RADIO
Howdy again folks, and hopefully you're all ready to fully lose yourselves into football now that baseball season is over. Week 4 wasn't the prettiest for the QB and RB calls, but WR and TE were perfect. We correctly called that Brandin Cooks was definitely not top-10 WR material, that Mike Evans needed to be dropped even further than most had him, that Tyler Lockett cannot be started right now, and that Allen Hurns was a good bet to score. Rob Gronkowski was barely used yet again while Kyle Rudolph and Hunter Henry both delivered TDs.
Now it’s time to review my rankings for Week 5 and look at how they stack up against the Expert Consensus, commenting on any standouts or points of contention. Assume standard rankings when I say that a player is x spots ahead or below consensus.
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Week 5 Quarterbacks - Rankings Analysis
The bye-week blues have begun, with Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, Blake Bortles and Alex Smith off the table for Week 5. Cam Newton and Carson Palmer are both questionable thanks to concussions. There’s going to be some fluidity here as a result, but we can still gauge things here.
As a result, some of you may be digging deeper here, so let’s see what that mid-range looks like. I don’t have many points of contention with the top anyway, I’m a little higher than others on Matthew Stafford against a good (and rested) Philadelphia defense, because he’s at home and Detroit’s commitment to ignoring their run game usually stacks the deck in his favor.
In the middle of things, I’ve slipped Matt Ryan below Brian Hoyer, Dak Prescott and Jameis Winston much to the dismay of the collective mind. Ryan, on the road, against the Denver, possibly with a limited or out Tevin Coleman, is not something I’m tangling with.
Sam Bradford gets moved up three spots here, as I don’t really fear Houston’s defense that much and Minnesota gets to stay at home after a Monday night trouncing of the Giants. I know Bradford isn’t called on to do all that much, but I’m still going to take him over Marcus Mariota and that horror show, as well as Mariota’s opponent in Ryan Tannehill.
Week 5 Running Backs - Rankings Analysis
Todd Gurley is still eighth in the consensus weekly rankings here, and I’m still not comfortable putting him in the top-10. I know that it’s also a popular belief that LeGarrette Blount’s role will diminish now that Tom Brady is back to make their passing game great again. Thing is, they’re still facing Cleveland and there are just so many opportunities to go around. I’ll still take Blount over Gurley here.
Eddie Lacy hasn’t exactly thrilled us this season, and I see no reason why a date with the Giants’ defensive line should change things. I fully expect Aaron Rodgers and company to destroy NYG, which may very well open up the occasional lane for Lacy (or draw a pass interference call on the one-yard line for him), but it’s not a good draw.
On the flipside, I’d rather have Frank Gore (+2) and Terrance West (+4) given their cupcake matchups against the Bears and Redskins, respectively. Washington is ranked dead last against the run according to FootballOutsiders’ DVOA metric, and while the Bears are “only” 20th, their injuries only worsen the problem.
Week 5 Wide Receivers - Rankings Analysis
Well, it would appear I’m finally lower on Jordy Nelson than the crowd, though he’s still an unquestionable WR1, top-10 play. You see, I’ve got Randall Cobb at #22 compared to a consensus call of #28, because the Giants are simply too banged up in the secondary to deal with someone as versatile as Cobb. I know, he’s had a lousy season thus far, but this has all of the makings for a game where he shines. If Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is at 100% then he should at least make it a fight with Jordy Nelson, but Eli Apple may not be 100% by next week still and Trevin Wade is simply not an NFL-caliber DB. If Cobb operates over the middle against one of the Giants LBs, it’s game over. NYG also has two injured safeties, so I fully expect to feast on Cobb Salad all Sunday long.
While this next one is highly contingent on Cam Newton playing, I really like Ted Ginn’s chances of a deep bomb in Week 5. Carolina is facing a Tampa Bay defense that sports none other than the highly burnable Chris Conte at free safety. All he’s going to free up is Ted Ginn should he get as much as a step on any of the cornerbacks. I’ve got Ginn 11 spots above consensus, perhaps due to my watching the Bucs often as RotoBaller’s own news correspondent for them. Regardless, it’s as a good a setup as any for the speedy wideout.
Another nice bump comes for Brice Butler, who led all of Dallas’ receivers by playing on 82% of snaps in Week 4. He tied Jason Witten for the team lead with nine targets, three more than Terrance Williams and five more than Cole Beasley. Butler almost had a second TD in Week 4, and so long as Dez Bryant is out, and should have a decent chance at making value against Cincinnati’s Adam Jones and Dre Kirkpatrick.
Week 5 Tight Ends - Rankings Analysis
I can’t trust Rob Gronkowski yet. I just can’t. The conflicting news reports surfacing about his hamstring drops him from the consensus #3 to my personal #10. If there’s anyone else I feel remotely confident in to see roughly eight targets in a decent matchup, then I’d rather play them. As a result, I have Martellus Bennett up to #6 for now against a #10 consensus ranking. These may even out as the week draws on and the injury reports pour out, but news from Bill Belichick is unlikely to be anything helpful.
Richard Rodgers is up at #14 against a #20 consensus ranking, due to the aforementioned Giants vulnerabilities over the middle. Kyle Rudolph has performed well lately, so his good game against NYG isn’t totally on them, but still illustrates a weakness that opposing offenses should be well aware of by now.
I would rather play him than Gary Barnidge in standard formats, as Gary’s been held scoreless all season long despite having decent matchups against Miami and Washington in the past two weeks. If you don’t need to rely on Barnidge, then you shouldn’t. Those in PPR should probably still feel alright rolling him out thanks to his 12 catches over the last two weeks, as the Patriots may shut down Terrelle Pryor and force Cody Kessler to settle for dumpoffs to his big tight end.
I’d rather talk more about the skill positions than include kicker or defense, as they are far less interesting to me. Feel free to send me a vitriolic message should you want them back, I’ll listen I swear.
Check out all of RotoBaller's fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.
