49ers QB Brock Purdy completed 17 of 24 attempts for 252 yards with 4 TDs in Week 5’s blowout win vs. the Cowboys. San Fransisco dominated this contest so early that Purdy was pulled from action by the time the fourth quarter rolled out. Through five games, the second-year signal-caller ranks as the QB7 in fantasy points per game (19.8), tied with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. That’s some special company to be in. Next week, Purdy and company will travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns.
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb posted a team-leading 49 receiving yards on 4 catches in Week 5’s loss vs. the 49ers. TE Jake Ferguson posted a respectable 3-catch, 28-yard performance that’s passable in PPR scoring, but these Dallas pass-catchers were otherwise underwhelming on Sunday night. The errors forced by QB Dak Prescott (3 INTs) had a tangible impact on the outcome of this contest. Hopefully, this offense will collectively bounce back in Week 6 vs. the Chargers.
Cowboys RB Tony Pollard had a quiet game in Week 5. The veteran tallied 64 total yards on 12 touches with a lost fumble vs. the 49ers. His teammates Deuce Vaughn and Rico Dowdle combined for 8 carries and 22 rushing yards, so it’s not as though any other Cowboys RB had much greater success in the blowout 42-10 loss. Fortunately, Week 6 brings a matchup against a Chargers defense that ranked as the 11th-easiest opponent in adjusted fantasy points allowed to RBs prior to their bye week. Fantasy managers will have to get over this bummer quickly and hope for better days ahead.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott completed 14 of 24 attempts for 153 yards with 1 TDs and 3 INTs in Week 5’s loss vs. the 49ers. It sure seems like this guy has a bad case of the whoopsies. Since returning from a thumb injury in Week 7 of last season, Prescott has thrown 15 INTs in 16 regular season games. He’s going to remain off the fantasy radar in 1QB leagues until there’s some demonstrative improvement. Next week, he’ll face off against the Chargers.
Jets RB Breece Hall had his 2023 breakout game vs. the Broncos, racking up 194 total yards and a TD. The highlight was a 72-yard TD burst in the third quarter. Hall was a broken tackle away from breaking a few more big plays in this one. He's looking closer and closer to 100% each week. More importantly, the Jets fed Hall 22 carries and three targets in Denver -- easily his biggest workload of the season. That came just a few days after HC Robert Saleh said that Hall is no longer on a pitch count. He won't get to face the Broncos again this year. But if Hall is going to continue to get 71% of the RB opportunities like he did this week, he'll be at least a weekly RB2 going forward.
Cardinals WR Marquise Brown saw a team-high 10 targets on Sunday, converting 4 catches for 61 receiving yards and a TD vs. the Bengals. TE Zach Ertz had been hot as of late with the second-most targets among TEs (30) entering Week 5, though he had a bit of a down game in this one. The veteran hauled just 2 of 4 targets for 10 yards. Fortunately, he found the end zone and salvaged his fantasy day from that standpoint. Rookie WR Michael Wilson flopped after last week’s breakout with just one 18-yard catch in the contest. We’ll be happy to go back to Brown and Ertz in lineups again in Week 6 vs. the Rams.
Cardinals RB James Conner logged 6 carries for 48 yards in Week 5 vs. the Bengals before leaving in the second quarter with a knee injury. In his absence, rookie Emari Demercado put up 45 rushing yards and a TD on 10 attempts. We’ll keep an eye on Conner’s health throughout the week. Should he miss time, Demercado would be a name to consider off the waiver wire ahead of Week 6 vs. the Rams.
Cardinals QB Joshua Dobbs struggled with turnovers in Sunday’s loss vs. the Bengals. He totaled 15 completions on 32 attempts for 166 yards with 2 TDs in the contest to go along with a pair of INTs and a lost fumble. Dobbs’ rushing has consistently helped bring up his fantasy scoring floor of late, but he unfortunately only managed 1 rushing yards in Week 5. We’ll see if he can bounce back in Week 6 vs. the Rams, but he’s best left out of the lineup conversation in 1QB leagues.
Coming off one of his better games as a pro in the Week 4 loss to the Chiefs, Jets QB Zach Wilson disappointed against a bad Broncos defense. The indecision and inconsistent accuracy that's plagued Wilson for most of his NFL career resurfaced in this one. He finished 19 of 26 for 199 yards, 0 TDs, and one INT. He took four sacks and fumbled twice, although both were recovered by the Jets. With his best matchup of the season behind him, you can go back to ignoring Wilson in fantasy football.
Falcons TE Jonnu Smith hauled in six of seven targets for 67 yards in the Week 5 win over the Texans. And that came despite TE Kyle Pitts having his best game of the season. Smith tied WR Drake London for second on Atlanta in catches and ranked third behind Pitts and London in targets and yards. He benefitted from the Falcons running 74 plays and throwing it 38 times, but Smith registered a solid 18.4% target share. He's now tallied 6+ targets and 4+ catches in four straight games. Next up is a Washington defense that just got smoked by the Bears. Smith will be in the TE1 discussion for that one.
Falcons TE Kyle Pitts had easily his best game of the season in the Week 5 win over the Texans. He led Atlanta with 11 targets, seven catches, and 87 yards. Pitts benefitted from the Falcons running 74 plays and throwing it 38 times. But his 28.9% target share was a season-high. The strong game comes just a few days after HC Arthur Smith admitted that Pitts still isn't back to 100% after last November's knee injury. He looked as healthy as he has all season in this one, though, making catches of 16, 18, and 20 yards. He won't get this type of passing volume most weeks, but Pitts is still capable of helping fantasy squads if he's past that knee issue. Next up is a Washington defense that just got smoked by the Bears.
Texans TE Dalton Schultz led the team with 10 targets, seven catches, and 65 yards in the Week 5 loss to the Falcons. He also scored the team's only TD, breaking loose from 18 yards out with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter. It was easily the best game of the season for Schultz, who had totaled just 10 catches on 17 targets through the first four games. Houston lost WRs Tank Dell (concussion) and Robert Woods (ribs) in Atlanta, though. If those guys miss more time, Schultz will have an opportunity to soak up more targets. The bad news is that he gets a tough Week 6 matchup vs. a Saints defense that entered this week ranked fifth in adjusted fantasy points allowed to TEs.
Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase exploded on Sunday with a whopping 15 catches on 19 targets for 192 receiving yards and 3 TDs vs. the Cardinals. It took until October for him to score a TD, but he more than made up for the drought in Week 5. Nothing says superstar like a 41.3% target share, finding the end zone thrice, and not even passing your own career-high in PPR fantasy points (2021 Week 17, 55.6). Let’s hope Burrow and Chase keep cooking in Week 6 vs. the Seahawks.
Bengals RB Joe Mixon recorded 25 carries for 81 rushing yards in Week 5’s win vs. the Cardinals. The veteran also added 4 catches on as many targets for 13 receiving yards in the contest. Through five games, Mixon holds an obscenely high 87% opportunity share of the Bengals’ RB touches. It’s insane how much involvement he sees on a weekly basis. He’ll be right back to his typical workhorse role again in Week 6 vs. the Seahawks.
Looks like Bengals QB Joe Burrow’s calf might finally be feeling better. On Sunday, Burrow completed 36 of 46 attempts for 317 passing yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT vs. the Cardinals. Fantasy managers in 1QB leagues who opted to bench him might be annoyed, but at least there’s some hope that the old Burrow is back now. He’ll have a chance to build upon this performance in Week 6 vs. the Seahawks.
Texans RB Dameon Pierce totaled 82 scoreless yards in Sunday's loss to the Falcons. More importantly, he dominated backfield work. Pierce handled all 20 RB carries and got one of two RB targets. He now has just 12 targets through five games. But Pierce is up to 84 carries, including 44 over the last two weeks. RB Devin Singletary has just seven carries over the last two games. Houston's offense struggled for most of the game in Atlanta, but this remains an ascending unit that just got starting OTs Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard back. With Pierce looking like a borderline workhorse, he's a nice trade target heading into Week 6.
Eagles RB D'Andre Swift ran just OK on the ground in Sunday's win over the Rams. He drew 17 carries vs. Kenneth Gainwell's seven and turned them into 70 yards (4.1 per rush). Swift added a 6-38 receiving line on 6 targets to boost his PPR line. Most importantly, the work split between Swift (23 opportunities) and Gainwell (9) makes Swift the easy choice to start in fantasy lineups until something changes.
Eagles WR A.J. Brown delivered 8 receptions for a team-high 127 yards in Sunday's win over the Rams. It was his third straight game with at least that many yards. Brown didn't even lead the team in targets this time. His 8 trailed TE Dallas Goedert by one and accounted for a lower-than-usual 21% of QB Jalen Hurts' total pass attempts. But it marked the fourth time in five games that Brown tallied at least 8 targets and 7 receptions. He's on pace for 125 catches and 1,839 yards. We'll take the under on those numbers, but we'll also gladly take Brown occupying a weekly starting spot across fantasy formats. WR DeVonta Smith, meanwhile, remained well behind Brown's share. He caught just one of 5 targets in Sunday's win. Smith has drawn a 20.2% target share through five games, compared with 30.4% for Brown.
Eagles TE Dallas Goedert racked up an 8-117-1 receiving line in Sunday's win over the Rams, easily his biggest fantasy outing through the first five games. Goedert drew a team-high 9 targets, led the team in receptions, and claimed the only TD reception. The yardage more than doubled his season total, which stood at just 88 entering the game. The upturn was somewhat predictable, at least, after HC Nick Sirianni said earlier this week that "we've got to do our jobs as coaches to get him going." Goedert probably won't have many more games as big as this one, but he should be a weekly starter in most fantasy lineups with TE slots. A Week 6 matchup with the Jets has been positive for TE scoring this season. After that comes a potential shootout with Miami. Washington and Dallas matchups beyond that have been negative for TE scoring. We'll see about Goedert's outlook as we get closer to those.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Chiefs TE Travis Kelce suffered a low-ankle sprain in the Week 5 win over the Vikings. That conflicts with insider Jordan Schultz's initial report that it's a high-ankle sprain -- but makes more sense considering Kelce was able to return to today's game with reasonable effectiveness. We'll look for further clarification on Kelce's status. The schedule won’t do him any favors with his Chiefs taking on the Broncos on Thursday night.
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