The Fantasy Footballers’ Week 5 Starts
It’s hard to believe we’ve already made it to Week 5, the first bye-week of the NFL season. We catch ourselves saying this every year, but it’s absolutely crazy how fast the first month of the season has flown bye. This phase of the schedule is when roster decisions become more difficult and agonizing, but of course The Fantasy Footballers have you covered with their Week 5 starts of the week. As always, you can find the SOTW podcast here, or catch it on YouTube.
Andy’s starts
QB Philip Rivers @ New York Giants
The Giants are giving up a ton of fantasy points to opposing QBs this year, and Rivers is coming off a big performance last week. This battle of winless teams will likely result in a shootout, and Rivers has the weapons to put up big numbers again this week.
RB Isaiah Crowell vs. New York Jets
The matchup for Isaiah Crowell is incredible, this is the one week where he can get it going. The Jets have given up over 120 yards on the ground in three of their first four games this year, and give up five more fantasy points to RBs than the NFL mean. This game should stay competitive for Cleveland, allowing Crowell to remain involved throughout. This is the one week where you can start Crowell with confidence.
WR DeVante Parker vs. Tennessee
DeVante Parker is a solid start this week, as the Tennessee Titans have given up two TD’s, one TD, two TD’s, and three TD’s to WRs in the first four weeks of the season. Jay Cutler has averaged 27 targets to the Dolphin WRs so far this year, and even Smokin’ Jay can exploit this matchup against a Titan defense that has given up ten more fantasy points to WRs than the NFL average. It’s a great week to start Parker with the expectation of a touchdown.
TE Evan Engram vs. Los Angeles Chargers
This game is poised to be a shootout, and Engram should pose the same issues to the Chargers as Zach Ertz did last week in a solid 5-catch, 81-yard effort. The targets alone are enough of a reason to start Engram this week.
Jason’s starts
QB Eli Manning vs. Los Angeles Chargers
With the Los Angeles Chargers flying across the country for an early kickoff, Manning is poised for another nice game. Eli has played pretty darn good since the return of Odell Beckham. He’s coming off back-to-back great performances on the road and now gets to play at home against a team that can be thrown on.
RB Frank Gore vs. San Francisco
Frank Gore plays at home in a game that the Colts are favored to win, a recipe for fantasy success for Gore owners. Two weeks ago in a similar situation, Gore was given 25 carries in a favorable matchup, and this week looks to be an even better situation. He won’t threaten to be a top 5 RB, but this is a week where you can feel comfortable plugging him in to your lineup and be confident he’ll get plenty of touches.
WR Randall Cobb @ Dallas
There are a lot of injury question marks for the Packers, and Randall Cobb may be utilized as a short-pass outlet if Ty Montgomery is limited or cannot play. Davante Adams is also in jeopardy of missing the game, and even if he does play Cobb is in line for a heavy workload in a game that should be high scoring. The Dallas secondary doesn’t pose much of a threat, and Cobb’s high target volume along with goal line usage make him a must-start.
TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins @ Cleveland
The Browns have been completely unable to cover the TE position over the first month of the season, making ASJ a good starting option this week. Since returning from suspension he has been heavily targeted, and with the available TE options around the league dwindling, ASJ is a good start this week.
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Mike’s starts
QB Jameis Winston vs. New England
The New England defense is allowing more points to QBs than any other team in the NFL, making Winston a player to start with full confidence. Winston finishing as a top 5 QB this week is a real possibility.
RB Bilal Powell @ Cleveland
In the last two years in games played without Matt Forte in the lineup, Bilal Powell averages double his regular fantasy output at over 20 points per game in a PPR scoring system. This week he has a nice matchup vs. the Browns in a game where it looks like Forte will be inactive.
WR Jaron Brown @ Philadelphia
The Eagles are allowing the third-most fantasy points to wide receivers this year, making Jaron Brown a solid start in a potentially high-scoring matchup. Brown has played in over 93% of the Cardinals offensive snaps over the last two weeks, and the need to get the ball out quickly against Philly favors Brown in this offense.
TE Hunter Henry @ New York Giants
Hunter has put up a couple zero-point weeks this year, and has hereby been appointed with the nickname of goose by The Ballers. However, the Giants are allowing the most fantasy points to TEs this season, so the goose will be loose this week! If you’ve stayed the course on Henry, this is the time to plug him in.
Jason Moore’s ironclad, locked-and-loaded, 100% guaranteed, boom-boom kicker of the week
Dan Bailey vs. Green Bay
Calling an on-air audible, Jason is counting on Dan Bailey to redeem himself after a disappointing Week 4 performance.