The season is ticking by quicker and quicker, with over 25% of the fantasy season in the rearview and now is not the time to make bad decisions. My weekly article will try and guide you away from the riskiest starts towards the safest ones. Here are all my fantasy football start/sit takes, and below we dive into a few notable Week 5 players.

• Pat Fitzmaurice’s Weekly Rankings
• Andrew Erickson’s Weekly Rankings
• Derek Brown’s Weekly Rankings

Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice (Week 5)

Joe Burrow (QB – CIN) vs Cardinals

The Bengals might be facing one of the worst teams in the NFL this weekend, but it’s impossible to ignore that the Bengals are also one of the worst teams in the NFL right now. Through four games only the New York Giants gain fewer yards in Net Yards Per Attempt than the Bengals (4.2) and superstar quarterback Joe Burrow is ranked 38th in completion percentage among 42 quarterbacks. Burrow has attempted 151 passes this season and he’s completed one over 20 yards. With Tee Higgins potentially missing time, now is not a good time to start Joe Burrow.

Zack Moss (RB – IND) vs Titans

Through four games the Tennessee Titans have allowed a total of one running back touchdown, and given up only 3.1 yards per carry, the fourth fewest among all defenses. Zack Moss has been riding a volume-based train through the early portions of the season, but against the Rams who have been above average against the run, Zack Moss saw his production crater with 18 touches turning into 9.0 PPR points after back-to-back weeks with 20+. Over the previous few weeks, Joshua Kelley and Joe Mixon have both failed against the Titans, while Jerome Ford scraped by on touchdowns, after managing 18 yards on 10 rushing attempts. There will be weeks to start Moss, but against the Titans, it might be time to bench him.

Players with at least 40% of their team's total touches this year:

Christian McCaffrey
Josh Jacobs
Derrick Henry
Joe Mixon

Jacobs is the only player over 40% every week.

Zack Moss is over 40% each of the last three weeks

— TJ Hernandez (@TJHernandez) October 3, 2023

Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL) vs Texans

We’re through four weeks of the season and Kyle Pitts has scored a whopping 22.7 PPR points in four games, a number that all of Cole Kmet, TJ Hockenson, Mark Andrews and Sam LaPorta have surpassed within individual weeks. Pitts is currently being outscored by Jonnu Smith, a player who has familiarity with Arthur Smith from their time together in Tennessee. Rumors are swirling that Pitts still hasn’t recovered from his knee injury that caused a slow start to training camp, and now the Falcons face a Texans defense that has given up 44 PPR points total to the tight end position through four weeks. 11 points would be a massive haul for Pitts, but it’s more than likely at the minute that Jonnu Smith claims the majority of those points on offer.

George Pickens (WR – PIT) vs Ravens

The Ravens’ defense is banged up and it doesn’t look threatening in any way, but Marlon Humphrey (CB) and Marcus Williams (FS) could return for the Week 5 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers who might be missing quarterback Kenny Pickett. In Pickett’s place, Mitch Trubisky will likely start, a year after ranking 30th among quarterbacks in completions per game (minimum five games started). Pickens is the clear WR1 in a beaten-up Steelers offense, missing Diontae Johnson and possibly Pat Freiermuth too, but penciling in Pickens for a big day may be a bad idea against a plucky Ravens secondary who have allowed a league-low 9.2 yards per reception to opposing wide receivers, and only two touchdowns through four games.

-Tom Strachan