You ought to know by now that Week 5 is the first week of the season with teams on bye. If not, they are the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Tennessee Titans. If you have one or multiple players on these teams out of your Week 5 lineup, you’re looking for the best substitutes possible. That’s where our Fantrax bold predictions come in handy. Our writers have hit on at least one bold prediction each week of the season so far. Let’s dive into the Week 5 bold predictions to see which ones best suit your daily fantasy sports, redraft, or dynasty lineups.
Week 5 Bold Predictions for the 2024 Fantasy Football Season
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Bold Prediction: 225 passing yards, three touchdowns; 16 rushing yards
22.6 fantasy points
Fantrax Writer: Brandon Blanco, @BrandonBlancoFF
Brandon’s Breakdown: Trevor Lawrence’s best quality on the football field has been his hair. As far as playing football goes, Lawrence is having his worst season since entering the league in 2021. Lawrence is posting his lowest yards per attempt since his rookie season and is on pace for just 3,098 yards with 17 touchdowns. Currently the QB25 on a fantasy points-per-game basis, Lawrence is likely an available free agent in your leagues.
Week 5 is the week to fire Lawrence up into your lineups. He and the Jaguars get to face the Indianapolis Colts. This is a divisional rival he has dominated thus far in his young career. In six games versus the Colts, Lawrence has nine touchdowns, two interceptions, 1,207 yards, and a 100.8 QBR. In fact, Lawrence has an average fantasy finish of QB11 when facing the Colts. If you have a quarterback on bye or are just streaming the position, start Trevor Lawrence in your Week 5 line up. With my bold prediction, you’ll enjoy a QB1 finish with a stat line of 225 yards, three touchdowns, and 16 rushing yards, good for 22.6 fantasy points.
Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Bold Prediction: 6 receptions, 75 yards, 1 touchdown
19.5 fantasy points
Fantrax Writer: Colin McTamany, @Colin_McT
Colin’s Breakdown: In Joe Flacco’s first drive for the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4, he threw a touchdown pass to Josh Downs. There’s more where that came from. Flacco was of course in relief of Anthony Richardson (hip) who’s also in jeopardy of missing Week 5. This bold prediction rests heavily on the idea that Flacco will start in place of Richardson. If not, it’s just that much bolder!
With Joe Flacco under center, Downs led all Colts with a 32% target share. In Week 3, with Anthony Richardson, Downs still managed a 27.7% target share, as well. Volume is great, but production is better. Downs yielded a WR8 finish in Week 4 catching eight of his nine targets for 82 yards and a touchdown. It’s clear by now that Downs is the Colts’ primary weapon out of the slot.
In Week 5, Josh Downs will face a Jacksonville Jaguars defense that is allowing the third-most receptions and third-most yards to opposing wide receivers. They’re also averaging one receiving touchdown to the position allowed per game this season. More importantly for Downs, the Jags have allowed the seventh-most yards to slot receivers. Again, if Joe Flacco plays, I think Downs is a solid flex option, but my bold prediction suggests another top-10 finish as his ceiling.
Brock Bowers, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
Bold Prediction: 8 receptions, 105 yards, 1 touchdown
24.5 fantasy points
Fantrax Writer: Justin Taylor, @jtorange
JT’s Breakdown: The tight end position continues to be an absolute nightmare this fantasy football season. What was a promising position with some good young talent and solid veterans has crashed and burned this season for a variety of reasons. However, if there is a tight end I’m all in on for Week 5, it’s rookie Brock Bowers.
With superstar wide receiver, Davante Adams, out with an injury last week, many saw that as an opportunity for Bowers to shine. Unfortunately, the Raiders faced a tough Cleveland Browns defense. The Raiders surprisingly had a positive game script for a lot of the afternoon and saw their running game perform the best it has early on this season. Since Adams looks to be out again facing another tough defense, the Broncos, this week, I think Bowers is the player to watch for the Raiders. I expect a lot more pass attempts in this game with a flipped script for Las Vegas. That means more targets for Bowers and the other Raiders receiving options.
The Broncos have a shutdown cornerback in Patrick Surtain. Riley Moss is the opposite of Surtain, too. Quarterback Gardner Minshew should look to take advantage of Denver’s safeties and linebackers who struggle in coverage. Bowers can take advantage of safety P.J. Locke, slot corner Ja’Quan McMillan, and linebackers Cady Barton and Justin Strnad.
The Raiders are going to have to throw the football more this week and Bowers is the most talented offensive player they have with Adams out. Bowers is still looking for his first career touchdown and 100-yard receiving game in the NFL. My Week 5 bold prediction is that he achieves both.
Justin Fields, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Bold Prediction: 278 passing yards, 1 touchdown; 68 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns
33.92 fantasy points
Fantrax Writer: Bradlee Kilgore, @SirBradleeK
Bradlee’s Breakdown: One of my favorite ways to target a quarterback streamer in fantasy football is to find the weak defensive line and hope it matches up with a streaming option. The Dallas Cowboys have the 2nd-worst defensive line in the league regarding yards before contact. Only the Philadelphia Eagles have the worst defensive line, and you see what Baker Mayfield just did to them in Week 4.
However, what the Cowboys lack in push, they make up for in simulated pressures, so guys like Micah Parsons cover up a lot of the defense’s inefficiencies. However, Micah Parsons is battling an injury and is less than 100%. In fact, he is in jeopardy of missing Week 5.
Enter Justin Fields.
Not only is Fields a mobile quarterback who can give any defense problems, but Fields finally seems to be getting on the same page as his receivers. In the first two games, Fields threw for a combined 270 yards passing. In Week 3, he threw for 245 passing yards. Last week vs. Indianapolis, he threw for 312 passing yards. Additionally, Fields has two rushing touchdowns already, as well.
Justin Fields can expect to have all day to pass this week. Even if he doesn’t, Fields has demonstrated what a nightmare he can be on the ground for opposing defenses. If Fields is on your waiver wire and you need a quarterback to start, he would be my first choice.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!