Indiana's Beebe Tops Week 5 College Fantasy Waiver Board

Eric Froton's Week 5 waiver guide tabs Lee Beebe Jr., Noah Fifita and Jeffrey Overton Jr. as key adds with 10 college teams on bye.

College fantasy football managers face an unusually thin player pool in Week 5, with 10 teams idle and a number of productive players forced to the bench. In his latest waiver column for Yahoo Sports, Eric Froton identifies several lightly owned names who produced in Week 4 and can cover the gaps.

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita is the lead recommendation under center, rostered in just 7% of leagues. In his fourth season as the starter, he shook off an early interception returned for a score and finished with four touchdown passes and 28.88 points in a 34-24 road win at Washington State, a program playing well for new head coach Kirby Moore.

Fifita has connected on 75.6% of his throws, far above the 62.4% he posted across the previous two seasons, though Froton expects that mark to drop once Big 12 play opens against Cincinnati in Week 5. He has added at least 20 rushing yards in three of four games with two scores on the ground, a boost in formats that credit only four points per passing touchdown. He rates 13th among Power 4 quarterbacks at 26.3 points per game, one of only 16 passers above the 25-point line, and meets a Cincinnati secondary that has surrendered an explosive completion 20.3% of the time, 110th in the FBS. With Texas, Ole Miss, Utah, Oklahoma State, Oregon and Kansas State all off, Fifita is a starter worth using in a shallow week.

Deeper options include Virginia's Beau Pribula (2% rostered), who produced 35.56 points against Delaware — a number softened by the opponent — but has completed 77% of his passes with at least two touchdowns in all four games, with struggling Florida State and Syracuse up next. Boston College's Mason McKenzie (1%) anchors an offense head coach Bill O'Brien has tailored to his running ability; his 363 rushing yards trail only West Virginia's Michael Hawkins Jr. among Power 4 quarterbacks, and he has topped 25 points in three of four outings.

The running back list is led by Indiana's Lee Beebe Jr., owned in 6% of leagues. He began the Northwestern game as the backup filling in for the injured Khobie Martin, then took over when starter Turbo Richard went down, piling up 203 rushing yards and 27.0 points. Even while working a reserve role over the first three weeks, Beebe stands 10th among Power 4 backs in rushing yards and sixth in EPA per play for an Indiana offense that leads the country with a 12% explosive-play rate. Rutgers, ranked 127th in rushing success rate allowed at 48%, is next, and Richard — unable to bear weight on his leg — looks set to miss multiple weeks, making Beebe the top add at any position.

Virginia Tech's Jeffrey Overton Jr. (21% rostered) ranks directly behind him. Steady rain in Boston turned that game into a ground battle, and Overton answered with 25 carries for 209 yards and 32.3 points, a week after two touchdowns and 24.7 points against Maryland. His 6.8 yards per carry is sixth among Power 4 runners with at least 45 attempts, and his 4.8 yards after contact per rush suggest skill rather than circumstance. Season-opening starter Marcellous Hawkins was available throughout yet managed 19 yards on 10 carries and is averaging 4.2 per attempt this year. Pittsburgh's strong front seven comes first, followed by Cal, Georgia Tech and a slumping Clemson.

Cincinnati's Cole Tabb (1%) has cleared 30 points in each of his last two games, and his 311 rushing yards make him the only player in the country above 205 yards on fewer than 60 snaps. Wake Forest settled its backfield picture in an upset of Louisville, with Ty Clark III (28%) gaining 91 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries ahead of a Stanford defense rated 121st in run success rate allowed.

At receiver, Missouri's Cayden Lee (11% rostered) caught 11 of 13 targets for 156 yards, two touchdowns and 33.1 points in a 31-24 loss to Mississippi State. Most of his 99 routes have come from the slot, yet he shares the national lead with Malachi Toney at 11 explosive receptions of 20 or more yards. His 35 targets rank 12th in the Power 4, with 31 of them arriving over the past three weeks after he saw only four in a 54-14 Week 1 blowout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.