Fantasy Football Waiver Wire and Rest of Season Rankings- Week 5, 2026
The waiver offerings have been slim pickings so far this season, unless your leaguemates drafted poorly. The running back position was the primary reason, not because of lack of potential, but because of very few injuries at the position. That seems to be turning around, but the backs that are getting hurt also don't have backs we are too excited about.
The wide receiver position has a few potential players that could fill in when bye-weeks hit. As humans we have an incredible urge to overreact to what we most recently saw. I’ve noticed many people looking to dump players they drafted in the single-digit rounds, and normally I'd say there is no reason to do that if you drafted from our cheat sheet, but there have been some shocking disappointments at WR so far this season.
Waiver advice for those who play in more typical home redraft leagues will be published each week. We will look at players owned less than 60% in the most popular formats and rank out in order our favorite waiver pickups broken down by position. Most weeks will also feature our Rest of Season rankings which are THE MOST ACCURATE over the past 5 years.
The Rest-of-Season Rankings are really far more important than the waiver wire rankings. There may be players available in your league that aren't available in most leagues and you can't tell that they are higher ranked unless you check the Rest-of-Season rankings by scrolling down.
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Adds
Lamar Jackson appears "unlikely" to play Sunday against the Falcons due to a "rarer type of ankle sprain" that could put him at risk of missing multiple games, Ian Rapoport reports.
The ankle injury sidelined Jackson for the entire second half of last Sunday's 24-18 win over the Titans, resulting in backup Tyler Huntley directing the offense for the final two quarters. Huntley now appears to be trending toward the Week 5 start while Jackson recovers from the ankle issue, which Rapoport suggests is an "unconventional" injury that's not necessarily a low- or high-ankle sprain.
Mike Garafolo reports Jayden Daniels (elbow) is “on track” to start for the Commanders in Washington’s Week 5 game against the Giants. Washington will be trying to keep their season on the tracks after falling to 1-3 against the Colts while having to go to third-stringer Athan Kaliakmanis.
Players We Can Drop
When we make waiver claims most of the time we can easily determine who to add, but we struggle with which players to drop. It is very difficult to give-up on a player we thought was worth drafting in the first place. If you are struggling, you should be dropping your questions or concerns in our Discord channel. Don't be afraid of it, I'm over 50 and navigate it fairly well.
Injuries
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said he’ll “have more answers Wednesday” on Saquon Barkley’s hamstring injury. Barkley went down early in Sunday’s loss to the Rams and did not return to the game. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said earlier on Monday that Barkley’s injury “does not seem to be overly serious,” but with the Eagles taking on the Jaguars in London next week, it wouldn’t be surprising if he missed at least one game.
Ian Rapoport reports Tank Bigsby will have core muscle surgery and be placed on injured reserve. Rapoport reports there are hopes that Bigsby will be back “in six weeks or shorter.” The 24-year-old back will be required to miss at least four games now that he’s headed for an IR stint. With Saquon Barkley (hamstring) also at risk of missing at least one game, third-string RB Will Shipley could be in line for a busy day in Week 5 against the Jaguars. Shipley rushed six times for 23 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Rams, but could be a sneaky option in PPR leagues given his pass-catching profile during his days at Clemson, when he caught 85 passes over three seasons.
Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said Jeremiyah Love tweaked his other ankle in Week 4’s loss to the Giants.
It’s been an odd 24 hours for Love, who was quoted after Sunday’s game saying this is shaping up to be the “longest year” of his career while also adding that he’s “tired” and would be willing to pass off work to Tyler Allgeier or Bam Knight in the event that he doesn’t think he can do what is being asked of him. As for this latest injury, LaFleur said the ankle injury isn’t the same one Love injured in the preseason, meaning he now has two ankle injuries to manage for the rest of the season.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said Rico Dowdle is making progress in his attempt to return from a toe injury. McCarthy said he expects Dowdle and Jaylen Warren to be a “one-two punch” once Dowdle returns to the field. Warren has totaled 34 rushes over the last two weeks while rushing for 220 scoreless yards, but had a 21-89-0 line during the first two weeks of the season when Dowdle was active.
Seahawks signed RB Robert Henry Jr. off Washington’s practice squad.
Adam Schefter reports the Seahawks decided not to sign RB Joe Mixon after he underwent a physical.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Chris Brooks is undergoing tests on his ankle. Brooks left the Packers’ Week 4 win over the Bucs with an ankle injury in the first half. He did not return after the break and LaFleur didn’t have any definitive answers about the injury on Monday.
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said Ladd McConkey (foot) is day to day McConkey has spent this season as more minute to minute than day to day. He left Week 3’s game with a re-aggravation of his foot injury that was managed all week leading up to the game.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports Tyquan Thornton (ankle) will miss the rest of the season. Thornton is having surgery “within the week” with the hopes of being able to return in the playoffs for the Chiefs. Xavier Worthy will likely shift up in the target pecking order absent an outside addition.
Rest of Season Rankings
There aren't many places we can get full rankings that have the rest of the season in mind, let alone rankings as accurate as ours. These Rest of Season Fantasy Football rankings have been THE #1 most accurate over the past five seasons.
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