Lots of G5 options this week. This is the hand we have been dealt to find sub 25% owned players at this point in the season. Fortunately, they are all entering conference play, thus the schedule has swung in their favor.
Quarterbacks
Liam Szarka – Air Force – Ros: 8%
Why didn’t Air Force start Szarka from the jump? I don’t know. But don’t make the same mistake Troy Calhoun made by ignoring him. Add him to your rosters now. He has had back-to-back 35+ point weeks while completing over 76% of his passes and rushing for 250 yards on 37 carries. We have possibly found the next great military academy option QB. The schedule is favorable with Navy, UNLV, and Wyoming coming up before the bye week. The Air Force defense has taken a significant step back this season, giving up 44, 49, and 49 points the last three weeks, forcing them to operate at a faster tempo while depending on the playmaking ability of Szarka.
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson – Marshall – Ros: 3%
Raise your hand if you took a couple shots on CDRL in deep leagues coming into the season, but then gave up after two weeks (reluctantly raises hand). Well, it’s not too late to add him to standard leagues, as he is only 3% owned. He has come on like gangbusters lately with almost 80% completion rate over the last two weeks and has protected the ball with a 7-0 TD-INT ratio. His consistency in the pass game is what has earned him the starts because we already knew he was effective with his legs. He has 13+ rush attempts in each of the last three games. The only real issue with Del Rio-Wilson is that Marshall has a bye week and won’t be able to help you until Week 7. But he is worth the investment if you can sit on him for a week, given his very promising playoff schedule of Georgia State, App State, and Georgia Southern.
Broc Lowry – Western Michigan – Ros: 1%
A bit of a deep cut here. Lowry, the expected starter in preseason camp, ended up as option B, splitting reps with Brady Jones early in the year. But he has taken a big step forward over the last couple of weeks and solidified himself as the starter, per coach Lance Taylor. WMU is now in the thick of MACtion the rest of the way. Lowry isn’t a good passer by any stretch, but he makes his money with his legs. He’s pretty selfish around the goal line, and we love that for fantasy purposes. He already has five rushing TDs on the season and expect that to continue against UMass and Ball State over the next couple of weeks.
Honorable Mentions
Will Hammond – Texas Tech – Ros: 15% – Keep an eye on the Red Raiders’ injury report. Sounds like Morton is good to go, but Hammond is a MUST-START if he is not.
Kiael Kelly – Ball State – Ros: 6%
Chandler Morris – Virginia – Ros: 27%
Bear Bachmeier – BYU – Ros: 21%
Running Backs
Caleb Hawkins – North Texas – Ros: 11%
Don’t walk…RUN to the waiver wire to add the Mean Green freshman. If coach Eric Morris saying “A star was born today” after Hawkins’ four touchdown performance in Week 4 wasn’t enough to persuade you he was worth a pick up, then surely his Week 5 flamethrower of 218 total yards and 3 TDs has convinced you otherwise. And if you think Hawkins is just a flash in the pan that’s gotten lucky the last two weeks….boy could the advanced metrics not disagree with you more.
Hawkins is the highest graded RB in the country this season per PFF, has 20 missed tackles forced on his last 37 attempts, and is averaging an insane 5.07 yards after contact per attempt. Oh, and did I mention he is a plus receiver with 92 yards and a TD through the air over the last couple of weeks? No? Well, he definitely is, and his 3.33 yards per route run backs that up. It’s too late to add him in dynasty leagues that include Nate Marchese or Josh Chevalier, but maybe you can still be fortunate enough to add him in your redraft leagues.
Michael Allen – Marshall – Ros: 1%
Jared mentioned Allen as an honorable option last week in this article series. I hope you listened. But you probably didn’t, since he IS STILL 1% OWNED. The Thundering Herd appears to have found something with the switch to Del Rio-Wilson and Allen two weeks ago, as they have scored 93 points over that stretch, with Allen accounting for 46 touches, 274 yards, and three touchdowns. Marshall is a program that had a massive amount of turnover with the coaching change this offseason, but they seem to be figuring things out. Keep in mind, this is the OC that gave us Tre Stewart and his 1826 yards and 26 touchdowns last year at Jax State. Like Hawkins, the real bummer here is that Allen has a bye this week and another one coming later in the season. But if you are in a good spot to be patient, then take a shot on Allen and set yourself up well for a playoff run.
Wayne Knight – JMU – Ros: 5%
George Pettaway sustained a pretty significant soft tissue injury in week 4. This allowed Knight to take over as the featured back, and he hasn’t flinched. He had 20 and 23 touches over the last two weeks, which led to 302 total yards and 2 TDs. He’s been effective not only as a runner but also as a reliable option for Barnett in the pass game, with 3+ receptions in each game. With Pettaway expected to be out for a while and Adeyi on the back of a milk carton in Week 5, expect Knight to remain the featured back in some really stellar matchups against Georgia State and Louisiana the next two weeks.
Honorable Mentions
Nate Sheppard – Duke – Ros: 6%
Trent Howland – Oklahoma State – Ros: 2% – Could the staff change indicate a change at RB?
Nahree Biggins – Central Michigan – Ros: 7%
Jekail Middlebrook – Middle Tennessee – Ros: 12%
Wide Receivers
Cortez Braham – Memphis – Ros: 4%
This is another option that Jared identified as an Honorable Mention last week. Well, Braham followed up his 7-102-1 performance in Week 4 with a 6-127-2 showing in Week 5. Braham and QB Brendon Lewis rekindled their relationship from Nevada last year. Braham has been coming on strong as of late, with 19 targets over the previous two weeks, and is the clear alpha in the WR room. Memphis still has a couple of bye weeks left on the schedule, but they have Tulsa this week and a very lucrative matchup with UAB in Week 8.
Demarcus Lacey – Marshall – Ros: 0%
I’ll be the first to admit, I wasn’t buying the breakout performance from Lacey last week. He had 13 yards through the first three weeks of the season before going off for 158 yards in Week 4. Well, he followed that up with a 10-146-2 performance in OT against UL, and all of a sudden, he has my attention. Admittedly, I am still a bit more hesitant about Lacey as compared to the other Marshall options on this list, but you can’t ignore the performances recently.
Cyrus Allen – Cincinnati – Ros: 9%
What’s this? An actual P4 option? Finally. The preseason buzz on Allen has remained true early for the Bearcats. Allen appeared relatively touchdown-dependent for his fantasy output before this week, with three touchdowns but no games with more than 59 yards. Week 5 showed us that Allen doesn’t just need to find the end zone to be CFF relevant. He had 14 targets with a receiving line of 11-128-2 in the shootout with Kansas. As many of us wanted to believe Caldwell would be the go-to option, it has become abundantly clear that Allen has built the rapport to earn WR1 honors with Brendan Sorsby.
Chas Nimrod – USF – Ros: 11%
Nimrod might have flown under the radar and wasn’t picked up in your league last week because USF was on a bye in Week 5. If so, you have a real chance to scoop up potentially the top WR in the sexy Alex Golesh offensive scheme that regularly produces solid receiving options. Nimrod dwarfs Keshaun Singleton in targets and yards through the first third of the season. The only thing lacking for Nimrod was trips to the endzone. But with an ADOT of 19.2 yards, it is only a matter of time before the TDs start accumulating for Nimrod.
Honorable Mentions
Ja’Cory Thomas – ODU – Ros: 1%
Jayshon Platt – FAU – Ros: 1%
Kyri Shoels – SJSU – Ros: 1%
Cooper Barkate – Duke – Ros: 12%
Kamryn Perry – Miami OH – Ros: 2%
Tight Ends
Lance Mason – Wisconsin – Ros: 15%
Mason has eight targets and a TD in two of his last three games. The Badger offense doesn’t exactly give you all the warm and fuzzies, but they simply can’t run the ball this season. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if they continue to look for this transfer TE that was courted by a number of SEC and Big 10 programs this offseason.
Honorable Mentions
Noah Meyers – WKU – Ros: 2%
Boden Groen – Kansas – Ros: 3%
Seydou Traore – Mississippi State – Ros: 22%
