Booms and Busts - Fantasy Football Starts and Sits for Week 5 Lineups (2025)

Dave's fantasy football start 'em and sit 'em booms and busts for Week 5 of 2025. Sneaky starts that may boom, and typical starters who will disappoint.

October is here, and we have officially entered the second month of the fantasy football season. Much to the chagrin of fantasy gamers, that means bye weeks have also begun.

The Bears, Packers, Falcons, and Steelers are all off this week. Fantasy managers will need lineup replacements for these players. If you’re missing a few starters this week due to byes or injuries, we’ve got you covered with some potential starting options for Week 5, as well as some players to fade.

Make sure you’re following RotoBaller on X and download the RotoBaller app for all your fantasy football needs. Let’s get in our boom/bust picks for Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season.

Sonic Boom of the Week

Marvin Harrison Jr. - WR, Arizona Cardinals vs. Tennessee Titans

Harrison looked completely lost during the first half of last week’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. Thankfully, and for the sake of fantasy football managers everywhere, Harrison turned it around in the second half and finished with a 6-66-1 line on 10 targets.

🤩 IT'S MARV 🤩

📺 Amazon Prime pic.twitter.com/LfzYZCZQZQ

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 26, 2025

Week 5 presents a perfect opportunity for Harrison to build upon last week's performance. Arizona takes on the Tennessee Titans, and Tennessee’s defense has been among the worst in the league.

The Titans rank 26th in defensive passing DVOA Per FTN Fantasy. Tennessee also ranks 23rd in DVOA against opposing WR1s and allows an average of 5.5 receptions and 79.8 receiving yards per game to opposing WR1s, too. The cherry on top? Tennessee has allowed the fifth-most PPR points to opposing wide receivers in 2025, per Fantasy Football Today.

With starting running back Trey Benson going on injured reserve due to a knee injury, Arizona is now down its top two running backs. Even though the team wants to establish the run, its best path to victory could be airing it out and targeting Harrison and tight end Trey McBride.

Betting on Harrison with Kyler Murray at quarterback is always a risky proposition. However, this week looks like the perfect recipe for an explosive game from Arizona’s sophomore wide receiver. Fire him up in all formats as he is live to break triple digits in receiving yards and could find the endzone again, too.

Other Week 5 Fantasy Football Booms

C.J. Stroud - QB, Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens

The Texans' offense finally showed some signs of life last week in a 26-0 victory over the Tennessee Titans. Stroud had his best game of the season to date and threw a pair of touchdown passes in the process.

Houston now faces a Baltimore Ravens team that’s been hit hard with injuries. This is a spot where Stroud could pop for a big game. Baltimore has allowed the second-most passing yards per game and has allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this year. The Ravens also rank just 22nd in PFF’s pass rush grade, so Houston’s subpar offensive line may hold up in this matchup and give Stroud time to find open receivers downfield.

If your regular starter is on bye or if you’ve been streaming the position, Stroud is an excellent replacement option this week.

Jameson Williams - WR, Detroit Lions at Cincinnati Bengals

We listed Williams as a boom in this article last week. He repaid the favor by posting a 2-40-0 line on eight targets and finished as the WR64.

Despite that poor effort, we’re going back to the well again as Detroit is set to face the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend. Even though Cincinnati changed defensive coordinators this offseason, its defense remains terrible. The Bengals rank 27th in defensive passing DVOA and allow the eighth most PPR points per game to opposing wide receivers.

Detroit was so close to hitting Williams on multiple big plays in Week 4. This matchup gives Williams a chance for one of those famous week-winning performances. Because of that, we’ll give him a second chance as this matchup is too good to ignore.

Fire him up as a WR3 or flex play.

Mason Taylor - TE, New York Jets vs. Dallas Cowboys

Taylor has seen consistent playing time throughout the year, as he’s played at least 72% of offensive snaps in every game this season. He had his best game as a professional this past Monday night against the Miami Dolphins. Taylor caught five passes for 65 yards and finished the week as the PPR TE11.

He now gets to face a Dallas Cowboys defense that’s been all around awful in 2025. Dallas ranks 27th in DVOA against tight ends and has allowed the most PPR points to the position, too

Look for Taylor to build upon his Week 4 performance, and don't be surprised if he also scores his first career touchdown.

Michael Carter - RB, Arizona Cardinals vs. Tennessee Titans

Arizona placed running back Benson on injured reserve earlier this week. That move sent gamers who were relying on Benson scrambling for options. There’s some debate on which running back Arizona will rely on this week. However, my money is on Carter to handle RB1 duties.

STARTING being the key word https://t.co/WhomRHg7It

— Andrew Ball (@ajball4real) October 1, 2025

Carter previously stepped in as the Cardinals' starter last year when James Conner missed time due to injury. The former North Carolina Tarheel had 15 and 21 touches in Weeks 17 and 18 last year while filling in for Conner. Arizona also has a great matchup this week as the Tennessee Titans allow over 141 rushing yards per game.

There’s some risk here since we don't know exactly how the team will distribute touches between Carter and third-year back Emari Demercado. However, Arizona has previously shown they have no issues using Carter in a bell cow role, so he gets the nod for us this week.

Start him as a flex play in all formats.

Landmine of the Week

Emeka Egbuka - WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Seattle Seahawks

Egbuka has been fantastic to start 2025 and has surpassed all expectations. This week could be the one where he takes a step back, though, as the Seahawks have been very good at limiting opposing receivers.

Seattle currently ranks first in DVOA against opposing WR1s and allows 5.3 receptions and 39.8 receiving yards per game to the position. The Seahawks have also allowed the third-fewest PPR points to wide receivers this year. Starting quarterback Baker Mayfield is also dealing with multiple injuries, and his play could be limited as a result.

This is a tough matchup for the Buccaneers' rookie. This game could also morph into a defensive slugfest, and Egbuka carries major bust potential if that's the case. If you have other viable options, consider pivoting off Egbuka this week.

Other Week 5 Fantasy Football Busts

Kenneth Walker III - RB, Seattle Seahawks vs.Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Walker is coming off a solid performance in Week 4. However, the Buccaneers’ run defense is among the best in the league. Tampa Bay has allowed the fifth-fewest rushing yards this year and ranks first in defensive rushing DVOA.

Tough matchup aside, Walker is still stuck in a timeshare with Zach Charbonnet and does not appear to be the team’s preferred goal-line back. Charbonnet received all of Seattle’s carries inside the five-yard line last week, per Fantasy Points Data Suite. Tampa Bay has allowed the 11th-fewest explosive rushing yards this year, so it also appears unlikely that Walker could pop for a few chunk plays.

This is a tough running back room to predict every week, but it seems like this is a game where we can safely leave Walker on the bench.

DeVonta Smith - WR, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Denver Broncos

Smith is coming off another dud performance last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He only caught two passes for 29 receiving yards and finished as the PPR WR70.

The Eagles' WR2 draws another tough matchup this weekend. The Denver Broncos rank eighth in DVOA against opposing WR2s and have allowed the seventh-fewest PPR points to receivers this year. Denver has also allowed just one touchdown to wide receivers so far in 2025.

This projects as another game where Philadelphia will rely heavily on its ground attack and defense to carry them to a victory. That means it's safe to leave Smith out of fantasy lineups.

Zay Flowers - WR, Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans

Flowers will likely be without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson, and he goes against a Texans defense that's been very good to start the year. Houston has allowed just two touchdowns to wide receivers and ranks ninth in defensive passing DVOA.

Baltimore’s offensive line could also struggle against a Houston defense that ranks third in PFF’s pass rush grade. That could mean backup Cooper Rush is under duress for most of the game, and that could prevent him from finding Flowers downfield.

Flowers does get a slight boost in PPR formats as Baltimore might pepper him with short-area targets to get the ball out of Rush’s hands quickly. Short of that, this is just a bad spot for Flowers, who’s dealing with a tough matchup and a backup quarterback. Consider other options this week.

Brenton Strange - TE, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Strange has arguably been the best Jacksonville pass-catcher this year. However, he gets a tough draw in Week 5.

Kansas City ranks third in DVOA against tight ends and allows an average of 3.8 receptions and 33 receiving yards per game to the position. As a result, the Chiefs have allowed the fourth-fewest PPR points to tight ends through four games.

Strange has shown enough that he will remain in the TE1 conversation for the remainder of the season. This is not a good sport to play him, though, and gamers should consider other streaming options for this week.

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