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John Johnson's six fantasy football bold predictions for Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season. Expert predictions for Jaxson Dart, Daniel Jones, Courtland Sutton, and more.
Bold predictions, when backed up by solid evidence, can sometimes turn out to be accurate. When they feature players that aren't obvious must-start studs in all leagues, they can help you win your matchups.
Predicting that a team's clear WR1 will have a big game against a bad defense doesn't do much for fantasy managers, and it's hard to pass that off as a true bold prediction.
But betting against big-name players, or pointing out when relatively unknown players will have solid games, can help fantasy managers in these troubling times of injuries and bye weeks. So let's dive into five bold predictions for Week 5 that could help you win your matchups!
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Tommy Tremble Scores 15+ PPR Fantasy Points Again
Carolina Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble isn't a name many fantasy managers are familiar with, which is why it might be a surprise that you're seeing him on this bold predictions list. But he's played solid football and gotten plenty of volume in games where he's the starting tight end.
Normally, that role would belong to TE Ja'Tavion Sanders (ankle), but he's set to miss Week 5 with an ankle injury. In his absence, the vast majority of the tight end receiving work goes to Tremble, and he has a very favorable matchup against the soft Miami Dolphins defense.
TOMMY TREMBLE BALLING OUT TODAY pic.twitter.com/FLwThj9voo
— Blande (@JustBlande) December 24, 2023
In general, for the Panthers, when one of their starting tight ends is out, the other gets pretty solid volume. In a soft matchup, that could easily mean a line of around seven catches for 80 yards for Tremble.
Darius Slayton Eclipses 100 Receiving Yards
New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton might be the biggest and most immediate beneficiary of the switch from quarterback Russell Wilson to Jaxson Dart as the Giants' starter. With wide receiver Malik Nabers (knee), the team's No. 1 target, out for the season with a torn ACL, Slayton could snag the WR1 job.
His biggest competition is Wan'Dale Robinson, but he's a much smaller slot receiver, and Dart made a living in college football by airing the ball out. Last year, of all quarterbacks in the SEC conference in NCAA football with 300 or more pass attempts, he easily had the highest yards per attempt.
Mace let's talk about Darius Slayton; he's wide open in the red zone right here... pic.twitter.com/ahCPghCfzw
— Mace (@realmaceblack) September 7, 2025
Slayton hasn't been playing bad football, but Wilson was. Dart should be able to unlock Slayton's upside -- the two could have connected for a long touchdown in Week 4, but the veteran wideout was held by a defender, drawing a flag from the officials.
The Saints have a favorable matchup against the New Orleans Saints in Week 5. They run a high rate of Cover 3 defensive shells, which Slayton is efficient against.
Dallas Goedert Outscores A.J. Brown (Again)
Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert (knee) has surprisingly been his team's best pass-catcher. His outscoring the team's top WR, A.J. Brown, yet again is quite a bold prediction. That's why it's here, though. Last week, Brown caught just two passes for seven yards.
Brown has been the biggest disappointment in fantasy football this year. Despite him still playing at a very high level, he's just the WR47 in PPR scoring. He's hardly been used by his team aside from one game. Goedert has 41.4 PPR fantasy points while Brown has just 35.1 through four contests.
We saw this all the time under Andy Reid, but Jalen Hurts with the shovel pass to Dallas Goedert.
Eagles up 21-3. Goedert’s third TD the last two games.
Kevin Patullo in his bag today pic.twitter.com/vkdFxL35cK
— Chase Senior (@Chase_Senior) September 28, 2025
The Eagles have realized that they don't have to take many risks to win the game. They can thrive off of dump-off passes to running backs, quarterback Jalen Hurts scrambling again and again to pick up key first downs, and straying away from passing the ball down the field on the perimeter.
Goedert has benefitted from this, as they've used him on throws and shovel passes near the line of scrimmage. He has a good matchup against the Broncos -- they run a lot of man coverage, which he excels against. Even the Broncos' offense might struggle to put up points against the Eagles, as they don't have a lot of good WR depth.
Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell could easily stymie the Broncos' WR1.
Courtland Sutton Held Under 50 Receiving Yards
Speaking of the Broncos' WR1, Sutton will have a tough challenge to face. The aforementioned cornerback Mitchell has been playing lights out this season. He's one of the NFL's best cornerbacks, and he's part of a highly talented Eagles defense.
This is by far the best game of Quinyon Mitchell's career. It is probably the best single game of CB film I've ever watched. Truly special stuff. pic.twitter.com/kgchn4tLfa
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) September 29, 2025
Mitchell could be well on his way to First-Team All-Pro honors; that's how well he's played. He's a nightmare matchup for any opposing receiver, and he should be matched up against Sutton early and often in Sunday's game. It might not be pretty.
Sutton does play well against man coverage, for what it's worth. The easiest way this prediction goes awry is if Broncos head coach Sean Payton gets Sutton in the offensive lineup away from Mitchell as much as possible. Mitchell is unlikely to give much ground at all.
Daniel Jones Scores 20+ Fantasy Points
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones didn't have a great game against the Los Angeles Rams. He scored just 12.4 PPR fantasy points. But it wasn't entirely his fault. While his two interceptions didn't help, he also had one of his receivers, Adonai Mitchell, drop a pass while trying to celebrate before getting into the end zone for no reason.
Had he simply held on to the ball, Jones would have scored at least 16.4 PPR fantasy points and had a mostly fine outing. This isn't Jones' fault at all. There was also another passing touchdown called back by a bad penalty. Jones played well overall; he just had some bad luck.
Ball is out before it crosses the goal line. It’s a touchback!
INDvsLAR on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/DtuT1kDX9s
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2025
In his other games, Jones has scored 29.5, 22.8, and 15.8 fantasy points. He's the overall QB7, and could be a bit higher if Mitchell hadn't had such a gaffe. Though one of Jones' top receivers, Alec Pierce (concussion), is set to miss Week 5, it might not matter much.
The Colts will face the floundering Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5. They've won just one game this season, and allow an average of 17.0 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. Their poor defense will likely be no match for Indy's hard-riding offense.
There’s Daniel Jones the freakin MVP - what a world
pic.twitter.com/H92talAH9Q— John Frascella (Football) (@NFLFrascella) September 21, 2025
Even if WR Michael Pittman Jr. (hamstring) misses time, I expect Jones to have another nice game. If he was dropped by a fantasy manager in your league after his last game, make sure to pick him up.
Jaxson Dart Rushes For Two Touchdowns
New York Giants quarterback Dart had a nice debut in Week 4. He scored 19.8 PPR fantasy points against the Los Angeles Chargers despite losing his No. 1 receiver, Nabers (knee), to a torn ACL. Dart scored many of his points by rushing for 54 yards and a touchdown.
Despite a matchup against a tough defense, he averaged 5.4 yards per carry. Dart's athleticism has long been underrated -- he wasn't seen as the best running quarterback from his class, yet he's always been a more talented rusher than No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward, according to my analysis.
Jaxson Dart every dropback and run from his NFL debut vs 3-0 LAC
165 Total YDS, 2 TDS, 0 INT https://t.co/6uyJaEEA9T pic.twitter.com/0B2xLRp9hK
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) September 28, 2025
Feel free to watch all his dropbacks here. He looked a bit like a rookie -- he was often hesitant in the pocket, not letting passes rip when he had open receivers, but that's something that can be corrected with time. The biggest thing is his rushing upside -- it's an absolute cheat code for fantasy production.
Dart has the size to be effective as a runner and solid speed, and he's elusive in the pocket. He does a good job of avoiding sacks. While he only threw one touchdown pass and didn't have a lot of passing yards against Los Angeles, he had one TD dropped and another that never happened because his receiver was held on the play.
Jaxson Dart was robbed! Should've had THREE more TD passes in his Giants debut
Play 1: Bad drop by Wan'Dale
Play 2: False start GVR
Play 3: Defensive hold, otherwise Slayton gets to the spot for a TD catch (on a route Dart checked into after seeing the zero-pressure type look) pic.twitter.com/w1bh6Zqfhj— Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL) September 30, 2025
His receivers will be a weakness moving forward, but he can have a good game against a bad Saints team. Dart is a must-start in all leagues for Week 5.
