Getty Stefon Diggs of the Minnesota Vikings
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em for Week 5 of the NFL season. Our wide receiver edition this week features a handful of disgruntled wide receivers residing out of Minnesota. Plus, a pass-catcher looking to replace the role left behind by a team’s leading receiver who was recently placed on injured reserve.
* Reminder: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is intended to present you with the non-obvious choices for your fantasy lineup. We dig deep into player matchups, scoring trends, and other factors to best help you with your fantasy decisions. Superstars such as Julio Jones and DeAndre Hopkins will not be found in this column. If you’re looking for players of their caliber check out our weekly fantasy football wide receiver rankings.
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WR: Start ‘Em
Start of the Week: Adam Thielen vs. NYG
Thielen called out quarterback Kirk Cousins in a roundabout way following a disappointing loss in Week 4. Thielen will undoubtedly improve on his abysmal 2.6 fantasy points from a week ago. In fact, he may multiply that output by 10. Disregarding New York’s opponents last week, who were without their top receiving threat to injury, the Giants have allowed teams’ number one receivers to score an average of 23.8 points this season.
Stefon Diggs vs. NYG
Let’s keep putting smiles on the faces of the disgruntled Minnesota receivers. In the midst of making his case for a trade out of the Gopher State, Diggs managed to put up his best stat line of the season a week ago. The Giants have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season, including 19.3 to the Michael Gallup in Week 1, the Cowboys second fiddle at WR. This means that there’s plenty of yardage and points to go around for Minnesota pass catchers.
Julian Edelman vs. WAS
Nothing went right for New England’s offense a week ago. This weekend’s game has a great chance of going the polar opposite of Week 4’s. Washington currently surrenders the second-most fantasy points to WRs this season. However, the eye test tells you they’re even worse than that. The ‘Skins have allowed each of their opponent’s leading receivers to register 6+ receptions and 93.3 yards receiving. They’ve surrendered an NFL-leading eight receiving touchdowns to receivers this year.
Sleeper: Auden Tate vs. ARI
Cincinnati placed their top receiver John Ross on IR earlier this week, opening up more looks for Tate. Not bad for a guy who has already registered 16 targets over the past two weeks. Only three other teams have thrown the ball more than the Bengals have this season. Arizona ranks second to last in total defense through the first four weeks of play.
WR: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Tyrell Williams vs. CHI
As if facing off against the Bears wasn’t enough, Williams is also dealing with a foot injury. Williams has scored a touchdown in each of his four games as a member of the Oakland Raiders. However, lost in the midst of Williams’ regular visits to the endzone is that he’s averaged just 3.7 receptions and 37 receiving yards over his past three games.
Titans WRs vs. BUF
AJ Brown and Corey Davis both put up impressive performances a week ago. That won’t be the case vs. Buffalo this week. Tenessee’s passing offense is too unreliable to expect them to perform admirably two weeks in a row, especially when the Buffalo defense is lining up across from them. The Bills defense allows the fourth-fewest points in fantasy to WRs, while not letting a starting wideout reach double-digit points since Week 1.
DJ Chark at CAR
Chark’s touchdown run of three consecutive games came to an end in Week 4. He’ll likely find it hard to make it back to the end zone in Week 5. Carolina has allowed just two receiving touchdowns to wide receivers this season. The Gardner Minshew-led passing attack in Jacksonville has averaged just 210 passing yards per game over their last three contests.
Buyers Beware: John Brown at TEN
Brown has been relatively matchup-proof for PPR owners this season. However, the Titans defense is just one week removed from holding Julio Jones to just 7.3 fantasy points. Tennessee has also allowed an average of just 56 receiving yards to wideouts this season. To make matters worse, Brown could be without his big armed QB Josh Allen this week as he tries to make his way back from a concussion. This means the wideout might have to rely on Matt Barkley to get him the ball on Sunday.
READ NEXT: Fantasy: Wide Receiver Rankings Week 5