Many a fantasy football championship has been won with the waiver wire. Following Week 4 action, these are the names that should be on owners' radars going forward. And fear not if your waiver priority is low-we have some sneaky pickups for you as well.
Quarterbacks
Eli Manning, New York Giants
Eli absolutely lit up the Washington Redskins' depleted defense on Thursday night for five total touchdowns, including three to TE Larry Donnell-an SWN favorite. Over the last two weeks Manning has been locked in, throwing six touchdowns against one interception and re-discovering his big play chemistry with Victor Cruz.
The next four weeks feature some soft defenses, so Manning's definitely an interesting play if your starter has a bye week; he may even be better than whomever it was that you drafted as your starter.
Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens
Flacco took it to the Panthers on Sunday, hooking up with Steve Smith twice for long touchdowns. Many predicted a big afternoon for Smith against his ex-mates, but the truth is Flacco to Smith has blossomed into a real thing here.
Yes, Torrey Smith was expected to be doing all these things that Steve Smith is currently doing. For quite a while Flacco took the blame for not helping Torrey become elite, but perhaps Torrey Smith was the overrated one? With Steve Smith in tow, the sky could be the limit for Flacco, who throws arguably the NFL's best deep ball. His ownership is definitely under 50 percent, so grab him if you can, even if it's as a backup for now.
DEEP OPTION: Mike Glennon, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Glennon threw for more than 300 yards on Sunday and helped the Bucs pick up their first win of the year in Pittsburgh. The Steelers' D is no great shakes, so don't get too excited, but if he can get Mike Evans back relatively soon this offense will be NFL-caliber week after week.
Running Backs
Jerick McKinnon, Minnesota Vikings
Matt Asiata vexed owners who faced him on Sunday. He scored three touchdowns and generated an unprecedented amount of eyerolls in doing so. Asiata rushed 20 times for 78 yards, while his rookie counterpart, McKinnon, amassed 135 yards on two fewer carries.
The latter looked very fast against a porous Falcons front seven, and will probably be the better option moving forward if Adrian Peterson is not coming back.
Temper expectations! Coaches come along slowly when it comes to placing faith in young players, so Asiata will still, frustratingly, receive more carries than McKinnon. The rookie looks explosive enough to make his touches count, though, so go ahead and stash him.
Antone Smith, Atlanta Falcons
Be careful! Smith has been a big play guy so far, and put up nice numbers Sunday, but he's a risky proposition. The key number this week wasn't Smith's yardage (62) or touchdowns (1). It's his attempts. Smith did that damage on just four carries; while it's impressive that he can do so much with so little, he hasn't received more than four carries yet in 2014.
Banking on Smith to get more work is probably a fool's errand due to the depth in the Atlanta backfield. Primarily he's a high-end handcuff to Steven Jackson. If S-Jax goes down, Smith will see a big bump in workload.
DEEP OPTION: Darrin Reaves, Carolina Panthers
The Panthers RB situation is an injury-riddled mess. This is a pickup based purely on a lack of options for the Panthers' coaching staff. The top three running backs are all either out or hobbled, and Cam Newton just isn't running. Unless he's going to throw it 50 times, which is unlikely, Reaves appears to be the only player on the roster healthy enough to run it.
Wide Receivers
James Jones, Oakland Raiders
Jones is owned in about half of fantasy leagues out there, or maybe a little bit less. That's simply bias against the Raiders keeping owners from picking up a valuable asset. Nobody would argue that Derek Carr is a very good quarterback right now, or that the Raiders offense is going to rack up points. Jones, however, racks up targets.
He was thrown to six times Sunday and hauled in all six for 83 yards. He didn't find the end zone for the second straight week, but the volume remains plentiful. He will continue to be a top-notch bye week/injury fill in.
Eddie Royal, San Diego Chargers
Royal's been pretty awesome through the first four weeks, but fantasy owners have seen this movie before. Last season Royal caught five touchdowns in the first two weeks of the year, and was targeted like a legitimate No. 1. Then Keenan Allen came along and Royal was essentially reduced to a safety valve. From Weeks 7 through 15 Royal never topped six targets and scored just three more times.
This year Royal has more competition. Allen is still the No. 1, Malcom Floyd is healthy, and both Chargers tight ends are viable. Going forward Royal will probably resemble the 2013 version from Weeks 7 through 15-a bye week option only. With bye weeks just kicking in though, that's a potentially valuable asset.
DEEP OPTION: Devin Hester, Atlanta Falcons
This will be boom-or-bust all year. Hester has the potential to be a big part of Atlanta's offense, which has the look of a fantasy juggernaut once again. Roddy White seems a step slower, but still commands attention. Julio Jones is the primary focus of opposing defenses, which means teams are leaving nickelbacks and safeties to cover Hester. That's a recipe for long touchdowns, as long as the Falcons are feeding him.
Expect weeks in which Hester simply isn't targeted, but also count on DeSean Jackson-esque outings where long touchdowns out of your FLEX spot seal up some victories.
Tight Ends
Jared Cook, St. Louis Rams
Vernon Davis left another game due to injury, and this time it's his back. Cook, the bane of many fantasy owners' existence in the past, may be a sleeper fill-in. Cook's been targeted quite a bit by Austin Davis, and even though he will probably give way to Shaun Hill, the Rams' receiving corps is underwhelming.
Shove of Austin Davis aside, if Cook isn't punished for losing his temper he could provide solid production.
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