Early Fantasy Football Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups: Kirk Cousins, TJ Hockenson, Michael Mayer and 5 More

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Sep 21, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings tight end TJ. Hockenson (87) catches a touchdown pass against the Cincinnati Bengals during the second half at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Quite a few sleeper picks hit during a football-filled Sunday. Tyquan Thornton scored two touchdowns on 111 yards, TJ Hockenson caught all 13 of his targets, and RJ Harvey caught 10 passes out of the Broncos' backfield. Here's an early look at some waiver wire pickups to target for Tuesday's Week 5 deadline.

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QB, CJ Stroud

In three of his four games played this season, Stroud has passed for at least 274 yards. Two of those games, including Week 3 against the Cowboys, went for over 345 yards. Now that Nico Collins is back, we must expect Stroud to keep slinging the rock.

QB, Kirk Cousins

I questioned the Raiders and how their schedule had featured teams with a combined 1-8 record before Sunday. However, they held on to a thin 30-27 loss to the Chiefs. Cousins is the QB6 in fantasy football heading into Sunday and Monday Night Football.

RB, Keaton Mitchell

Mitchell owns about 25% of the Chargers' rushing volume and averages about 6-8 attempts per game. Mitchell is also averaging just over 3 targets per game. He is a prime handcuff to Omarion Hampton and, apparently, a favorite of Mike McDaniel, as often reported.

RB, Tank Bigsby

Early reports suggest that Saquon Barkley strained his hamstring. Though unconfirmed, Barkley could miss a couple of games. After Barkley got hurt on Sunday, Bigsby out-attempted Will Shipley 14-to-6. The duo did see about the same snaps, but usage mattered: Bigsby saw more, and the Eagles appeared to value him as the better playmaker.

Let's not forget that last season, the Eagles traded for Bigsby after Shipley had a strong preseason.

WR, Keon Coleman

Coleman has run the second-most routes of any Bill in 2026. He has run two fewer than Khalil Shakir, two more than Dalton Kincaid, and 19 more than DJ Moore. In Week 4, Coleman caught 6 receptions on 7 targets for 116 yards and 1 touchdown. Coleman has now caught 14 of 16 targets this season.

WR, Roman Wilson

Wilson is averaging 6.0 targets, 3.5 receptions, 47 yards, and 0.5 touchdowns per game. However, he has not run more than 19 routes in either of his last two games, in which Michael Pittman Jr. has played.

I'm writing to advise you not to overspend on Wilson at pickup. A favorite of Aaron Rodgers does matter, but a lack of volume cannot consistently create top-25 relevance at wide receiver.

WR, Darius Cooper

Another wide receiver not to overspend on is Darius Cooper. He had 7 targets in Week 4, the most of any Eagles pass-catcher. The conversation was very uncertain regarding how the Eagles' offense would operate without DeVonta Smith.

Now we know how it divides: Cooper ran about the same number of routes to Dontayvion Wicks and Makai Lemon and was the most productive of the three. The division is more of a 33% three-way split. However, once Smith is back, this Cooper's value will die.

TE, TJ Hockenson

Hockenson got a massive cut of that Justin Jefferson pie. With Jefferson out in Week 4, Hockenson had 13 targets, or a 40% target share. Better yet, Hockenson caught every single one for 119 yards. So long as Jefferson is out, as he may be again in Week 5, Hockenson is a shoo-in top-10 tight end, legitimately with TE1 upside.

TE, Michael Mayer

Since Brock Bowers returned to the Raiders lineup, Mayer's playing time has not decreased. Mayer has run a 73% share of the Raiders' passing plays in 2026. In fact, Mayer ran a 78% share in Week 4 and 76% in Week 3.

In that latest game, Mayer caught 8 of 9 targets for 82 yards. He has more receptions and yards per game than anyone other than Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty.

TE, Mike Gesicki

After catching another touchdown on 5 targets and 3 receptions, Gesicki ranks 4th in yards per reception among tight ends (Min. 12 targets). He is T-2 in touchdowns with 3 total.

Joe Burrow is clearly making a concerted effort to spread the ball rather than rely solely on Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. To back that up, second-string wide receiver Dohnte Meyers caught 7 of 9 targets in Week 4.

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