has statistics to go on based off of 2013 where he played seven games and did receive 29 targets and caught 21 of them for 155 yards and two scores. There may be a little value in Whittaker but again, don't expect too much.