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Should I start Jerry Jeudy, Calvin Ridley, Tre Tucker for Week 5? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
Fantasy football is often as much a game of trying to beat your opponents as it is trying to survive a rash of season-ending injuries and bye weeks. This is especially true for fantasy managers who drafted New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers (knee) and Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill (knee).
Both suffered season-ending knee injuries in Week 4, leaving a gaping void in the rosters of fantasy managers who took them in their drafts. Granted that they were clear every-week must-starts, those managers are actively looking to replace them.
Unfortunately, in the lower tier of WRs, week-to-week start 'em, sit 'em decisions can be the difference between winning and losing your matchups. Players in the WR3/WR4 conversation often have boom games, but sometimes more often bust. So let's break down three of these kind of players for Week 5!
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Should I Start Jerry Jeudy for Fantasy Football?
Jeudy is currently the clear No. 1 Browns wide receiver. He'll be the starter now that Cedric Tillman (hamstring) is on injured reserve and set to miss at least four games. Jeudy played in over 80 percent of his team's offensive snaps in every game so far, so he has a clear role.
That's about where the good news ends. Cleveland's former starting quarterback, Joe Flacco, was benched for rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel for Week 5. Gabriel hasn't played a down in the NFL yet, and things could be very rocky from the start.
Myles Garrett on Dillon Gabriel: “He runs the offense like this is his offense.”
“He looks like he’s been doing it for years.”
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) October 3, 2025
Despite praise from his teammates, it's hard to be optimistic. If Gabriel even becomes a starting-caliber quarterback, he might need at least a full season to develop, if not more. Quarterbacks picked where he was, especially in weak draft classes, tend to struggle.
Cleveland is dealing with offensive line woes, too. And they'll have to face a blitz-heavy Minnesota Vikings defense in Week 5, in an overseas game. The Vikings also allow the fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers of any defense in the NFL.
It's not impossible that Jeudy has a big game, but it's hard for me to trust starting him.
Should I Start Calvin Ridley for Fantasy Football?
Ridley (knee/elbow) has been one of this year's biggest fantasy disappointments, just like he was last year, just like he was the year before, and so on. He's the WR75 overall despite entering the season being expected to be the Tennessee Titans No. 1 receiver. And he's already started dropping passes again.
He's dropped three passes through four games, which isn't great. Most concerning though is his complete lack of ability to separate from coverage. He's been one of the worst WRs in the NFL at getting open, and at age 30, it seems unlikely that better days are ahead. The good days are behind him.
Through 3 weeks, it's time to panic about Calvin Ridley. The fall-off has been spectacular. Brutal start to the season.#Titans need to be in the market for a wr1 asap pic.twitter.com/1JyrHzX1Ke
— Drew Beatty (@IronCityFilm) September 23, 2025
Ridley's film is bad, and his advanced statistics are bad. His production is bad. And he's getting thrown to by one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. It's generally unpopular to criticize rookies when they're playing poorly, but Ward is one of the least accurate passers in the league.
Cam Ward buys time and connects across the field to Elic Ayomanor!
TENvsHOU on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/QI8QGuEPDt
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2025
The only receiver you should consider starting on the Titans is Elic Ayomanor. His connection with Ward has actually been serviceable. Ridley should stay on the bench, and I'd not even be happy to have him there outside of deep leagues.
Ridley is dealing with knee and elbow injuries, but expected to play.
Should I Start Tre Tucker for Fantasy Football?
Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tucker's 40+ point PPR detonation in Week 3 against the Washington Commanders was followed by... well, basically nothing. Tucker caught his only two targets for 13 yards and carried the ball twice for nine yards, finishing with 4.2 PPR fantasy points.
Washington's pass defense was hampered by bad injury luck in the Raiders game, and they busted all three coverages that led to Tucker's touchdowns. Most teams don't have such poor pass defenses, so Tucker's return to being irrelevant wasn't a huge surprise after his massive "breakout" game.
#Raiders WR Tre Tucker averaged 6.6 yards of separation vs the Bears
He had 2 targets where he posted 2 rec for 13 yards
— Tristen Kuhn (@KuhnTristen) September 29, 2025
Tucker's played well so far. The quarterback problem is massive, though -- Geno Smith, the Raiders starting QB, completed just 14 of his 21 passes for 117 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions against a Chicago Bears secondary that was decimated by injury in Week 4.
It's hard to trust Tucker to have a big game, but in deeper leagues, he's at least worth a flex spot.
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 Jerry Jeudy, Calvin Ridley, Tre Tucker. 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 - Jerry Jeudy, Calvin Ridley, Tre Tucker. 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 Jerry Jeudy, Calvin Ridley, Tre Tucker. compared to others:
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