Fantasy Football Week 5 Cheat Sheet: Deep Sleepers Who Could Emerge

Injuries and poor performances may have taken their toll on a large number of NFL fantasy football teams, leaving some owners in a panic. Rather than tearing your hair out, you can fix your roster by going to the waiver wire.

The first quarter of the season reveals quite a bit about the large majority of teams in the NFL. With the exception of a few examples, we have an idea of what each team is capable of doing each week. That also gives us an idea of which individual players can be assets in fantasy football.

Sharp fantasy owners cannot be shy about making moves to improve their teams, and we offer our take on deep sleepers who are available on the waiver wire.

For our purposes, we are looking at players who are on 35 percent of rosters or less, per Yahoo's percentage owned figures.

Deep Sleepers

QB Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens (25.0 percent)

QB Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins (22.0 percent)

RB Frank Gore, Miami Dolphins (8.0 percent)

RB Corey Clement, Philadelphia Eagles (32.0 percent)

WR Christian Kirk, Arizona Cardinals (12.0 percent)

WR Mohamed Sanu, Atlanta Falcons (16.0 percent)

TE Tyler Kroft, Cincinnati Bengals (1.0 percent)

TE Antonio Gates, Los Angeles Chargers (6.0 percent)

QB Ryan Tannehill

The Dolphins took one on the chin in Week 4 against the New England Patriots, and that has left Tannehill on the outside of most fantasy football owners' perspective. Neither Tannehill nor the Dolphins are getting a lot of respect in fantasy football circles.

Tannehill struggled against New England, completing 11 of 20 passes for 100 yards. However, his year-long figures are quite viable. He has completed 65 of 94 passes for 787 yards, and he is completing nearly 70 percent of his passes.

He has a 7-3 TD-interception ratio, and there is a good chance he can bounce back in Week 5 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

is Tannehill in the same class of quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Jared Goff, Carson Wentz or Patrick Mahomes? Of course not. However, if your quarterback play is lacking, Tannehill is one of the top deep sleepers to consider for your team.

RB Corey Clement

Third-string running backs don't usually warrant a pick up in fantasy football, but Clement is a valuable contributor for the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

He is also a viable fantasy option because head coach Doug Pederson wants to spread the ball around and not let one or two players dominate when it comes to offensive numbers. Clement has 27 carries for 112 yards, and he is averaging 4.1 yards per carry and has pounded the ball into the end zone once.

He has also caught eight passes for 74 yards and has been targeted 10 times. Clement is a viable receiving alternative on third-down plays because he can get open and keep drives alive.

The 23-year-old did not play in the Eagles' Week 4 loss against the Tennessee Titans because of a quad injury, but we don't expect that problem will keep him out this week against the Minnesota Vikings, even though he did not practice Wednesday.

Even if he can't play in that game or is not at his best, he should be ready to roll in Week 6 against the New York Giants.

WR Christian Kirk

The Arizona Cardinals are in a transition season with first-year head coach Steve Wilks and rookie quarterback Josh Rosen playing key roles.

Rosen made his first start in Week 4 against the Seattle Seahawks and nearly led his team to a victory, but the Cardinals came up short. However, Rosen should develop a solid relationship with Kirk. 

Kirk has taken part in 113 snaps for the Cardinals, and he has been targeted 15 times with 12 catches for 121 yards. 

Kirk had seven receptions for 90 yards in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears and followed that game with four catches for 28 yards against the Seahawks. Kirk has plenty of speed and could be a frequent target for Rosen in the upcoming weeks.

TE Tyler Kroft

Tyler Eifert went down with a brutal ankle injury in the Bengals' Week 4 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, and that means Kroft will move into a key role in Cincinnati.

Kroft knows how to get open and can be a viable third-down target. He has been targeted just five times to this point in the season and has four receptions for 36 yards. While those figures are not overly impressive, Kroft caught 42 passes for 404 yards and seven touchdowns last season.

Now that Eifert is done for the year, look for Kroft to register similar figures this season.