By Jon Marsales
Every week I will do a quick drive thru of the all the games and cover the relevant fantasy points. I will look at things that might be fluky or here to stay and try and point everyone in the right direction for the future. We never want to overreact to a small-sample size, but sometimes getting in too early is still better than missing the boat entirely.
Falcons 36 – Buccaneers 30
There was a firefight!!! This game was bananas and put an an end to the low hanging fruit of Thursday games. Kirk Cousins was a man possessed and threw for 509 yards in a winning effort. He is officially back. That meant the whole WR room went off and Drake London is a full-fledged WR1 as he seems to score each week, but it’s Darnell Mooney who looks to be reinvigorated. He led the team in targets and was able to score twice and clearly has earned the trust of Cousins, plus he seems to always be open. The demise of Bijan Robinson as a top-end fantasy talent continues as he failed to score or be effective on the ground or through the air. You can’t do anything but keep starting him and hope he explodes sooner rather than later. I would call him a buy-low. Kyle Pitts went off after getting zero catches a week ago and he is hard to trust. Baker Mayfield kept the Buccs in the game, but he wasn’t as effective as he had been. The TDs were great, but he didn’t even reach 200 passing yards, but he continues to crush his rushing props each week. Chris Godwin looks like the steal of the season and while he didn’t score, he keeps getting plenty of work. Mike Evans is on fire after a slow start and racked up two TDs. He’s not back because he never went anywhere. Rachaad White won’t go away and broke a monster run to help his line, but Bucky Irving is going to take over. He had a costly fumble late which could hurt his touches this week, but he’s still a beast.
Pickup of the game: WR Ray-Ray McCloud – Priority low
Vikings 23 – Jets 17
The Vikings refuse to slow down and are now undefeated. Sam Darnold is playing the best ball of his life, but this was the first game he wasn’t able to score. The Jets’ pass defense is elite, but losing Aaron Jones even for a short time will hurt this offense. Justin Jefferson is carrying this team and does whatever they need, whenever they need it. He didn’t score, but he will next week. Jordan Addison took a backseat and he’s going to be boom-or-bust depending on the game script. Ty Chandler is the hot add with Jones nursing a sore hip and it’s still unclear how much time Jones will miss. Pick up Chandler ASAP. The Jets just fired their coach, but kept the OC. They were supposed to dominate this season on both sides of the ball and currently both are struggling. Aaron Rodgers is banged up, but at least he finally started hyper-targeting Garrett Wilson. The buy-low window is shut, but if Rodgers misses time, it’s Groundhog Day again. Wilson’s average depth of target has sunk to 8.3 through Week 5, down from around 11 in his first two NFL seasons. Breece Hall is somehow playing worse than Bijan Robinson and it’s a just a mystery at this point. He’s too good to stay down too long, but Braelon Allen is on his corner. Allen Lazard is cooking and scored again and as long as Mike Williams is still a question mark, he’s going to see plenty of work. Wilson saw 22 targets, but Rodgers also threw 54 times. This game is an outlier.
Pickup of the game – RB Ty Chandler – Priority High
Bears 36 – Panthers 10
The Panthers turned into pumpkins again and this game got so out of hand, Bryce Young was brought in for garbage time. Andy Dalton struggled vs. an elite CHI pass defense and as a result Diontae Johnson did nothing. Jalen Coker racked up 68 yards, but that was likely a fluke. Chuba Hubbard is rolling and he’s helping fantasy GMs as Jonathan Brooks continues to ramp up. The clock is ticking down for Hubbard though. The rookie QBs all showed up this week and Caleb Williams is on fire. He cooked the Panther secondary and as a result DJ Moore is back on board as WR1. The early season frustration seems behind them and Moore averaged 21 YPR this week. Keenan Allen is still working through something and he’s impossible to start this week. Rome Udunze was tied for the team lead in targets with six, but he’s still getting his sea legs. Moore is the clear-cut WR1 for now. D’Andre Swift was left for dead after barely averaging a couple of yards per-run the first couple of weeks, but he’s found his groove now is back to being a dual-threat. Roschon Johnson is getting the goal-line work and he’s a sneaky TD bet every week. He had two this week. The Bears won’t play the Panthers every week, but this was a great game to back on track.
Pickup of the game – RBRoschon Johnson– Priority High
Ravens 41 – Bengals 38
The Ravens won this game and are a machine on offense, but the Bengals might be the best 1-4 team in history. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase are the best one-two punch in the league and almost stole this game. Burrow is back and the schedule gets a little easier over the next stretch and if they can just hang round, they might sneak into the playoffs. The margin for error is zero though. Zach Moss and Chase Brown are splitting carries, but Brown is about to take off if Moss misses time. Tee Higgins is back to being the best WR2 in football and he was able to score twice with Chase also finding pay dirt. The only pass-catchers you want to roster on this team are those two. The Ravens are cooking though and Derrick Henry saved his best for last. 92 yards and a score and over half of it on the last play of the game. Justice Hill wasn’t as involved, but he’s got a safe floor each week in PPR leagues. Lamar Jackson showed why he’s the MVP and carved up the Bengals all day. He has four TD passes and the one to Isaiah Likely was a thing of beauty. Both TEs were back involved in the passing game, but they are hard to trust while each is healthy. Zay Flowers is a beast, but the game script is very important as this team wants to run the ball with a lead. He’s a safe WR2 each week. Rashod Bateman was able to score, but he just doesn’t have a high enough floor each week to start.
Pickup of the Game – WR Rashod Bateman– Priority Low
Jaguars 37- Colts 34
This game was supposed to be derailed by weather, but the rain didn’t matter as both teams went off. The Jags finally got a win, but the Colts have a bottom-three defense. Joe Flacco is probably a better option at QB than Anthony Richardson right now, but how do you make that call. He had 359 yards and three TDs and no picks. While Flacco is under center, Michael Pittman is a WR1 and while he wasn’t great this week, he did score. A rising tide lifts all boats and Alec Pierce and Josh Downs are also on the radar with Flacco as Pierce led the team in yards while Downs let them in targets. Pierce had three grabs for 134 yards. Wow. Trey Sermon and Tyler Godson aren’t good and are barely on the radar while Jonathan Taylor is out. The Jags finally looked like a complete team and Tank Bigsby might be ready to takeover. Travis Etienne isn’t getting it done on the ground and Bigsby has game-breaking potential. The Brian Thomas Jr. era is officially under way and firing on all cylinders. Congrats if you got him. Christian Kirk is keeping his value afloat, but who knows what will shift when Evan Engram returns. This game featured two bad defenses and it won’t be this fun or easy each week.
Pickup of the game – RB Tank Bigsby – Priority Medium
Dolphins 15 – Patriots 10
This game was a slog as both QBs are well past their primes. Neither QB reached 200 yards or had a passing TD. This puts a cap on what each team can do and it’s hard to trust anyone on either team right now. The Dolphins lost De’Von Achane to a concussion and that could open the door for Raheem Mostert to get back on track. He had 19 carries for 80 yards and looks healthy after missing most of the early portion of the season. Jaylen Wright got some extra work too, but unless Achane misses time, he’s a stash at best. The dolphins have a bye week for Week 6, so they could be fairly healthy by their next game. Tyreek Hill looked better, but still didn’t do enough to warrant his top-five pick and Jaylen Waddle did even less. The Pats made a big deal about Rhamondre Stevenson fumbling, but he still led the team in carries and scored. Antonio Gibson still played well, but wasn’t involved in the passing game. That Pats are just killing time until it’s Drake Maye season and that will help everyone, especially DeMario Douglas, who played well again with six grabs for 59 yards. He’s a low-end flex play for now, but could explode in the second half of the season.
Pickup of the game – RB Jaylen Wright – Priority Low
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