Key Fantasy Football Takeaways from NFL Week 5

Five weeks of football flew by, and there is plenty left to go. If you are off to a great start, have a terrible record, or are somewhere in the middle for Fantasy Football – keep pushing. Plenty of time to make a run of improvement, but also plenty of time to fall backward.

Each week I run through every team that played on Thursday and Saturday, taking Fantasy Football notes for what you need to know. I am basically doing the dirty work for you so that you are able to have one spot to see all of what happened for a given week.

It is important to monitor these notes so that we can pivot with new information received when it comes to managing our Fantasy Football teams. Total touches, targets, snap percentage, efficiency metrics, and production can fluctuate but are important to look into weekly as these categories can have next week and rest-of-season implications. The scoring noted is geared toward point-per-reception leagues (PPR). Here is what you need to know from Week 5.

Week 5 Fantasy Football Takeaways

Arizona

• Marquise Brown scored 16+ Fantasy Points for the fourth straight week. Four receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. This marks the third week Hollywood has earned 10 targets, and the third straight week of at least 61 receiving yards. The connection with Joshua Dobbs is evident.
• James Conner left the game in the first half with a knee injury, which will need to be monitored. Emari Demercado was the next man up for the running back position and ended up carrying the ball 10 times for 45 yards and a score for 12.7 Fantasy Points.
• Zach Ertz scored, and Rondale Moore out-targeted rookie Michael Wilson five to two after Wilson’s big Week 4 performance.

Atlanta

• Desmond Ridder threw for a season-high 329 passing yards, threw a touchdown, and rushed for one. He put up a season-high 26.16 Fantasy Points.
• We finally saw a Kyle Pitts performance that lived up to expectations for him and his talent. Pitts finished Week 5 with season highs in targets (11), receptions (7), receiving yards (87), and Fantasy Points (15.7).
• Drake London caught six of his nine targets for 78 receiving yards and 14.68 Fantasy Points. This was London’s second-best Fantasy week of the season.
• It was a quiet Bijan Robinson week, but he did score his second receiving touchdown of the season. Bijan actually finished with one less than Tyler Allgeier’s 17 touches.

Baltimore

• Week 5 saw a season-high 10 targets for Mark Andrews, who caught six of them for 65 yards. Andrews finished with 80 receiving yards last week.
• Zay Flowers caught five passes for 73 yards on a season-high 11 targets. This was the third week Flowers was targeted 10 times.
• Gus Edwards finished with 12 touches while Justice Hill finished with 11, in a true split committee. Hill was more productive with a touchdown scored.
• Lamar Jackson threw a costly interception and fumbled this week without a touchdown thrown or rushed. This was the second week Jackson finished with under 10 fantasy Points.

Buffalo

• Josh Allen threw for a season-high 359 passing yards and scored three total touchdowns with one interception. 27.76 Fantasy Points.
• Stefon Diggs caught 8 of 11 targets for 121 receiving yards and a touchdown, coming off of a Week 4 performance he finished with 120 receiving yards. Diggs has finished with over 100 receiving yards in three of his four games.
• Gabriel Davis has now scored a touchdown in four straight games. Davis finished with a season-high 100 receiving yards on a season-high eight targets.
• James Cook had a horrible rushing stat line with five attempts for negative four yards. Cook finished with eight touches, and both Latavius Murray and Damien Harris had three a piece.

Carolina

• Adam Thielen scored his third touchdown of the season and finished with 107 receiving yards. Thielen’s 13 targets is one shy of his season-high from Week 3. Thielen has now scored over 20 Fantasy Points three times through five games this season.
• Bryce Young finished with season highs in passing yards (247), passing touchdowns (three), and Fantasy Points (18.28). Young also threw two interceptions, but it was clearly his best week to date.
• DJ Chark scored his first touchdown as a Panther, earning six targets to rookie Jonathan Mingo’s seven.
• Awful Miles Sanders day, touching the ball just seven times which was three less than teammate Chuba Hubbard.

Chicago

• Back-to-back weeks displaying an excellent connection between Justin Fields and DJ Moore. Moore caught eight passes for the second week in a row and finished with 230 receiving yards and three touchdowns for 49 Fantasy Points. This marked Moore’s third week over 100 receiving yards and he was targeted a season-high 10 times in Week 5.
• Justin Fields threw for four touchdowns for the second week in a row and for 282 passing yards. Week 5 was also the second time Fields rushed for over 50 yards. 32.98 Fantasy Points after 27.9 last week gives the vibe he is back to his 2022 form, if not better.
• Cole Kmet has also been on fire the last two weeks with Fantasy scores of 27.6 and 15.2. 14 targets, 12 receptions, 127 receiving yards and three touchdowns across the last two weeks.
• Khalil Herbert rushed for 76 yards but suffered what looks like a high ankle sprain. Roschon Johnson suffered a concussion. Khari Blasingame (fullback) was the last man standing since D’Onta Foreman was a healthy scratch yet again. Should Herbert and Johnson miss time, my bet would be on Foreman to step into the workload.

Cincinnati

• The Ja’Marr Chase we projected coming into 2023 was in full form. 15 receptions on 19 targets for 192 receiving yards and three touchdowns for a week-winning 52.2 Fantasy points.
• Joe Burrow had his best, and to be honest first good Fantasy week of the year. 36/46 for 317 passing yards, three touchdowns and an interception. 23.38 Fantasy Points marks the first time Burrow scored 16 Fantasy Points this year.
• With Tee Higgins out injured in Week 5, it was Trenton Irwin who was the second most targeted receiver with 10 targets to Tyler Boyd’s seven. Irwin was targeted just once prior to Week 5, while Boyd has earned at least seven targets for four straight weeks.
• Joe Mixon finished with a season-high 81 yards on a season-high 29 touches. Mixon has scored 13.4-14 Fantasy Points three times now, but never above that range.

Dallas

• No Cowboys players scored 10 Fantasy Points in Week 5. The 49ers are simply a horrible matchup for Fantasy Football.
• CeeDee Lamb has finished four of his five games this season with exactly four receptions. Lamb has scored 15 Fantasy Points just once (25.3 in Week 2).
• Tony Pollard rushed for a season-low 29 yards and totaled a season-low 12 touches.
• Dak Prescott threw 14/24 for 153 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions. Season low 4.32 Fantasy Points. Dak has scored under seven Fantasy Points twice now this season, and under 15 Fantasy Points in four games now.

Denver

• Russell Wilson threw a pair of touchdowns, which marks four weeks out of five he has thrown at least two. Wilson also rushed for 49 yards, which is second to his season high of 56 from Week 2. 18.74 Fantasy Points.
• With Javonte Williams out, Jaleel McLaughlin stepped up again rushing an efficient nine times for 68 yards. McLaughlin caught three passes and scored a receiving touchdown for the second week in a row as well. 19.4 Fantasy Points last week, and 17.9 this week.
• Jerry Jeudy earned seven targets, Courtland Sutton earned three, Brandon Johnson and Marvin Mims Jr. just one with Jeudy the high scorer with 11 Fantasy Points.

Detroit

• Jared Goff threw 20/28 for 236 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air while adding another touchdown with his legs. 27.44 Fantasy Points is a season high and it was without his WR1 Amon-Ra St. Brown. 
• David Montgomery continued his scoring streak with his sixth rushing touchdown through four games played. Back-to-back weeks rushing for over 100 yards (121 then 109) and back-to-back weeks over 20 Fantasy Points (34.1 then 20.9).
• Sam LaPorta caught a season-low three passes but two of them resulted in a touchdown, making for a big 19.7 Fantasy Point week. His second-highest score (22.4 Fantasy Points) of the year.
• Josh Reynolds finished with 76 receiving yards and a touchdown for 17.6 Fantasy Points, which marks his fourth game of 66+ receiving yards and second second-highest Fantasy score of his season. Jameson Williams earned just two looks on 47% of the snaps.

Houston

• Dalton Schultz is trending up, scoring 13.2 Fantasy Points last week then 19.5 in Week 5. Schultz has scored a touchdown in back-to-back weeks and caught seven of his 10 targets for 65 yards which were all season highs.
• After three straight weeks throwing 280-384 yards and two touchdowns in each of those games, CJ Stroud threw for 249 yards and a touchdown.
• Tank Dell earned four targets after exiting the game with a concussion in the second quarter, Nico Collins earned four targets, Robert Woods earned nine, and John Metchie III two. Dell was the high scorer with just 8.3 Fantasy Points
• Dameon Pierce finished with 21 touches to Devin Singletary’s zero, with 82 scrimmage yards and under 10 Fantasy Points.

Indianapolis

• Anthony Richardson is set to miss some time, after playing just 33% of the game before leaving with an AC joint sprain. Reports have come out that Richardson is set to miss some time, which means Gardner Minshew will be the QB1 for the Colts.
• Jonathan Taylor returned to play 15% of the snaps and touched the ball seven times after news broke about his pay day. Zack Moss touched the ball 25 times, rushing for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Moss finished with 33.5 Fantasy Points, which marks his third time across the last four weeks scoring 20+ Fantasy Points.
• Josh Downs had his best Fantasy outing so far this season, scoring 15.7 Fantasy Points. Downs caught all six targets for a season-high 97 receiving yards. Downs earned 12 targets back in Week 3.
• Michael Pittman Jr. caught five of his seven targets for 52 yards. Back-to-back weeks under 11 Fantasy Points.

Jacksonville

• Travis Etienne rushed for a season-high 136 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns. Etienne also caught four passes for 48 yards. 36.4 Fantasy Points was huge, and a season high as well.
• Calvin Ridley had his bounce-back, scoring 20,6 Fantasy Points which was second to his Week 1 score of 24.1 points. Prior to Week 5, Ridley scored under 12 Fantasy Points for three straight weeks. Seven receptions on eight targets for 122 receiving yards as well as two carries for 14 yards.
• Christian Kirk caught six of his eight targets for 78 yards and had a carry for six yards as well. Zay Jones scored a touchdown but left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury to monitor. Evan Engram earned eight targets for the fourth straight week.

Kansas City

• Travis Kelce caught 10 of his 11 targets for 67 yards and a score for a season-best 22.7 Fantasy Points. Kelce sustained an ankle injury that will need monitoring.
• Patrick Mahomes threw 31/41 for 281 yards and two touchdowns for 19.24 Fantasy Points.
• Isiah Pacheco scored his third rushing touchdown in a row in Week 5. Pacheco totaled 17 touches with both Jerick McKinnon and Clyde Edwards-Helaire finishing with three touches a piece.
• Rashee Rice caught his second touchdown of the season. Rice has earned 5+ targets in four of his five games played, scoring double-digit Fantasy Points in three games.
• Kadarius Toney earned six targets, Justyn Ross earned four, Justin Watson earned three, Marquez Valdes Scantling two, and Skyy Moore two.

Los Angeles

• Cooper Kupp returned to action, catching eight of his 12 targets for 118 receiving yards and a touchdown. 19.8 Fantasy Points.
• Despite some concern on his role once Kupp returned, Puka Nacua still earned 11 targets and caught seven of them for 71 yards and a touchdown. 20.1 Fantasy Points (team-high). Fourth game this season scoring at least 20 Fantasy Points.
• Matthew Stafford threw 21/37 for 222 yards and two touchdowns. This was the first time this season Stafford threw for multiple touchdowns in a game.
• Kyren Williams totaled 15 touches to Ronnie Rivers one and had his lowest Fantasy score of the year (7.7 points).

Miami

• For the third time this season, Tyreek Hill scored over 30 Fantasy Points (32.1 points). Hill caught eight of his nine targets for 181 receiving yards and a touchdown. This was the third game Hill finished with over 150 receiving yards this season.
• De’Von Achane finished with over 21 Fantasy Points for the third straight week. 51.3-27-21.5. Achane rushed the ball 11 times for 151 yards and a touchdown. Achane has had three straight games over 100 rushing yards with 203, 101, and 151 yards. Monitor Achane as news broke that he sustained some sort of a knee injury on Sunday.
• Tua Tagovailoa threw 22/30 for 308 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Third game for Tua this season to throw multiple touchdowns, and third game he threw for over 300 yards.
• Raheem Mostert rushed the ball 10 times for 65 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes. Mostert currently holds a questionable tag, which makes Jeff Wilson Jr. a name to consider adding with both Mostert and Achane potentially banged up.
• Jaylen Waddle earned a season-high 10 targets but caught just half of them. Waddle did end up scoring, and hopefully is beginning to trend up.

Minnesota

• Kirk Cousins bounced back, throwing 29/47 for 284 and two touchdowns. Cousins has tossed at least two touchdowns in every single game this year so far.
• Rookie Jordan Addison caught his third touchdown pass of the season. Addison caught six of his nine targets for 64 yards. 18.4 Fantasy Points was a season-high, and that marked his third time scoring 16+ points.
• Alexander Mattison totaled 10 touches compared to Cam Akers seven. Mattison played 51% to Akers’ 29% of the snaps and the receiving touchdown boosted Mattison’s Fantasy day.
• Justin Jefferson suffered a hamstring strain that we will need to monitor moving forward. KJ Osborn earned nine targets and Brandon Powell six.

New England

• No Patriots players scored eight Fantasy Points in the 34-0 loss to the Saints
• Mac Jones finished with negative Fantasy Points. Jones threw 12/22 for 110 passing yards, two interceptions, and a fumble. Jones was eventually benched for the second game in a row for Bailey Zappe. 
• Ezekiel Elliott rushed eight times for 21 yards and caught four passes for 17 yards on a season-high 46% of the snaps. Rhamondre Stevenson carried the ball eight times for 24 yards on a season-low 50% of the snaps.
• Kendrick Bourne earned five targets, DeVante Parker earned four targets, JuJu Smith-Schuster earned four targets and left the game injured and Demario Douglas also left injured and earned two targets.
• Mike Gesicki was targeted four times to Hunter Henry’s two, who caught neither.

New Orleans

• After scoring 21.4 Fantasy Points in his season debut off of suspension last week, Alvin Kamara scored 18.7 Fantasy Points in Week 5. Last week Kamara caught 13 passes, but this week he ran the ball 22 times for 80 yards and a touchdown.
• Kendre Miller also ran 13 times for 37 yards and caught four passes for 53 yards on 36% of the snaps.
• Michael Thomas was targeted seven times, Chris Olave was targeted five times and scored and Rashid Shaheed earned just two targets.
• The 15.72 Fantasy Points was a season-high for Derek Carr, who threw a pair of touchdowns for the first time this season. Carr did finish his third straight game under 200 passing yards.

New York

• We finally saw a vintage Darren Waller performance in Week 5. Waller caught eight of his 11 targets for 86 receiving yards and scored 16.6 Fantasy Points.
• No other Giants player scored eight Fantasy Points in Week 5.
• Daniel Jones exited the Week 5 matchup with an injury in the fourth quarter, but reports have detailed that Head Coach Daboll is optimistic for him to play in their next game. Jones threw 14/20 for 119 yards and rushed for 24 yards. Tyrod Taylor is the backup.
• Wan’Dale Robinson earned six targets, Darius Slayton earned four targets, Parris Campbell earned two targets and Isaiah Hodgins earned two targets.

New York

• Breece Hall had his revenge game against the Broncos who he tore his ACL against in Week 7 last season. Hall finished Week 5 with season highs in rushing attempts (22), rushing yards (177), snap percentage (52%) and Fantasy Points (28.4). Hall scored a touchdown and also caught three passes for the second week in a row.
• Tyler Conklin finished with 50+ receiving yards for the third time this season, with a season-high 67. Conklin has earned five targets for the fourth week in a row.
• After having a big Week 4 game, Zach Wilson returned to his prior form throwing 19/26 for 199 yards and an interception for 8.56 Fantasy Points. Garrett Wilson caught just three of his seven targets from Wilson for 54 yards.

Philadelphia

• For the second week in a row, Jalen Hurts threw for over 300 yards. 319 then 303 passing yard games. Hurts threw both a touchdown and an interception, but also rushed for a season-high 72 yards and a touchdown. 27.32 Fantasy Points was also a season-high.
• Dallas Goedert had his first big Fantasy Week, scoring 25.7 Fantasy Points after scoring under 10 Fantasy points all season. Goedert caught eight of his nine targets for 117 receiving yards and a touchdown.
• AJ Brown continued his receiving yard tear. Weeks 3-5 Brown has finished with 131-175-127 receiving yards which has translated to 22.1-38.5-18,7 Fantasy Points.
• D’Andre Swift continues to be a strong Fantasy performer as well, scoring 16.8 Fantasy Points in Week 5. Swift has scored over 16 Fantasy Points in three of his last four games. Swift rushed for 70 yards and caught a season-high six passes for 38 yards this week.

Pittsburgh

• Big day for George Pickens who finished with a season-high 130 receiving yards and a touchdown. Pickens caught six of his 10 targets, and this was the second time across the last four weeks he earned 10.
• Kenny Pickett threw 18/32 for 224 yards and a touchdown. This was the second game he rushed for negative six yards. This was also Pickett’s fourth game under 134 Fantasy Points.
• Jaylen Warren totaled 12 touches and 79 scrimmage yards on 48% of the snaps compared to Najee Harris who had 15 touches and 40 scrimmage yards on 56% of the snaps.
• Allen Robinson earned a season-high nine targets

San Francisco

• George Kittle had his best game of the season, with all three of his receptions resulting in a touchdown and him finishing with 67 yards. 27.7 Fantasy Points. Kittle has had a sandwich of Fantasy performances the last three weeks scoring 16-1.9-27.7 Fantasy Points.
• Brock Purdy also scored a season-high in Fantasy Points with 26.08. Purdy threw for 252 yards and a season-high four passing touchdowns. Back-to-back weeks over 21 Fantasy Points.
• Christian McCaffrey scored his seventh rushing touchdown of the year and totaled 21 touches in Week 5.
• Deebo Samuel earned three targets and Brandon Aiyuk earned seven, with the pair scoring 11.5 and 9.8 Fantasy Points.

Tennessee

• DeAndre Hopkins had a “get right week”, scoring a season-high 22 Fantasy Points after scoring under 11 Fantasy Points the previous three games in a row. Hopkins caught eight of 11 targets for a season-high 140 receiving yards.
• Rookie Tyjae Spears rushed seven times for 34 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 35 yards. Spears played 52% of the snaps while Derrick Henry played 62% and touched the ball 16 times. 16.9 Fantasy Points compared to Derrick Henry’s 9.2.
• Chigoziem Okonkwo earned a season-high nine targets and caught five of them for 33 yards. Chig was the clear beneficiary of no Treylon Burks. 

Washington

• Sam Howell finished with a season-high 25.42 Fantasy Points, which was his second time this season scoring over 20. Howell threw 37/51 for 388 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
• Logan Thomas caught nine of his 11 targets for 77 yards and a touchdown. 20.7 Fantasy Points. Thomas earned eight targets in Week 1, scored a touchdown in Week 2, and is looking like a clear favorite of Howell’s.
• Curtis Samuel scored a receiving touchdown after rushing for one last week and earned seven targets. Terry McLaurin earned five targets and Jahan Dotson matched that.
• Antonio Gibson did not log a single carry but caught a season-high four passes for 64 yards playing 54% of the snaps. Brian Robinson logged 10 touches and played a season-low 36% of the snaps.

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