RADIO
Kevin looks for fantasy football risers, sleepers, breakout candidates for Week 6 of 2025. He analyzes last week's targets, receptions, air yards, snaps, routes.
Welcome back to our fantasy football targets, routes, and snap counts analysis for Week 6 of the 2025 NFL season. Targets are paramount when it comes to evaluating pass-catchers for fantasy football. There are no air yards, receiving yards, receptions, or touchdowns without first earning a target. There’s a reason the biggest and most consistent target-earners are among the top fantasy point scorers; they can be relied on by not just their team’s offense to earn targets and produce on those targets.
We’ll take a weekly team-by-team review of these target earners and separate the wheat from the chaff. Everything we’ll discuss in this season’s WR/TE/RB targets, air yards, and snaps trends analysis article will be some of the best metrics correlating to fantasy production. Think of targets as a page in a coloring book, representing the outline yet to be colored. Coloring on that page adds context and flavor. That’s what we’ll do with targets — adding more context than just some target totals and box score stats.
Week 6 has us with 15 games and two byes: the Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings. Plenty of awesome things this week, including the rise of some rookie running backs, huge upsets by teams nobody expected, and a ton of detail into the why of a rookie running back we wanted to immediately be a thing after a huge Week 5. We can't always have it our way, but it gets explained in great detail!
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
- Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Note: Statistics from our player pages at RotoBaller were included during the compilation of data, in addition to some of the following sites/databases: Pro Football Reference, PFF, Fantasy Points Data Suite, rbdsm.com/stats, NFELO, NFL NextGenStats, NFL Pro+, RotoViz, ESPN Stats and Info, and SumerSports.
Cardinals Notes From Week 5:
To quote the great Happy Gilmore, “Talk about your all-time backfires!” Of course, this is directed at Emari Demercado, who may just end up in one of those boxes at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. His gaffe set in motion the events that would lead to the Titans edging the Cardinals 22-21 and continuing to establish Arizona as the preeminent underachieving franchise in the NFL.
Okay, let’s get to the on-field stuff. Head coach Jonathan Gannon continually says that the team needs to get Marvin Harrison Jr. (4-98, five targets) going or get him more targets. He said it at Monday’s press conference. You know how you do that? In the game! Not in press conferences or radio spots.
It feels like the Cardinals, Gannon, and Kyler Murray want to, but ultimately, Harrison’s ceiling might just be a more skilled Rashod Bateman. That’s perfectly fine! That’s a solid NFL player and one who will have a nice career. But he’s never asserted himself the way a fourth-overall pick should.
Trey McBride was just fine, earning a team-leading seven targets. No other wide receiver or tight end caught more than two receptions on the afternoon.
We can talk about Demercado all we want, but he stayed in his typical third-down role, while Michael Carter took a sizable chunk of the rushing volume with 23 opportunities (18 rushes, five receptions). He capitalized with a touchdown and 73 total yards, so there’s a little something here going forward, but this performance seems like one of the better outcomes he’ll have this season.
Formerly Zonovan, Bam Knight had five opportunities and even scored a touchdown from short yardage on a bit of work that could grow if the team falls out of favor with Demercado.
The Atlanta Falcons were on bye in Week 5.
Ravens Notes From Week 5:
Under the Cooper Rush regime in Baltimore, the Ravens kind of (actually do) stink. I guess using “kind of” is my way of being democratic about it. Anyway, Rush stinks. They had just 20 pass attempts and 19 rushes. They barely ran any plays – just 40. Only Zay Flowers (5-72) and Mark Andrews (2-22) had more than two targets. Derrick Henry (13-33-1 rushing; one target) was game-scripted out of the game and scored the team’s only touchdown in the third quarter.
Get well, Lamar Jackson; you’re our only hope.
Bills Notes From Week 5:
Both Josh Allen and Keon Coleman fumbled in the first quarter, and when added to the Rhamondre Stevenson fumble, made for an incredibly sloppy first quarter. In fact, these were the opening six drives for both teams before a Patriots’ field goal (on four plays for -1 yard) opened the scoring for the game.
The Bills are who they are: a very spread-out offense in the passing game, where it’s hard to pinpoint who will be the top target weekly. Also spread out are the routes, where Khalil Shakir (6-45, team-leading nine targets) ran the most routes of any Bills pass-catcher in Week 5, but at just 73 percent. Coleman (4-23-1) and Curtis Samuel (2-26-1) caught Allen’s touchdown passes, and Dalton Kincaid paced the production with the first 100-yard game of his career on just 60 percent of routes.
Kincaid’s fantasy value is tough, because while he does feel like a start at a thin position, the routes per dropback hovering around 60 percent really make it difficult to find the consistency and upside to rise above that baseline in a good week. Add in the personnel being very spread out with Dawson Knox and Jackson Hawes getting on the field a ton, plus the other wide receivers commanding spread-out target volume, and you’ve got a perplexing situation.
Kincaid feels like the 12th tight end started in a 12-team league; somebody that should certainly be rostered in every fantasy league, but not an automatic start by any means. One other note: seeing Kincaid get targeted much deeper down the field for sure helps the upside case.
Cook (15-49 rushing; one target) had a down game, but the role is strong, and the gap is wide between him and Ray Davis (2-1). Ty Johnson (2-10) got on the field a little more in Week 5, but it’s nothing we’re making a strong note of as it relates to Cook.
Panthers Notes From Week 5:
The end of the Panthers/Dolphins game got really fun at the end with back-and-forth scores at the end of the fourth quarter. Inside the span of eight minutes, the Panthers scored a touchdown, the Dolphins scored a touchdown to answer, and then Carolina scored again to cement a 27-24 final.
The clear story for the Panthers was Rico Dowdle (23-206-1 rushing; 3-28 rushing) and his 206 yards. It’s safe to say nobody really saw it coming, but anybody who started him obviously was pleased. Without Chuba Hubbard, Dowdle is a solid start going forward, but we probably shouldn’t expect 200 yards in each subsequent game.
In the passing game, no pass-catcher had more than three targets other than Tetairoa McMillan, who, despite subpar quarterback play, continues to be the clear top target. When the quarterback play improves, we’re looking at a fringe WR1. It’s possible that Jalen Coker could return for his first game action of 2025, so he could potentially change the complexion of this passing game. Coker is definitely somebody to keep an eye on for fantasy purposes.
The Chicago Bears were on bye in Week 5.
Bengals Notes From Week 5:
The final game (more than likely) of the Jake Browning era of Bengals football went out with a slight roar of indifference, as the Bengals were down 28-3 entering the fourth quarter. They scored 21 points in garbage time to make the game look a little closer as they fell to the Detroit Lions 37-24.
Ja'Marr Chase’s game (6-110-2) is proof positive of why you don’t get cute with your fantasy lineups and sit a player like Chase or Tee Higgins (3-22-1), who combined for three touchdowns and over 40 percent of the team’s targets. These are still professional football teams, and even with Browning playing completely awful, they can still put points up when the Lions give little to no resistance.
Besides the top two targets for Cincinnati, Andrei Iosivas (5-82) had a solid game. As for the new quarterback, it’s Joe Flacco. Flacco, of the “have arm, will travel” persuasion, will shift to the other orange-clad AFC North team to help keep this team afloat. Clearly, the Bengals were not happy with Browning’s performances in place of the injured Joe Burrow, so a trade was necessary.
It’s not like the AFC North is sewn up, either. The Steelers are 3-1, sure. But they’ve allowed more points (98) than scored (96) through their first four games. The Browns are 1-4 and breaking in a rookie quarterback. The Ravens are also 1-4 and may not get Jackson back for a couple of weeks. Cincinnati is 2-3 and could, somehow, have a shot at this. Just ride the receivers and hope you get into some shootouts. Flacco may have hiccups, but they’re going to throw themselves in and out of games. That’s why you need to start Chase and Higgins and not get cute with matchups.
We’re warming up to Chase Brown (8-27 rushing; 7-21 receiving) with the Flacco trade, too, but less than the receivers. Brown is still very inefficient and needs the volume to produce rather than being efficient on limited work. Brown still has a strong role, but in games where the Bengals are well out of it, they’re going to give some of the receiving work to Samaje Perine (4-27 rushing; 2-2 receiving).
Browns Notes From Week 5:
Dillon Gabriel got his first start in the NFL in London against a Vikings team that had been overseas for two weeks, so it was not the greatest of situations. However, Gabriel at least managed his way to a respectable first game. He threw two touchdown passes and 190 yards.
13 of his targets went to the tight ends, as he resurrected David Njoku (6-67-1, team-leading nine targets) from the brink so he could post by far his best stat line of the season. Even Harold Fannin Jr. (4-13-1) caught a touchdown as well, but on far less production. No other pass-catcher caught more than two balls, and that includes Jerry Jeudy (2-15), who had 100 percent route participation, and Isaiah Bond (2-29), who stepped into Cedric Tillman’s role.
Quinshon Judkins (23-110 rushing; 1-18 receiving) just keeps on producing, and he’s phenomenal. 128 total yards in this one from Judkins, and he’s an automatic start going forward against any opponent. He's earned it.
Cowboys Notes From Week 5:
The Cowboys have found a ton of stuff that’s worked out better than expected through five weeks, and through injuries, Dak Prescott has made it work. He threw four touchdown passes, with two to Jake Ferguson (7-49-2), who has really stepped up with the absence of CeeDee Lamb to be a shorter-area target in the middle of the field for Prescott. He’s been excellent this season as fantasy football’s overall TE1.
George Pickens (2-57-1) and Javonte Williams (16-135-1 rushing; 1-4-1 receiving) caught the other two touchdowns, but Ryan Flournoy reeled in career highs across the board with a 6-114 game on eight targets and 64 percent of routes. Whether Flournoy ascends and takes a bit more of the Jalen Tolbert (one target) role as the preferred ancillary target remains to be seen, but he’s worth a back-end bench stash in most leagues.
I think at this point, we can’t continue to dog Williams for some of the injuries that he's had, and maybe some of the lack of explosiveness that he had last season in Denver, where he was mainly getting by on a lot of the receiving stuff. But going through some of the advanced stuff with Williams, he’s second in the entire NFL in success rate this season behind Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
If you roster Williams, you have to be excited about the fact that Jaydon Blue (4-7 rushing) didn't really get on the field that much for the Cowboys, but with the offense performing solidly, it's hard to argue with a guy like Williams, who is putting up +72 rushing yards over expectation as well as 5.7 yards per carry. He shouldn't have gotten tackled from behind on that long 66-yard run he had, though.
That's kind of some of the long speed stuff that maybe is a bit concerning with Williams. Obviously, the opportunity is there with Williams, and we’re excited to see if he can keep this up the whole season.
Broncos Notes From Week 5:
Typical Broncos passing game stuff here: Courtland Sutton (8-99, team-leading 10 targets) drives the bus with a ton of volume and 100 percent route participation. Troy Franklin (3-35, 79 percent of routes) runs the second-most routes but maintains a highly volatile production profile with that route volume. Evan Engram (4-33-1) caught a touchdown on just 54 percent of routes, keeping his role as a strictly rotational player in this offense.
Against a tough Eagles’ defensive front, J.K. Dobbins (20-79-1 rushing; 3-18 receiving) maintained a huge role with a step back in work from R.J. Harvey (4-12 rushing; 3-18 receiving). It’s possible that head coach Sean Payton wanted to make sure he kept Dobbins in based on some trust-related issues in a big game like that. Harvey saw his lowest snaps (20 percent) and routes (21 percent) of the season, but I can’t imagine that being anything more than a one-week, game-specific instance rather than the norm moving forward.
Lions Notes From Week 5:
Narrative street was hopping for the Detroit Lions as David Montgomery threw a touchdown pass and scored a rushing touchdown in his return to his hometown of Cincinnati. Not only that, but his sister was also in person watching Montgomery for the first time since a car accident had left her paralyzed from the neck down. No doubt Monty was fired up for this game, and Dan Campbell is one of the few head coaches who will absolutely get into the narratives and get those players involved.
Jahmyr Gibbs was a bit quiet in this one, but still ended up with 84 total yards and a receiving touchdown. You have to love that a game where Gibbs is “quiet” but still scores 16.7 fantasy points and is RB13 on the week. He’s a stud.
The Lions got up big time, up 28-3 heading into the fourth, when they took the foot off the gas. Amon-Ra St. Brown quietly put up another 100-yard game. Sam LaPorta bounced back from a string of disappointing games to post his best line this season. Jameson Williams (1-9) is clearly struggling right now, with just five receptions in his last three games combined. We know what we can do; it’s just the low end of variance right now.
I'm not worried in the long-term, but if you need to bench Williams in the short-term, I get it.
The Green Bay Packers were on bye in Week 5.
Texans Notes From Week 5:
I guess the cure that ails the Texans’ offense is to play the Baltimore Ravens. Their defense has been suspect this season, and without Lamar Jackson, the margin for error is much thinner. Well, luckily for the Texans, they got up 24-3 at halftime and then continued to pour it on to the tune of a 44-10 final.
C.J. Stroud tossed four touchdowns and only threw four incomplete passes on the day. The targets were very much spread out, but at least the one player that’s universally started – Nico Collins – got into the end zone on a 4-52-1 line. Xavier Hutchinson (3-18-2) continued to get way too many routes and scored twice. The top-end guys came out of the game in the fourth quarter, so some of the backups and rookies played a bit more, which is when Jaylin Noel (2-13-1) got a short touchdown.
Lots of fantasy managers added Woody Marks (7-24 rushing; one target) last week, and then lo and behold, the Texans still wanted to get Nick Chubb (11-61-1 rushing; one target) plenty of involvement. It's a little bit scary that the Texans still want to get Chubb on the field so much, considering he barely has one working knee ligament. So, I'm a little bit skeptical that Houston knows what running back to get on the field when they don't even know what wide receivers they want to get on the field.
I do think it's going to be a shaky situation for those wanting the Texans to get Marks on the field to the degree we want. Of course, last week's Marks' blow-up game isn’t what we can expect week-in-week-out. I think that's a bit unrealistic at this point. Houston isn’t going to get to play the Baltimore Ravens every week.
So going forward, you're probably looking at a spot for Marks where the best-case scenario is that you're relying on a lot more of the receiving stuff with him and then Chubb taking some of the empty calorie touches. But Chubb is going to be annoying as he's going to be the pretty clear first option in the run game.
There are parallels to where we were before the Bucky Irving stuff hit last season, where it was Rachaad White taking a large portion of work, and it took the Buccaneers a little bit to get off White until Irving forced their hand. That's probably where we're going to have to be with Marks and how we think of him. He’s going to have to keep repeatedly forcing Houston’s hand to really get the optimal outcome.
The fact that managers spent a good 20 percent or more of FAAB last week on Marks, the biggest returns are yet to come. They won’t be immediate. Obviously, this week against Baltimore is a prime example of that, where Houston was up big on the Ravens and then salted away some of the game with Chubb and Dameon Pierce (7-21).
I think the Marks thesis works a lot better in neutral game scripts and trailing scripts, rather than leading ones. Think of it like an upgraded Justice Hill, where Marks is getting on the field a ton, but if Houston is down 24-7 in the middle of the third quarter, that's going to be prime Marks time. That's going to be his bread and butter with the receiving stuff, as well as utilization in neutral scripts at the beginning of the game as a change of pace to Chubb.
Colts Notes From Week 5:
The Indianapolis Colts absolutely put the boots to the Las Vegas Raiders at home, 40-6, in a game where the Raiders just looked overwhelmed and overmatched. Daniel Jones had a nice bounce-back game from his Week 4, where he tossed two interceptions, as he threw two touchdown passes and 212 yards before giving way to Anthony Richardson and some backups late.
Some modest lines in this one from the main players, as Michael Pittman Jr. (5-39-1) and Tyler Warren (4-44-1) both caught touchdown passes. Josh Downs (6-54) looked really good here, too, as the leader in targets in his typical slot-only role. With the game so out of hand, it’s understandable that volume was curbed.
An absolute monster, Jonathan Taylor didn’t carry the yardage he typically does, but he more than made up for it with three touchdown runs. He’s insane in the best way possible. Ameer Abdullah (2-6-1) – who I definitely realized was a member of the Colts well before now – also scored a rushing touchdown before the backups came in.
Jaguars Notes From Week 5:
For the first time in a few weeks, potentially this season, Brian Thomas Jr. looked explosive and really passed that “eye test” that people talk about. While the end stat line (4-80) didn’t look super eye-popping, he led the team in targets and was the driver in moving the ball downfield. Not too much else here specifically for the pass-catchers in this game besides a Parker Washington (2-15-1) touchdown.
Hitting injured reserve on Tuesday was tight end Brenton Strange (1-22), as he left the game in the second quarter with a hip injury and didn’t return. You’re not going to want to roster either Johnny Mundt or Hunter Long for fantasy purposes, as neither has carried any sort of volume or flashed a worthwhile athletic profile in their careers. Maybe they’re a landing spot for a certain Browns tight end in the last year of his contract?
David Njoku should be an immediate trade target for the Jaguars if they want to capitalize on a 4-1 start.
Helps out the Jaguars with the Brenton Strange injury and helps Cleveland continue their youth movement by getting Harold Fannin Jr. full-time routes.
Who says no?
— Kevin Tompkins (@ktompkinsii.bsky.social) October 7, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Nothing’s really changed with the Jaguars’ run game, Travis Etienne Jr. (12-49 rushing; 3-9 receiving) still pulls a sizable amount of volume, Bhayshul Tuten (4-6 rushing; 1-5 receiving) is a bench stash, and LeQuint Allen takes too many routes from both that limits some of the upside from the two other backs. Somehow, the Jaguars are putting it all together with an offense that isn’t a top-end one but has a sneaky defense that’s sixth in EPA allowed per play.
Chiefs Notes From Week 5:
Supplanting the Los Angeles Chargers as the top PROE team in the NFL thought five weeks, the Chiefs kept that up with the second-highest PROE (19 percent) of any team not named the Philadelphia Eagles – oh, we’ll get to them.
Patrick Mahomes had 46 dropbacks in this game and yet again led the Chiefs in rushing yards with 60 and added a rushing score in the second quarter to put them up 14-0. His rushing stats are buoying a solid return to form for fantasy. Even if the Chiefs are still a good team, it does feel like something is off a bit. Obviously, injuries haven’t helped, and the run game has been one of the worst in the NFL this season, but they were at least able to rush at a 7.2 YPC clip as a team.
Kareem Hunt (7-49-2 rushing; 1-8 receiving) plunged in two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and was solidly efficient with +36 RYOE, as was Isiah Pacheco (7-36 rushing; 3-20 receiving) with +13 RYOE. Whatever was going on – probably the Jaguars’ eighth-worst defensive EPA per rush attempt – was working for Kansas City.
Brashard Smith (1-4 rushing; 3-32 receiving) still worked into the offense, but in a more minor role than last week. He’s still one to watch as we get deeper into the season, as he could become increasingly relevant in fantasy circles.
Pacheco’s role was much stronger in Week 5 than in recent weeks, as he saw a season-high 62 percent of snaps and 60 percent of routes. Something to note, but not to put much action on, as it seems to vary by game script more often than not for the Chiefs.
Deep shot merchant Tyquan Thornton led the team with 90 yards, but famed podcaster and fiancée of the woman with the biggest first-week album sales in U.S. history, Travis Kelce, paced the team with a solid 7-61-1 line, catching Mahomes’ lone touchdown throw.
Xavier Worthy (6-53 receiving; 1-9 rushing) led the team with nine targets after being designated as “questionable” with his shoulder injury, but also, an ankle injury on top of that. He still looked as explosive as ever, with 120 air yards, and the intent is there to feed him as the passing-game engine of the offense. Eight targets for Marquise Brown (4-48), but didn’t do too much with that volume.
Raiders Notes From Week 5:
Without Brock Bowers, this offense looks like a shell of itself. When you install an offense going into a season and have Bowers as the featured target in a lot of the schemed stuff, and then Bowers gets hurt, it’s hard to come back from that to feature new guys.
Four players each had six targets in a very spread-out target tree. Jakobi Meyers (4-32) hung around, as did Tre Tucker (4-63). Albert Okwuegbunam Jr. (5-36) ran the most routes for the Raiders’ tight ends, with backup Michael Mayer ALSO out.
With the passing game in such shambles, it was a pretty reasonable conclusion that Ashton Jeanty (14-67 rushing; 5-42 receiving) would be the focal point. Except when it got to 20-3 at halftime and then 40-3 at the end of the third quarter, it’s hard to maintain that with such deficits.
The Raiders are pretty bad. Get well soon, Bowers.
Chargers Notes From Week 5:
A tough blow for the Chargers as they not only lost 27-10 to the returning Jayden Daniels and the Commanders, but they also lost Omarion Hampton to an ankle injury. Hampton was placed on injured reserve, so he’ll be out for four games. It’s going to be a rough go for the running game for the Chargers, as they’ll have to make do with Hassan Haskins and Kimani Vidal unless we get a late-week signing.
It's anybody's guess how this backfield shakes out, but at first glance, it looks like Haskins will grab a decent chunk of the early down work. Haskins has never really profiled well in the passing game, so that’s a spot where Vidal could carve out a role. They also added Nyheim Hines to the practice squad.
If you’re looking to pick up either, I generally wouldn’t use more than a couple of bucks on Haskins as the priority add. It’s very likely that the Chargers just remain as pass-happy as ever with the third-highest PROE in the NFL entering Week 6.
Some passing-game struggles here in Week 5 for the Chargers as the team was much more balanced than in any other game this season, with just 29 pass attempts for Justin Herbert, and he then gave way to Trey Lance for four more pass attempts.
Ladd McConkey had his bounce-back game, but not to the blowup degree we wanted. Still, his 5-39-1 line included several end-zone targets to get him all the high-leverage opportunities. Leading the way for the Chargers was Keenan Allen (5-58), who earned nine targets. Quentin Johnston (4-40, lost fumble) had a tough game after a stellar four-game run to kick off the season.
Despite the Chargers losing both bookend tackles in Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, and now Hampton, the Chargers are still in decent shape going forward for fantasy purposes. Passing volume will likely still be a very real thing for them, as they’re going to have to generate offense the only way they know how. It’s likely not going to come from consistent contributions from the running game in the four games minimum that Hampton is out for.
That’s why I’m not downgrading Herbert and the receiver trio too much for all the injuries they’ve had so far this season.
Rams Notes From Week 5:
The Rams are so easy to talk about from a team perspective because not much changes week to week for them. It takes injuries or something incredibly drastic to change the course of this ship.
Matthew Stafford tossed three touchdowns; two of them to Kyren Williams (14-65 rushing; 8-66-2 receiving), where Williams was a massive checkdown for Stafford in a way we do not typically see from Williams.
Puka Nacua (10-85-1) and Davante Adams (5-88) combined for half of the team’s targets on top of Williams’ 20 percent of targets in just massive consolidation between the best players in the offense. No other Rams caught more than two balls. It's as clean an offense as you'll find. It's beautiful, honestly. Can we get some Stafford MVP votes, though? He deserves them for his start so far in 2025.
Dolphins Notes From Week 5:
In last week’s article, we detailed a bunch of different outcomes for this Miami offense post-Tyreek Hill:
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Malik Washington takes a much bigger role in the offense with a full-time routes share and varying week-to-week consistency.
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Darren Waller finds the fountain of youth and becomes the solid third target here after Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane, providing a solid avenue of tight end fantasy value.
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Both Washington and Waller flip-flop as the third option in the offense week to week and muddy everything up for both, with Washington remaining an inconsistent option and Waller being a streaming option at tight end. Waddle and Achane absorb most of Hill’s production, and both level up quite a bit, further widening the gap between those two and everybody else in the offense.
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Nick Westbrook-Ikhine runs a bunch of routes as the sacrificial ‘X’ receiver, and everybody else stays in their roles, with Waddle and Achane taking slight bumps up in target volume and per-target efficiency.
Well, we got outcome two and outcome four hitting in Week 5. All three of Waddle (6-110-1), Achane (10-16 rushing; 6-30-1 receiving), and Waller (5-78-1) combined for 62 percent of the targets. Waller continues his amazing run as he had a 14.0-yard aDOT, which looks like prime Waller from his days with the Raiders.
Washington (4-0) was still in his manufactured touch role in the slot instead of his role expanding, so if it’s something where his role will grow slowly, nothing new really was added onto his plate.
Vikings Notes From Week 5:
With the Vikings overseas for the second-straight week, they were in a much better spot to succeed in London against the Cleveland Browns. Carson Wentz looked a lot better this week, as the Kevin O’Connell “quarterback whisperer” magic is getting to Wentz as well. Crazy stuff.
Wentz threw one touchdown pass to Jordan Addison (5-41-1), who missed the entire first quarter for missing the team’s walkthrough. Justin Jefferson (7-123, team-leading 11 targets) at last count: still really good! T.J. Hockenson (7-38) was just fine, though, as he carried some volume but at a very low 1.0-yard aDOT. Josh Oliver (2-35-1) caught the other touchdown, but from Cam Akers (1-for-1 passing, 32 yds., TD) on his only offensive snap!
*record scratch*
Jordan Mason (13-52-1 rushing; 3-4 receiving) continues his robust role but did loosen his grip slightly with a first-quarter fumble. Zavier Scott (5-18) played the next series that culminated with the Akers-to-Oliver touchdown. Mason then reclaimed his role, but Scott did fumble in the fourth quarter as well. It’s Mason’s backfield, but there’s some slight turbulence in the short term.
Patriots Notes From Week 5:
In a huge win for the Patriots on the road in Buffalo against the Bills on Sunday Night Football, the passing game was all about Stefon Diggs. He mixed in with some of the other receivers in the first few weeks of the season, and understandably so, as he was getting his legs under him, as we’re still less than 12 months out from a torn ACL, which ended his 2024 season.
Diggs (10-146, team-leading 12 targets) has been the unquestioned alpha in this passing game with 44 percent of the team’s targets to piggyback off of last week’s 6-101 against the Panthers. He’s been dominant in an offense that has badly needed a consistent target-earning presence. Diggs feels good enough to start again in fantasy, but Hunter Henry (2-46, four targets) didn’t come along for the ride despite 30 pass attempts and 273 yards from Drake Maye.
In the latest soap opera episode about the Patriots’ backfield, Stevenson fumbled AGAIN without consequence, as he continued to lead the backfield in snaps. TreVeyon Henderson (6-24 rushing; 2-3 receiving, team-leading 53 percent of routes) got on the field quite a bit, but his touches have been managed by head coach Mike Vrabel, so for Henderson’s fantasy managers, a bit of patience is in order.
Trust me, I’m with you all in the Henderson foxhole. We fight the good fight, but we'll have to wait the good wait on this one.
Saints Notes From Week 5:
With the Giants sputtering in the second half, the Saints were able to climb out of a 14-3 hole to score 23 unanswered points to defeat the Giants at home 26-14.
Kendre Miller (10-41 rushing; 1-8 receiving) has increased his snaps and opportunities to the point where he may start being fantasy relevant soon as a low-end flex start. Of course, the Miller work comes at the expense of Alvin Kamara, who is losing some rushing work in addition to the receiving work he’s lost across the board in 2025.
Kamara also has been one of the least efficient runners in the NFL, with the fifth-lowest RYOE (-39) of 35 qualified running backs per NFL Next Gen Stats. It feels like a “ships passing in the night” kind of thing with this backfield.
With 32 pass attempts and a very balanced attack, there was enough passing game stuff, but it didn’t benefit more than two guys. Juwan Johnson (2-17) was left out in the cold for the second straight week after an incredibly promising first few weeks of the season. He’s been banged up and on the injury report, but he’s going to be very volatile thanks to the Saints’ offense being very erratic and inconsistent.
Chris Olave (7-59, team-leading 10 targets) gets there almost every week with his fourth week of 10+ targets, but no more than 59 receiving yards in each of his five contests. Rashid Shaheed (4-114-1) made his week with an 87-yard touchdown pass from Spencer Rattler. Otherwise, Shaheed was 3-27 on four targets. Not super great, but it's the Saints.
Giants Notes From Week 5:
The Giants got up 14-3 in the second quarter, but then didn’t score the rest of the way as the New Orleans Saints scored 23 unanswered points to fall 26-14. New York also turned the ball over five times, as they completely fell apart in the second half.
Jaxson Dart followed up his solid debut with some turnover issues as he threw two interceptions and fumbled once. He still had 40 pass attempts, so there was some passion volume. Theo Johnson (6-33-2) scored two touchdowns on 73 percent of routes per dropback, but he’s still hard to trust in an offense where the production shifts around every week. Darius Slayton (3-31) and Wan’Dale Robinson (5-30) carried most of the volume in the offense besides Johnson.
New York was at least smart in continuing to build the offensive plane around Cam Skattebo. Skattebo had a very strong 69 percent of snaps and 61 percent of routes. Devin Singletary has his pass-protection role, but still carried some opportunity with six carries and two targets.
Jets Notes From Week 5:
Not much truly matters in the passing game besides Garrett Wilson (6-71-1), who continues to crush almost every week, no matter who the quarterback is. The Jets and Justin Fields had a Week 5-high 54 dropbacks, but targets were pretty spread out aside from Wilson and tight end Mason Taylor.
Taylor (9-67, team-leading 10 targets) has really come on in the last two weeks with a combined 17 targets, 14 receptions, and 132 yards receiving. But doing that on 79 percent of routes per dropback is the icing on the cake.
Breece Hall (14-113 rushing; 4-42 receiving) was his typical awesome self, but was banged up right after his fumble late in the first half. He still racked up 155 total yards, but the Jets are 0-5 and could shop Hall around to other NFL teams as he’s on the last year of his contract. Tell me, Hall wouldn’t be just perfect for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Eagles Notes From Week 5:
The Eagles were SO WEIRD in Week 5. They really needed a Snickers, because they were not themselves. With a massive 22.2 percent PROE to lead all teams by a wide margin this season, Philadelphia just flat-out refused to give the ball to Saquon Barkley. Barkley (6-30 rushing; had ONE carry in the second half and six total in the entire game.
The complaints in the media this week from A.J. Brown (5-43) and DeVonta Smith (8-114, team-leading 10 targets) seemed to be the driver in this pass-centric attack. Heck, it may have just been a long bit from head coach Nick Sirianni to show them they can’t just pass all the time. I truly wouldn’t put it past him. Of course, this is all speculation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the pendulum swings back so far in the opposite direction, back to a heavy run focus.
Dallas Goedert (3-19-1; seven targets) did get in the end zone again for another touchdown, and he hasn’t carried much volume but still has found the end zone three times in the last two games.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were on bye in Week 5.
49ers Notes From Week 5:
With Brock Purdy, Jauan Jennings, and Ricky Pearsall out, the 49ers have been decimated at wide receiver for backup quarterback Mac Jones. With 49 pass attempts and an overtime period against the Rams, they got a ton of volume to the pass-catchers. San Francisco had to unearth Kendrick Bourne (10-142) from whatever tomb he was in after the New England Patriots released him before training camp, but Bourne was hugely productive on a team-leading 11 targets.
With Jake Tonges (7-41-1) also getting double-digit targets and Christian McCaffrey (8-82-1 receiving; 22-57 rushing) continuing his massive receiving start to 2025, the 49ers have been… fine? Jones feels like he’s following the Sam Darnold path back to a starting job somewhere in the NFL, and there will definitely be needy teams in the market. But take his second half with the Jaguars last season and then these starts with the 49ers, and there’s something here.
Not too much else with McCaffrey, but he’s been hugely inefficient on the ground. However, he’s been the WR5 with just receiving fantasy points. That’s awesome, and he’s been a PPR dream thus far in 2025. Ride the wave with CMC, who is averaging 24.8 fantasy points per game so far this season, with 19.1 coming on his receiving work.
Seahawks Notes From Week 5:
I was so struck by the awesome throwback uniforms featuring two of my favorite uniforms of all time that I had to make the graphics above match. In fact, I’ll be doing that for the rest of the season as it’s just a fun little wrinkle. Fun havers, we all are, of course.
It’s also been fun rostering Jaxon Smith-Njigba (8-132-1), as he’s taken step after step to become legitimately one of the best wide receivers in football this season. His third-year breakout comes as Seattle itself has leveled up significantly from their preseason expectations.
The Seahawks offense is moving the ball proficiently in the passing game, as among 33 qualified quarterbacks, Sam Darnold is:
- First in yards per attempt (9.3)
- Third in air yards per attempt (8.9)
- Third in completion percentage (73.1%)
- First in completion percentage over expectation - CPOE (+10.5%)
- Fourth in EPA per dropback (+0.25)
Outside of JSN, Tory Horton (3-39-1) continues looking good and on limited routes (50 percent). AJ Barner (7-53-2) has also been more involved in the offense, but suffers from Dalton Kincaid Syndrome, where he doesn’t run enough routes to trust.
hear me out:
Dalton Kincaid Syndrome (DKS)
- a player who produces over their skis on limited routes, but the likely path to earning more routes is an injury or a transaction in his position group
Others afflicted include:
- AJ Barner
- Tyquan Thornton
- *sigh* Harold Fannin Jr.
— Kevin Tompkins (@ktompkinsii.bsky.social) October 8, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Barner’s seven receptions matched his entire seasonal output in the first four games of the season, and he’s still splitting routes and snaps with rookie Elijah Arroyo (1-10). Barner isn’t a recommended add right now except for much deeper leagues where the waiver wire pickings are very slim.
After a bad Week 1, it’s safe to say that Kenneth Walker III (10-86 rushing; 1-0 receiving) has found his way over the last four weeks, as he’s had a 5.3 YPC over that stretch with three touchdowns. He’s still running a bit cold on the workload, as Zach Charbonnet (9-36-1 rushing; 1-12 receiving) has gobbled up a lot of the time on the field, but Charbonnet did get the lone rushing score for the Seahawks. Both are obviously startable in fantasy, with the solid lean to the per-carry upside of Walker.
Buccaneers Notes From Week 5:
The beautiful creamsicle uniforms were out in full force as Lavonte David intercepted Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, and Baker Mayfield led the charge for a game-winning field goal to tip the scales in Tampa Bay’s favor with the 38-35 game that was one of the best of the weekend.
Emeka Egbuka (7-163-1) is just electric, and he’s been running hotter than the sun to start 2025. The fact that Egbuka was still putting up awesome production WITH Mike Evans AND is still producing like this without him in the lineup? That means we may be looking at the true top receiver for the Buccaneers in Egbuka. We can’t cement that yet, but I’m erasing the pencil and reaching for the pen to write it.
Outside of Egbuka’s awesome game, Cade Otton (4-81), Sterling Shepard (4-24-1), Tez Johnson (4-59), and Chris Godwin (3-26) spread out the passing volume with nobody really standing out.
With no Bucky Irving, it was Rachaad White (14-41-2 rushing; 4-30 receiving) taking a massive workload in the backfield. It was expected that Sean Tucker would work in, but he saw six opportunities for -1 yard. Not great! White saw 80 percent of snaps and 56 percent of the team’s rushing attempts, so expect workloads like this from White if Irving is sidelined. It might get lean on the efficiency in the run game for White, but the receiving work will boost his floor and make him a worthwhile RB2 for the time being.
Titans Notes From Week 5:
While the Titans churning out a miraculous win that probably should not have happened had Emari Demercado just carried the football across the goal line, it didn’t really unlock anything or give us much more information than we already had. The Titans are still an incredibly bad NFL team.
We had Calvin Ridley (5-131) lead the team with 10 targets and also lead the Week 5 pass-catchers in air yards (176) as Cameron Ward was just playing “huck it, chuck it” football with 42 dropbacks. Thankfully, the Titans have decreased Tyler Lockett’s (1-6) time on the field to a season-low 36 percent of routes per dropback, so they’re at least starting to get it a little bit.
Chig Okonkwo (4-48, 60 percent routes) and Gunnar Helm (4-34, 55 percent routes) both split the tight end role as Helm is starting to encroach on Okonkwo’s snaps and routes. This could be gross, but you’re not starting in all but the deepest of leagues or as a one-off streamer. The same thing happened at times when Josh Whyle was on the team in the last two seasons, but while Whyle was a much better blocker, Helm is a better two-way tight end who can block and is solid as a receiver.
Even with the return of Tyjae Spears (4-14), Tony Pollard (14-67-1 rushing; 3-11 receiving) kept the stranglehold on routes and snaps in Week 5 despite a lost fumble. It’s certainly possible we could see a ramp-up for Spears in the next few weeks, but Spears isn’t going to take enough route volume to matter anything more than a sporadic contributor. His contingent value is tied to Pollard’s volume and his skill, but the offense is still putrid, so I’m not sure there’s a true ceiling here.
Commanders Notes From Week 5:
The Commanders got a HUGE win over the Chargers, who are getting more depleted by the hour, it seems. Nonetheless, Washington’s 27-10 win was centered solely around two weapons for the returning Jayden Daniels, who threw for 231 yards, plus a touchdown pass and 39 rushing yards.
No other Commander had more than two targets or two receptions, but Deebo Samuel Sr., who paced the team with 11 targets and an 8-96-1 line, caught Daniels’ only touchdown. With Terry McLaurin still on the shelf for the Commanders, Samuel has filled in seamlessly as the top target his McLaurin’s absence. He was the clear focal point in the passing game, and with a bunch of bit part players around him, it only highlights what Samuel has done so far as a clear mid-round steal in fantasy drafts.
Croskey-Merritt was awesome, simply put. What we’ve wanted is some separation from Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Jeremy McNichols in terms of snaps and routes, and while we didn’t get the routes perfect, he was on the field for almost half of the snaps for the Commanders. That helped get him a robust and efficient 14 carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
It's been a three-way backfield since Austin Ekeler was still healthy; obviously, Ekeler is out for the season, but it became a gross situation where Rodriguez would play in the first two series, and then you know Croskey-Merritt would come in, and McNichols would come in and in passing down situations.
So, it was tough to start Croskey-Merritt in fantasy lineups because of that ambiguity. So maybe not a lot of people outside of baseball got the benefits of what he did. But 27 fantasy points and RB5 on the week? When you have a game like this in Week 5, where the intent was to give Croskey-Merritt some separation, which was well deserved based on his efficiency.
Players like Rodriguez and McNichols have been efficient players in their careers, but they aren’t players you’re building an offense around. Especially one that figures to contend in the NFC. Croskey-Merritt, on the other hand, warranted the touches and got a significant look by the Commanders. So much so that it necessitated the Brian Robinson Jr. trade to clean up the running back room a little, hoping they could get more out of the position.
So, I think that was a very bullish sign, and it's something that should have been talked about more after the Robinson trade. And he’s delivered. Among 35 qualified running backs so far this season, Croskey-Merritt is first in yards after contact per attempt (4.7) and in success rate at 60.5 percent. Success rate is the percentage of runs that net positive expected points added, or EPA. If you are THAT efficient as a running back, you're going to be on the field.
You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube with Croskey-Merritt.
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