Week 5 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Waiver Adds: Quentin Johnston, Wan'Dale Robinson and More

Welcome to this week's wide receiver waiver wire breakdown. Unfortunately, more fantasy football managers than usual may be looking for wide receiver pickups this week, as Malik Nabers suffered a season-ending ACL injury. 

Whether you're one of the unfortunate fantasy players looking for a replacement for Nabers or you just need someone who will actually score points to replace A.J. Brown, you've come to the right place. Let's get right into the top WR waiver pickups for this week. 

Check out the top waiver wire options at each position every week. Explore the best in-season fantasy football tool to manage your team and get league rankings with the Fantasy Assistant. Use our trade analyzer and trade value charts to break down trade scenarios with Fair Trade ratings.

Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (77.4% Rostered)

Maybe I just wasn't keeping close enough tabs on this situation, but I was surprised to see Godwin return on Sunday. The veteran WR suffered a devastating ankle injury to finish his 2024 season, and I thought he was at least a week or two away from taking the field again.

Instead, with Mike Evans out, Godwin returned and stepped right into an every-down role, playing 81% of the Buccaneers' snaps and posting an 86% route participation rate.

Godwin's debut stat line of just three catches for 26 yards was nothing impressive. But his usage was solid, including a 23% target share and a team-high 40% air yards share. Remember, Godwin was the WR2 overall behind only Ja'Marr Chase before his 2024 season ended. He's obviously not available in most leagues, but he should be closer to 100% rostered than 75%. 

Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers (60.1% Rostered)

Sticking with players who are already widely rostered but shouldn't be available in any leagues at all, we have Johnston. Pending Monday Night Football, Johnston is the overall WR4 in half-PPR formats. He has scored at least 11.9 points in every week, with an average score of 17.1. 

And, although he's almost certainly going to slow down (especially on the TD front), there's nothing here to suggest that this production is entirely a fluke. After Sunday, Johnston now leads the Chargers in target share (24%) and air yards share (40%); he is also posting an elite 91% route participation rate.

I understand some hesitancy among fantasy managers to buy the third-year breakout from a notorious bust, but he needs to be rostered in all formats, preferably yesterday. 

Wan'Dale Robinson, New York Giants (43% Rostered)

I should start by saying that injuries to wide receivers, especially superstars, aren't like injuries to running backs. Just because Nabers is absent, it doesn't mean that the rest of the Giants' WRs are going to soak up anywhere close to his usual targets, let alone his production.

With that said, Wan'Dale was already a rosterable player given his strong start to the season and long history of racking up targets. With Nabers out and absolutely zero other target-earners on this offense, he could legitimately see a 30%+ target share. That number means a lot less than it normally would in this context, but it's still enough to make him a worthy add in any PPR format.

Darius Slayton, New York Giants (3.4% Rostered)

Sticking with the Giants, here is one of those non-target-earners that Robinson is going to be sharing the field with. Slayton has just an 8% target per route run rate so far this season, a thoroughly unimpressive number.

However, that number is almost guaranteed to go up now that he is the team's top outside WR. In deep formats, he's worth considering, especially if Jaxson Dart can build on his promising(ish) debut. 

Elic Ayomanor, Tennessee Titans (39% Rostered)

For a second, it looked as though Ayomanor had officially surpassed Calvin Ridley as the Titans' WR1 in Week 4 — the rookie posted a career-high 80% route participation rate, while Ridley's rate cratered to just 57%. However, Titans head coach Brian Callahan revealed that Ridley was limited by an injury, which explains his reduced involvement.  

However, moving up the depth chart due to injury is still moving up the depth chart. The Titans' offense is a fantasy black hole right now, so Ayomanor is nothing more than a dart throw flex play even if Ridley misses time. But if Cameron Ward and Co. can find even a little bit of consistency, the fourth-round rookie is well situated to be an impactful player late in the season. 

Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers (31.3% Rostered)

Death, taxes, and Doubs leading Green Bay receivers in route participation rate. However, those routes actually turned into points on Sunday night against the Cowboys' woeful defense.

Doubs led the Packers' offense with eight targets (19% share), catching six for 58 yards and three touchdowns. He's never going to be an elite target-earner, but he's a viable flex play in good matchups as long as he is the team's de facto “WR1”.

Kendrick Bourne, San Francisco 49ers (0.8% Rostered)

Both Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings were listed as questionable heading into Week 4 for the 49ers. They both played … and they both hurt themselves again.

Pearsall looks likely to miss at least one week with a PCL injury, while Jennings was given a DNP designation in the 49ers' estimated practice report for today. Especially given that San Francisco plays again on Thursday, there is a real chance they will both be absent in Week 5.

Bourne, who was second to only Jennings with a 68% route participation rate on Sunday, would be the 49ers' top receiver in that case. The former Patriot is by no means an exciting talent at this stage of his career (he actually had a costly drop and only caught one of four targets against the Jaguars), but he will be a viable streaming option against the Rams if Jennings and Pearsall are both inactive.