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Should I start Marquise Brown, Isaiah Bond, Travis Hunter for Week 5? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
If you're in deeper leagues, have multiple players out with injury or on their bye weeks, or just had bad luck in your drafts, you're probably wondering how to navigate the mess of choosing which of the "lower tier" wide receivers to start.
Among this group of ambiguous WRs are Kansas City Chiefs WR Marquise Brown, Cleveland Browns wideout Isaiah Bond, and Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter. Bond and Hunter are both rookies while Brown is a long-time veteran.
Of course, it's generally more difficult to predict what will happen with first-year players, but they also have a degree of unknown upside that's important to try to tap into sometimes. So which of these players are worth starting in Week 5?
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Should I Start Marquise Brown for Fantasy Football?
At this point, there doesn't seem to be much hope for Brown having more big games. His 16-target Week 1 contest is firmly in the rearview mirror. Since then, he's averaged under 10.0 PPR fantasy points per game, and has been targeted 16 times in the three games combined.
Brown's upside appears severely capped by the return of wide receiver Xavier Worthy. Though he does have two more games until the Chiefs WR1, Rashee Rice, returns from his suspension, he only caught three passes for 38 yards last week in a blowout win against the Baltimore Ravens.
Patrick Mahomes' first 4-TD game since 2023 🙌
BALvsKC on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/pRYHsg0f2B
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2025
Kansas City was running up the score against a hapless Ravens squad with a faltering defense that had just lost its starting quarterback. Were it not for the TD saving his fantasy day, he'd have been unstartable. I'm not saying he's unstartable this week, though.
But he plays close to half his snaps in the slot, and he'll face the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. They've struggled against outside receivers, but are allowing the fewest points per game to slot receivers. This could be because opposing teams are exploiting the outside corners more and target the slot guys less.
So I don't like starting Brown outside of deep leagues.
Should I Start Isaiah Bond for Fantasy Football?
Bond is another player I'm very nervous about putting in my starting lineups. He had a nice game in Week 4, and I wouldn't be surprised if he challenges for -- and wins -- the team's WR1 job. And fellow Browns wideout Cedric Tillman (hamstring) was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
This likely opens up Bond for more opportunities moving forward. But Cleveland has had one of the worst passing offenses in the league this season under quarterback Joe Flacco, and now they're rolling out a rookie -- 2025 NFL Draft third-round pick Dillon Gabriel -- as their starter.
DILLON GABRIEL TOOK OFF 💨@oregonfootball is back on top 🦆 pic.twitter.com/iIHmJhiacF
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 14, 2024
Gabriel certainly has more rushing ability than does Flacco, but starting a rookie on a team with a bad offense and a new starting rookie quarterback that was picked outside of the first two rounds is definitely risky. In the leagues I have Bond in, I'm keeping him on the bench to wait and see how Gabriel plays.
Should I Start Travis Hunter for Fantasy Football?
Hunter's start to his NFL career hasn't been great. He's shown flashes of ridiculous talent at the catch point, but other than that, he really hasn't played well. And his playing time and usage on offense have been poor. He's been used on defense more than many people anticipated.
What a catch by Travis Hunter for 28 yards!
JAXvsSF on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/5uLmQhBQlr
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2025
There's a light at the end of the tunnel, at least. The first good sign of last week was the absurdly athletic catch above. Jacksonville's passing game is struggling, and though they've been able to make it work with a great run game so far, they have a tougher schedule coming up.
In Week 5, they'll face the Kansas City Chiefs, who have a very disciplined run defense. They might be forced to put Hunter on the field on offense more if they want to build enough of a lead to win the game. Agaist the Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a one-score lead late in the fourth quarter simply isn't safe.
Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter limited defensive snaps (9 of 66) last week was “decision we all made together,” per HC Liam Coen
Coen said it was in part game plan related. They expected run-heavy 49ers
Hunter’s MNF vs. Chiefs plan is "as we go" but Coen is “very pleased” with him pic.twitter.com/PYqqjmziFv
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) October 2, 2025
But Jaguars head coach Liam Coen might have simply played Hunter less on defense because of how they believed the offense would play, as you can see from the post above. The Chiefs are a more pass-heavy team, and perhaps Coen will want Hunter to focus on slowing down their passing game.
Hunter thus isn't a player I feel comfortable starting. He needs to get targeted more in the passing game for now -- it's that simple.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 5 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Marquise Brown, Isaiah Bond, Travis Hunter. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 5. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 5 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Marquise Brown, Isaiah Bond, Travis Hunter. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 5.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed, our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 5 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 5 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 5 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 5 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Marquise Brown, Isaiah Bond, Travis Hunter compared to others:
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