An offense that exploded against a cupcake opponent in Week 4 stayed hot in Week 5. It was also a get-right week for an offense that entered the season with aspirations to be among the NFL’s best. Running backs were a story in Week 5, too. And, unfortunately, everything wasn’t roses, as injuries and continued stagnation from an offense that generated buzz in the offseason were also meaningful storylines in Week 5. Here are all my takeaways from Week 5 as we look ahead to Week 6 of fantasy football. And below are thoughts on a few notable players.
- Waiver Wire Advice
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football Disappointments
Buffalo’s Defense Is In Rough Shape
In Week 4, TreDavious White suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. In London in Week 5, Matt Milano broke his leg, and DaQuan Jones injured his pec. The former is likely to miss the season, and the latter could miss significant time, too.
Kaiir Elam was burned throughout the entire contest. The first-round pick from the 2022 NFL Draft was active for the first time this year because White and Christian Benford were out. Elam was so ineffective he grabbed pine in favor of UDFA Ja’Marcus Ingram at the end of the contest.
What was a chaos-causing unit to start the year might be a group to pick on while the Bills attempt to navigate critical injuries at all three levels of their defense. The Giants are unlikely to take advantage of the situation in Week 6, but Buffalo’s other opponents in the near future could.
Baltimore’s Offense Still Hasn’t Hit Its Stride
Lamar Jackson hasn’t done well against Mike Tomlin’s Steelers in his career, and mind-meltingly bad drops by Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor hurt his numbers in Week 5. Still, Baltimore’s pass-catchers and the offensive line were healthy, and the Ravens mustered 10 points.
New offensive coordinator Todd Monken was supposed to unlock an uptempo and pass-happy offense, and it hasn’t happened. Jackson is still a locked-in weekly starter. Unfortunately, Mark Andrews is the only other must-start player weekly, with Zay Flowers stuck in the WR3/flex territory (maybe WR2 during byes).
The Pass-Catching Pecking Order Is Murky and Meh.
Patrick Mahomes is elite, but it’s not trickling down to his pass-catching weapons. He targeted 10 players in Week 5, including six wideouts. Among Kansas City’s wide receivers and tight ends, according to PFF, Noah Gray ran the most routes (30), followed by Marquez Valdes-Scantling (29), Travis Kelce (23), Skyy Moore (23), Justin Watson (23), Kadarius Toney (17), Rashee Rice (10), Blake Bell (eight) and Justyn Ross (six).
Kelce left the game for an extended period of time with an ankle injury but returned and was peppered with targets. He’s the only consistently targeted player in the passing attack, and he hasn’t performed up to his elite standard. Kelce is also now dealing with an ankle injury. Obviously, he’s a must-start player.
Beyond him, it’s a fantasy football nightmare. Watson can occasionally have DFS utility as a big-play punt, and Rice is worth stashing in case playing time increases. Rice had four receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown on five targets. Furthermore, the target he didn’t catch was a misfire in the end zone.
The Chiefs play on Thursday, giving them a mini bye of sorts before Week 7. As a result, Rice could enjoy a post-faux-bye rookie bump. He’s worth stashing in 12-team leagues or larger.
Miscellaneous Notes
Pump The Brakes on The UDFA Rookie RB Darling
Jaleel McLaughlin was a popular player on waivers before Week 5 and delivered 89 scrimmage yards, three receptions and a touchdown against the Jets. He was a successful addition to fantasy rosters.
Sadly, his underlying usage was less encouraging than his statistics. Per PFF, the UDFA played 21 snaps and ran 10 routes. Meanwhile, Samaje Perine played 38 snaps and ran 28 routes. Gamers shouldn’t cut or give McLaughlin away. However, they should sell him if someone is willing to pay a price commensurate with his box-score production.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
