What an interesting week this is setting up to be.
Fantasy football is the ultimate game of strategy because every season has a vast galaxy of variables. How we assess, interpret and act on those variables is critical to our success.
Boy oh boy, Week 5 is chock full o’ variables.
The bye weeks are back to challenge our roster depth and our managerial acumen. Can you win with one hand tied behind your back? Two hands? Two hands and one foot? If you went heavy on Chargers, Browns and Seahawks in your draft, you might be feeling like the Black Knight at the end of the sword fight in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
But there are some positive variables, too. Week 5 could bring the return of a pair of stars who spent the first four weeks of the season on injured reserve: Cooper Kupp and Jonathan Taylor. Kupp reportedly practiced with the Rams without limitation on Wednesday. Taylor also practiced in full, though it’s unclear whether he and the Colts have resolved their differences over Taylor’s contractual status. Also back in Week 5 is Lions WR Jameson Williams, whose six game gambling suspension was shortened to four games after a change to the NFL’s gambling policy.
And of course, we have to sift through all of the other variables: matchups, injuries, shifting depth charts, etc.
Buckle up, friends. It’s going to be a wild week.
As always, feel free to use these tiered rankings as a tiebreaker for your difficult lineup decisions. Here are all of my fantasy football rankings, tiers, and player notes for Week 5. Below we dive into a few notable players.
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
- Waiver Wire Picks
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Fitz’s Fantasy Football Outlook
This week’s biggest waiver-wire darling at the RB position was Denver’s Jaleel McLaughlin, the NCAA’s all-time leading rusher. McLaughlin had 8,166 rushing yards and 79 TD runs during a five-year college career that took him from Notre Dame College in Cleveland to Youngstown State. Last week against the Bears, McLaughlin had 7-72-0 rushing and 3-32-1 receiving. With Javonte Williams expected to be out with a hip injury this week, McLaughlin is going to be splitting RB duties with Samaje Perine. I have McLaughlin ranked ahead of Perine mainly because I think McLaughlin has far more pass-catching potential. … But the record book doesn’t lie: McLaughlin is pretty good at running the ball, too. He’s a viable RB2 or flex play against the Jets.
In the three games since J.K. Dobbins tore his Achilles, Gus Edwards had had double-digit carries in every game. Last week, with the Ravens leading the Browns all game long, Gus Bus had a season-high 15 carries and a 69% snap share. He also had his first two catches of the season — an unexpected bonus (although those two receptions netted only 1 yard). Edwards is playable against a Steelers run defense that has allowed the second-most rushing yards to RBs. His playability wanes in full-point PPR formats, however.
I’m throwing up my hands in the air with the Pittsburgh running backs. The Steelers’ offense seems broken, and I don’t trust OC Matt Canada to pull out his toolbox and fix it. It seems as if the Steelers want to give Jaylen Warren more work, but he fumbled once last week, and another fumble that Houston’s Will Anderson ran back for a would-be touchdown was nullified when Warren was ruled down by contact. The ball-security issues make Warren a risky play this week, because some coaches take away playing time for that sort of thing. (Hello, Ron Rivera.) The Steelers have a tricky matchup against the Ravens in a game that has a Vegas total of only 38 points. Ideally, you can avoid starting either Pittsburgh RB this week, but that might not be possible in a week with four teams on bye.
-Pat Fitzmaurice
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