It’s been a strange start to the season with many unexpected revelations, but through five weeks things are normalizing a bit. The good teams are making themselves known while the bad teams are stumbling, and the average teams are difficult to figure out. The same can be said of the fantasy football landscape thus far. Despite some surprises and question marks, early season trends are becoming realities, and the picture is becoming clearer of where these guys stack up.
Let’s take a look at some dynasty fantasy football risers and fallers after Week 5.
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Dynasty Fantasy Football Risers & Fallers
Dynasty Fantasy Football Risers
Drake London (WR – ATL) & Darnell Mooney (WR – ATL)
Dynasty managers have been holding on to Drake London like a highly valued Vincent van Gogh piece since the arrival of Kirk Cousins. Although the third-year pro was mostly productive through the first four weeks, his 50 yards per game were hardly worthy of the treatment he received from dynasty managers. The tide may have turned on Thursday, however, as London looked the part of an alpha WR1, tallying 154 yards and a score while snagging 12 of his 13 targets for 33.4 PPR fantasy points. After notching 13 and 12 targets in the last two weeks, London has accumulated a 24.7% target share in the Falcons’ offense and has a lot of positive momentum and chemistry to build on with Cousins.
Teammate Darnell Mooney posted 31.5 fantasy points on Thursday with a whopping 16 targets from Cousins. He caught nine passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns and has now topped double-digit fantasy points in three out of five weeks. He looks like a dependable No. 2 WR for the Falcons and a factor in fantasy football who has found a home for his talent.
I have long felt the hype surrounding the top three wide receivers of the 2024 NFL Draft left Brian Thomas Jr. criminally underrated, and he’s beginning to prove why. On Sunday, Thomas caught five of his eight targets for 122 yards and a touchdown. His 23.2 fantasy points make for the second straight week of a 20+ point performance, with his lowest score of the season a 9.8 outing in week 3. Thomas is now averaging just over 18 yards per reception, one of the highest marks in the league and he’s seen at least eight targets in each of his last three games. Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis and Thomas are all running a similar number of routes, but Thomas is seeing the most targets as Trevor Lawrence improves. Hop on board now before it’s too late.
Another Jaguar, Tank Bigsby, made the risers list back in Week 1 after proving he put a disastrous rookie season behind him. He’s proven much more than that after a career performance on Sunday, rumbling his way to 101 yards and two scores on 13 carries to go with one catch for 28 yards. His 25.9 fantasy points lead this week’s running back scoring, just one week removed from carrying seven times for 90 yards. Bigsby saw one more snap than Travis Etienne and seven more carries but ceded seven targets to Etienne compared to his lone target. It may not be enough for Bigsby to take the job outright, at least not yet, but he’s not going away, and the Jaguars aren’t afraid to let it ride with the hot hand.
Tucker Kraft was drafted in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, one round after the Packers selected tight end Luke Musgrave. After Musgrave went down with a lacerated kidney last season, Kraft took over the starting role and impressed in the process. After Kraft tore his pec in the offseason, the odds were again in Musgrave’s favor to lead the room. Despite the many things working against him, Kraft has taken over the No. 1 TE role and is becoming a productive pass-catcher in a crowded offense.
Kraft led all tight ends in Week 5 with 24.8 fantasy points on four catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns. He’s now visited the end zone three times in the past two games and cleared 50 yards in each contest. With a shortage of production at the tight end position, Kraft is positioning himself as a high-end TE2 with TE1 potential.
I, like many others, expected Alec Pierce’s first few weeks to be more of a fluke than anything. Pierce, however, continued his early season run with another productive outing on Sunday, going for 134 yards and a touchdown on three grabs. With 22.4 fantasy points on Sunday, the former Cincinnati Bearcat has recorded two games of 20+ fantasy points and three games of 16+ points.
Pierce was held to one catch for nine yards last week, which represents the dichotomy of his production and value. He’s likely better off with Joe Flacco at quarterback than Anthony Richardson, and it’s difficult to imagine him sustaining these numbers with Michael Pittman, Josh Downs and Adonai Mitchell all in the mix, but he certainly carries some value with him these days.
I know, I know. Jonathon Brooks will enter the picture in a few weeks, but Chuba Hubbard is in the last year of his rookie contract with the Panthers and proving he can play some ball. He’s now recorded fantasy totals of 27.9, 22.1 and 17.5 in the last three games and has rushed for 315 yards and two scores in that timespan. The Panthers will want to ease Brooks into the rotation, allowing Hubbard to remain involved, and if he continues playing like this, he will be a free-agency target for many teams.
Tyrone Tracy Jr. was one of my favorite prospects in this draft. I wasn’t sure how good he would be or if he would get much of an opportunity, but his college tape was a pleasure to watch. A converted wide receiver, Tracy is extremely fluid and explosive, which was on full display Sunday with Devin Singletary sidelined. Tracy rushed 18 times for 129 yards, averaging 7.2 yards per tote against a stout Seattle defense. Tracy has been used situationally, particularly as a pass-catcher, but he’s likely to eat into Singletary’s workload moving forward.
Dynasty Fantasy Football Risers Fallers
When one running back goes up, his backfield mate must go down, or something like that. With Tank Bigsby’s ascension, it’s only natural Travis Etienne takes a hit. He played one fewer snap than Bigsby in Week 5 and carried the ball just six times for 17 yards. His six receptions for 43 yards salvaged his day but he has yet to top 68 rushing yards in a game this season, while Bigsby has done so three times.
Coming into the season, there was a case to be made for Curtis Samuel as Josh Allen‘s top target. A toe injury left Samuel limping into the season, and he’s failed to get up to full speed, recording just 48 yards through five weeks. Perhaps his best opportunity to make a statement came on Sunday with Khalil Shakir out, yet Samuel managed just one reception for zero yards and one carry for negative one yard. The Bills shifted their strategy from funneling targets to Stefon Diggs to utilizing a wide receiver by committee approach, but Samuel is on the outside looking in at this point, making him a tough fantasy start sit option.
Greg Dulcich was once oozing with potential, popping for big plays downfield in his rookie season. Since then, Dulcich has spent far too much time on the trainer’s table and dropping passes when healthy. The Broncos made him a healthy scratch on Sunday in favor of Lucas Krull, marking a new low for Dulcich’s NFL career. Sean Payton generally likes to deploy multiple blocking tight ends along with a pass-catcher, and Dulcich is not known for his blocking ability. If the team has lost confidence in his ability to make plays downfield, there’s no reason for him to be active on game days.
Mark Andrews had his best game of the season on Sunday, notching four receptions for 55 yards. So, what gives? It took a shootout and a big come-from-behind victory for him to manage those numbers. Not only did Isaiah Likely find the end zone twice, but Charlie Kolar caught three passes for 64 yards and a score. In a vacuum, four catches for 55 yards isn’t a bad day, but given the context of his season and the numbers from the Ravens’ two other tight ends, we’re in full panic mode with Andrews.
Despite Nico Collins exiting early in the contest, Tank Dell was held to four catches for 38 yards on Sunday. Through his four games played this season, Dell has yet to find the end zone and has recorded just 137 receiving yards. Admittedly, Dell could explode next week, especially if Collins misses time, but Dell has been a disappointment relative to expectations. Even if he pops off for a few big plays here and there and records some big weeks, his week-to-week floor is considerably lower than it was last season and where he was valued heading into the season.
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