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Fantasy Football Week 5 Waiver Wire, Rico Dowdle Will Work

Originally posted on The Lead | By Mitchell Skurzewski | Last updated Oct 3, 2025 5:43 PM ET

The waiver wire starts to become incredibly important at this point in the season. Our Week 4 adds had some players like Kenneth Gainwell, who may have won you your fantasy football matchup last week.

For the following waiver wire adds, the player has to be owned by 60% of teams or less, and this week we go with one player at quarterback and one at each flex-position spot to add if you’re in a pinch ahead of your Week 5 tilt.

Quarterback

Spencer Rattler, Saints: If Sam Darnold is still available in your league, we suggest claiming him over Rattler. That isn’t to say Rattler isn’t a solid pickup.

Fantasy football stars don’t have to be on good teams. Rattler is available in about 85% of leagues, and if you need a fill-in, you could do worse. Rattler is going to be behind most games and will be chucking the ball. He also has some solid weapons to throw the ball to, like Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson.

Rattler can also use his legs for points, too. While he has only thrown for 765 yards and a handful of touchdowns in four games, Rattler has amassed over 100 yards on the ground.

Week 5: Spencer Rattler vs. Jaxson Dart

Will Rattler get his first win? pic.twitter.com/Ym4LmTkbiC

— Saints Lead (@SaintsLeadSM) September 29, 2025

Running Back

Rico Dowdle, Panthers: Dowdle has shown some burst this season and has been chipping away at Chuba Hubbard‘s workload through four games. Now, Hubbard has a calf injury and might be out for a bit. Dowdle has amassed 19 carries and a touchdown in the last two weeks with Hubbard in the lineup. With Hubbard potentially out for a bit of time, Dowdle is a solid waiver wire claim with some future upside.

Wide Receiver

Troy Franklin, Broncos: Franklin won’t blow you away currently with numbers thus far. However, he has been targeted nearly seven times per game. Through four weeks, Franklin has 18 receptions, 196 yards and a touchdown on 27 targets.

The matchup in Week 5 isn’t great, going up against Philly. However, with Quinyon Mitchell likely matching up against Courtland Sutton, Franklin could garner even more looks as the Broncos’ No. 2 wide receiver.

Troy Franklin
WR- DEN

Averaging 7 targets a game
3 of last 4 over 11 YPC
Sutton getting the Quinyon treatment, Franklin will be one on one with Adoree often, very beatable
Oregon connection is growing week to week pic.twitter.com/DIalfzkr17

— FantasyNerdBoi (@NerdBoiTakes) October 2, 2025

Tight End

Dalton Schultz, Texans: The tight end position is pretty sparce for talent. If you don’t have one of the top tight ends, it can be tough cobbling together a starter to feel good about.

Schultz hasn’t wowed this year, but he is a favorite target of C.J. Stroud. Schultz hasn’t had fewer than four targets in any game this season. In the past two weeks he’s had five catches on six targets in each game.

Despite the solid targets and 10 catches over the last two games, Schultz hasn’t found the end zone all year and has only 69 yards on those 10 catches. For the year he has 16 catches for 126 yards. With the targets increasing, it’s only a matter of time before Schultz can find the end zone.

This article first appeared on The Lead and was syndicated with permission.

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