Welcome back to my trust or bust series, brought back for 2024, here we look at the Week 5 matchups. I wanted to start with a bit of a pun and throwback. Week 5 is the week of Rashee Rice…….bye, bye, bye……….Depending on your age you might be familiar with iconic boy band NSYNC. Justin Timberlake and his bleach blonde hair took the world by storm and you were either team NSYNC or team BackStreet Boys. As a teenage boy during their radio and MTV reign, you didn’t dare admit to liking their songs to your friends, even your girl friends. But, let’s be honest…who wouldn’t want to have been in their shoes? They could dance, sing, they traveled the world, had millions of fans and had beautiful women screaming their names. Heck, Justin Timberlake was dating everyone’s crush Brittney Spears at one time, are you telling me that wouldn’t have been awesome? As much as I tried to dislike them, their songs were catchy and it was hard not to learn the lyrics the way they dominated the airwaves. It was cool to act like you hated the boy bands at that time, but can we admit now that we’ve sung their songs out loud in our car with nobody around? Both bands have classic songs that you can’t help but sing or hum to when they come on. Arguably the most popular song and music video of the two groups had to be the smash single bye, bye, bye. When music videos were still a thing this one dominated MTV and TRL. Arguably their most popular song, bye bye bye, for a lot of reasons would take NSYNC’s status and careers to a whole nother level.
And, as luck would have it, Week 5 happens to be the first week of byes that us fantasy players have to deal with, in addition to the mounting injuries that we’ve already been dealing with. This game of fantasy would be a lot easier if the NFL would ‘quit playing games with our hearts’
Inside/ Outside Picks
QB Patrick Mahomes (KC)
Current Ranking 12th
This pick isn’t so much matchup based as it is player and team situation. So far this season Mahomes has lost Hollywood Brown, Isiah Pacheco, and more recently Rashee Rice. And, to make matters worse when you look at Mahomes numbers this season, he hasn’t been the fantasy stud we’ve come to know and love. Mahomes has yet to score more than 18 fantasy points this season and he has 6 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. When you lose the playmakers Mahomes has it’s only practical that his fantasy numbers would take a hit, but compared to the old Mahomes “I want you back”.
Who I like More
QB Caleb Williams
Week ranking 17th
Williams and the Bears offense hasn’t taken the league by storm like we predicted or hoped but the Chicago offense is starting to turn a corner it looks like. And, with the Carolina Panthers defense next on the schedule this could be the breakout game for Caleb that we’ve all been waiting for. The Panthers defense is allowing an average of 32.5 PPG so far this season and the second most touchdowns to quarterbacks with 9. If anyone is starting Caleb and the Bears players this week, ‘it’s gonna be me’
RB Breece Hall (NYJ)
Current Ranking 7th
We are blessed to have our first London game this week and the matchup on paper looks exciting for the most part, but with both Minnesota and the Jets having borderline elite defenses I can see why the point total for this game is only 40 points. We saw last week what it looks like when two top ten defenses go head to head when Denver and the Jets scored a combined 19 total points. Factor in Minnesota’s top 5 run defense that allows an average of just 63 rushing yards per game and there isn’t a lot to like about Breece’s matchup this week.
Who I like More
RB D'Andre Swift (CHI)
Week ranking 16th
Similar to his teammate Caleb Williams, we saw D’Andre Swift have his best game last week. With 165 total yards it’s safe to say Swift earned the right to keep his starting job for at least one more week. His leash should get a little longer this week in a matchup versus a Panthers defense that allows over 30 fantasy points per game to running backs, which just so happens to be the most in the league.
WR Stefon Diggs (HOU)
Current Ranking 12th
Oh the NFL schedule makers really know what they’re doing don’t they. Everyone loves the revenge game narrative! After being traded away this off-season people thought Diggs was done, while some thought Josh Allen wouldn’t be the same player without an alpha like WR. Apparently we were all wrong as both Diggs and Allen have found success early this season. But, Josh Allen and the Bills might get the last laugh. The Bills defense has low-key been a strength for this Bills team and wide receivers have been the ones to feel it the most. Allowing only one touchdown to wide receivers after 4 weeks. Diggs might be telling Allen and the Bills ‘I want you back’ at the end of the game.
Who I like More
WR Brian Thomas Jr. (JAX)
Week Ranking 23rd
Not much has gone right for Doug Pederson, Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars this season, with the exception of Brian Thomas Jr. averaging over 14 PPG and 16 yards per reception, Thomas has lived to his first round draft capital and shown off his big play ability with 3 receptions of 20 or more yards. Now, Thomas and the Jaguars have a chance at a ‘get right’ game this week that has the fifth highest point total. Playing a Colts defense that’s bottom ten against wide receivers this season, Brian Thomas will be telling Lawrence ‘hit me baby one more time’
TE Trey McBride (ARI)
Current Ranking 3rd
Trey McBride was the favorite to finish as the TE1 overall this season by the fantasy community, unfortunately McBride like every other tight end in the NFL has gotten off to a slow start. The targets are there, but the production isn’t. Scoring more than 10 points just once so far this season, the addition of Marvin Harris Jr and emergence of Michael Wilson have cut into McBride’s target share. I don’t expect things to get better for McBride this week against a 9ers defense that has limited tight ends less than 6 points per game so far this season.
Who I like More
TE Mike Gesicki (CIN)
Week Ranking 20th
Gesicki has exceeded expectations early in his short time with the Bengals. With the Bengals offense starting to take shape Gesicki looks to benefit from the high powered offense we’ve come to expect from Zac Taylor and Joe Burrow. Averaging almost 5 targets a game, we would like to see more volume but Gesicki does have two red-zone targets already this season. We know divisional matchups can be crazy and with the tight end friendly Baltimore Ravens and their bottom three tight end defense. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gesicki finished as a top 12 tight end for the third time already this season.
That’s gonna do it for this week’s piece. I hope you found the info useful and actionable.
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There you have it! Any questions, or want some more specific help for your league on who to drop, just reach out. Reach out on social media, you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Or jump into our Discord server. And checkout out rankings for each Week.
