Must Starts and Sits | Fantasy Football Week 5

by Matt Babich · Matchups Start/Sit
Week 5 Fantasy Football Start/Sit

It’s time for Start Sit Week 5 in Fantasy Football! Which players should you be starting this week, and which players should you consider benching? We will cover it all in this weekly article!

Every week of the NFL season, fantasy gamers juggle players to insert into lineups at each position. Are you questioning which players face easy matchups and which players face tougher paths to production? You are in the right place! For seasonal leagues, DFS, and more, this week’s must-start and must-sit picks can give you some guidance on setting your lineups.

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Week 4 Recap

Here’s what we learned from our hits and misses last week:

Quarterback Start Sit Week 5

Start: Brock Purdy

After a low-scoring performance in a dominant team win against the Patriots, Purdy lines up against one of the softest defensive matchups in the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona is allowing the fourth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, the highest completion percentage, the second-highest yards per pass attempt, and the third-most touchdowns. I could keep going, but you get the picture … this Cardinals defense is laughable.

The 49ers welcomed Deebo Samuel and George Kittle back to the field last week, and the pair will be even healthier going into this matchup. San Francisco has also had Arizona’s number as of late, averaging 39 points per game across their last four contests. The Niners haven’t really had an explosive offensive game with their entire team healthy, but I expect that to change this week. 

Honorable Mentions (Starts): Caleb Williams, Justin Fields, Geno Smith

Sit: Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes hasn’t finished as a top-12 QB since Week 1 and has just two 15-point fantasy performances. To make matters worse, the jet fuel of the Chiefs’ passing game, Rashee Rice, is going to be out for the foreseeable future. It’s weird that we’ve gotten here, but Mahomes is now a fringe starter every week and should be considered more of a matchup-bassed streamer. He’s throwing a career-low air yards per attempt, and the team as a whole has been struggling to get into the red zone.

The Chiefs match up on Monday night against a stiff Saints secondary, where Marshon Lattimore will be glued to Xavier Worthy. The Saints are above average in terms of limiting opponents’ passing efficiency and completion percentage. They also boast the lowest opponent red zone scoring percentage among all defenses (per TeamRankings.com). This is going to be a tough matchup for Mahomes, and I don’t expect him to light up the scoreboard shorthanded.

Honorable Mentions (Sits): Sam Darnold, Dak Prescott, Derek Carr

Running Back Start Sit Week 5

Start: Chuba Hubbard

Like everyone else in Carolina, Chuba Hubbard‘s performance has drastically improved with Andy Dalton under center. Over the last two weeks, he’s turned his 43 touches into 290 total yards and two touchdowns. This makes him the RB4 in fantasy points per game over the last two weeks. The efficiency is clearly there, too, as Hubbard is averaging 5.1 True Yards per Carry (No. 11) and 1.8 Yards per Route Run (No. 15). As long as the Panthers are playing in competitive football games, Hubbard is going to be nearly locked into 20-30 touches. That’s not just “start him” territory, that’s ELITE opportunity. It’s criminal that he’s only started in 65 percent of Sleeper leagues right now.

The matchup against Chicago is a favorable one, as well. Chicago has given up a rushing touchdown in every game where their opposing team’s starter has played the entire game (surely Joe Mixon would’ve found the end zone). The Bears are a rush-funnel defense that allows the 14th-highest yards per carry and the 10th-most fantasy points per game to running backs (per TeamRankings.com). The Bears are also getting torched through the air by backs, allowing the second-most receptions, the most receiving yards, and the second-most receiving touchdowns.

Honorable Mentions (Starts): Trey Sermon (If Jonathan Taylor is inactive), Justice Hill, Jerome Ford

Sit: Zack Moss

Call me the Zack Moss whisperer. He’s been listed in this article every week, and I was one measly Week 1 touchdown away from nailing the choice every time. Well, let’s go right back to him (or away from him, in this case). The Bengals have been gifted with some great rushing matchups to start the season, but not here. The Ravens are allowing the fewest yards per carry in the NFL, as well as the second-fewest rushing attempts (per TeamRankings.com). Against a defense of a similar prowess in Kansas City, Moss compiled a lousy 5.7 PPR fantasy points. To make matters worse, he grows more and more touchdown-dependent as Chase Brown continues to look better in both phases.

If you’re going to run on Baltimore, you’re not going to do it with a between-the-tackles plodder. You’re going to do it with your most explosive rusher, Chase Brown. I’m not just sitting Zack Moss this week, I’m full-on trying to trade him off of any teams I have him on (zero, for what it’s worth).

Honorable Mentions (Sits): Javonte Williams, Zamir White, Samaje Perine

Wide Receiver Start Sit Week 5

Start: Rashid Shaheed

We finally saw the Saints pass game open up volume-wise last week, and Rashid Shaheed was a primary beneficiary. The Weber State product once again ran 90 percent of the routes and drew 11 targets en route to a 15.7-PPR-point fantasy performance. The important takeaway from this game is that we saw a WR2 game from Shaheed without a long touchdown. This is the floor we’ve been wanting from an explosive player such as himself.

Kansas City allows the 13th-highest yards per pass attempt (per TeamRankings). They also have a pass-funnel defense, with 58% of opponents’ plays being passes and 71% of opponents’ touchdowns coming through the air. The Saints’ offense revolves around Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Alvin Kamara. Shaheed is drawing an elite 25 percent target share and has been one of the most efficient producers at his position. It’s time for Shaheed to be a weekly starter unless he has a stifling matchup.

Honorable Mentions (Starts): Dontayvion Wicks, Wan’Dale Robinson., Christian Kirk

Sit: Keenan Allen

The Bears’ matchup against Carolina is certainly desirable, but Keenan Allen‘s situation within the Bears’ offense is not. Last week, returning from and playing through a heel injury, Allen ran only 70 percent of the teams’ routes and drew only three targets and seven air yards. In Allen’s injury absence, it seems Rome Odunze has carved out an equal role, and the two are now inrerchangably the team’s WR2. In the Bears’ offense, this is not conducive to fantasy success. 

Multiple Bears receivers have drawn 10+ targets in a game in just one contest. One of Keenan and Odunze (or both) has drawn four or fewer targets in each of the two games they’ve both been active. This is not a consolidated target situation, this is a dartboard throw; a guess as to who may be more involved on any given week. Save yourself the headache until Allen proves he’s healthy and will be heavily involved.

Honorable Mentions (Sits): Tre Tucker, Greg Dortch, Romeo Doubs

Tight End Start Sit Week 5

Tight ends are perhaps the most disgusting they’ve ever been for fantasy football. If you have one of these guys, you’re probably looking to just start them every week and hope for the best:

If not, consider these options:

Start: Taysom Hill

He left last week’s game with a rib injury but scored twice before doing so. I’m probably a fish for going back to the Taysom Hill well, but is there any other tight end with a higher probability of scoring a touchdown (or two!) on a week-to-week basis? There are zero other tight ends that are also their team’s RB2 and goal-line back; Taysom Hill is that. His floor is just as low as everyone else, if not lower, as he has drawn only three targets so far this season. He is, however, getting 11 percent of the team’s red zone rushing volume and 31 percent of the team’s goal-line rushing volume.

He’ll line up against Kansas City, one of the stone-worst defenses versus tight ends, on Monday night. Yes, it’s tough to put Hill out there with how low his receiving volume has been. However, remember the two massive leads New Orleans had in Weeks 1 and 2 and the fact that Hill left the game during the second quarter last week. Klimt Kubiak hasn’t had to unveil the full Taysom package yet. Who better to test it out against than the defending champs?

Honorable Mentions (Starts): Zach Ertz, Colby Parkinson

Sit: Cole Kmet

After a dominant performance in Week 3, thanks to the Bears’ whopping 52 pass attempts, Cole Kmet quickly came back down to Earth in Week 4. He drew only three targets en route to a 6.4-point fantasy performance. That’s not all that bad, given what tight ends have been giving us. However, in a tighter matchup against a defense that struggles against both phases of the game, the Bears cut their passing attempts in half week over week. This is a similar volume to what I’m expecting this week against Carolina. It should be a tighter contest where the Bears have control, which is generally a signal to sit Kmet.

Kmet’s upside is certainly palpable. He has the ability to randomly draw 11 targets and score twice. Because of this, there are definitely reasons to still slot him in your lineup. However, tight end is very volatile, and there are cheap options you can rotate around every week. If you can’t get your hands on any of my recommended starts, I can get behind leaving Kmet in your lineup. If you can, put him on your bench.

Honorable Mentions (Sits): Tucker Kraft, Hunter Henry

Set Your Lineups!

It is time to set lineups! Fire up those fingers and plug in your productive players (and bench the sits!). Check back for weekly must-starts and must-sits based on the action that unfolds this season. Need some more options? Check out PlayerProfiler’s Upside Finder or DM me on Twitter! It’s time again for a season full of ups and downs. Buckle up!

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