It’s Week 5 and we now have four weeks of information to process to help our fantasy teams. Hopefully, you’ve been on the right side of success this season so far, if not there is still plenty of time to right the ship. As I have done before, I wanted to review last week’s sleeper picks to hold myself accountable and to also provide a little insight moving forward for those players.
For quarterbacks, we rolled with Sam Darnold as our sleeper pick last week which paid off immensely. As we all expected, Darnold rushed for two touchdowns while adding in 301 passing yards and two more touchdowns. He finished the week as the QB1 and now sits at QB5 on the year. Darnold should be owned moving forward and can be rolled out as a starter.
At running back, Zach Moss did exactly what I expected and didn’t have the flashiest stat line as he rushed 14 times for 61 yards. However, he managed to find the endzone and finished the week as ECR RB24. He may need to find the endzone to continue to pay off moving forward, but Buffalo is averaging 31.1 points per game. He’s got a good shot at getting in the endzone each week and could be considered a flex play moving forward.
Our second running back pick Cordarrelle Patterson finished the week as the RB1. Yes, you heard that correctly. Patterson is currently the RB5 in half-PPR scoring and needs to be started moving forward. He provides weekly upside to win your matchup and seems to continue to be utilized in Atlanta.
Our wide receiver picks weren’t as successful as some of the other picks. Odell Beckham Jr. finished as the WR78 on the week. He still had 7 targets, but Baker Mayfield did not have the best game of his career and missed Odell several times. Beckham looks to rebound moving forward.
Jakobi Meyers slightly outperformed his ECR ranking and finished the week as WR25. He once again saw double-digit targets and caught 8 for 70 yards. He gets a significant bump in full-PPR, but I feel like he can be treated as a WR3/flex type play if needed.
Dawson Knox also had himself quite the day this week and finished as the TE2 on the week. He had just 5 receptions for 37 yards but found the endzone twice. As I mentioned with Zach Moss, Buffalo is scoring 31.1 points per game and Knox has a touchdown in three of his four outings. He’s definitely a starter moving forward as he will continue to have a decent chance in finding the endzone.
As mentioned before, I will utilize several factors when exploring who my weekly sleepers will be. I will be looking at ADP (Fantasypros.com ADP), weekly positional rankings (Fantasypros.com ECR), rostership percentages, and some betting info (to help give perspective on possible outcomes). When referencing scoring in these articles this season I will be looking at Half-PPR scoring and in terms of league size, I will stick with 12-team leagues.
Quarterbacks: Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 5
Daniel Jones (QB, NYG) at Dallas Cowboys
Jones heads into Week 5 sitting at the QB6 spot on the year so far. Surprisingly he has taken care of the ball this year and only has two turnovers (1 fumble lost, 1 interception). He’s also added some rushing upside as he currently has 27 rushes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. He currently sits as the ECR QB16 this week as he takes on the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys defense has drastically improved from last year, but still are allowing 24.2 points per game. Jones will need to keep pace with Dak and the Cowboys and I expect him to outperform his current ECR and possibly crack the top-12 this week. He’s also likely available on your waiver wire as he currently sits on about 28% of NFL.com fantasy rosters and 34% of Yahoo rosters.
Running Backs: Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 5
James Conner (RB, ARI) vs. San Francisco 49ers
Conner is a bit more of a deep dive this week as he currently sits at ECR RB39 heading into week five. However, he currently sits at RB22 on the year. His four rushing touchdowns have significantly padded his fantasy points, but Arizona’s offense is operating at a high rate and is scoring 32 points a game (1st in the NFL).
I like Conner’s chances of getting another rushing touchdown against San Francisco this week who is allowing 1.2 rushing touchdowns per game. As with most running backs who have found the endzone and are getting rushing attempts he is likely rostered, but still available in about 20% of leagues on Yahoo and NFL formats.
Wide Receivers: Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 5
DeVonta Smith (WR, PHI) at Carolina Panthers
Smith cracked the 100 yard mark for the first time in his young career last week and finished the week as the WR14. Currently, Smith sits at ECR WR31 heading into Week 5. Smith is averaging 7.75 targets a week, 4.5 receptions, 59.25 yards, and .25 touchdowns. What attracts my attention is more so of the matchup and Philadelphia apparently abandoning the running game as they have been passing on 62.9% of their plays.
Carolina averages 24.2 points per game and Philadelphia is giving up 26.5 points per game. I feel like the Eagles will need (and seem to prefer) to throw the ball to stay competitive in this one. Smith is the number one receiving option on the team as he has 11 more targets than the second option. He is likely already rostered however if he’s on your bench and you’re deciding on a flex I think Smith brings some upside this week.
Jamison Crowder (WR, NYJ) vs. Atlanta Falcons
Crowder returned to action last week and jumped right into being fantasy relevant as he posted 7 receptions (9 targets) for 61 yards and a touchdown. He managed to finish the week as the WR17. Crowder currently sits at ECR WR48 heading into the week. Although the Jets players have been difficult to start thus far, I feel like Crowder can be slotted into a flex this week. Especially with Atlanta giving up 32 points per game thus far.
Tight Ends: Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 5
Maxx Williams (TE, ARI) vs. San Francisco 49ers
Williams finished week four as the TE5 in week four after a 5-66-1 stat line and is currently the TE13 on the year even with him scoring zero points in week one. Williams is currently the ECR TE22 heading into week five. As we’ve discussed before, if you’re taking a flyer on a tight end you want a good shot at a touchdown. Williams brings that potential on the Cardinals offense as they’re not having a problem getting in the endzone.
Also, Kyler Murray continues to appear to spread the ball around to the entire offense, which means Williams should continue to get some targets from Murray.
