So, injuries are fun, eh?
Week 4 saw Andrew Luck and Marshawn Lynch sit out, Arian Foster and DeMarco Murray suit up but underperform, plus Steve Smith and Lance Dunbar went down with injuries.
Between players that may or may not be active combined with more bye weeks to deal with, here are some players to consider picking up ahead of Week 5 action.
QB
Jay Cutler (owned in 25 per cent of Yahoo! leagues)
The oft-criticized pivot had a quality performance in an upset win over the Raiders (by the way, “upset win over the Raiders” is not something we’re used to hearing but it happened and it actually was an upset). He’s got a juicy matchup against the Chiefs this week. They give up more fantasy points to QBs than any other team, so if you’ve got a QB on bye (Cam Newton, Ryan Tannehill) or one that’s banged up (Ben Roethlisberger, Tony Romo, Drew Brees, Andrew Luck), Cutler is an option for you.
Football fans are critical of Cutler, but his tight end Martellus Bennett certainly isn’t.
Alex Smith (owned in 25 per cent of Yahoo! leagues)
Smith’s only bad outing this year (in terms of fantasy production) was against the Broncos, the league’s stingiest defence, in Week 2. Although he only has four passing touchdowns this year, he is sixth in the NFL in yards and he’s going up against the Bears.
RB
Duke Johnson Jr. (owned in 30 per cent of Yahoo! leagues)
The Browns finally started using Duke Johnson and it paid off for fantasy owners with nearly 20 fantasy points. The rookie is especially effective in PPR leagues.
Ronnie Hillman (owned in 33 per cent of Yahoo! leagues)
C.J. Anderson is simply not getting it done for Gary Kubiak. Hillman is coming off a 103-yard game, albeit 72 of those yards were on one play, and will continue to get more carries each week. He’s a more reliable start than Anderson at this point.
Player to drop: Lance Dunbar. The Cowboys’ speedy pass-catching back unfortunately tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the year.
WR
Allen Hurns (owned in 17 per cent of Yahoo! leagues)
Heading into the season Allen Robinson was the Allen on the Jags you wanted but so far Allen Hurns has been just as good. His yards and fantasy points have increased each week and he’s blessed with the fact it’s Robinson that usually draws the top coverage from opposing secondaries.
Kamar Aiken (owned in 3 per cent of Yahoo! leagues)
With Steve Smith Sr. out the next few weeks dealing with broken ribs, Aiken should be Joe Flacco’s top target. He finished last week with 77 yards and a touchdown. A Week 5 matchup with the Browns isn’t the easiest task, but based on volume of targets alone he’s worth owning if you need to bolster your receiver depth.
TE
Antonio Gates (owned in 56 per cent of Yahoo! leagues)
The veteran is set to make his season debut as he’s back from a four-game suspension. Gates was inconsistent last year, but Rivers leads the NFL in passing yards at the moment and has a proven history with Gates.
Gary Barnidge (owned in 8 per cent of Yahoo! leagues)
If you thought his 10-catch, 105-yard, one-TD performance in Week 3 was an anomaly (I sure did!), maybe it wasn’t. He followed that up with 75 yards and another TD. He seems to have a solid rapport with Josh McCown.
Other solid waiver options… Blake Bortles, Sam Bradford, Michael Vick, Leonard Hankerson, Rueben Randle, Tavon Austin, Willie Snead, Boobie Dixon, Charles Sims, Antonio Andrews, Owen Daniels, Richard Rodgers