Chances are that through four weeks of the NFL season, you’re either brimming with joy at your unbeatable NFL fantasy team, or pulling your hair out because your team hasn’t lived up to expectations. If the waiver wire needs to be good to you ahead of Week 5, we’ve gone ahead and collected the names that fantasy football experts are tapping as high-value moving forward.
For more on the real world-side of the football schedule in Week 5, check our complete picks and predictions here, or just read on to boost your fantasy lineup this week.
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Experts’ Pickups and Drops for 2014 NFL Season Week 5
NFL.com – Players to Pick Up
Michael Fabiano
Position
Player
Running Back
Matt Asiata
Tight End
Larry Donnell
Quarterback
Eli Manning
Wide Receiver
Brian Quick
On the league’s official site, Michael Fabiano recommends grabbing Vikings running back Matt Asiata. Now the lead back due to the Adrian Peterson fiasco down at Minnesota, Asiata has racked up double-digit fantasy points in two of his last three games, one of them a whopping 28-point performance against Atlanta. He should be especially valuable this week against Green Bay’s defense, which ranks last in the NFL allowing 176 rushing yards per game.
[sc:NFL240banner ]At tight end, Larry Donnell was money for Eli Manning in their Thursday Night Football win over Washington. He scored three touchdowns and a solid 23 fantasy points. If some sly dog hasn’t already picked him up, grab Donnell before the Giants’ juicy matchup against the Falcons this week.
Meanwhile, Giants quarterback Eli Manning should also be picked up at this point. Forget the disappointing 2013 season for Peyton’s little brother. Manning has thrown seven touchdowns in his last two games. He will be a valuable option against teams who struggle against the pass, and the Giants have back-to-back games against such teams going up against Atlanta (allowing 276.2 passing yards per game) and Philadelphia (allowing 257.5 passing yards per game) in the next two weeks.
At wide receiver, Brian Quick of the St. Louis Rams should help rack up the points. He recorded 62 yards and a score in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3. He’s already on pace for an excellent season, and should be a valuable flex option.
Bleacher Report – Players to Pick Up
Anita Marks
Position
Player
Running Back
Jerick McKinnon
Running Back
Justin Forsett
Quarterback
Eli Manning
Wide Receiver
Eddie Royal
Bleacher Report also gives us a few key acquisitions for Week 5, starting with another Vikings back. Jerick McKinnon exploded against the Atlanta Falcons for 135 yards on 18 carries as well as a 17 yard catch. McKinnon isn’t good enough in pass protection to be an every down back, but against the Packers both him and Asiata should have value.
Another solid addition will be Baltimore running back Justin Forsett with 66 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries to go with three passes for 31 yards in a blowout win against the Carolina Panthers.
Marks agrees with Fabiano that Manning is an excellent QB pickup, especially now that he’s getting comfortable with the new West Coast offense, as we discussed in our preview of Giants-Falcons here. He completed 28 of 39 passes for 300 yards and four touchdowns against the Redskins. Along with his improvement, his teammates Victor Cruz, Rueben Randle and Larry Donnell also looked better.
Manning’s going to get better and he should have you swimming in points when played against favorable matchups.
San Diego wide receiver Eddie Royal caught five passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns for an average of 21 yards per catch. He will face the secondary of the Jets (allowing 228 passing yards per game) next week, thus making him a prime pick for your roster, along with other members of the San Diego offense.
Yahoo – Players to Drop
Position
Player
Quarterback
Cam Newton
Quarterback
Geno Smith
Wide Receiver
Mike Evans
Running Back
Bernard Pierce
Defense
Panthers Defense
While NFL.com and Bleacher Report gave us several names to bolster our rosters, Yahoo gives us names of those we need to drop.
Quarterbacks Cam Newton and Geno Smith were two of the worst signal callers in Week 4. Newton played hurt and was reluctant to run, finishing with seven yards on the ground on two carries. In the air, Newton finished 14 of 25 passes for 197 yards and a score. Meanwhile Smith had two turnovers against Detroit while passing for only 6.3 yards per attempt. He was also a non-factor with his legs with just four yards on four carries.
For owners of Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans, it’s a matter of deciding how long to be patient. The young wideout is certainly talented, but the Bucs are such a train wreck at the quarterback position it’s hard to imagine him having the opportunities he needs to put up points. Evans has not caught more than 65 yards this season, though that was in Week 4.
In Baltimore, Bernard Pierce botched a number of line ups by simply not taking the field. The Baltimore backfield in general is a bad place to be right now, and whether Pierce returns or not in Week 5 his upside is limited enough that you are better to go with a back like Asiata than you are stick with Pierce.
Lastly, after coming in as one of the highest-touted defenses in the league, the Carolina Panthers have not been able to stop anyone, allowing a total of 454 yards and 38 points against Baltimore, without recording a single sack or takeaway. We might be more optimistic but the Panthers have an intimidating schedule ahead, with games against the Bears, Bengals, Packers, Seahawks, Saints, and Falcons in the next six weeks. Rough.
