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

0:00 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 Wentzel 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 Bourne, 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,

0:38 Trey McBride 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. Weak. over a week. That doesn't seem like it's going to get it done. Thus far, Kendrick Bourne 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,

1:14 70 plus receiving yards, and two top 30 finishes in full PPR formats. Even with a season low snap share last week, Bourne still ran a healthy 2.19 yards per route. 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 will either be trailing in or be able to exploit the opposing secondary.

1:52 Even though the wide receiver types of Jalen Brooks or Reggie Virgil may be out on the field more in two wide receiver sets, Kendrick Bourne possesses something that they just simply don't have, and that's experience in Mike LaFleur'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.

2:14 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 fear is 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 with 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 RB26 and the RB21. So what has practically changed to produce this? Omarion Hampton's role is just collapsing right in

2:52 front of our eyes. Per Nathan Yonke, Omarion 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 5, 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 four backup offensive linemen currently. Kamani Vidal is their most trusted pass protector, thus he's seeing the 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

3:32 question of what happens If one of these backs is removed from the rotation, is removed from the equation, if Amar and 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 depth chart right now. Next up on our list is Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy, who is rostered in 13% of leagues. I'll start off by saying that Ryan Flournoy is definitely more of an insurance policy than he is

4:10 a standalone piece in this Dallas Cowboys offense. Obviously, when you have CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens ahead of you, they are going to eat first. The crumbs are what trickles down to Ryan Flournoy at the end of the day. But what happens? What happens if CeeDee Lamb or George Pickens is removed from the picture? Lamb only played 57% of the snaps and picked up a quad injury on Thursday Night Football in Week 5. Flournoy had two receptions of 25-plus yards en route to a 90-yard performance. He even ran 3.21 yards per route, and on the season, he's top 20 in yards after catch per reception. And we actually do have proof from last season as to what happens to Ryan Flournoy's role when one of CeeDee

4:47 Lamb or George Pickens is removed from the picture. Albeit, it was in a perfect shootout environment, but Ryan Flournoy had nine catches for 115 yards and a score against the Lions in Week 14 when CeeDee Lamb was forced to exit the game with a concussion. Look, we know the identity of this Dallas Cowboys offense they want to throw.

5:03 They're going to throw again, and 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 and pass right 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 standalone piece with Ryan Flournoy, but it's clear as day that he would be the top waiver wire ad if anything were to happen to CeeDee Lamb or George Pickens. Now, before we get to the last two players, if you want a chance to give your fantasy league the ultimate championship upgrade, courtesy of our good friends at Trophy Smack, the number

5:38 one destination for epic fantasy football hardware, then this is your shot. We're giving away a 26 to 36 inch custom football trophy. It's a massive centerpiece built around your league to make your championship feel like a big deal. And the best part, you can make it your own. Choose your topper, personalize the center and front plaques, customize the columns, and create a trophy that represents your league.

6:00 To enter, all you need to do is subscribe to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football YouTube channel right now and drop a comment below on any of our videos. That's it. That is all you have to do. We'll be announcing a winner right here on the channel, so be sure to turn on those notifications so you don't miss your chance to claim your prize. The next player that slides in here is Los Angeles Rams tight end Terrence Ferguson, who is rostered in 13% of leagues. Look, I'm going to get ahead of the curve on this one. Ferguson isn't 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,

6:36 or somehow an extra IR spot with all the injuries this year. Go scoop up T-Ferg 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 still all the way in on Terrence 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-Ferg he was the third tight end and 13 personnel operating as the pseudo wide receiver three in this offense which led to six catches on nine targets for 54 yards and a score the tight end eight on the week he was actually technically the second option

7:12 in that offense After his injury in Week 3, though, check out what Tyler Higbee has done, because the Rams are still running 13 personnel, 3 tight end sets, at a league-high 30% of their plays. Week 3 vs. Denver, 8 catches on 11 targets for 62 yards and a score, the tight end 6 on the week. Week 4 vs. Philadelphia, 5 catches on 6 targets for 67 yards, the tight end 14. Week 5 vs. Buffalo, 5 catches on 6 targets for 83 yards, and 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.

7:54 They 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 league mates are considering adding him next week before he returns. Let's just get him stashed right now.

8:21 And lastly, the fifth player on our list this week is Houston Texans wide receiver Jalen Knoll, who is rostered in 8% 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 Jay Leno, but I do think there is more underneath the surface here.

8:38 You've seen the juice from Jay Leno now that Nico Collins is back in the lineup. Over the last two weeks, he had a 54-yard catch in Week 4. He caught all five of his targets for 41 yards and 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.

9:08 They'll figure out how Marvin Niko will play the X and Z roles in this offense. That's up for debate right now, but Jalen Knoll 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 acquiring Marvin Harrison Jr.? Their offensive line can't run block.

9:30 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, 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 Knoll 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 Knoll. And there you have it.

10:03 Those are my top five waiver wire stashes ahead of week six. Go sprint to 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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