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John's wide receiver start 'em, sit 'em picks for fantasy football Week 5 lineups (2025). Read his expert WR start/sit advice for JuJu Smith-Schuster, Rashid Shaheed, Jerry Jeudy, others.
The wide receiver position is a bit more forgiving than it is for running backs. Typically, there are multiple WRs outside a team's top-2 at the position that are valuable fantasy assets for at least a few weeks a year. This doesn't mean it's easy to find which games you should start for them.
But the reward for getting things right is pretty great. A slept-on WR that you can grab off waivers, or one that's on your bench that you can substitute in for an injured player or one on a bye week, can make a big difference in your matchups. It can at least help you score extra points for tiebreakers in fantasy leagues. It's important to score as much as possible for multiple reasons.
Finding and exploiting the signs that a WR could have a better-than-expected game is important -- on the flip side, as well, it's crucial to try to avoid receivers that can burn you by scoring in the low single-digit points. So let's dive into some start 'em, sit 'em picks at WR for Week 5 of 2025! Keep in mind, these will focus on players outside the obvious WR1/WR2 range to be as useful as possible for fantasy managers!
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
Week 5 Starts - Potential Fantasy Football Booms
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kansas City Chiefs
In the penultimate game the Chiefs will play without their clear top receiver, Rashee Rice, it might be a good idea to slot in Smith-Schuster in leagues with 12 or more teams if you need someone to fill in for a player on bye or an injured player.
The schematic matchup is quite good -- the Chiefs will play the Jacksonville Jaguars, who run a high rate of Cover 2 defensive shells. Smith-Schuster has excelled on plays against these defensive looks. He could be the second-most productive Chiefs pass-catcher after Xavier Worthy.
JuJu puts the Chiefs ahead!
BALvsKC on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/eTGlk1NoEh
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2025
The longtime NFL receiver was targeted on an endzone look that turned into a touchdown before the game with the Ravens became a blowout. He plays a majority of the team's snaps, far more than Tyquan Thornton, and doesn't just come in the game when it gets out of hand.
In deeper leagues, he's one of my favorite starts this week.
Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints
For many seasons now, the New York Giants have been a great team to start your wide receivers against. Things aren't much different this season. The Giants have allowed the second-most PPR fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers this season.
While the Saints' passing game isn't exactly stellar, such a good matchup is probably one you would want to start one of the team's featured receivers. Shaheed is the WR2 for the Saints. He's played in 70 percent or more of the team's offensive snaps in each game, and is the WR36 overall in PPR leagues.
Spencer Rattler dime down the sideline to Shaheed!
SFvsNO on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/AOwlCJOwnM
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler is easily playing the best football of his life, and New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore likely deserves a lot of credit. His offense has actually looked serviceable despite losing its starting quarterback in the offseason. Derek Carr retired before the season started.
The Saints rank among the highest teams in pass attempts per game, and Rattler has the third-most completions through four contests. They're a pass-heavy team that runs a ton of plays. Shaheed could have a very nice day in PPR leagues in Week 5. He's worth starting as a flex in 12+ team leagues.
Khalil Shakir, WR, Buffalo Bills
Shakir can be a frustrating player to have on your fantasy rosters at times. While he has his share of excellent games, like the 14.5 and 17.9 PPR fantasy point games he had in Week 3 and Week 4, he's also prone to poor performances, like his 2.2-point game against the New York Jets in Week 2.
A lot of how he plays simply comes down to schematic matchups. Bills quarterback Josh Allen is capable of supporting fantasy-relevant receivers, but he tends to spread the ball around. Shakir's target numbers aren't especially impressive -- he has more than five targets in just one game this year.
Khalil Shakir puts on the moves for a 43-yard TD!
NOvsBUF on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/9MamPqDeHg
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2025
I'd say he's probably earned himself more targets, but it doesn't always work like that. Slot receivers are vulnerable to losing playing time in games where their teams run a lot of 2TE sets, in which the slot receiver tends to be off the field.
Still, in a positive matchup against the New England Patriots, in which he probably won't see much of elite cornerback Christian Gonzalez in coverage, I'd say Shakir is a good start.
Week 5 Concerns - Potential Fantasy Football Busts
Jerry Jeudy, Cleveland Browns
The Browns' offense has been one of the league's worst this season. Quarterback Joe Flacco wasn't able to revive his excellent passing productivity from the last season he was with Cleveland, and he was one of the lowest-volume passers in the NFL. He was benched for third-round rookie QB Dillon Gabriel ahead of Week 4.
It's hard to say if Gabriel will play well in his first game, but it's a big uphill battle for third-round picks at quarterback to immediately be productive at the next level. Gabriel will be facing a fearsome pass rush behind a not-so-great offensive line.
Browns offensive line:
LT: Dawand Jones (three straight knee surgeries)
LG: Joel Bitonio (free agent/retiring?)
C: Ethan Pocic (free agent)
RG: Wyatt Teller (free agent)
RT: Jack Conklin (free agent/retiring?)
Swing: Cornelius Lucas (free agent)we might see a 5-for-5 overhaul
— Cory (@fakecorykinnan) September 22, 2025
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, at the time of writing this (extremely early in the morning here), is likely dreaming of all the blitzes he will dial up to exploit the weaknesses of Cleveland's offensive line and make life a living hell for Gabriel in his first start.
There's a good chance it's an abysmal debut, even if not entirely the fault of his own. So starting Browns WR Jerry Jeudy seems risky. In addition to everything mentioned above, the Vikings have allowed the fewest fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers by a pretty healthy margin.
I don't like putting Jeudy in any of my starting lineups, nor do I like having him on rosters in all but the very deepest of leagues.
Jalen Tolbert, Dallas Cowboys
I'm aware that both Cowboys wide receivers CeeDee Lamb (ankle) and KaVontae Turpin (foot) won't be able to play when Dallas takes on the New York Jets in Week 5. I don't think that means you should assume that WR Jalen Tolbert will have a nice game.
Even when he's been featured as the team's No. 1 wideout, like last year, when Lamb was out in Week 17 and Week 18, he doesn't get a lot of volume. Tolbert has had seven or more targets just twice in 46 career games. And most of those games were contests in which the Cowboys didn't have wideout George Pickens.
Dak Prescott's 34-yard pass to Jalen Tolbert had a completion probability of 7.2%, the second-most improbable completion in the NGS era.
Tolbert was 0.2 yards from the sideline when the pass arrived.#GBvsDAL | #DallasCowboyspic.twitter.com/d9zMS7P8XR
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 29, 2025
Last week, Lamb didn't play. Tolbert did almost nothing until extremely late in the game, when he made a catch on a crazy throw by his quarterback. He'll likely take a back set to both Pickens and tight end Jake Ferguson. Last week, Tolbert had just 10.1 PPR fantasy points despite a ton of opportunity.
I'm not super confident in Jalen Tolbert this week. It's a poor matchup for him schematically. The Jets run a ton of man and he sucks at producing against man coverage. He's basically the WR3 after Pickens and Ferguson. 10.1 PPR fantasy points in a 40-40 tie.
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) October 4, 2025
My analysis indicates he simply doesn't have the talent to be worth starting outside of extremely deep leagues. He could always get a lucky touchdown, but I don't think he'll have great target volume, reception numbers, or yardage.
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