Were Woody Marks, Darren Waller, Romeo Doubs Breakouts Legit or Flukes? Fantasy Football Outlook For Week 5 (2025)

John breaks down the fantasy football breakout performance of Woody Marks, Darren Waller, Romeo Doubs. Should we buy or sell Marks, Waller, and Doubs heading into Week 5?

Week 4 of NFL action featured quite a few surprise performances. Even though we already had three games in the books, there is always plenty of time for players to come out of nowhere and have massive games.

That's exactly what happened with Miami Dolphins tight end Darren Waller, Houston Texans running back Woody Marks, and Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs. All easily had the best performances of their season and finished among the top at their position in PPR fantasy scoring for the week.

But were these performances legitimate or a fluke? In Week 4, we saw Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker score only 4.2 PPR fantasy points after racking up 40.9 points in Week 3. It's not always easy to figure out whether a big game is a sign of things to come or just a random occurrence, so let's dive in!

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Was Woody Marks' Performance Legit Or A Fluke?

Marks, a rookie, had seen an increase in playing time over his games before his Week 4 explosion. With running back Joe Mixon (foot/ankle) on the Physically Unable to Perform list, the backfield consisted of Marks and veteran Nick Chubb. Chubb had been the lead back in previous weeks.

Marks played a season-high 58 percent of the team's offensive snaps, up from 48 percent a week ago, and easily saw a season-high amount of touches with 21. Interestingly, Chubb also saw a season-high 15 touches, but he was notably less efficient.

MAKE IT 2️⃣ FOR THE ROOK 😤

📺: @nfloncbs / @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/MAHDH3j7Zu

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) September 28, 2025

Marks impressed as a rusher, showing nice elusiveness on the touchdown scamper above. Some perspective is important, though. The Titans are one of the NFL's worst teams, and the Texans ran the ball 30 times with their running backs and handed them 37 total opportunities.

The numbers weren't even close in previous games, and the game script should play a large part in RB volume moving forward. But Week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens, who will likely be without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson, could be another nice opportunity for Marks to shine.

Look at @HoustonTexans RB Woody Marks absolutely pancake his block assignment 😤 pic.twitter.com/Dq326oGUN6

— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2025

As far as earning a permanent, larger role in his backfield, though, things look pretty good so far. He played well in pass protection, as you can see in the clip above, and was effective as a receiver. Chubb hasn't done much for the Texans' passing game so far.

There's at least a nice cushion in PPR leagues as well. It's hard to say his performance was a fluke. While it's tough for any player to have multiple games with 27.9 or more PPR fantasy points, Marks is likely at least a decent starter moving forward.

The big problem will be just how putrid the team's offensive line is, and how bad the offense is as a whole. It will be hard for him to get a ton of opportunities when the team is down by one or multiple scores -- that's a time when quarterbacks are heavily targeting their receivers to push the ball down the field.

Was Darren Waller's Performance Legit Or A Fluke?

Waller, who hadn't even played in a game in 2024, ended up being one of the best fantasy football tight ends of Week 4, catching three of his four targets for 27 receiving yards and two scores. While this might seem like a complete fluke, as that touchdown rate is obviously unsustainable, there are other factors to consider.

For starters, the Dolphins heavily targeted their starting tight end last season. TE Jonnu Smith, who caught 88 of his 111 targets for 884 yards and eight touchdowns last season, easily surpassed the Dolphins' WR2, Jaylen Waddle, in every major overall statistical category.

he’s still got it 🔥

NYJvsMIA on ESPN
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/vEisZimFZU

— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2025

There's a case to be made that Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel prefers to run a system that exploits size mismatches at tight end, and does a pretty good job of it, too. Additionally, Miami just lost its best receiver, Tyreek Hill (knee), to a season-ending injury. His career might be over at this point -- the injury was massive.

Waller, thus, could quickly become his team's second-most-used target and could challenge for the team lead in targets among pass-catchers. Perhaps the entire offense will take a big step back without Hill on the field, though. But in PPR fantasy leagues, volume is king, even at the WR and TE positions.

Darren Waller has another touchdown!

NYJvsMIA on ESPN
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/8BjLneLHIo

— NFL (@NFL) September 30, 2025

Waller's size will likely make him the team's top priority in the red zone as well, which is important. But the Jets defense that they played against has struggled this season. Miami's game against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, in which it was blown out and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa struggled massively, could be repeated.

Miami has some tough games coming up, like in Week 6 and Week 7 against the Los Angeles Chargers and Cleveland Browns, respectively, but Waller should still be added in all leagues. He's unlikely to get two touchdowns per game, but his performance warrants stashing on benches at the worst.

Tight ends tend to be productive longer into their careers than do wide receivers, and Waller could have a few nice years ahead of him. And he's in a situation that might be pretty great for his production. His performance was a bit fluky due to the touchdowns, but I wouldn't doubt his long-term potential this year.

Was Romeo Doubs' Performance Legit Or A Fluke?

The player who it's certainly easiest to be the least confident about is Doubs, at least of this group. The Packers played the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4. Without star defensive end Micah Parsons on the field, Dallas basically can't play defense at all. It has let every offense it has played shred it.

Other than the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1, who play incredibly conservative football but turn things on when they're down by multiple scores, each team that faced Dallas has scored 31 or more points on it. Without much threat from its pass rush and with extremely questionable coaching and cornerback play, things are bad for the Cowboys.

ROMEOOOOOOOOOO

📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/xJUyjh6uWW

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 29, 2025

Doubs scored 29.8 PPR fantasy points in Week 4, but he hadn't eclipsed 12.0 in any of his other games. I strongly suspect that Packers head coach Matt LaFleur realized that Doubs would face Kaiir Elam, a cornerback for the Cowboys, in a lot of man-on-man matchups.

A HAT TRICK FOR ROMEO DOUBS

📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/05PXhoW8V0

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 29, 2025

One terribly busted coverage after another gave Doubs the highest-scoring game of his career in PPR fantasy leagues. But we saw the aforementioned Raiders receiver Tucker have a huge game in Week 3, scoring over 40.0 PPR fantasy points, and he didn't replicate that performance.

Doubs seems to be very nice for best ball leagues, but I doubt he'll be someone you can trust starting in future weeks. Even though he'll face a very soft Cincinnati Bengals defense in Week 6, the Packers defense could have a nice game against struggling Bengals quarterback Jake Browning.

Green Bay is perfectly happy running the ball heavily, controlling possessions, grinding the game clock down, and resting its defense so it can give the ball back to its offense. And it's worked for it in the past. A lot of options in the passing game and a big spreading out of targets is not great for individual pass-catchers. So, Doubs shouldn't be a priority add in my opinion. And I'd try to trade him away if I had him.

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