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What do Sammie Coates, Cameron Meredith, Adam Thielen, Chris Hogan and Jeremy Kerley have in common?

All five wide receivers posted more than 100 yards receiving over the weekend, startling fantasy football owners and giving them plenty of options going into the rest of the season.

Welcome to the Week 6 waiver wire.

Given the swath of names above, it is quite clear wideouts dominate this week’s waiver wire. For those in need at running back, here’s to hoping owners went all-in on Jordan Howard of the Chicago Bears as advised weeks ago.

Here’s a look at the latest players owners need to gobble up off the wire.

Week 6 Waiver-Wire Targets

Brian Hoyer, QB, CHI (16.6 percent owned)

Those struggling at quarterback don’t have a ton of options. 

Given the wealth of injuries in Chicago, though, it shouldn’t register as a surprise to see Howard’s quarterback, Brian Hoyer, come up in the waiver discussion. 

Easy matchups or not, Hoyer has put in a solid two weeks of work as starter for the Bears, this past weekend throwing for 397 yards and two touchdowns, good for a season-high 23 points.

Granted, this performance came against the struggling Indianapolis Colts, but Hoyer next gets the Jacksonville Jaguars before a potential shootout with the Green Bay Packers. Before Sunday’s outburst, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport confirmed the job is Hoyer‘s to lose:

Hoyer doesn’t take many risks, but it’s not a bad thing given how easy it makes projecting his performances. He’s the perfect pickup for a spot start or two if needed.

Sammie Coates, WR, PIT (39.9 percent owned)

Always a big-play threat, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates led all scorers at his position with 25 points ahead of Monday’s action.

Coates turned deep opportunities into long gains consistently against the New York Jets, catching six passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

ESPN’s Field Yates revealed a trend fantasy owners will want to know about:

Granted, Coates hadn’t hit double digits all year before Sunday. Even worse, he dropped several passes, hence his only catching six of 11 targets, meaning the 25 points could have been so much more.

If fast owners who scoop up Coates are lucky, his growing target numbers—four, eight, 11 over the past three weeks—will continue to hover in the same realm, if not grow. Just in time, too, because the Steelers next get the reeling Miami Dolphins. 

Cameron Meredith, WR, CHI (1.5 percent owned)

Meredith is a product of the Bears dealing with injuries to guys like quarterback Jay Cutler and young wideout Kevin White.

Meredith, a former college quarterback, built a strong rapport with Hoyer on the second team in practice. The rest writes itself—both got thrust into a starting role, and Meredith responded, starting opposite Alshon Jeffery on Sunday and catching nine passes for 130 yards and a score, good for 17 points.

Given a new starting gig, Meredith received a strong nine targets, five more than he’s seen in a game this year. Yes, he lost a costly fumble late, but Chicago doesn’t have anyone else to turn to, and the team isn’t about to bench what could be a breakout star at a position of need during what is already a lost season at 1-4.

The same matchups mentioned for Hoyer apply here. A physical freak at 6’3″ and 207 pounds, Meredith should continue to post big days while defenses focus on Jeffery.

Jesse James, TE, PIT (20.6 percent owned)

Everybody gets a piece of the pie in the elite Pittsburgh passing attack led by Ben Roethlisberger.

This includes tight end Jesse James, who now has a touchdown in each of his last two outings and three over his last four. James caught six passes for 43 yards and a score against the Jets Sunday, good for 10 points.

Every number there was the best of his season, though the Jets did essentially gift him the score, as the NFL captured:

If anything, James being so open speaks to how thin the Pittsburgh offense can spread defenses, meaning the production isn’t going anywhere.

James just received a season-high eight targets, a number that could stick around for good now that he’s scored twice over two weeks. He now boasts a strong floor, making him a must have for owners in need. 

All scoring info and statistics courtesy of ESPN.com standard leagues, as are points-against info and ownership stats.

Follow Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) on Twitter.

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Week 5 of the NFL and fantasy football season was probably the most exciting week of football to this point.

Here are just a few of the storylines: the return of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the Minnesota Vikings’ undefeated streak, the Denver Broncos finally being handed a loss, the San Diego Chargers finding another creative way to lose with minutes left, the collapse of Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz’s first NFL loss and interception.

Again, these are just a few, but we could go on and on here.

This was also the first week since Week 13 of 2015 in which we saw three punts returned for touchdowns.

Hopefully your fantasy week went better than mine—I went up against Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde and New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

I think you can figure out how my week went.

Who starred in Week 5? Let’s find out.

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The Atlanta Falcons picked up their biggest win of the season Sunday, beating the Denver Broncos 23-16, and running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman were two big reasons why.

Freeman and Coleman both had big days, with the former doing his damage on the ground and the latter making an impact through the air.

If the two can continue sharing the workload in such a balanced manner, then they’ll both position themselves as major contributors in standard fantasy football leagues.

Below is an outlook for Freeman and Coleman following Week 5.

Devonta Freeman

Freeman had a somewhat lukewarm start to the season, rushing for 113 yards and zero touchdowns through Atlanta’s first two games. The last three weeks, however, he has been more of what fantasy owners expected when they selected him early on draft day.

It’s not as if benching Freeman was ever a discussion, but the last few games have offered reassurance that the third-year running back is an RB1 in standard leagues.

Fantasy owners should expect Freeman to have less of a role in the passing game, though, with Coleman’s emergence. Last year, Freeman had 73 receptions for 578 yards and three touchdowns. A repeat of those numbers isn’t happening.

As long as he’s getting the majority of carries, though, Freeman will be a must-start every week.

Tevin Coleman

Coleman isn’t going anywhere. Sunday’s game was evidence the Falcons have found a way to maximize his abilities while simultaneously establishing the running game with Freeman as the workhorse.

ESPN.com’s Bill Barnwell highlighted how Atlanta had success finding mismatches for Coleman:

Coleman’s 31-yard touchdown reception illustrated how his speed can cause serious problems for an opposing defense:

The presence of Freeman somewhat hinders Coleman’s fantasy ceiling. In Week 4, Coleman had 33 all-purpose yards in a win over the Carolina Panthers. As the backup running back, he’ll be prone for the occasional barren showing.

Still, Coleman is making a strong case to at least be a flex option going forward.

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Opinion

Tom Brady is back, and so are the hopes and dreams of many fantasy football owners. For those owners who waited patiently for Week 5 to arrive to play him against the Cleveland Browns, we salute you.

But as most fantasy players know, it takes more than just one good performance to win a matchup, and often times it takes some digging and searching around the waiver wire to get the victory. 

Week 5 isn’t over yet, but we’ve seen enough from Sunday afternoon’s slate of games to know who to pick up next week for your fantasy team. It’s important to remember the list of players below are all players that are available in more than 50 percent of Yahoo Fantasy football leagues, and while some players are left out after a big Week 5—for example, Matt Asiata from the Minnesota Vikings—take into consideration that the Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on bye next weekend. 

Brian Hoyer, QB, Chicago Bears

Just when you think Hoyer‘s days as a starting quarterback in the NFL are over, he surprises us yet again. With Jay Cutler out injured, Hoyer has stepped up the last three weeks, throwing for over 300 yards in each game. Furthermore, he may have taken the starting gig away from Cutler even when he returns from injury. 

Cutler’s days in Chicago are numbered and have been for a couple of years now. This recent stretch by Hoyer is reminiscent of when Josh McCown put up monster numbers for the Bears back in 2013 when he threw for 15 touchdowns to just one interception.

Now let’s be clear about one thing here. Hoyer is not a franchise quarterback in this league—never has been, never will. But it’s hard to ignore the hot streak he is on if you’re a fantasy owner who is in desperate need of a quarterback. 

I don’t necessarily agree with NFL Network’s Michael Fabiano with this point, but Hoyer has scored at least 18.88 points in the past three games with six touchdowns to zero interceptions.

Maybe he is worth an add after all, as long as the Bears continue to roll with him when Cutler is healthy. 

Sammie Coates, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

Coates left a lot of fantasy points go to waste against the New York Jets in Week 5, but that didn’t stop him from putting up monster numbers. It’s scary to think how many points he could’ve scored if he was able to haul in the passes he dropped. 

Be warned: if you don’t have a high priority on the waiver wire, you’re out of luck. After a game where he scored 25.90 points with 139 receiving yards and two scores, Coates‘ stock has never been higher. 

Keep in mind that the clip above was the first series of the game for the Steelers offense. If teams continue to double-team Antonio Brown (and they will), then Coates will find single-coverage all game long, just like he did against the Jets on Sunday. 

He dropped a lot of balls, including a couple of touchdown passes that went right through his hands. Coates could’ve easily dropped 35-40 points in Week 5, but he’s only a rookie, and rookies make a lot of mistakes. 

Having said that, he’s a rookie you want starting on your team next week when the Steelers take on the Miami Dolphins.

Jalen Richard, RB, Oakland Raiders

Latavius Murray should be back form injury in Week 6, but is he the bell-cow running back the Raiders think he is?

Richard has been stealing carries from Murray throughout the season and showed his game-changing ability in Week 1 when he ran for 84 yards and a score on three touches.

Richard should not be anything more than a flex option at this point, but that just shows how difficult it is to find consistency on the waiver wire for the running back position. 

While Richard’s role will diminish some when Murray returns, he’s shown he can catch the ball in space and make a defender miss, especially as a third-down back. He’s arguably the most valuable tailback left on the waiver wire at this point of the season, unless you’re hoping Adrian Peterson returns at some point this season for a late-season playoff push.

If Murray continues his subpar play when he returns, it might be a good idea to take a look at DeAndre Washington as well; that way you’ll be in a good position to play Washington or Richard in the flex. 

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Breaking News

Quarterback Tom Brady returned from his four-game suspension Sunday and led the New England Patriots to a 33-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns. He also made fantasy owners who were relying on wide receiver Chris Hogan and tight end Martellus Bennett happy.

Bennett dominated the Cleveland secondary with three touchdowns, while Hogan led the team with 114 receiving yards. Running back James White also got involved in the aerial attack with 63 receiving yards.

Dianna Russina of ESPN answered any concerns about Brady fitting in with his teammates:

Here is a look at the final stats and reactions for Bennett, Hogan and White:

Martellus Bennett

There’s an element of risk involved with playing Bennett because Rob Gronkowski is such a playmaker at tight end, but Brady is good enough to get both involved. Bennett finished with eight receptions, while Gronkowski recorded seven, and the three touchdowns indicated Brady is comfortable with Bennett in the red zone.

Bennett is a must-start tight end in fantasy circles after Sunday’s outing. There was an immediate comfort level with Brady, and he already has two games with more than 100 receiving yards under his belt this year.

Few tight ends in the league can produce like that, and it won’t change with No. 12 under center.

Chris Hogan

Sunday was a welcome change for Hogan, who had posted a combined one catch for three yards in the last two games.

Brady looked Hogan’s way on a couple of deep balls, but there is reason for fantasy concern with the receiver. He finished behind Bennett, Gronkowski, White and Julian Edelman in targets, and Danny Amendola, who had only two catches for 11 yards Sunday, will likely be more productive in future contests.

Brady may be an all-time great, but that’s a lot of receivers to keep happy. Hogan is a high-risk, high-reward play and won’t deliver with 28.5 yards per catch every week.

For now, keep him on your bench for depth and make sure Sunday’s production wasn’t a mirage.

James White

Like Hogan, the fact that there are many playmakers in New England’s offense makes White a risky play. He had just five carries behind starter LeGarrette Blount, who ran the ball 18 times Sunday.

His value lies in whether you are utilizing him in a points-per-reception or standard league. He tallied 40 catches in 14 games last year, and Sunday marked the third time in five contests that he has posted at least four catches.

Still, White has yet to find the end zone this season and offers only so much upside in a loaded offense. He is worth flex consideration in PPR leagues but not much beyond that at this point.

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