Ja'Marr Chase is on the waiver wire. Again.
Tristan H. Cockcroft's Week 5 knockout-league column lists Chase and Jaxon Smith-Njigba among the biggest names available, along with guidance on how much FAB to spend on the most common players from eliminated rosters. If that sounds familiar, it should. Chase also headlined the Week 2 edition of the same column, per ESPN, alongside George Pickens. Week 4's version featured Josh Allen and Justin Jefferson.
That's the mechanic people miss. Knockout formats eliminate a manager every week, which means a full roster gets dumped back into the pool every week. The supply of startable players is not a trickle. It's a fire hose, and the names at the top of it get better as the season gets worse for somebody. The manager who got bounced in your league this week did not have a bad team by accident, but one bad week is all it takes to hand Smith-Njigba to whoever has the most FAB left.
The consensus read on a column like this is simple: the headliner is the prize, so bid accordingly. I don't buy that fully. Chase resurfacing in a Week 2 column and a Week 5 column in the same season tells you elite names are a recurring event in this format, not a one-time windfall. Price the position, not the player. If you empty your budget on the first big name to hit the wire, you are bidding against a market that will refill three more times before the season ends, and you will be sitting there with zero FAB when the next one lands.
That said, Cockcroft's core advice holds, and I'll back it: the most common players off eliminated rosters are worth real FAB because your league's scoring floor gets higher every week you survive. In a format where one low week ends you, the marginal starter matters more than the marginal dollar of budget.
My verdict: spend aggressively on the top available name this week, but leave enough in the tank for the wave that's already coming. Chase showing up twice in these columns is the proof. Hoard like the next headliner is three weeks out, because in knockout leagues, it usually is.
