College Fantasy Football Waiver Wire, Week 5: Lee Beebe Jr., Kayden Dixon-Wyatt among top adds to consider
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Week 4 had its share of upsets along with several noteworthy college fantasy football performances to be aware of when setting up your Week 5 waiver claims. Please keep in mind that 10 teams are on bye this weekend, with several impactful players who will have to be benched. Here are the top performers from Week 4 that you should consider as fill-ins.
Quarterbacks
Noah Fifita, Arizona – 7% Rostered
The grizzled fourth-year starter bounced back from an early pick-six to throw four touchdowns and score 28.88 points in a solid 34-24 road victory over a feisty Wazzu team that has performed well under new HC Kirby Moore. Fifita has been very accurate, completing 75.6% of his passes, which is a stark increase over the 62.4% completion rate he averaged over the last two seasons, and due for a regression when Big 12 play commences against Cincinnati in Week 5. Opportunistic rushing has helped to elevate his profile, recording 20+ rush yards in three-of-four games with two scores on the ground, adding a dual-threat element that is vital in four-point passing touchdown formats. The result is Fifita ranks 13th among P4 signal-callers, averaging 26.3 PPG, and is one of only 16 quarterbacks above the important 25-point threshold for a quality starting quarterback. Week 5 is the first major bye week as Texas, Ole Miss, Utah, Oklahoma State, Oregon and Kansas State players will be unavailable. He faces a beatable Cincinnati secondary that is allowing explosive pass plays on 20.3% of completions (110th in FBS). Fifita is playing some of the best ball of his career and is a completely justifiable starter in a depleted Week 5 QB pool.
Other QB Options:
Beau Pribula, Virginia – 2% Rostered
While his 35.56-point explosion against Delaware is easy to dismiss due to the level of opponent, Pribula has completed 77% of his throws with at least two passing touchdowns in each of his four games. His two upcoming games against a sputtering FSU and Syracuse are very appealing if you need a bye-week QB.
Mason McKenzie, Boston College – 1% Rostered
BC HC Bill O’Brien has made the conscious decision to design the offense around McKenzie’s dual-threat playmaking ability. His 363 rushing yards ranks second among QBs in the P4 behind only West Virginia QB Michael Hawkins Jr., and he has scored at least 25 points in three of four games this year.
Running Backs
Lee Beebe Jr., Indiana – 6%
Beebe opened the game against Northwestern as an intriguing RB2 filling the primary backup role from injured RB Khobie Martin. He left the game as the hottest running back waiver add in the country after taking over for injured starter Turbo Richard, gashing Northwestern for 203 rushing yards and 27.0 fantasy points. Despite his secondary role for the first three games, Beebe ranks 10th among P4 RBs in rushing yards and sixth in EPA/play for a dominant Indiana offense that leads the nation in generating explosive plays (12%). This week, he even has the pleasure of facing a dismal Rutgers defense that ranks 127th in rushing success rate allowed (48%). With Turbo’s injury looking like a multi-week ailment judging from the way he couldn’t put any weight on his leg, Beebe should be your No. 1 waiver priority across all positions.
Jeffrey Overton Jr, Virginia Tech – 21% Rostered
It was a tumultuous rain-soaked affair in Boston that rendered the passing games irrelevant, leading to 25 carries for 209 yards and 32.3 fantasy points for Overton. It was the second consecutive big game for the back, who punched in two touchdowns against Maryland last week (24.7 points). His 6.8 yards per rush ranks sixth among P4 runners with 45+ carries and his 4.8 yards after contact average indicates his breakout performance is the product of talent, not just circumstance. VT’s opening day RB1 Marcellous Hawkins was healthy all game and turned his 10 carries into 19 yards, so Overton drastically outperformed his backfield mate, who is averaging a meager 4.2 yards per carry thus far. Tech faces a stout Pitt front-seven this weekend, but then has an appetizing run against Cal, Georgia Tech and a reeling Clemson. Overton has wrested control of the Hokies’ RB1 job and should be the No. 1 overall waiver option this week behind only Beebe.
Other RB Options:
Cole Tabb, Cincinnati – 1% Rostered
Tabb has emerged from the Cincinnati RB quagmire to assert himself as the best of the group, scoring 30+ points in each of the last two games. His 311 rushing yards earns Tabb the distinction of being the only player in the nation to rush for more that 205 yards on less than 60 snaps.
Ty Clark III, Wake Forest – 28% Rostered
Finally some clarity as to what Wake Forest intends to do with its RB room, with Clark rushing 21 times for 91 yards and two touchdowns in the upset of Louisville. Clark should have plenty of success against Stanford’s porous run defense that ranks 121st in success rate allowed.
Wide Receivers
Cayden Lee, Missouri – 11% Rostered
Missouri might have lost a close 31-24 game to an explosive Mississippi State squad, but Cayden Lee continued to excel with 11 catches on 13 targets for an absurd 156 yards and two touchdowns for a sensational 33.1 points. Despite running most of his 99 routes out of the slot, Lee is still stretching the field at a dizzying rate that has him tied with the great Malachi Toney for the most explosive pass plays of 20+ yards with 11. Lee’s 35 targets ranks 12th in the P4, with 31 of those looks coming in the last three games after receiving just four in a Week 1 54-14 laugher against Arkansas Pine-Bluff, when he was on ice at halftime. The Tigers will have to continue throwing against their upcoming schedule, which features Florida, Texas A&M and Ole Miss, making Lee the biggest wide receiver prize on the Week 5 waiver wire.
Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, USC – 3% Rostered
We’re going from Cayden to Kayden here, and it has a lot more to do with the prodigious talent of these two budding fantasy stars than my admiration for their first names. In spite of being a true freshman who played second-fiddle to the supernova known as Trent Mosley for the first few games, Dixon-Wyatt has established himself as the clear USC WR1 at least until Mosley returns in a few weeks. Dixon-Wyatt ranks third nationally in EPA/target among WRs with 25+ targets behind only bona fide WR1s Malachi Toney and KJ Duff, and has scored at least 11.0 fantasy points every game so far. KDW flashed NFL-level hands with several catches that were a high degree of difficulty and has an appealing matchup against a Washington team that just dropped a 27-24 decision to a Minnesota offense that pales in comparison to USC. He is a safe, high-floor player who offers security at the most volatile position in college fantasy football.
Chris Marshall, Arkansas – 12% Rostered
Marshall is the clear Alpha WR1 for Arkansas and has produced a gaudy 331 receiving yards on 16 receptions over the last two games for a Razorbacks team that is going to be in a constant pass script this season. He has commanded at least 10+ targets per game and faces off against a reeling Texas A&M defense this week.
Caden High, Stanford – 1% Rostered
High missed Week 1 with an injury, but has returned with a vengeance having scored three touchdowns in the last two weeks against ACC caliber opponents. He gets to face a Wake Forest defense that ranks in the bottom-10 of pass defenses against wide receivers.
Tight End
Jacob Harris, Wisconsin – 0% Rostered
It was tough to evaluate the Wisconsin pass-catchers last season with their circus of overmatched backup quarterbacks barely being able to complete a pass. However, HC Luke Fickell brought in Colton Joseph from Old Dominion, which has stabilized the Wisconsin offense with his dual-threat skill set. His arrival has done wonders for Harris, who has come alive the last two games with eight receptions for 194 yards and a 72-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown that won Wisconsin its game over Penn State last week. He is averaging a sparkling 18.5 yards per reception with six of his 11 receptions going for first downs and has a winnable matchup against a Michigan State defense that ranks 122nd in passes of 20+ yards allowed (22%) with opponents completing 65% of the passes against it. Harris is a completely defensible substitute for bye week tight ends Jamari Johnson, Caleb Odom or Jeremiah Hasley.
Luke Dehnicke, Northwestern – 1% Rostered
Dehnicke drew some NFL buzz in the preseason and finally delivered on that potential with a huge seven-catch, 140-yard eruption against National Champion Indiana. The OC Chip Kelley-led Wildcats gave the Hoosiers all they could handle and look to be on the rise against a Penn State defense that just allowed the aforementioned Harris to carve it up on Saturday.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos