Fantasy Football Landmines to Avoid for Week 5 - Jalen Hurts, Mike Evans, Tyler Warren, more

October 10, 2026

Aidin looks at fantasy football landmines, busts, and avoids for Week 5 of 2026. Given these Week 5 fantasy situations, consider benching these players.

Week 5 is here, and what an upset! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got their first win of the season, with Bucky Irving carrying the team on his back and head coach Todd Bowles buying more time, for now at least. The Cowboys are puzzled: are they good enough to make the playoffs? Anyway, it's now time for the main Sunday slate.

In this weekly series, I'll highlight five players who could disappoint due to several factors, such as their matchup, team situation, or whether their current run of form is unsustainable. Benching these star names will be tough, but you have to take risks to win. Last week had two big wins, as Emeka Egbuka and DJ Moore combined for just 4.5 PPR points. Bo Nix and Mark Andrews had lukewarm performances, with Andrews barely crossing the 11.0 PPR-point mark thanks to a touchdown. Javonte Williams was the huge outlier, finishing as the PPR RB2. It's safe to say I'm not trusting the Texans' defense for the time being.

Without further ado, let's look at five fantasy football landmines you should bench ahead of Week 5 of the 2026 NFL season.

Jalen Hurts, QB, at Jacksonville Jaguars

Last week, I started my article talking about Nix with the sentence "he just keeps finding ways to win."

That sentence/backhanded compliment has been used to describe Jalen Hurts more than almost any other QB in the last decade, but it seems like his luck is slowly running out, and his detractors are becoming louder than ever.

The former Super Bowl MVP had an impressive three-touchdown performance in Week 1, but has thrown for just 510 yards, four touchdowns, and three interceptions in the three games since.

Last week was arguably the low point of the Hurts era in Philadelphia, as he had only 93 passing yards and completed 44.4% of his throws. The idea of trading Hurts after this season would have been unfathomable 12 months ago, but now it seems like a real possibility.

With Jaxson Dart and Jayden Daniels' injuries (though Daniels will return this week) and the Cowboys' defensive ineptitude, the Eagles simply have no excuse not to win the NFC East this season.

The Eagles will face some easier opponents in the middle of the season, but things aren't going to get any easier right now. The Jacksonville Jaguars are on a roll, having won 11 of their last 12 regular-season games.

Their pass defense might give up plenty of yards, but they prevent scores by recording takeaways at the perfect time. Players such as Foyesade Oluokun and the rapidly improving Travis Hunter have helped the team record at least one interception in every game this season, including four total interceptions in consecutive games against Drake Maye and Joe Burrow.

With DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley likely out, Hurts will have his work cut out for him against a red-hot team playing at their spiritual home of London.

Mike Evans, WR, at Seattle Seahawks

The legendary Mike Evans made the wise decision of leaving the flailing Buccaneers in the offseason and has helped the 49ers jump to a 4-0 record. Evans has caught two touchdowns so far and is currently the PPR WR22, which is quite impressive for a 33-year-old.

Mike Evans Misses Practice, Expected to Play at Seattle https://t.co/E6BjcxMNM4

— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) October 8, 2026

However, his age and experience come with wear and tear, and injuries have hampered Evans in the last few seasons. 2026 has been no exception, as he's been dealing with a rib injury.

He played through the injury and put up 76 yards against the Broncos last week, and he's expected to do the same against the Seahawks on Sunday.

The Seahawks concerned many with a shocking loss to the Commanders in Week 3, but they bounced back in their next game to defeat the Chargers and move to 3-1.

The Seahawks' Super Bowl-winning "Dark Side" defense is still as strong as ever, as they haven't allowed a single quarterback to pass the 190 passing yards mark so far this season.

Of course, they'll have to be on top of their game to stop Brock Purdy, arguably the most in-form player in the NFL right now, but they've been successful against him recently.

Purdy has thrown for three touchdowns and five interceptions with a 75.6 passer rating in his last four (regular season and playoffs) games against Seattle, and he'll have an uphill battle to overcome his Seahawks demons this week.

Evans' injury, combined with his quarterback's previous struggles against this formidable opponent, makes starting him a risky call this week.

David Montgomery, RB, at Tennessee Titans

Teams love to run the ball against the Tennessee Titans. Their defense ranks first in the most rushing attempts faced (134) and was torched by Breece Hall in Week 1, but they've done a solid job weathering the storm ever since.

They haven't allowed any player to cross the 75-yard mark since Hall, which is impressive as they've faced Barkley, Cam Skattebo, Lamar Jackson, and former franchise legend Derrick Henry in that span.

Robert Saleh's men have gained valuable experience in this stretch and have surprisingly held their own despite the obscenely high number of attempts.

This experience will be put to the test in Week 5, as they face one of the worst rushing teams in the NFL, the division rival Houston Texans.

RB1 David Montgomery, traded to the Texans in the offseason and lauded as their "missing piece" in the team's quest for a Super Bowl, has been incredibly disappointing so far this season.

Montgomery has rushed for just 127 yards on 2.7 yards per carry so far this season and only ran for 24 yards on 10 carries against the Cowboys last week; the same defense that just allowed Irving to run for 165 yards.

Montgomery will get his fair share of carries against Tennessee, but he likely won't be efficient.

Jordan Love, QB, vs. Chicago Bears

It hasn't been an easy season for Jordan Love. Injuries to his offensive line and Josh Jacobs' suspension have absolutely ruined the Packers' offense so far this season, and it's no surprise that they currently rank 25th in points scored per drive.

Love won't get to resume his rivalry with Caleb Williams this week, instead having to go up against Tyson Bagent. The Bears have proven that they're a quarterback-proof team, however, and their defense has been a big part of that.

They haven't allowed a quarterback to go over 155 passing yards in their last three games, allowing one passing touchdown and recording an interception during that span. This defense, combined with Love's offensive line situation, makes Week 5 a potentially disastrous matchup.

Tyler Warren, TE, at Pittsburgh Steelers

Remember when the Indianapolis Colts started the 2025 season with a 7-1 record, with Tyler Warren averaging 61.5 yards per game? While Daniel Jones' injury was the straw that broke the camel's back, their slide truly began when they faced the Steelers.

TRENT JORDAN WATT‼️ @_TJWatt

📺 #INDvsPIT on @paramountplus https://t.co/44KIVr6HBd

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 2, 2025

Warren only had 26 yards, while Jones turned the ball over five times in a 20-27 loss. Fast forward to 2026, and while the Steelers are pretty much the same team minus Mike Tomlin, the Colts are in a much less favorable position compared to the start of last season.

Jones has four total touchdowns to seven turnovers, and hasn't had a game with over 235 passing yards so far this season. Jones' regression following his Achilles injury has naturally affected Warren, with the sophomore tight end averaging just 32.5 yards per game, though his 23 receptions have helped his production in PPR formats.

The Steelers have allowed 147 yards and 9.9 PPR points per game to TEs in 2026, both ranking as the ninth-lowest marks in the league. Warren will have a tough time against an opponent he's previously struggled against.

You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.

Week 5 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players -- Jalen Hurts, Mike Evans, David Montgomery, Jordan Love, and Tyler Warren. 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 name. In the second box, search for the second player 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 that 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, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare, with 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 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 (2026)? 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 searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 5 for Jalen Hurts, Mike Evans, David Montgomery, Jordan Love, and Tyler Warren: