Orcutt on Fantasy Football: Start, sits for Week 5

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We made it to Week 5 of your Fantasy Football Season. At this point we know who these players are, there is no more speculation of their usage, they are either going to be there for you or they aren’t.

Oh, and now we have to navigate these injuries. Oh yeah and last-minute players not playing on Sunday morning in London. Sorry, I told you to play Alvin Kamara last week and then Sunday morning he was declared out.

Let’s dive into Week 5 and hopefully I set you up for Fantasy Football success.

QB

Start: Tom Brady at Falcons

Brady has not had a stellar season. He has a bad O-Line, his entire wide receiver corps has been injured at some point (or suspended), the Bucs have had no running game and the crazy troubled married news. I look for Brady to come out this week and want to make a statement. Brady has averaged 358 yards and 3.75 TDs in four games against Atlanta since joining the Bucs. Also, Atlanta is giving up 21.2 Fantasy Points per game to opposing QBs. Start the G.O.A.T in Atlanta this week.

Start: Carson Wentz vs Titans

I can tell you this about Wentz, start him against weak defenses, bench him against strong ones. The Titans have a bad defense. They just gave up 356 yards and 2 TDs to Matt Ryan in week 4 and they are allowing opposing QBs to score 25.8 Fantasy Points per week. In two games against bottom of the league defenses (Jaguars and Lions) he has averaged 325 yards and 3.5 TDs. Wentz is a start vs the Titans

Sleepers: Kirk Cousin vs Bears; Derek Carr at Chiefs; Trevor Lawrence vs Texans

Sit: Matthew Stafford vs Cowboys

I think Stafford might be sit for the entire season at this point. His O-Line is terrible and his timing with his WRs is off. He’s forcing the ball to Cooper Kupp. The Cowboy’s defense is only allowing 12.2 Fantasy Points per game to opposing QBs and they are destroying bad offensive lines, with 15 sacks this season. In two road games this year, Stafford has only averaged 251 yards and 0 TDs. Try to find another QB to play this week.

Sit: Kyler Murray vs Eagles

Philadelphia is only allowing 12.2 Fantasy Points per game to opposing QBs. Murray hasn’t had a stellar season with only 247 yards per game and 1.25 TDs per game. Murray doesn’t have great numbers against the Eagles either. You probably have to start him in your season-long leagues but I would look somewhere else if you can.

RB

Start: James Robinson vs Texans

Wow what a start to the season for James Robinson coming off the Achilles tear. On the season he has 259 yards and 3 TDs and averaging 4.4 yards per carry. He is the No. 11 RB with 59 Fantasy Points and 14.8 Points per Game. This is a smash start for him going up against a Texans defense that can’t stop the run. They are allowing 140 rushing yards per game (5 yards per carry) and 25.5 Fantasy Points per Game. Get Robinson in your lineup.

Start: Dameon Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson vs Lions

Both RBs have been used all season, and I don’t expect that to change in a matchup against the second worst defense against the run in the Detroit Lions. The Lions are allowing 24.5 yards per game to the RB position and last week they we gashed by Rashaad Penny for 151 yards and 2 TDs. Couple that with the Patriots desire to probably keep the ball out of their rookie QB (Bailey Zappe) hands and control the game. Now I don’t expect either one of these guys to put up 25 points by themselves but if you can get 12-15 from each, you will take that in a flex position.

Sleeper: J.K. Dobbin vs Bengals; Raheem Mostert at NY Jets; Breece Hall vs Dolphins

Sit: Najee Harris at Bills

This should be simple, except the fact that you draft Harris in the first round and may not have a choice. Harris just can’t get going behind a bad O-Line and bad QB play. He has only given you 202 rushing yards, and 1 TD this season with a 3.5 yards per carry average. This week is not a breakout week either against a Bills defense only allowing 57 yards per game to opposing RBs and the Steelers are starting a rookie QB who is mobile and also likes to run. Sit Najee Harris if you can.

Sit: Rashaad Penny @ Saints

After last weeks performance, (151 yd 2 TDs) against one of the worst run defenses in the league, some of you are going to look at the box score and scream how can I bench Penny. Well he faces a Saints run defense that just held Dalvin Cook to 76 yards and has been very solid against the run. Leave Penny on the bench.

WR

Start: Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins at Ravens

This should be a no-brainer, but I know some of you have been down on Chase. Well teams have ran a Cover 2 defense against the Bengals and dropping 2 safeties, meaning the deep WRs are covered. The Ravens run either a zone or man coverage defense, meaning the trust their CBs to cover WRs one-on-one. That hasn’t worked out very well, as the defenders have been torched to the tune of 242 yards and 31.2 Fantasy Points per game. Also, side note, Chase was chirping in the media, that usually means that person will get more looks. Start your Bengals WRs.

Start: Terry McLaurin vs Titans

It is time for Terry McLaurin to have a breakout game against the Titans. If I am going to tell you to start the QB against a defense, I might as will tell you to start a WR. McLaurin has had a slow start to the season but he has played on over 90% off all snaps. This week he faces a Titans defense giving up 1,986 yards per game and 27.5 fantasy points per game to opposing WRs. Factor in that Johan Dotson and Curtis Samuel are in danger of missing this game, then fire up McLaurin.

Sleeper: Robert Woods aty Commanders; Gabriel Davis vs Stealers; Amari Cooper vs Charger

Sit: Dionte Johnson @ Bills

Johnson was a security blanket for Mitch Trubisky, and he put up decent numbers, but those days are over. Enter QB Kenny Pickett and his man crush on fellow rookie George Pickens. I’m not saying Johnson will be a complete wash, rest of the season but I am not expecting much against this Bills defense that I think will dominate this game. Leave Johnson on the bench until Pickett proves differently.

Sit: D.J. Moore vs 49ers

What a mess. Moore has been a viable fantasy starter every year with a bunch of different QBs, well here comes Baker Mayfield to ruin that. Now last week, Moore was targeted 11 times, so maybe that tide is turning, but I wouldn’t expect much this week against on of the top defenses against WRs in the 49ers. Leave Moore on the bench for another week.

TE

Start: T.J. Hockenson vs Patriots

Hockenson is always on the field (86% of snaps), he was targeted 12 times last week, and the Lions have injury issues at WR again this week. Hockenson has become the No. 3 TE in Fantasy Points this season and he faces a Patriots team giving up over 10 points per week to opposing TEs. I’d expect Hock to easily surpass that 10 points if you put him in your lineup

Sleeper: Hunter Henry at Lions; Tyler Conklin vs Dolphins; Logan Thomas vs Titans

Sit: Dalton Schultz vs Rams

The Rams are only allowing a total of 98 yards to the TE position and 1.8 Fantasy Points to the TE. They held George Kittle to 24 yards and 4 Fantasy Points last week. Schultz should be healthy, but the Cowboys have all their WRs back, and Pollard catching passes, this is not a week to trot Schultz into your TE position.

Thank you for reading my Start/Sit Column. Good luck in Week 5. You can find this and the rest of my work over at FantasyHolics on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/FantasyHolics

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By Jeremiah Orcutt

FantasyHolics

An Air Force veteran, Jeremiah Orcutt is from Hillsboro. You can find the rest of his work year round on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FantasyHolics.

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