Week 5 is here and brings with it the first four teams on a bye. That complicates things that much more when setting lineups. We are about one-third of the way through the fantasy football regular season. It’s important to know which players you can trust as each win becomes that much more important. So, the Week 5 risers, fallers, and the player on the hot seat in this article are selected to do just that.
The players below are a mix of obvious studs and some others you may justifiably still have reservations about heading into Week 5. I’m including this particular group of players because I think they’re more important to discuss than others. Before you dive in, feel free to review my Week 4 risers, fallers, and the player on the hot seat that I named before last weekend.
Week 5 Risers, Fallers, and a Player on the Hot Seat
Risers
Jakobi Meyers, WR, Las Vegas Raiders
After a late-week scratch due to a “hamstring injury,” Davante Adams missed Week 4 for the Las Vegas Raiders. In his absence, Jakobi Meyers led the team with 10 targets, accounting for a 41.6% share. It’s Meyers’ second game in a row with nine targets. He’s now averaging 15.55 fantasy points per game over the last two weeks.
The elephant in the room here, and what could make Meyers even more of a riser, is the possibility of the Raiders trading Davante Adams away. He’s already set to miss Week 5 again with his “hamstring injury”, so keep Meyers in your lineup. Tre Tucker deserves serious consideration, as well. He has 38.0 total fantasy points over the last two weeks, including a touchdown in each game, on 16 total opportunities. If Adams has played his last game as a Raider, both Meyers and Tucker could be unlikely heroes of this fantasy football season.
Wan’Dale Robinson, WR, New York Giants
If you play in a Points Per Reception league then you should know how much of an asset Wan’Dale Robinson is this season. Though rookie Mailk Nabers is justifiably getting the attention in New York, Robinson is a fast and steady riser this season. Nabers is first amongst all wide receivers in team target share (38.2%) this season. Robinson ranks eighth (27.9%) with less than a 24% share in just one of four games.
Heading into Week 5, we’re still awaiting news if Nabers will clear the concussion protocol. Time is on his side with extra rest after playing Thursday Night Football in Week 4. There’s no guarantee he will suit up, though. Either way, Robinson is a must-start given the volume with Nabers. He possesses a high-floor welcome to any fantasy football lineup. Robinson’s 26 receptions account for nearly half of his total PPR points. Start this Week 5 riser if you’ve got him and add him if he’s somehow still available.
Jayden Reed, WR, Green Bay Packers
I’m guilty of dividing my attention among all of the Green Bay Packers wide receivers this season. I even had Romeo Doubs on the riser list just last week. We’ve all done it. Even though many, including myself, discussed the potential for up-and-down weeks amongst this receiver group, we continue to try to find the steadiest, best option.
The fact of the matter is that Jayden Reed is, and will continue to be, the Packers wide receiver with the most value on fantasy football rosters. Reed currently leads the Packers with 22 targets this season. In fact, he’s actually tied with Dontayvion Wicks. It’s worth nothing, though, 13 of Wicks’ targets (59% on the season) came in Week 4. Reed has at least six targets in three of four games this season, the only Packer to do so.
More importantly, Reed is averaging 30.1 points per game in the two games with Jordan Love as the starting quarterback. Even better, Reed has six rush attempts for 91 yards and a touchdown this season, as well. So, yes, while Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks also deserve to be on the riser list, especially while Christian Watson deals with an ankle injury, Jayden Reed is the most valuable player of this group.
Pat Freiermuth, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers
Freiermuth is one of just two tight ends to score 6.0 or more fantasy points in all four games this season. The other is Dallas Goedert. To no surprise, both players rank inside the top three in team target share this season amongst all tight ends. Freiermuth has a 19.4% target share on the Steelers. Only nine tight ends have 150 or more receiving yards this season. Freiermuth is also one of them.
What’s encouraging is that 78 of Freiermuth’s 156 yards (50%) are yards after the catch. He’s never had more than 291 yards after the catch in a season and is pacing for over 330. Freiermuth is mixing in more as a receiver with a route participation of more than 80% in each of the Steelers’ last two games. In Week 5, Freiermuth gets a Dallas Cowboys defense that’s going to be without DeMarcus Lawrence. They could be without Micah Parsons, as well. This could be a major breakout game for Freiermuth earning our trust that much more moving forward as one of the biggest risers amongst tight ends.
Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
Other than him being unavailable in Week 5, we still don’t know the extent of Rashee Rice’s injury. What we do know is that after he exited Week 4 early on with his knee injury, Travis Kelce led all Chiefs with eight targets. That accounts for a 32.1% target share, his highest since 15.4% of the Chiefs’ targets in Week 1.
Despite the lackluster majority of his performances this season, Kelce remains one of eight tight ends that is second in their respective team’s target share on the season. He should be Patrick Mahomes’ go-to target for however long Rice is sidelined. Given the state of the tight end position, those with Kelce can feel optimistic that he is a riser, however slight, based on an expected uptick in volume.
Fallers
Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons
Yes, I know it’s jarring to see a first-round pick land on my Week 5 faller list. However, it’s even more jarring to see he’s averaging 14.2 points per game as the RB17. What’s even more concerning is the split of carries between Robinson and Tyler Allgeier out of the Falcons’ backfield this season:
Week 1: Robinson, 18 (85%) / Allgeier, 3 (14%)
Week 2: Robinson, 14 (60%) / Allgeier, 9 (39%)
Week 3: Robinson, 16 (69.5%) / Allgeier, 7 (30%)
Week 4: Robinson, 7 (46.6%), Allgeier, 8 (53%)
I do think better days could be ahead for Bijan Robinson. Atlanta’s opponents from Weeks 5 through 9 all rank inside the top-13 in fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs. That includes the Carolina Panthers (1st) and Dallas Cowboys (3rd). However, it is possible the Falcons continue utilizing Allgeier. Though he has just 27 carries, he’s averaging 6.1 yards per attempt.
This could just be a fantasy headache. Allgeier is probably not going to see enough touches to warrant starting him. However, he could do just enough to take away a chunk of the upside from Bijan Robinson that managers invested such high draft capital in. The next few weeks will tell us a lot. Let’s hope Robinson sees more of a riser workload and I’m flat out wrong to put him on the Week 5 faller list.
Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals
It’s easy to believe Kyler Murray is having a solid fantasy football season because of his Week 2 outburst of 28.5 points. However, that performance accounts for 41.6% of his total fantasy points this season. In fact, Murray hasn’t surpassed 16.0 fantasy points in any of his other three games.
Murray didn’t have Trey McBride (concussion) in Week 4 against the pass-friendly Washington Commanders defense. That’s no excuse for a season-low 142 passing yards and one touchdown against a unit that allowed 263 yards per game and nine total passing touchdowns in three games prior.
What we’re banking on with Murray’s fantasy value is his rushing upside. So far, through four weeks, Murray has 16 total rush attempts. It breaks down as five in each of his first three games and just one rush attempt in Week 4. Murray’s total attempts ranks 13th amongst the position behind players like Jayden Daniels (46), Justin Fields (38), Josh Allen (22), and even Patrick Mahomes (17). Murray is a ways away from the elite quarterback we drafted him to be with the rushing upside in mind.
Unfortunately for Murray, his schedule also gets tougher as the season progresses. Before the Cardinals’ Week 11 bye, Murray faces five defenses in the bottom 10 in points allowed to opposing quarterbacks. That includes the Dolphins, Bears, and Jets, who are the three teams allowing the least amount of points to the position thus far. Murray is still a start-worthy option with a fine complement of weapons and can rack up points on the ground. It just might not come as easy as we might like it to. Considering, too, what we’ve seen thus far through four games, this all makes him a bit of a faller from where he ranked before the season.
Carson Steele, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
If the negative fantasy points in Week 4 don’t make Carson Steele a faller, then his usage definitely will. In Kareem Hunt’s first game back with the Chiefs, Hunt played 28 snaps with 14 carries, three targets, and 75 all-purpose yards. Meanwhile, Carson Steele played just 11 snaps with two carries, three targets, six total yards, and a fumble.
I still believe the Chiefs backfield will continue operating as a committee. I should also mention that Samaje Perine rushed five times for 14 yards and a touchdown on 25 snaps played in Hunt’s return. Hunt is 29 years old and we can’t realistically expect him to take on the role left behind by Isiah Pacheco. He averaged 20.5 touches over the first two games before his injury. If Week 4 is any indication of how this backfield will operate moving forward, then Hunt is a riser while Steele finds himself a faller after being such an enticing waiver wire add just two weeks ago.
Calvin Ridley, WR, Tennessee Titans
I could probably make this faller excerpt a one-liner: Calvin Ridley has nine total receptions this season. Nine! Ridley has just one reception in each of the Titans’ last two games. Luckily, he has a Week 5 bye, but if he didn’t, how could you realistically justify starting him?
It’s not like Ridley isn’t producing with heavy volume. He isn’t producing with just a 17.9% target share. Ridley’s only saving grace is that he ranks 12th in total air yards this season. That’s after ranking eighth in air yards as the WR1 for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023. The Jaguars’ passing game coordinator, Nick Holz, is the current Titans’ offensive coordinator. Ridley also leads all Titans in snaps played and routes run this season.
Ridley does have an opportunity to bounce back after the Titans’ Week 5 bye. He gets a matchup with the Colts in Week 6. They’re allowing the 10th-most fantasy points to wide receivers. Ridley also had success against them last season. He caught 12 of 19 targets for 131 yards and a touchdown including a 100-yard performance in their first matchup. There are notable wide receivers on bye in Week 6 from the Chiefs, Rams, Dolphins and Vikings that you could start Ridley in this matchup, but proceed with caution.
Check out all of our Week 5 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | Flex
The Week 5 Hot Seat
Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
If it’s wrong to put a defending back-to-back Super Bowl champion quarterback, who’s currently 4-0 this season, on the Week 5 hot seat, then I don’t want to be right! We’re strictly talking about fantasy football here. Patrick Mahomes is the QB17 on a points-per-game basis after four weeks of play.
Mahomes is averaging just 15.4 points per game. During the standard length of a fantasy football season, and in games he started and completed, Mahomes has just 12 games of less than 15.4 fantasy points from 2018 to 2023 since he became the starter. That’s an average of two such games per season. He has three such games of less than 15.4 fantasy points this season with a high of just 17.4 points in Week 3.
After adding Hollywood Brown in free agency and Xavier Worthy via the draft, there was an expectation of a bounceback from Mahomes QB13 fantasy finish last season. We now know Hollywood Brown is unlikely to play this regular season. While Worthy is slowly finding a role, Rashee Rice is due to miss time after a Week 4 knee injury, though it’s unclear how long as of now.
The bottom line is that the Chiefs offense lacks explosiveness. Mahomes is 12th in yards per attempt amongst quarterbacks with at least 40 total pass attempts. Additionally, he’s 22nd in total air yards while the Chiefs rank 20th in pass attempts per game (30.2). Mahomes faces the Saints and 49ers’ defense in his next two games with a Week 6 bye in between. Both teams rank in the bottom nine in fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks. So, no, it’s not crazy if you want to start another player in a better matchup in Week 5.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!