College Fantasy Football: Top G5 Waiver Wire Playoff Names

Week 12 often marks the first week of the playoffs, so congratulations to those who have made it! I realize many of you do not need a waiver wire pickup this week because you are going to ride with the guys who took you to the dance. Nonetheless, I will offer up five of my Top G5 Waiver Wire Playoff Names who statistically should SMASH in Week 12.

For this article, I am looking for individuals who are 30% owned or less. All advanced stats I provide throughout the article are pulled from g5hive.com. Before we dig into our Week 12 Top G5 Waiver Wire Playoff Names, let’s recap my Week 11 picks.

Accountability Check Week 11 Recap!

*Note – these numbers are based on 1 point per reception and 6-point passing touchdowns.

• Quarterbacks
  • Samari Collier, Coastal Carolina – 41.1 points
  • Cale Hellums, Army – 18.84 points
• Running Backs
  • Evan Dickens, Liberty – 18.7 points
  • Steve Chavez-Soto, San Jose State – 10.9 points
• Wide Receivers
  • Shelton Sampson, Louisiana – 25 points
  • Kyre Duplessis, Delaware – 19.8 points
• Tight End
  • Hunter Tipton, Middle Tennessee –  4.4 points

Top G5 Playoff Waiver Wire Names

Quarterback – 4 Point Passing TD Leagues

Samari Collier, Coastal Carolina

Fantrax Rostership: 9%
Total Fantasy Points: 130.5
Fantasy Points Per Game: 18.6

Samari Collier has been lighting the Sun Belt Conference on fire the last month, as can be seen by his 32.59ppg average over the last four games. The reason I have identified Collier as a 4-point passing touchdown play this week is because he is averaging 89.5 yards and one and a half touchdowns on the ground per game during that same four game stretch. As a matter of fact, Collier has led the Chanticleers in rushing yards in three of those four games. The game he didn’t was against Marshall where he rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns, while the leading rusher had 76 yards.

Coastal Carolina will face off against Georgia Southern in Week 12. Meanwhile, Georgia Southern is the worst team in college football in terms of allowing points to the running back position, allowing 37.02ppg. As I have shown, Collier is a menace on the ground, causing defensive coordinators to pull their hair out. Thus, Samari Collier is my Top G5 Playoff Waiver Wire Name for 4-point passing touchdown leagues.

TO THE HOUSE ON THE FIRST PLAY pic.twitter.com/Oh4bXRYijG

— Coastal Football (@CoastalFootball) November 8, 2025

Quarterback – 6 Point Passing TD Leagues

Ben Finley, Akron

Fantrax Rostership: 2%
Total Fantasy Points: 89.4
Fantasy Points Per Game: 14.9

Ben Finley is my Top G5 Playoff Waiver Wire Name for 6-point passing touchdown leagues. Finley is a name you may raise your eyebrow at; however, Finley has given you fantasy outputs of 26.64, 24.4, and 26.68 over his last three games. Finley passes the ball, on average, 25 times per game, which, not to mention, is 35th in the nation.

The Zips will face off against Kent State later today. It is important to realize that Kent State is the worst team in the Mid-American Conference and the eighth worst in the nation in terms of allowing points to the quarterback position, allowing 31.93ppg. If you are playing a quarterback this week that is projected to score less than 25 points in your opening round, by all means, feel confident picking up Ben Finley this week and inserting him right into your starting lineup.

Ben Finley finds Israel Polk for the second @ZipsFB TD of the night.

They lead 14-0. pic.twitter.com/aOavVvGFzl

— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) November 5, 2025

Running Back

Elijah Green, Sam Houston

Fantrax Rostership: 10%
Total Fantasy Points: 74.9
Fantasy Points Per Game: 10.7

Luke, what the heck are you doing recommending a Sam Houston player in the first round of the playoffs?!? Instead of looking at the logos on the helmets, I am objectively looking at the numbers. In a perfect world, Sam Houston would use the rotation of Alton McCaskill as their RB1, Elijah Green as their RB2, and Landan “CoCo” Brown as their RB3. Injuries this season have made the Bearkats switch things up a bit. Elijah Green is back to being healthy, and Alton McCaskill is coming back from an injury. Alton McCaskill missed their Week 10 bout with Louisiana Tech. However, McCaskill would return in Week 11 against Oregon State. Despite McCaskill’s return, he only averaged 0.3 yards per attempt. Therefore, I do not believe he is fully back.

Sam Houston will go up against Delaware in Week 12. Delaware is allowing opposing running backs to score 34.88 ppg. That is the second worst in the nation. While I anticipate all three running backs will see the field, I believe Elijah Green is the healthiest and therefore likely to be the most productive of the trio. Green is leading the Bearkats running back room in yards per game with 60.71 while concurrently leading the room in big-time run rate. Given these points, Elijah Green is my Top G5 Playoff Waiver Wire Name for the running back position for Week 12.

Elijah Green with a great run breaking up some Beaver tackles! pic.twitter.com/r5w6EEznu5

— Sam Houston Football (@BearkatsFB) November 9, 2025

Wide Receiver

Cameron Dorner, University of North Texas (UNT)

Fantrax Rostership: 10%
Total Fantasy Points: 110.1
Fantasy Points Per Game: 12.2

Cameron Dorner is the main guy on the outside for Drew Mestemaker. Drew is tossing the pigskin, on average, 26 times per game for an average of 205 yards. To emphasize this point, those numbers are good for 21st and 18th in the nation. While Wyatt Young will be dominating the slot, I expect Cameron Dorner to eat on the outside.

Cameron Dorner is averaging 60.44 yards per game and is second on the team in receiving touchdowns. As a matter of fact, he has double-digit fantasy outputs in four straight games. Additionally, he has seen at least five targets in each of those games. As a result of those targets, Dorner has been able to produce 60 yards receiving or more during that four-game stretch.

North Texas matches up with the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) this week. UAB is fourth-worst in the nation in terms of allowing points to the wide receiver position, allowing 46.10ppg. In terms of allowing fantasy points per snap to the outside wide receiver, they are second-worst in the nation, allowing 0.233 points per snap. Lastly, I would like to point out that UAB plays zone 80.2% of the time. Meanwhile, Dorner scores 9.8ppg when defenses play zone. All things considered, Cameron Dorner is my Top G5 Waiver Wire Playoff Name for the wide receiver position heading into Week 12.

CMON @cameron_dorner 🤯

📺 ESPN2#GMG🦅 https://t.co/28NhOL0Y5h pic.twitter.com/lEwPb1EkKS

— UNT Football (@MeanGreenFB) October 24, 2025

Tight End

Joshua Long, Eastern Michigan University (EMU)

Fantrax Rostership: 6%
Total Fantasy Points: 81.7
Fantasy Points Per Game: 8.2

Noah Kim and EMU are throwing the ball 26 times per game, which ranks 26th nationally. Joshua Long’s 16.7% target share is tied for a team lead with wide receiver Nick Devereaux. Long’s 16.7% target share at the tight end position ranks 14th in the nation. Simultaneously, Long ranks second in the nation in RedZone targets on the year with five (tied with four others).

Eastern Michigan will play Ball State on Saturday. Ball State is currently surrendering 7.2ppg to opposing tight ends, which is slightly below Long’s season average of 8.2ppg. Given that EMU throws so much and Long’s involvement in this offense, I have selected Joshua Long as my Top G5 Playoff Waiver Wire Name this week at the tight end position.

There you have it! I have provided you five of my Top G5 Playoff Waiver Wire Names at each position to help you in your opening round of the playoffs! Your league-mates whiffed on these guys. If your league utilizes a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB), I bet you can get away with a small bid for any of these individuals. As always, I am here to turn over every stone to help YOU find those under-the-radar G5 Waiver Wire names!