Fantasy Football: 4 Deep Sleepers for NFL Week 5

If you're in a deep league or are playing some large-field NFL DFS tournaments on FanDuel this week, you'll probably need some deep sleepers on your squad.

Here are some players who are on the majority of waiver wires but need to be on your radar this week.

We'll reference our fantasy football projections. All NFL odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook, and lines may change after this article is published.

Fantasy Football Deep Sleepers for Week 5

Jalen Tolbert, WR, Cowboys

FanDuel Salary: $5,400 | Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 5%

Four teams are on bye in Week 5 and we've seen a ton of top-tier receivers go down with injuries, including CeeDee Lamb, Malik Nabers, Tyreek Hill, and Mike Evans. We'll need to target sleeper wideouts in deep leagues. Jalen Tolbert sticks out.

The Dallas Cowboys were without Lamb in Week 4, and Tolbert ran 82.9% of the routes as a result. He ended up catching four of his six targets for 61 yards, including a preposterous overtime catch.

KaVontae Turpin (foot) has not practiced this week after catching three of his four targets for 30 yards last Sunday. With Dallas down CeeDee and potentially Turpin, as well, we could see plenty of Tolbert in Week 5's clash with the New York Jets.

The Jets enter with a 29th-ranked schedule-adjusted pass defense and have let up a league-high 2.10 yards per route run to opposing wide receivers. Dak Prescott has been great to start the season and finds himself in yet another plus environment as counting stats go -- the Cowboys have a 24.5 implied team total but are favored by just 2.5 points this Sunday. For someone who's currently rostered in just 5% of leagues, Tolbert seems to have a high ceiling.

Malik Washington, WR, Dolphins

FanDuel Salary: $5,000 | Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 22%

The Miami Dolphins finally made it into the win column, but Hill has been ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining a nasty knee injury during Monday's game.

Hill leaves behind a 24.4% target share and 50.0% air yards share. Can Malik Washington help pick up some of the pieces?

Washington's run 60.7% of the routes through four weeks but has earned just a 12.4% target share. He did earn 10 targets across Weeks 1 and 3, not far off from Jaylen Waddle's 11 targets in that span. He figures to step into a larger role with Hill now out, and the Dolphins have palatable offensive expectations this week since they'll face the Carolina Panthers. Carolina ranks 21st in adjusted pass defense and Miami is -122 to score over 22.5 points in this road game.

Our NFL projections have Washington down as the eighth-best valued wide receiver on Sunday's main slate, and he's listed as the top points-per-dollar value among WRs salaried below $5.8 K.

Michael Carter, RB, Cardinals

FanDuel Salary: $4,000 | Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 22%

Last week, James Conner (foot) was ruled out for the season and we ran to pick up Trey Benson. Welp, Benson has since hit the injured reserve with a knee injury. Emari Demercado is currently rostered in 57% of leagues as a result, but Michael Carter is still widely available.

Carter was signed to the active roster from the practice squad last week and could end up having a starting on Sunday, at least so says Carter.

The Arizona Cardinals will host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and the home team is favored by 8.5 points with a 25.5 implied team total. Tennessee struggles with a 30th-ranked adjusted rush defense and have allowed the fifth-most expected points added per carry (+0.03) and third-most rushing yards to running backs, so Carter gets a soft matchup off the rip.

Our projections forecast Carter to turn 11.6 touches into 51.6 yards and 0.3 touchdowns in this one.

Bryce Young, QB, Panthers

FanDuel Salary: $6,600 | Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 19%

On top of missing four QBs due to the bye, it looks like Lamar Jackson (hamstring) could be headed toward sitting in Week 5.

Bryce Young has had a poor start to the season. His days may be numbered. But he has a chance to right the ship -- at least from a fantasy-perspective -- in this match against the Dolphins, and he's currently available in over 80% of leagues.

Miami has allowed opposing quarterbacks to post 0.39 EPA/db this season -- good for the second-most behind only the Dallas Cowboys. They come in with the second-worst adjusted defense and have coughed up the most FanDuel points per drop back (0.81) to quarterbacks. This is a great matchup for Young to use his legs, as the Dolphins have given up the second-most carries and third-most rushing yards to QBs. In a home game that's showing a close spread (1.5) and decent total (44.5), Young could put up a fight.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.