Here are the deep fantasy football stashes for Week 5
By: Malcolm McMillan
Welcome to Week 5. This is both the last week before bye weeks begin and the first week with a game in London. It is also officially difficult to find deep fantasy football stashes out there. Especially those stashes that are still available in the majority of dynasty fantasy football leagues. Luckily, Pro Football Mania was able to scour the deep recesses of the free-agent pool and found three players that are still relatively available for fantasy football managers in deep leagues.
Jeremy McNichols: RB, Tennessee Titans
For most dynasty fantasy football managers, Darrynton Evans, not Jeremy McNichols is the more attractive prospect of the Tennessee Titans running backs. Evans is younger and is guaranteed money beyond this season. However, this is already reflected in their rostership percentage, as McNichols is the only one still available in over half of Sleeper dynasty fantasy football leagues.
So why pick up McNichols then? Well, for a start, he is the only one of the two that is healthy. Evans on just activated Evans from the injured reserve list. In his absence, McNichols has carved out a role in the offense and was even the RB18 in point-per-reception (PPR) fantasy football leagues. This is a role that could continue even with Evans back, as McNichols was the better receiver in the college of the two running backs. Their athletic profiles are also not too dissimilar. Evans is faster, but McNichols has decent speed and agility. McNichols may not be the long-term stash, but for running back depth in 2021, he provides a solid option to fantasy football managers in deeper leagues.
Olamide Zaccheaus: WR, Atlanta Falcons
Chances are that many fantasy football managers are now looking to scoop up Olamide Zaccheaus for Week 5. Especially now that fellow Atlanta Falcons wide receivers Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage will be out for their game against the New York Jets. But at the moment Zaccheaus is still rostered in less than 50% of Sleeper dynasty fantasy football leagues. So the question is, can he be viable for more than Week 5?
So far this season, the answer is a resounding maybe. Zaccheaus is currently the second-most targeted wide receiver on the Falcons, but just the fifth-most targeted player on the roster. Add in that Russell Gage has seen slightly more targets per game (four to five versus just over four), and there are reasons to be concerned. However, Zaccheaus is a solid stash in deeper leagues given his potential role in the offense after Week 5. Given their relative ages and costs, Zaccheaus could be the wide receiver that returns in 2022, not Gage. If fantasy football managers can, they should either pick up Zaccheaus now or wait for their league-mates to drop him once Ridley and Gage are back. Either way, in deeper leagues he should be on rosters.
Darnold Parham: TE, Los Angeles Chargers
A decade separates the Los Angeles Chargers tight ends Jared Cook and Donald Parham. The good news for Parham is that not much else separates these two players. Yes, Cook is admittedly seeing nearly five times the targets that Parham is seeing, but they are producing similar results when targeted. Both players are averaging 11 to 12 yards per reception, catching approximately 60% of their targets, and each has a receiving touchdown.
So if the results are similar, and the players have similar builds, why bring back the older more expensive player in 2022? Based on their current salaries, Parham (who will be a restricted free agent) will cost more than four times less than Cook, who is an unrestricted free agent after this season. Unless Cook goes down with an injury in 2021, picking up Parham would be a long-term move for any fantasy football manager. However, given how tough it is to find a player at the position that is viable week-in and week-out in fantasy football, it could pay off to stash Parham now and see what happens in the offseason. Especially if the Chargers continue to target the tight end at the rate they have so far in 2021.
