Who To Start, Sit, And Scoop Up For Your Week 5 Fantasy Football Lineup

It’s Week 5, and the BYEs are going to be a little more painful with Jacksonville, Kansas City, New Orleans, Seattle all getting rest this week. Some of you may be ready to pack up your bags because your season is already over. Injuries killed you, and then the wrong waiver move was made, a lineup decision was bungled, and now you’re 1-3 or possibly even 0-4. I feel your pain — Golden Tate and Eric Decker were my starting wide receivers, Gronk is my TE, I benched Matt Ryan last week and Stefon Diggs has done nothing for two weeks. It’s enough to make any man crumble (and I play in an IDP league where I’ve lost both Navorro Bowman and J.J. Watt).

Anyways, this is your introspective and depressed Week 5 fantasy football primer.

Start of the Week

Le’Veon Bell: In his first action since early 2015, Le’Veon Bell saw 85.2 percent of snaps so he’s as safe as can be against the Jets next week. The Jets do have one of the best pure run Ds in the league — Christine Michael’s 3.2 YPC was rough to watch, but Michael also caught 5 of 6 targets for 32 yards and a TD. Bell was lining up as a receiver all night against the Chiefs, and that should continue against the Jets who are giving up a ton of points through the air. Let’s lock Bell in for 6 catches and a touchdown right now on top of his usual duties. It must be nice to have him. Real nice…

Start/Sit

QUARTERBACK STARTS

Ben Roethlisberger: The Jets simply don’t have a pass defense. The Jets currently have the 7th-worst pass defense in the league, and while stats don’t tell the whole story, there is no reason why Big Ben won’t abuse this secondary. The Jets are allowing a 71.4 percent completion rate, and Revis is hurt. The Steelers should be marching up and down the field with plays to just about everybody (Coates/Wheaton/James everyone is open to DFS consideration). Bell being back makes everyone more dangerous.

Philip Rivers: Who cares if the Chargers are losing — as long as your fantasy team is winning, you’re a happy person. Rivers faces the worst pass defense in the league this week in Oakland, and even if his receivers are difficult to predict right now, we know that he’ll be passing it up to 40 times in what will likely become a shootout (just like the Saints/Giants this year and other guaranteed shootouts). Rivers is a must play until noted otherwise (those weeks are coming, the Chargers have Denver in Week 6 and 8).

Derek Carr: Oakland has a real, live QB on their hands here. With each week that passes, you can tell Carr is coming into his own. Even if the Oakland running game offers no real threat it doesn’t really matter — Carr’s currently the third-highest scoring QB, and for some reason he’s only owned in 88 percent of Yahoo leagues. I get it, this may be because of 10/12 team leagues, but let’s get over our preconceived notions of what a top 6 QB looks like right now and bask in the glory of his rapport with Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree.

Carr is one of those QBs a team other than you picks up for 10 percent FAAB because you’re smart. You don’t only bid 8 percent FAAB thinking, “it’s a ten team league and everyone is fine at QB you can sneak this pickup in.” Don’t do that. He has a great playoffs schedule and needs to be picked up and kept and loved. Don’t blow this like I did.

QUARTERBACK SITS

Carson Palmer: Bruce Arians is fairly certain that Carson Palmer will be ready for Thursday night against San Francisco, but why let TNF damn you to mediocrity? The BYE weeks may make this more difficult to do, but bench the disappointing Palmer and play any combination of Dak Prescott/Flacco/Tannehill and dare I say it… Brian Hoyer? There are options out there for you.

Matt Ryan: So… Matt Ryan is the top QB in the league. He’s seemingly matchup-proof, and it’s still early enough in the season to trust him (I’ll be considering Gronk’s hamstring, elbow and knees while I wait for the shoe to drop). Ryan probably just had his best game, so you can only go down from here (a theme) but you should probably play the QB attached to Julio Jones every week that’s not this week. Don’t play him against Denver. Atlanta is giving up over 2.3 sacks a game for Matty Ice, and this might get nasty.

Let’s look at this pretty replay, though.

Brock Osweiler: You might not be starting him unless you’re in a deep league, but with the BYE week, it needs to be said that you cannot start Osweiler. The Texans are traveling to Minnesota to play against a Vikings defense that hasn’t allowed a single passing TD since Week 2. Anything can happen when you have the talent of Will Fuller and DeAndre Hopkins on your team, but playing Osweiler could also be a disaster and once again — Hoyer. The vampire immortal Hoyer.

RUNNING BACK STARTS

Jordan Howard: The Bears rookie is doing what Langford couldn’t, and that’s break tackles and create something from nothing. Unlike a certain fantasy team, Howard is an achiever. Beyond these stats from Pat Thorman, Howard just passes the eye test, and has this coaching staff’s trust.

If you picked up Howard in preparation for the inevitable fall of Langford, good for you. Now go out there and earn this. You deserve it. I’ll be over here.

James White: This might be a cute pick, but with the BYE week taking out Seattle, New Orleans, Jacksonville and Kansas City, there are at least 3 RBs lost, because you probably own T.J. Yeldon and Chris Ivory thinking that something was going to come from that… We know Tom Brady likes his dump-offs, and you may not have a better option. Even in the weird-as-hell game against the Bills, White had the second-most targets amongst Patriots with 5. I think 5 targets is his basement in this offense until Dion Lewis comes back.

*Note — Yahoo made a sneaky little change to their IR slot. If you play in a league with IR roster spots, you can move a player who is OUT to that spot for the week and pick someone else up. Decker is currently in my IR and I picked up Wendell Smallwood. Decker was my No. 1 receiver.

LeSean McCoy: “Somebody” complained to Bills ownership in the beginning of the season, now “somebody” got a new offensive coordinator who just happened to be the Bills RB coach. That “somebody” has also seen a major uptick in touches and is more involved in the passing game than he’s ever been in Buffalo. Maybe “somebody” is an RB 1 regardless of matchup simply on volume, even against the Rams.

RUNNING BACK SITS

Isaiah Crowell: The Browns RB has quietly been a top producer this season. According to Pro Football Focus, he created 11 missed tackles on 19 touches against Washington on Sunday. That, combined with the fact that he’s above 6 YPC on the season, means you should probably start him. But, let’s get cute for a second — will Crowell be used if the Browns are down 3 touchdowns to an Angry Brady™? Probably not. You might have better options, too. If you do, sit him.

When you stare Belichick in the face, it’s best you play chess. (You are playing Belichick every time you have a player going against the Patriots in your lineup, to be clear. Now picture Bill Belichick as death and instead of a dark cloak he’s wearing a hoodie.)

LeGarrette Blount: Unless Belichick wants to ease Brady back into the game (there’s no way), Blount will probably be relegated to red zone work. He averaged 22 carries per game these first 4 weeks, and last year he only averaged 13.3. Sure, he’ll have the odd blowout and will be called upon to kill the clock, but what if he isn’t? Bench him if you can.

Cameron Artis-Payne: Ron Rivera said CAP was the guy and he LIED! Just straight up lied to us all. Artis-Payne only saw 6 carries for 12 yards against the Falcons, and sure — his low touch count has a lot to do with game flow, but it’s clear that this Panthers offensive line is not good. Fozzy Whittaker was the better play in standard and PPR leagues catching 9 balls and the Panthers are playing a good run D in Tampa next week. CAP only has 18 touches over the last two weeks. Try to get Fozzy.

WIDE RECEIVER STARTS

Steve Smith: Respect to the old man who is coming off an injury that has effectively ended the careers of mortal men. He was available to pick up in plenty of leagues over the last few weeks, and we recommended you grab him before he shook off the rust. Now, Smith got the most targets (11), the most catches (8 in Week 4), and the most yards (111) of any Baltimore player Week 4. He’s back. Get him in your lineup, he should do just fine against Washington next week. Josh Norman doesn’t play in the slot.

Michael Crabtree: This isn’t a reactionary placement thanks to his 3 TD game, it’s just clearly obvious that once again he’ll be busy for Oakland. Crabtree has 37 targets and 26 catches over the first 4 weeks. Amari Cooper had 35 targets and 20 catches. Oakland is hosting the Chargers in Week 5, and it’s time to eat.

Odell Beckham Jr: This is obvious, but it’s also important to remind everyone that OBJ got off to an awful start last year, and you should always play your studs. Granted, last season OBJ wasn’t fighting a FG net or crying on the sidelines (or feuding with Lena Dunham), but let’s be real here…

WIDE RECEIVER SITS

John Brown: You’re probably thrilled that Brown is finally back on the field, getting 16 targets for a 35.7% target share in Week 4. It seems like the concussion issues are behind him, and he’s primed to beat out Michael Floyd and Larry Fitzgerald for the second-most awesome Cardinals offensive player (behind David Johnson).

Alright, now it’s time to bench him because Carson Palmer may not play on Thursday night, and even though it looks like Brown is starting to hit his late-2015 speed, it’s not worth the risk. Not now.

DeAndre Hopkins: This might be a ballsy call, but Xavier Rhodes is the shutdown corner of the NFL. Hopkins had 1 reception for 4 yards (6 targets) against the Titans, so what is he going to do against Rhodes? Of course, it’s a BYE week, but if you have Fuller as a weird WR handcuff, he might be the better play.

Philip Dorsett: Or maybe Donte Moncrief’s injury has no impact on Dorsett’s play. He was only targeted 3 times against the lowly Jags defense on Sunday morning in London, with young RB Josh Ferguson taking 10 targets away from the receivers. This whole mess is disappointing and you can only trust T.Y. Hilton.

TIGHT END STARTS

Gronk: It’s officially time. It’s Week 5, and if you’ve been sitting on Gronk/Brady you’ve paid your dues. The Patriots are facing a soft Browns defense that seems to give TE TDs at will, and while Gronk still isn’t 100%, and Brady might be a little rusty, we need to just roll with this. Let’s not forget that Jordan Reed and Kirk Cousins just trounced all over the Browns. As I said, it’s time. If this doesn’t work out, then we can re-evaluate next week. But no one wants to be the guy that has Gronk on their bench after all of this, just to miss out on a Browns payday.

Don’t be afraid of this:

Zack Ertz: The Lions can’t help but give up a touchdown to a TE. It’s like they’re trying. Like clockwork, they gave one up to a wide-open Zach Miller in Week 4. In comes Ertz and an accurate Carson Wentz and anything less than a TD this week will be a disappointment.

Still, let’s temper expectations and leave this play for deeper, standard leagues.

Jordan Reed: He’s the #1 TE through the first 4 weeks and is as steady as they come. Reed’s obviously a must-play considering he’s the #1 option on Washington’s offense, getting a whopping 37% target share on his 10 targets against the Browns on Sunday. Expect him to come back down to earth against the Ravens, who actually have a defense, but you gotta play the guy always.

A quick aside.

There are probably quite a few managers streaming tight ends right now. They probably thought it was a good idea, and now they’re staring down a mediocre record with no discernable option at TE. The league is more TE friendly than ever and yet it feels like 2006. We have only ourselves to blame. Dwayne Allen, Fleener, Gates. Disappointment. What were we thinking?

If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?

TIGHT END SITS

Coby Fleener: Alright, we’ve seen enough of a sample size to figure out that there are far too many mouths to feed in New Orleans, and when Snead played last night, Fleener was basically invisible, catching 3 balls for 19 yards. Keep an eye on that formula — Snead + Play = Fleener Suckage.

Delanie Walker: Yes, he saw the most targets of any Titans receiver. Yes, he is averaging over 25% of the Tennessee target share through the first quarter of the season. But, he doesn’t seem healthy. He missed a game in Week 3 with a hamstring issue, and in Week 4 he was only able to reel in 2 of his 8 targets, and clearly didn’t look 100%. If you have no other option, you can sit him, but there’s potential for disappointment. (There’s also potential for joy!)

Jacob Tamme: Since his heavily-targeted first two weeks, Tamme has fallen off, big time. He only saw 4 targets Week 3, then only 2 in Week 4. A TD saved him, but he’s not worth risking right now. Don’t drop him, though, if you can spare the room.

Waiver Wire

SD WR Dontrelle Inman: This column was high on him after Keenan Allen went down in Week 1, now he’s seeing more snaps and targets than Travis Benjamin. He caught 7 of 11 targets for 120 yards and a score on Sunday against New Orleans, now he faces the equally woeful Oakland secondary. These San Diego receivers may be difficult to predict, but Inman must be nabbed up.

BAL RB Terrance West: He’s the starting RB in Baltimore with Justin Forsett a healthy scratch. He put up 113 yards on 21 carries and seems like the man in Baltimore until Dixon gets back. Even then?

BUF WR Robert Woods: Someone has to be the dude in Buffalo while Sammy Watkins is out, and it looks like Woods can be depended on to a degree. In Week 3, Woods had 8 targets, and in Week 4 he saw 10. He could be a decent PPR flex.

BUF TE Charles Clay: The big Buffalo TE was a sneaky play for a few weeks last season, and now he’s fully locked-in as the second downfield playmaker for Buffalo. He had 7 targets last week, second on the team to Woods, and is a red zone threat. Good for the BYEs.

SD TE Hunter Henry: With Antonio Gates out, Hunter Henry has stepped up into a role we all expected Ladarius Green to fill years ago. He caught 5 of 5 targets in Week 3, then followed up his starting debut by catching 4 of 7 targets for 71 yards and a touchdown. Maybe stash him in your dynasty league that is probably super fun.

NYJ RB Bilal Powell: Last week I said he should be picked up in the case the old, heavily-used Matt Forte gets injured. Lo and behold, we have Matt Forte getting carted to the x-ray room after the Jets’ Week 4 loss. Powell is more suited for PPR leagues considering he’s been targeted 16 times in the last two weeks, but he could fill in nicely in general if Forte misses any time.

CHI QB Brian Hoyer: My God, it’s come to this. Hoyer may be better than Jay Cutler, and it’s time to consider playing him in deeper leagues. The fact that in the last few years, Bears fans have wondered aloud if both Josh McCown and Brian Hoyer should take over for Cutler is probably the most depressing thing I can think of in sports right now.

We should all be realists in fantasy football, and that probably means we should be pessimists. It could be said, that pessimism was created by the Chicago Bears. At least Kevin White is looking good.. Oh, he’s injured?