Grabs a fake inflatable microphone and imitates The Rock, with a comically oversized pair of sunglasses on and one eyebrow raised in the air…

“Finally… the NFL football teams… have come back… to scoring!”

Took them long enough! The lightbulb finally turned on for most teams this past weekend, and patient fantasy managers were rewarded with an outbreak of points after several teams spent September in the doldrums, seemingly forgetting how to score touchdowns.

Despite several high-profile players on bye in Week 5, plenty of top-tier options found paydirt. A whopping 15 tight ends crossed the double-digit mark in PPR formats, 11 receivers broke the 100-yard threshold, and eight quarterbacks threw for more than 300 passing yards.

About time!

Here is a list of notable performances (both good and bad) from Sunday and what it means for each player moving forward.

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8 Fantasy Football Studs & Duds: Week 5 (2024)

Quarterbacks

STUD: Joe Burrow (QB – CIN)

Don’t let Shannon Sharpe tell you otherwise – Joe Burrow was otherworldly on Sunday and not the root cause of Cincinnati’s failure to secure a win. Burrow completed 30-of-39 attempts for 392 passing yards and five touchdowns, heavily relying upon his two primary weapons in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. With the calendar now flipped to October, we can expect Burrow to emerge from his long slumber and finally hit the ground running. Next week’s must-win road contest against the New York Giants is crucial to salvaging the Bengals’ season, and I expect Burrow to be at the top of his game. New York has a leaky secondary with only one top-flight cornerback, who is prone to losing concentration sometimes. Expect another strong outing for Burrow.

DUD: Sam Darnold (QB – MIN)

The clock struck midnight in London with Big Ben, and Darnold quickly turned back into a pumpkin. Managers were hoping that a revenge game was in order against the New York Jets, but instead, Minnesota struggled mightily to move the ball against a stout pass rush and sticky cornerback play. The best weapon that the Vikings had at their disposal on Sunday morning was defensive pass interference, with receiver Justin Jefferson receiving the Michael Jordan treatment with phantom fouls. Darnold entered Week 5 as a top-5 option at the position but finished the day 14-of-31 passing for just 179 yards and an interception. Minnesota will have a bye week to rest and regroup before returning to action in Week 7 against their divisional rivals, the Detroit Lions. Hopefully, the additional time off will give running back Aaron Jones a chance to heal his hip injury, and tight end T.J. Hockenson will return to action after starting the year on IR. Better days are ahead.

Running Backs

STUD: Tank Bigsby (RB – JAX)

Bigsby currently sits atop the position at points scored this week (25.9), and paced Jacksonville in rushing yards for the second consecutive game in a victory over the Indianapolis Colts. By far the more efficient runner for the Jaguars this season, Bigsby routinely broke big runs against a porous Colts front, finishing with 101 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, as well as one reception for 28 yards. Travis Etienne managers need to be highly concerned that this isn’t a mirage and that head coach Doug Pederson will turn this into a full-blown committee situation. Bigsby is by far the top waiver wire addition at the position for Week 6 and currently rostered in less than 10 percent of ESPN leagues, a figure that will rise dramatically and shortly. He is averaging an absurd 8 YPC and has earned additional opportunities on short-yardage and goal-line situations. Etienne is still the more adept receiver, but Bigsby is a low-end RB2 with upside moving forward.

DUD: Breece Hall (RB – NYJ)

Saying that the New York Jets offense appears dysfunctional is a gross understatement, as managers were forced to watch the ongoing trainwreck live on a Sunday morning broadcast from London. Hall was held to less than 55 rushing yards for the fourth time in five games and, even more concerningly, was underutilized as a receiving threat out of the backfield, catching just three passes for 14 yards. Give credit to the stingy Minnesota Vikings defense for holding Hall in check, but Nathanial Hackett should come under sharp scrutiny for how he mishandled this game. Something is genuinely amiss for a team that possesses so much talent on the offensive side of the ball to struggle this much, especially in short-yardage situations. Rookie Braelon Allen continues to be a thorn in Hall’s side, siphoning away touches, and the Jets are overly reliant upon the crypt-keeper Aaron Rodgers under center to bail them out of holes. Sound the alarm.

Wide Receivers

STUD: Drake London (WR – ATL)

There was a bevy of options to pick from at the receiver position this week, and (mercifully) several choices were players with terrible starts to the 2024 season (looking at you, Brandon Aiyuk and Garrett Wilson). Ultimately, I chose London, who paced the Atlanta Falcons with 154 yards and a touchdown on 12 receptions in a magnificent come-from-behind victory over their divisional rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night. Pegged as one of the sure-fire breakout options at the position thanks to a quarterback change, London struggled to get out of the WR2 tier before this game. However, taking a deeper dive into his statistics, London has seen a growing target share each week, culminating with 25 looks over the last two games, and he is the option that Kirk Cousins trusts the most. Granted, not every game will have Cousins passing the ball 58 times, but it is a good sign to see the connection strengthen between the two. As Cousins continues to distance himself from last year’s Achilles injury, London will be ranked as a mid-tier WR1.

DUD: Deebo Samuel (WR – SF)

Offenses like San Francisco that feature an embarrassment of riches across the board are prone to these sorts of games, where fantasy points are funneled towards certain players but not others, despite having a great matchup on paper. Samuel took a backseat to both Brandon Aiyuk (8/147 on 12 targets) and George Kittle (8/64/1 on 12 targets) in this game, as Arizona made a point to limit his effectiveness with double coverage. All that said, I’m not particularly worried about his lack of production, and I fully expect the squeaky wheel to get greased shortly. San Francisco squares off against Seattle and Kansas City the next two weeks before the anticipated return of Christian McCaffrey. Samuel’s versatility as a dual threat and his chemistry with Brock Purdy solidly points the needle to positive regression.

Tight Ends

STUD: Tucker Kraft (TE – GB)

Last week’s waiver-wire darling at the tight end position, Kraft came through in a significant way for managers. He caught four passes on five targets for 88 yards and two touchdowns, including an impressive 66-yard scamper that saw Kraft stiff arm defenders like the second coming of Derrick Henry. Kraft’s overall skillset as an adept blocker and his soft hands as a receiver make it difficult for him to come off the field. That said, Jordan Love‘s propensity to spread the ball around to a bevy of options at his disposal will greatly cap the number of weekly targets that Kraft sees each week. If he continues to have five or fewer looks, Kraft’s weekly finish could just as quickly be outside the top ten at tight end. He is clearly building a solid rapport with Love, but I’m not convinced that this sort of finish will occur again soon.

DUD: Dalton Kincaid (TE – BUF)

It is unfortunate that I need to list Kincaid here since I believe that his slow start to 2024 is more the result of poor play under center from Josh Allen, coupled with an ultra-conservative offensive scheme concocted by coordinator Joe Brady. Allen completed just nine passes on Sunday against Houston, in a game where Buffalo was playing from behind out of the gate. On a positive note, Kincaid tied for the team lead in targets (six) with Mack Hollins, and one has to figure that Buffalo will open up the playbook more as the year progresses. Kincaid has been held to five receptions or fewer every game this season and has yet to eclipse the 50-yard receiving mark. I still view him as a “buy low” candidate as Josh Allen will inevitably revert to form quickly.