5 Sneaky Fantasy Football Stashes That Could Pay Off BIG! (Ep. 2273)

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. You know, we are back to help make you a smarter fantasy football manager. The manager that is staying two to three moves ahead of their league mates. The manager that is beating their league mates to the waiver wire to stash players before they break out. I'm Lucas Wetzel here with fantasy pros bringing you my top five waiver wire stashes ahead of week six and next week's waiver run as well. So without further ado, let's dive right on in. The first player on our list this week is Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Kendrick born who is rostered in 28% of leagues with Marvin Harrison Jr. now on the Houston Texans. I am curious to see how the Cardinals wide receiver usage evolves here over the next few weeks. Obviously, Tremick bride and Michael Wilson, they're going to be at the top of the pecking order here. No questions about that. But will the Cardinals continue rolling out Jalen Brooks for 39 snaps. Reggie Virgil 13 snaps week over a week that doesn't seem like it's going to get it done. Thus far, Kendrick born has actually been pretty much restricted to three wide receiver sets and 11 personnel. Now the good news for him with that context is that the Cardinals have run the 10th most plays out of 11 personnel this year and they're throwing the ball 78% of the time when doing so, which is top three in the league. You also can't ignore that he now has two games under his belt this year with eight targets, 70 plus receiving yards and two top 30 finishes in full PPR formats, even with a season low snap share last week, born still ran a healthy 2.19 yards per round. He was targeted on 22% of his routes. Neither of those are like jaw dropping numbers, but both are healthy and absolutely nothing to shrug off here. The reality is the Cardinals are going to find themselves in plenty of garbage time shootout scenarios, just as they did last week against the Detroit Lions. They have upcoming matchups with the Rams, Cowboys, Seahawks, Rams again, Chiefs, Commanders and Eagles all matchups so either be trailing in or be able to exploit the opposing secondary. Even though the Widersiever types of Jalen Brooks or Reggie Virgil may be out on the field more in two Widersiever sets, Kendrick Bourne possesses something that they just simply don't have, and that's experience in Mike Luffler's offense which ultimately could give him the leg up and make this a quality stash rest of season. The second player on our list this week is Los Angeles Chargers running back Kamani Vidal who is rostered in 23% of leagues. Two weeks in a row Vidal makes this list, and I'm a bit surprised his roster percentage hasn't shot up more after what we talked about last week. The fears that this backfield would become a three-headed monster for the Chargers, and we're starting to watch that come to fruition. Kamani Vidal led the Chargers in snaps last week. He led the backfield in Routes Run, and even though Hampton still led the way of 14 carries, Kamani Vidal was given eight which was two more than Keaton Mitchell in this backfield. So two weeks in a row now, Vidal has given you double-digit fantasy points and finishes of the RB-26 and the RB-21. So what has practically changed to produce this? Amarian Hampton's role is just collapsing right in front of our eyes. Per Nathan Yankee, Amarian Hampton started the season playing 75% of early-down snaps, 18.8% of third-down snaps, and then 40% of snaps during two-minute drills. In week five, those shares have completely dissolved down to 43.6% of early-down snaps, and Hampton did not play a single snap on third-down or in the two-minute drill. Now, part of that is because the Chargers are rolling out for backup offensive linemen currently. Kamani Vidal is their most trusted pass protector, thus he seemed to field more in those scenarios to try and provide some sort of relief to Justin Herbert. I know we typically don't like targeting these crowded backfields, but you also have to ask the question of what happens if one of these backs is removed from the rotation, if Amarian Hampton gets injured, how high does Kamani Vidal's snap share rise if it's Keaton Mitchell who gets injured, how high will Kamani Vidal's receptions then climb? There's still sneaky opportunity here in the midst of a nightmare that is the Chargers offense this year, and so long as Kamani Vidal's role continues to expand, I'm willing to stash him as potentially the top back on the Chargers death chart right now. Next up on our list is Dallas Cowboys' wide receiver Ryan Floornoi, who is rostered in 13% of leagues. I'll start off by saying that Ryan Floornoi is definitely more of an insurance policy than he is a stand-alone piece in this Dallas Cowboys offense. Obviously when you have CD-Lamb, a George Pickens ahead of you, they are going to eat first that crumbs are what trickles down to rock Floornoi at the end of the day. But what happens? What happens if CD-Lamb or George Pickens is removed from the picture? Lamb only played 57% of the snaps have picked up a quad injury on Thursday night football in week 5. Floornoi had two receptions of 25+ yards on route to a 90-yard performance, he even ran 3.21 yards per round and on the season he's top 20 in yards after catch per reception. And we actually do it if proof from last season as to what happens to Ryan Floornoi's role when one of CD-Lamb or George Pickens is removed from the picture, albeit it was in a perfect shootout environment, but Ryan Floornoi had 9 catches for 115 yards and a score against the Lions in week 14 when CD-Lamb was forced to exit the game with a concussion. Look, we know the identity of this Dallas Cowboys offense they want to throw. They're going to throw the ball some more after that. They are fourth in pass play rate this year and they lead the league in pass rate over expectation. And with how woeful this defense is at stopping their opponents, this team is almost always going to be throwing the football on offense. So as I said, you're not getting a stand alone piece with Ryan Floornoi, but it's clear as day that he would be the top waiver wire at if anything were to happen to CD-Lamb or George Pickens. 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The next player that slides in here is Los Angeles Rams tight end Terence Ferguson, who's rostered in 13% of leagues. Look, I'm going to get ahead of the curve on this one. Ferguson is an eligible to return from IR until week eight against the Los Angeles Chargers at the earliest. It's been reported. He's going to serve a short stint on the injured reserve list. But if you have the extra roster spot or somehow an extra IR spot with all the injuries this year, like go scoop up T-Firt right now. If you're staying one to two moves ahead of your league mates, they're going to be considering Ferguson next week, the week before he's eligible to come back. What's the harm in stashing him right now instead? And the reason why I'm so all the way in on Terence Ferguson is because of what we've seen from Tyler Higby in his absence specifically in week two. We got exactly what we hoped for from T-Firt. He was the third tight end in 13% all operating as the pseudo wide receiver three in this offense, which led to six catches on nine targets for 54 yards in a score. The tight end eight on the week. He was actually technically the second option in that offense. After his injury in week three though, check out what Tyler Higby has done because the Rams are still running 13% all three tight end sets at a league high 30% of their plays. Week three versus Denver, eight catches on 11 targets for 62 yards in a score. The tight end six on the week. Week four versus Philadelphia, five catches on six targets for 67 yards, the tight end 14. Week five against Buffalo, five catches on six targets for 83 yards in the tight end 11. All the buzz this offseason is that the Rams wanted to expand Ferguson's route tree, start utilizing him as this field stretching third option in the Rams passing game. And we saw that it literally manifested itself in week two. This Rams team loved him coming out of the 2025 NFL draft and couldn't believe they got him in the second round and Ferguson's average depth of target shattered previous leaders at tight end over the last five years in his rookie season. This Rams offense is good. You want pieces of it, right? They produce fantasy points and once Terrence Ferguson returns to the lineup and produces another productive outing, it's going to be way too late to add him to your roster, especially if your legmates are considering adding him next week before he returns. Let's just get him stashed right now. And lastly, the fifth player on our list this week is Houston Texans wide receiver Jalen Noel who is rostered in eight percent of leagues. I know this team just traded for Marvin Harrison Jr. You might be thinking we're just chasing the last two weeks of production from Jalen Noel, but I do think there is more underneath the surface here. You've seen the juice from Jalen, now that Nico Collins is back in the lineup over the last two weeks. He had a 50 yard, 54 yard catch in week four. He caught all five of his targets for 41 yards in a score in week five. He's 29th in wide receiver usage over these last two weeks. He's running 3.12 yards per route because the field opens up more when Nico Collins is playing on the outside next to you. So what does happen when you add Marvin Harrison Jr. to the picture now? You can spread this offense out even more. They'll figure out how Marvin Nico will play the X and Z rolls in this offense. That's up for debate right now. But Jalen Noel is solidified in the slot with even less attention on him now. The Texans posted a season high 63% neutral pass rate last week, and wouldn't you expect them to double down on that now after requiring Marvin Harrison Jr. Their offensive line can't run blocked, David Montgomery is still injured. Why would you not keep throwing the ball with Stroud who has looked significantly better with Nico Collins in the lineup? You add Marvin Harrison Jr. You've got a reliable Jalen Noel in the slot, Dalton Schultz at tie. Why would you not double down on that? So I'm intrigued enough by this semi-new look at Texans offense with Marvin Harrison in the picture now, and while some people might actually look away from Jalen Noel because of that, I actually think it's worth stashing him in 14 plus man leagues to see what kind of untapped upside there might actually be with Jalen Noel. And there you have it. Those are my top five waiver wire stashes ahead of week six. Go spend your waiver wire right now, just to make sure that none of these guys are still available. They're all rostered in less than 30% of leagues. So there's actually a good chance that they might still be available on your waiver wire. Thanks again for tuning in. 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