Fantasy Football: Players to Stash Entering Week 5

If you're consistently a step ahead of the competition in your fantasy football league, it can help you win a title, and this weekly piece will aim to help you stay ahead of the pack.

The goal here is to help you identify players who could be hot waiver adds down the road as well as to point out week-ahead pickups who could prove useful.

Here are some players to consider adding now and stashing on your bench for the future.

All NFL projections via our numbers at FanDuel Research, and NFL odds references are to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Fantasy Football Stash Candidates for Week 5

Emanuel Wilson, RB, Packers

Being that the Green Bay Packers handed Josh Jacobs a four-year, $48 million contract before the 2024 season, they likely don't have any intentions of not giving him a healthy workload. That being said, Emanuel Wilson has done a fantastic job spelling Jacobs whenever the former first-round pick needs a breather or is subbed out of the game.

Jacobs has been solid despite failing to score a TD in the first four weeks, producing 95.3 scrimmage yards per game and 0.74 rushing yards over expected per attempt with a 35.2% rushing success rate, via NextGenStats. Meanwhile, Wilson is registering 40.8 scrimmage yards per game, 0.46 rushing yards over expected per attempt, and a 46.4% rushing success rate while playing 32.2% fewer snaps than Jacobs.

The idea of stashing Wilson is the fact he's become a valuable handcuff to Jacobs as rookie MarShawn Lloyd has dealt with various injuries and remains on injured reserve. Even though Wilson isn't worth starting every week right now, an injury to Jacobs could instantly make him a valuable option.

Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, Giants

On the surface, Tyrone Tracy Jr. isn't an overly exciting option as he's a rookie RB who hasn't had much production yet and he's playing on the New York Giants. However, Devin Singletary remains an inefficient runner for the Giants, and his performance on Thursday suggests more snaps could be given to someone else in the future.

During the Week 4 loss to the Dallas Cowboys -- who had arguably the worst run-stopping unit entering the contest -- Singletary logged only 24 rushing yards on 14 rushing attempts while posting -1.69 rushing yards over expected per attempt and a 21.4% rushing success rate. While Tracy fumbled on a kick return, the rookie remained in the game and hauled in his lone target for 19 yards, flashing his receiving ability as a former wideout in college.

For the fourth week in a row, Tracy operated as the immediate backup to Singletary, and he's played 23% of the snaps in back-to-back games. Once Brian Daboll and the Giants trust Tracy in pass protection more, there's a chance he begins carving into Singletary's workload as the season progresses.

Isaac Guerendo, RB, 49ers

It remains the Jordan Mason show for the San Francisco 49ers, evidenced by him averaging 24.3 touches per game, 126 scrimmage yards per game, and a 78.6% snap rate across the first four weeks of the campaign. Given the recent updates on Christian McCaffrey, Mason should expect to continue handling a massive workload for the foreseeable future.

At the same time, the 49ers may reach a point where they don't want to run Mason into the ground, or Mason suffers an injury himself. In either of those scenarios, Isaac Guerendo appears to be the current No. 2 back for San Fran.

Up to this point, the rookie RB for the 49ers has appeared on only 6.9% of the snaps, and he's averaging fewer than two carries per game. Despite that being the case, Guerendo is the only other back to log a snap besides Mason this season, and the uncertainty surrounding CMC makes him worth stashing in deeper leagues if you have room on your bench.

Jalen Tolbert, WR, Cowboys

Whenever Jake Ferguson is healthy for the Dallas Cowboys, it's clear that he and CeeDee Lamb are the primary targets in the passing game. In the three weeks where Ferguson and Lamb have both been active, they've combined for a 45.3% target share, 40.4% air yards share, and 128.3 receiving yards per game.

Behind Ferguson and Lamb, Brandin Cooks and Jalen Tolbert are tied with a 12.9% target share. With the Cowboys lacking an effective rushing attack, they should lean more into having Dak Prescott and an assortment of weapons, which would make Cooks and/or Tolbert weekly viable options in deeper leagues.

Aside from having a notable 74.9% snap rate and 79.3% route rate, Tolbert is getting valuable opportunities with 3 downfield targets (targets of 10-plus yards) per game and a team-high average depth of target (13.1). While trying to predict Tolbert's output each week is tough right now, the Cowboys could increase his role soon.

Jordan Whittington, WR, Rams

Jordan Whittington has been a commonplace name in this article this season as the Los Angeles Rams are without Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. It may have took some time for it to happen, but it appears that Whittington is carving out a decent-sized role amid the injuries at WR for the Rams.

During the Week 4 loss to the Chicago Bears, Whittington tallied the most snaps (56) in LA's offense, resulting in him catching 6 of his 8 targets for 62 yards. Whittington led the way with a 27.8% target share as he was seemingly getting more snaps in the Kupp/Nacua role where he was motioning out wide and in the slot.

Even if Kupp returns soon, Nacua remains on injured reserve, and the Rams desperately need multiple pass-catchers to step up for Matthew Stafford. While Tutu Atwell is the current vertical threat in this offense, Whittington could be on his way to earning a role in this offense for the rest of the season with Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson being inconsistent contributors.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.