Week 5 Takeaways

Jefferson is taking a few weeks and asked me to handle this column for him. I’ll try not to let him and you down.

Week 5 is mostly in the books, except for except for tonight and what might still be a preview to Super Bowl LXI. Although at an NFL watch party yesterday, the host mockingly told the 49ers fans to book their Super Bowl plans.

There is LOTS to sort through, so let’s take a look at the fantasy performers. But first:

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Quarterbacks

Player: Drake Maye
Game: Raiders
Stats: 374 passing yards, 25 rushing yards, 5 total TDs

We fielded many questions about Drake Maye over the last two weeks, including whether to drop him. We saw his floor the first few weeks against Seattle, Pittsburgh, and Jacksonville, all in the top 8 against QBs in fantasy through the first four weeks. Admittedly, that was partly due to games against Maye, but he showed out against Buffalo and again yesterday against a D that was in the top half of the league against QBs. Maye is not a slam-dunk start, but his upcoming schedule includes the Bears, Dolphins, Packers, and Chargers. Things get tougher after Week 12, but the upcoming game against the Jets will be a fair barometer of what to expect for Maye against tougher fantasy defenses.

Notables:

Jared Goff shined in a game that was more one-sided than I thought it would be. This is Goff’s 11th season, and if he keeps it up, it will be his finest. He has no turnovers through five games, and he had four TDs yesterday, including his first rushing TD since 2023. I’ve held him forth as a dark horse MVP candidate in the past; this year he may not be so dark. Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs have Detroit squarely in the postseason hunt despite the defense’s struggles. The bad news is that we’ll need a replacement for both players this week.

Joe Burrow had a modest day in gross passing yards with 190, but he tied Maye with 4 passing TDs. He also did not turn the ball over or suffer any sacks. Like Goff, Burrow and the Bengals have their bye in Week 6. That should not dampen our anticipation for the matchup in Baltimore in Week 7.

Jayden Daniels displayed his dominance over the Giants by showing them his backside on TD runs of 38 and 26 yards. The second one gave the Commanders a 14-point lead, 27-13. His 103 rushing yards are currently the fifth-highest for Week 5, and no one has more than 2 rushing TDs for the week. This was the Daniels’ rushing upside that fantasy players wanted. His bye is Week 7, and that is sandwiched around some tougher matchups (49ers and Rams), but it’s hard to bench a remotely healthy Daniels.

Jameis Winston needs his due – when he’s on, he’s a great start in fantasy, and he’s been on lately, including Sunday, with 54 pass attempts, 326 passing yards, 3 TDs, and 27 rushing yards. He did lose a fumble, but a Jameis game without a turnover would be like pulling a winning scratcher. Jameis is a pure upside play in fantasy, but he’s likely available in our leagues. Other than the bye in Week 8, the schedule is favorable until Week 11.

Bo Nix is my fantasy QB dud of the week. 123 passing yards and 10 rushing yards against the most beat-up team in the NFL is not impressive. He did throw the tying TD and lead two other fourth-quarter drives for FGs, but he decimated our rosters in Week 5. We don’t field a lot of Nix questions. Given his level of play in fantasy, I think that means people have already waved the white flag, but according to Yahoo, he’s still on 81% of rosters.

Running Backs

Player: Bucky Irving
Game: at Cowboys
Stats: 21 carries, 165 rushing yards, 2 receptions, 10 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Irving has quietly been having a renaissance, and it got louder this past Thursday. One of the game’s highlights came on the opening possession of the second half: after a holding penalty on the kickoff backed the Buccaneers to their own 14, Irving busted a 72-yard run on the next play, taking the ball symmetrically to the Cowboys’ 14. Emeka Egbuka ran the ball in on the next play for a lead the Bucs would never relinquish. Irving has 77 of the Bucs’ 102 RB rushes for the season while being fourth on the team in receptions and targets. He’s still in RB2 territory, but more games like the Dallas one won’t keep him there.

Notables:

Jahmyr Gibbs had the game of the week pending Monday night, with 30 touches, 207 scrimmage yards, and 2 TDs. He now has 132 touches for 747 scrimmage yards and 9 TDs in five games. He has at least one TD in each game. He is the unquestioned RB 1. The only time he’ll likely disappoint us is Week 6, when the Lions’ bye week occurs.

Jaylen Warren is having the best stretch of his career: after his 15/101/1, 6/6/87/1 day on Sunday, he has 49/321/1 and 16/12/169/1 in his last three. Tampa in Week 6 and Cleveland in Week 8 are tougher matchups, but he’s in my lineup until the Week 9 bye, even when Rico Dowdle returns.

Derrick Henry is nearing age 33; he just doesn’t play like it. He had 102 rushing yards and threw in an 18-yard receiving TD against a defense that had been allowing fewer than 49 rushing yards per game. I look forward to people fading him in drafts until they’re finally right. Henry has some presumably tough matchups coming up until the Week 13 bye, but he’s in my lineup weekly.

Aaron Jones is another “ageless wonder” and is on his way to a fine season. The knock on Jones is missed games, and the season is early, but I’ll enjoy the profit while he’s healthy and until Jordan Mason gets back. Some players are week-to-week starts, and Jones has been one of the better ones. No one was saving the 2025 Vikings offense. Sunday’s 28-touch, 117-scrimmage-yard effort was workmanlike and had a TD on top. The bye is in Week 6, but the matchups are good until at least Week 12 vs. Atlanta.

Chase Brown is my dud of the week: 16 touches, 60 scrimmage yards, and a lost fumble. The fumble came on the Miami 7 with 7:03 left until halftime and the Bengals clinging to a 14-7 lead. It opened the door for Samaje Perine to get his first significant look of the season, as Perine also had 16 touches. Brown is still the lead back, but he looks like an overpay. There’ll be better days, but this was a second disappointment in three weeks against perceived good matchups. Cincy is off this week and then has three tougher matchups. I can’t really bench him, but I can’t get excited about playing him either.

Wide Receivers

Player: Christian Watson
Game: Bears
Stats: 6 receptions, 143 yards, 2 TDs on 8 targets

May Watson’s physical struggles be behind him, because this version of the player is a league winner in fantasy. He’s a WR1 we’ll get a big profit on if he plays. This was the second game against a “tough” divisional opponent in 2026; the first was in Week 1 vs. Minnesota, when the only statistical difference was that he had 147 yards instead of 143. There will be games that he’s closer to a mid-WR3 – the only WR in the top-10 with fewer targets per game is Zay Flowers – but games like this make it impossible to bench him. The schedule eases up until the Week 11 bye.

Notables:

Parker Washington is Watson-light. Not that that’s a knock; it’s just that the fantasy ceiling and floor have been lower than for Watson. The opportunities are higher. There will be disappointments (see Week 4 against Cincinnati), but he also needs to be in lineups. He had two spectacular touchdowns against the Eagles, both giving the Jags leads. Other than the Week 7 bye, the schedule is kind until the Bears in Week 13, and we just saw Watson and Matthew Golden shred them.

Malik Nabers had a whopping 20 targets Sunday. With 11 receptions, he could not help but be a fantasy hero in PPR and half PPR, but the efficiency was not great, with a 55% catch rate and 6.05 yards per target. I don’t know if that efficiency will improve with Winston as the QB, but the volume is such that he’s getting to be as valuable as he was as a rookie. The Week 8 bye looms, but the schedule is wheels up until Week 11.

George Pickens picked up the slack that CeeDee Lamb dropped. While Lamb dropped from 21 targets in Week 4 to 5 in Week 5, Pickens’ targets increased from 3 to 13. Although Pickens has been a disappointment this season, he had 11 targets in Week 3 as well, and he’s showing signs of being a high-level asset again. Keep eyes on the Cowboys’ Week 6 practice participation, as Lamb suffered a thigh injury in Week 5. The Cowboys’ schedule is mostly favorable until the Week 14 bye.

Mike Evans is a DAWG. Nursing rib fractures, he’s gritted through the last two weeks and came up large against the Seahawks. He made drive-extending catches, scored the 49ers’ first touchdown, and caught the two-point conversion that put them up 3 in the fourth quarter. He also picked up the slack when Deebo Samuel left the game with a hamstring injury in the third quarter. He is one of the differences that may keep the Niners at the top level of the NFC in 2026.

CeeDee Lamb and Tee Higgins are my co-duds of the week. I hate to pick on injured players and players on short rest, but for two players of such high regard to finish outside the top 200 players in PPR league scoring, those results are stunning. These aren’t players we can bench either. Sometimes tough pass defenses defuse healthy players, but 4.2 PPR points for Higgins and 2.9 for Lamb are rock bottom.

Tight Ends

Player: Isaiah Likely
Game: at Commanders
Stats: 11 receptions, 94 yards, 2 TDs on 13 targets

Winston was hyper-focused on both Nabers and Likely on Sunday, targeting those two 33 times and the rest of the team 19. The results aren’t always pretty, but pending tonight’s game, this will be Likely’s second finish as the top overall TE in PPR in the first five weeks. He’s also had 10+ targets three times. He’s set it and forget it, and I need to be less focused on the weather.

Notables:

Brock Bowers has more PPR points after 3 games than all but 4 TEs, and they’ve played 5 games. He’s had 10+ targets, 20+ PPR points, and a score every week. He’s the best fantasy TE. It’s not close.

Trey McBride is number 2. The main difference is that Bowers and Cousins have stretched the field better than McBride and Brissett do.

Pat Freiermuth is on his way to his best season since 2022 and a career high in TDs. He’s tied for the team lead in receptions, second in targets, and leads the team with 4 TDs. The rumored connection with Aaron Rodgers is no longer a rumor.

Tyler Warren is finally being allowed to stretch the field more. After a paltry 34 yards on his first 12 targets, he’s had 179 yards on his last 24 targets. That isn’t Brock Bowers or George Kittle territory, but it is an improvement. And he had a rushing TD on Sunday. He may hit my TE 3 projection for the season after all.

Harold Fannin Jr. is my dud of the week. He didn’t have a lot of support on a miserable day at MetLife Stadium, but a 4/1/4/0 line for 1.4 PPR points is disastrous. Fannin is still a top-notch asset, but is not matchup-proof, and the schedule before the Week 11 bye is not pretty. Of the top TEs, he’s the one I’m most likely to stream.

Enjoy the game tonight, and we’ll see you in a week.

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