Fantasy Football Start ’em Sit ’em Week 5
Fantasy Football at its very core is a game about adapting to current circumstances and preparing for the future. Due to our present health crisis in 2020, this year is shaping up to be the most unpredictable fantasy season in history.
As Week 4 clearly showed us, anything can happen to the roster you assembled on draft day and no lead is safe. If you are currently 4-0 and first place in your league now is not the time to get comfortable. Look ahead in your schedule to see which teams you are going up against and study their weaknesses and start preparing for the upcoming bye weeks.
Every team is one injury away from last place, so if you are the team that is last in your league, don’t give up hope because you still have a chance to come back although it is a long shot if you are 0-4. If you are a fighter like me, you will never get up on your team no matter how bleak it gets!
Week 5 Start ’em
Jerick McKinnon – 49ers RB
When the season started McKinnon was mostly seen as an afterthought behind Raheem Mostert, the electric journeyman running back who emerged as a catalyst for the 49ers recent Super Bowl run. After all, McKinnon had never played a regular season game for the red and gold after signing a 4-year $30 million deal in 2018, tearing his ACL in a practice days before the season opener.
With Mostert still healing from a knee injury that sidelined him for the last 2 weeks, ‘The Jet’ has seized the starting role in his absence and taken off with at least 77 combined yards and a TD in the 49ers last 3 games. Week 5 presents a charmin-soft matchup against a Miami Dolphins defense that’s allowing the tenth-most fantasy points to running backs and just gave up 2 rushing TD’s to Seattle’s Chris Carson in Week 4.
Jerick McKinnon Week 5 Projections: 15 rushing attempts, 95 yards rushing,1 rushing TD, 6 receptions, 37 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD
QBs to Start
Matt Ryan
Ben Roethlisrberger
Justin Herbert
Teddy Bridgewater
Gardner Minshew II
Jimmy Garroppolo
RBs to Start
James Robinson
Todd Gurley II
Kareem Hunt
Antonio Gibson
Mark Ingram
Raheem Mostert
Jonathan Taylor
Devin Singletary
Chase Edmonds
Ronald Jones II
Joshua Kelley
Darrell Henderson Jr.
Justin Jackson
Devonta Freeman
Damien Harris
James White
WRs to Start
Robby Anderson
Justin Jefferson
Will Fuller V
CeeDee Lamb
Diontae Johnson
Jamison Crowder
Deebo Samual
Scotty Miller
Brandon Ayiuk
Sammy Watkins
Hunter Renfrow
Tyler Boyd
Hollywood Brown
Russell Gage
Jerry Jeudy
Laviska Shenault Jr.
Chase Claypool
Randall Cobb
Cole Beasley
Corey Davis
Tee Higgins
TEs to Start
Jonnu Smith
Dalton Schultz
Mo Alie-Cox
Eric Ebron
Austin Hooper
Greg Olsen
Week 5 Sit ’em
Kenyan Drake – Cardinals RB
To the surprise of many fantasy owners who drafted him in the second or third round, Drake has been a major disappointment in his second season in the desert. Many expected Drake to take the leap to workhorse back in the Cardinals fast-paced offense led by Kyler Murray, but that has simply not been the case as he has yet to reach 90 total yards in any contest this season with only 1 TD in Week 1.
At the end of last week’s game against the Panthers he was knocked out of the game and backup Chase Edmonds took over and was able to score. This does not bode well for Drake’s future prospects as the team’s lead back and I predict he will lose more market share of the offense in Week 5 against the Jets.
Kenyan Drake Week 5 Projections: 12 rushing attempts, 42 rushing yards, 0 TD’s
QBs to Sit
Tom Brady
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Kirk Cousins
Carson Wentz
Joe Burrow
Daniel Jones
RBs to Sit
Le’Veon Bell
David Montgomery
Myles Gaskin
Leonard Fournette
Phillip Lindsay
Cam Akers
Jeff Wilson Jr.
JK Dobbins
Rex Burkhead
Malcolm Brown
D’Ernest Johnson
Nyheim Hines
Zach Moss
Gus Edwards
Frank Gore
JD McKissic
Travis Homer
Matt Breida
WRs to Sit
AJ Brown
Julian Edelman
T.Y. Hilton
DeVante Parker
Michael Gallup
Jarvis Landry
AJ Green
Mecole Hardman
Brandin Cooks
Christian Kirk
Henry Ruggs III
Tre’Quan Smith
Greg Ward
Preston Williams
John Brown
Keelan Cole
James Washington
TEs to Sit
Hayden Hurst
Tyler Higbee
Hunter Henry
Jimmy Graham
Rob Gronkowski
If you have any questions about your lineup for this week, you can find me on our Facebook group, Fantasy Couch Fam. My name is Mike Mital on there by the way.
Make sure to watch the Week 5 waiver wire video in case there are any players on waivers or free agency that you might have missed.
Also check out our podcast, Fantasy Couch Podcast (available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, etc.
