I hope everyone is enjoying their local Oktoberfest time activities and a successful fantasy season so far. There’s plenty of points to be had this week, but also a lot of toss ups. Melvin Gordon is back, as is Golden Tate. I’ll give them a week to see how they fit into their offensive schemes. But, if you held onto Gordon, congratulations. Let’s hop into our Start/Sit for Week 5!
Start Them
Quarterbacks: Kirk Cousins, Gardner Minshew, Jimmy Garoppolo
Look. Let’s talk about the squeaky wheel narrative for Kirk Cousins. There have been apologies, disgruntled receivers, and play-calling issues. Guess what the Vikings have been working on this week? Passing the football. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you’re looking for a super contrarian play this week, Cousins against the Giants is a great idea. It’s finally time.
Gardner Minshew is a capable starter this week against a struggling Panthers team that is having its own backup quarterback issues. He’s got a full complement of weapons, including Leonard Fournette coming off a career performance. The next coming of Uncle Rico is here to win your fantasy matchup.
Jimmy G is fresh off a bye week and going against a struggling Cleveland squad. The 49ers are out to prove that they are deserving of being respected as an undefeated team. It’ll be interesting to see if George Kittle can keep up his historic pace. And, if the defense can keep playing solid football, San Francisco can be a contender.
Running Backs: Mark Ingram, David Montgomery, Jordan Howard
Mark Ingram and the Ravens rushing attack are heading into Pittsburgh this week after a rough game against Cleveland. I’m looking for them to have a game plan similar to the one they rolled out against Kansas City. Run the ball. A lot. This should be successful, especially against a beat-up divisional opponent and defense in the Steelers. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ingram is in line for another multi-score game.
Matt Nagy really has no more excuses; this is the week he HAS to utilize David Montgomery. Mitch Trubisky is going to be out for an extended period of time. In the meantime, the offense is going to be lead by backup Chase Daniel. They’re going up against the Raiders this week in London. It would be in their best interest to win this game with their defense. That means running the football and being creative (please Nagy, you’re better at play-calling than you’ve shown) out of the backfield. Montgomery is the kind of athlete who can do all of those things from his position.
The Eagles seem to have finally decided who is leading the backfield. That choice had surprising results against the Packers last week. Jordan Howard looked explosive and bounced off wimpy tacklers to the tune of 115 total yards and three touchdowns. They’re going against a Jets team who will most likely fall behind early. Philadelphia will be in great position run the ball and dictate the tempo. Other than the Patriots, the Eagles should have the easiest opponent to play Week 5.
Wide Receivers/Tight End: Will Fuller, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Golden Tate, Tyler Eifert (TE)
This week finally seems like the week that Will Fuller makes his impact on the Texans offense. Kenny Stills is battling a hamstring injury, and Houston is coming off a less than stellar performance against Carolina last week. DeShaun Watson will be getting an inconsistent Atlanta defense, that is prone to giving up big plays. That is exactly what the Fuller/Watson connection is built on. I wouldn’t be surprised if Will Fuller has a long touchdown catch and an increase in targets this week.
Valdes-Scantling is going to see an uptick in targets as well, considering that Devonte Adams is going to be missing their Week 5 tilt against Dallas. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Aaron Rodgers is able to air the ball out and have more control over the offense this week after the questionable decisions from head coach Matt LaFleur last week.
Golden Tate is making his season debut in Week 5 for the Giants, and he should be involved in the offense early. He’s coming into a spot where Sterling Shepard will be drawing the number one cornerback against Minnesota. Tate will be a nice security blanket for Daniel Jones underneath and in the red zone. New York will probably be behind as well, so that will lead to more passing attempts. In the pillow fight of the week, there is a sleeper tight end option that’s worth considering.
Tyler Eifert is back and fully healthy for the first time in what seems like forever, and the Bengals have to expect Tyler Boyd to be keyed in on from Arizona’s secondary. While it’s probably the worst game of the week in terms of entertainment value (no Dolphins this week, so this will be the weekly supply of suck) Eifert is a low-cost option that can steal a touchdown and make the difference.
Sit Them
Quarterbacks: Marcus Mariota, Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers
Mariota performed surprisingly well last week, but don’t let that fool you into thinking he’s a good choice for a cheeky start in Week 5. He’s going against a top-five in Buffalo, who just held the Patriots to 16 points last week, and will make this into a very low scoring affair (especially if Josh Allen is limited in his role). Look elsewhere for a sneaky play.
Matt Ryan has been wildly inconsistent this year, totaling eight touchdowns and six interceptions so far. He’s going against a Houston team this week that will be looking to put constant pressure on him and force the Falcons to go to a running game that they’ve been struggling to get going. While a lot of people will be starting him in season-long leagues, I don’t think he’s going to do anything special when it comes to daily leagues. Quite honestly, he will most likely land in the ho-hum 15 point range Week 5.
Philip Rivers and the Chargers are getting Melvin Gordon back this week, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they take it easy getting him involved by calling some simple runs and controlling the game. The one thing Denver is decent at this season is in the secondary, but if Los Angeles is leading for the majority of the game (which they should be against a winless Broncos team) there really won’t be much reason to pass much. I don’t think he’s worth the money in daily, and like Ryan, won’t put up anything special in a season-long league either.
Running Backs: Wayne Gallman, James Conner, Sony Michel
Gallman looked exceptional in his fill-in role for the injured Saquon Barkley last week. But don’t expect that to carry over this week against a tough Minnesota run defense. His price point is hovering around Devonta Freeman, and he isn’t a great option this week either. There were even whispers that Barkley was close to returning from his ankle injury, which speaks to the lack of confidence they have in Gallman for an extended period of time.
James Conner is running into a very angry Baltimore team that got absolutely embarrassed by Nick Chubb last week. That isn’t a good sign coming into a rivalry game for Conner and the Steelers, as almost certainly Harbaugh laid into his defense’s lack of tackling and effort on run defense last week. While Conner may vulture a touchdown, I really don’t expect that big of a stat-line from him overall.
Sony Michel has been very disappointing so far this season. Even though he’s going against a terrible Redskins team Week 5, the backfield by committee approach has really just wreaked havoc for fantasy owners so far this season. Rex Burkhead has even received some touches this season. It’s just not worth the gamble in daily fantasy leagues when you never know which back will be featured by New England in any given week.
Wide Receivers/Tight End: Allen Robinson, Stefon Diggs, Courtland Sutton, Eric Ebron (TE)
Allen Robinson is not nearly worth his price tag this week. ($5600 on DraftKings) Especially considering that Valdez-Scantling is the exact same price and a much better option. He’s going into a London game against Oakland with a backup quarterback at the helm. That is going to be an extremely low scoring contest, and there won’t be much passing from the Bears offense.
Stefon Diggs hasn’t exactly been subtle in his criticism with his role in Minnesota lately. With Adam Thielen getting most of the meaningful targets from Kirk Cousins, Diggs has largely been ignored and inefficient this season. While the Vikings have said they’re not actively trying to trade Diggs, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is underutilized again in Week 5. He may be on his way to another team sooner than later.
Courtland Sutton has to prove to me that he’s going to be a consistent part of the Broncos offense. In a Joe Flacco led passing attack that hasn’t produced a win so far this season, I’m not very high on Sutton or even Emmanuel Sanders right now. Sanders at least gets the underneath routes and has deeper PPR value. Meanwhile, Sutton has been the beneficiary of busted coverages for the most part.
Eric Ebron does draw the Chiefs defense this week. But, with Jack Doyle back and healthy, it remains to be seen how he will be used. Jacoby Brissett may also be getting T.Y. Hilton back for Sunday night, and he hasn’t really shown a tendency to focus on a favorite target yet. He tends to spread the ball around, so I don’t expect Ebron to put up any daily league deciding numbers.
That wraps up my Start/Sit players for Week 5! Thanks to everyone again for following along every week. I hope everyone is enjoying their first week of October, and please feel free to hit me up on Twitter (@Rellihan51) to keep the conversation going. If you have any other last-second starting decisions that I didn’t mention here, I’ll be more than happy to give you my take on those as well. Hopefully, I’ll bring home a victory from Arrowhead!
Nick Rellihan
