Week 5 Waiver Wire: Chase Brown, Kareem Hunt, Josh Downs Highlight Pickups to Know
Week 5 Waiver Wire: Chase Brown, Kareem Hunt, Josh Downs Highlight Pickups to Know0 of 3
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Chase Brown made his best claim to be the Cincinnati Bengals’ No. 1 running back with his Week 4 performance.
The second-year back scored twice against the Carolina Panthers and turned himself into one of the top waiver-wire pickups with bye weeks starting in Week 5.
Kareem Hunt is in a different situation in Kansas City but still warrants fantasy football attention.
The Chiefs are down Isiah Pacheco, Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice and need every healthy skill position player on their roster.
Josh Downs’ fantasy status may be affected by an injury as well since Joe Flacco finished the Indianapolis Colts’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but it could affect the 23-year-old receiver in a good way.
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Chase Brown recorded season highs in carries and rushing yards, and scored two touchdowns Sunday.
Of course, the performance has to be thrown into perspective because the Bengals did play the Carolina Panthers. But the workload Brown received compared to Zack Moss is what matters most to fantasy football players for the coming weeks.
Brown averaged 1.9 yards more per carry on the same numbers of rushing attempts as Moss.
That should be noted by the Bengals staff as they continue to try to dig out of the team’s 0-3 start.
The backfield split could still happen for the next few weeks, but now is the time to pick up Brown in case he takes over the starting role at some point in October.
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Kareem Hunt carries a lot more fantasy value leaving Week 4 than he did entering Sunday.
Hunt ran for 69 yards on 14 carries in his first game back in Kansas City as Pacheco’s injury replacement.
The Chiefs lost receiver Rashee Rice to a significant leg injury during the game, so that will affect how the reigning Super Bowl champion runs its offense.
Hunt could easily average 15 carries per game over the next few weeks as Kansas City relies on its running game for stability while Patrick Mahomes figures out the passing attack.
Hunt has a decent matchup with the New Orleans Saints in Week 5 before the Week 6 bye, but his fantasy status will not be influenced much by matchup, at least right now, because just being healthy inside the Chiefs offense is a boost to touching the football at a high volume.
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Josh Downs caught eight of his nine targets for 82 yards and found the end zone on Sunday.
Downs was always going to be a key part of the Colts offense when healthy, but now he could have even more importance if quarterback Anthony Richardson misses time after he left the Steelers matchup with a hip injury.
The Colts would revert to a more traditional offense in which Joe Flacco drops back to pass more. That would take out the variable of Richardson running and taking away some yardage from wideouts.
If Richardson is out for a few weeks, the Colts offense should not skip a beat with Flacco in the fold after what he did with the Cleveland Browns last season.
Downs’ 10.3 yards per catch should intrigue fantasy football players as well. His big-play potential could lead to some high-scoring weeks in the near future regardless of which quarterback is on the field.
