Week 5 Fantasy Football Studs and Duds
It’s a good thing that Fantasy Football doesn’t come with a built-in home-field advantage. If it did, weeks like Week 5 would feel even more unfair than losing in fantasy already feels. NFL home teams posted an 11-3 record in Week 5. Let’s take a look to see if this advantage translated to fantasy success for players on those teams. Make sure you check out Monday’s Studs & Duds podcast for Week 5.
Studs
Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers @ DET
442 passing yards, 3 TDs, 10 rushing yards, 2 pt conv, 2 fumb
A lot was made of the availability of the offensive weapons for the Packers or lack thereof. However, Mr. Rodgers is a weekly must start, and like a good neighbor, the fantasy points were there.
Tom Brady vs IND
341 passing yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 rushing TD
You wouldn’t expect rushing TDs from a 41-year old QB, but number 12 sure has a penchant for calling his own number around the goalline.
Ben Roethlisberger vs ATL
250 passing yards, 3 TDs, INT, 16 rushing yards
This is the second week in a row that Big Ben has failed to throw for more than 275 passing yards, but the TDs kept his owners happy against the shorthanded Falcons.
Running Backs
James Connor vs ATL
21 carries, 110 rushing yards, 2 TDs, 4 receptions, 75 receiving yards
Connor is really doing his best to make a mess of the Steelers backfield situation. Even with the announced return date of Week 7 for Le’Veon Bell, his involvement upon his return will be in question due to Connor’s admirable efforts in his absence.
Todd Gurley @ SEA
22 carries, 77 rushing yards, 3 TDs, 4 receptions, 36 receiving yards
Gurley is a beast and is second only to the nuclear Alvin Kamara in terms of fantasy points among non-QBs.
Isaiah Crowell vs DEN
15 carries, 219 rushing yards, TD, 1 reception, 12 receiving yards
Here are Crowell’s weekly rushing totals this season: 102, 35, 34, 0, 219. Good grief.
Saquon Barkley @ CAR
15 carries, 48 rushing yards, 4 receptions, 81 receiving yards, 2 TDs
It seems like Barkley is fine, though he did appear to injure himself on an acrobatic TD leap. It will be something to monitor throughout this week of practice.
Wide Receivers
Odell Beckham Jr. @ CAR
8 receptions, 131 receiving yards, TD, 14 targets, fumb, 57 passing yards, 1 passing TD
Beckham’s comments off the field about Eli Manning are going to grab a lot of headlines, but they shouldn’t distract owners from his dominance on the field.
Robby Anderson vs DEN
3 receptions, 123 receiving yards, 2 TDs, 5 targets
Similar to the situation with his teammate, Crowell, I don’t know how you trust Anderson in your lineup. He’s averaging just 2.2 receptions per game.
Antonio Brown vs ATL
6 receptions, 101 receiving yards, 2 TDs, 13 targets
The catch rate was a little low by AB’s standards, but he makes performances like this one look easy.
Davante Adams @ DET
9 receptions, 140 receiving yards, TD, 12 targets
Remember when Adams was going to miss this game due to injury? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Adam Thielen @ PHI
7 receptions, 116 receiving yards, TD, 10 targets
Thielen is averaging 9.4 receptions and nearly 118 receiving yards per game this season. Absolute must start.
Demaryius Thomas @ NYJ
5 receptions, 105 receiving yards, TD, 6 targets
Because you benched him, huh?
DeAndre Hopkins vs DAL
9 receptions, 151 receiving yards, 13 targets
Owners got a little bonus in the form of a 49-yard reception in OT. Just a little icing on the cake that is owning DeAndre Hopkins.
Tight Ends
Eric Ebron @ NE
9 receptions, 105 receiving yards, 2 TDs, 15 targets
The Colts were trailing and missing several weapons on offense. Ebron took full advantage. We will have to wait and see what the target distribution looks like when Hilton and Doyle return, but Ebron is carving out a role on this squad.
Zach Ertz vs MIN
10 receptions, 110 receiving yards, TD, 11 targets
Travis Kelce vs JAX
5 receptions, 100 receiving yards, 8 targets
There’s a reason why Ertz and Kelce were consensus top tier TEs in the preseason with a huge drop off to the next group of TEs: production you can count on.
Austin Hooper @ PIT
9 receptions, 77 receiving yards, 12 targets
Please let Austin Hooper become a thing. We need more startable TEs.
Duds
Quarterbacks
Marcus Mariota @ BUF
129 passing yards, INT, 10 rushing yards
Mariota has never been a high volume passer, but 14 completions just isn’t going to get it done.
Joe Flacco @ CLE
298 passing yards, INT, 13 rushing yards
Scoring in the NFL has been so high this season it’s actually hard to find QBs who aren’t performing. Somehow, Flacco managed this week.
Running Backs
Devonta Freeman @ PIT
8 carries, 32 rushing yards, 2 receptions, 9 receiving yards
Freeman hasn’t had more than 40 rushing yards in a game since Week 15 of last season. He’s had a rough go as of late.
Tevin Coleman @ PIT
7 carries, 15 rushing yards, 2 receptions, 15 receiving yards
Freeman’s return marginalized Coleman this week, even though Freeman didn’t do enough himself to be fantasy relevant either.
Marshawn Lynch @ LAC
9 carries, 31 rushing yards, 2 receptions, 10 receiving yards
Lynch has shown an ability to be involved in the passing game, but it is clear that the Raiders prefer to go with Jalen Richard in passing situations when the game script calls for it.
Dion Lewis @ BUF
12 carries, 34 rushing yards, 3 receptions, 14 receiving yards
Derrick Henry @ BUF
11 carries, 56 rushing yards
Fantasy players should steer clear of Lewis and Henry until the Titans offense can prove that it is capable of supporting one RB, not to mention two.
Wide Receivers
Doug Baldwin vs LAR
1 reception, 1 receiving yard, 1 target
Doug Baldwin warned us. He said he wasn’t going to be right all season. And that was before he sustained a second knee injury.
Amari Cooper @ LAC
1 reception, 10 receiving yards, 1 target
Cooper has been awful in the odd weeks and amazing in the even weeks. So, I guess you can start him in Week 6 against the Seahawks. #analysis.
Larry Fitzgerald @ SF
2 receptions, 35 receiving yards, 3 targets
The youth movement is on in Arizona. Fitzgerald still has the hands and route running to be productive on occasion but he is no longer a reliable option in fantasy lineups.
Alshon Jeffery vs MIN
2 receptions, 39 receiving yards, 8 targets
The workload was there, but the results are less than appetizing.
Nelson Agholor vs MIN
4 receptions, 45 receiving yards, 4 targets
Agholor has proven that he can step up and make plays when needed. However, with Ertz, Jeffery and Goedert healthy and playing, Agholor’s role with this offense is secondary.
Quincy Enunwa vs DEN
nothing, 5 targets
Enunwa was looking like the only trustworthy piece of the Jets offense until he wasn’t.
Golden Tate vs GB
5 receptions, 42 receiving yards, 7 targets
Tate will provide PPR owners with a safe weekly floor. Though some weeks his owners are going to have to settle for that floor.
Chris Hogan vs IND
3 receptions, 34 receiving yards, 4 targets
This is Hogan’s 2nd best fantasy performance on the season. He belongs on waivers.
Tight Ends
Ricky Seals-Jones @ SF
nothing, 6 targets
To be fair, it is difficult to catch a football with seal flippers.
Austin Seferian-Jenkins @ KC
nothing, 1 target
Hopefully, your opponent also got nothing from their TE.
Vance McDonald vs ATL
1 reception, 6 receiving yards, 2 targets
The only people who got run over by McDonald this week were those who had him in their lineups.
Jared Cook @ LAC
4 receptions, 20 receiving yards, 6 targets
This is Jared Cook’s M.O. If you committed to Cook at your TE, you are just going to have to take your lumps in some weeks.