Week 5 Flex Rankings for Fantasy Football

The calendar has flipped to October, and bye weeks are beginning in the National Football League. Now is when the fun truly starts for fantasy football purposes. Unfortunately, bye weeks are not the only obstacle that fantasy managers must contend with. Several key injuries over the past few weeks have already significantly impacted preseason projections.

We should not have to discard our previous opinions on all our players entirely. However, the landscape has undoubtedly changed in many instances. Some of these changes are more favorable than we would have anticipated a month ago. Others are not. In either case, I will make sense of most of it with my Week 5 Flex rankings. Despite the bye week crunch, I have ranked over 200 players based on Half-PPR scoring for the upcoming week. Adjust as needed according to your league’s specifications.

Running Back Notes

There has been quite a makeover in terms of running back rankings since the beginning of the season. Just four short weeks ago, Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty and Los Angeles Chargers back Omarion Hampton were the only running backs I had ranked as top-50 overall Flex players.

Now, three other freshmen enter that group. They include Cam Skattebo, Quinshon Judkins, and Woody Marks. I have all three inside the top-50 overall in my Week 5 Flex rankings. Skattebo and Judkins are the unquestioned leaders in their respective backfields heading into this week. Both should be in line for upwards of 20 touches this week, giving the pair a solid fantasy floor.

In each case, their Week 5 opponents have allowed at least 500 total yards to opposing running backs through four weeks. Both Skattebo and Judkins are RB2s in 10 and 12-team leagues.

Marks may be more challenging to project. He may have usurped the starting gig from Nick Chubb by way of his performance last week. The Texans trusted the rookie with a bigger role in Week 4, and it paid off in a huge way. Marks finished the game with 119 total yards and two touchdowns on 21 touches. Before last week, Marks had only touched the ball 14 times, gaining 90 total yards.

Houston has a highly favorable Week 5 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. No team has allowed more touchdowns to opposing running backs so far this season, and only Cincinnati has allowed more total yards. The issue is that even if Marks has earned a bigger piece of the pie, Chubb isn’t going away. I ranked both backs as potential Flex plays, with Marks having the greater upside of the two.

New England’s backfield is another one that can be difficult to project from week to week. They blew out the Carolina Panthers last week and were in control throughout the second half. Yet neither Rhamondre Stevenson nor TreVeyon Henderson earned more than 10 touches or gained more than 50 total yards. Their Week 5 matchup with the Buffalo Bills is an interesting one.

Buffalo has allowed the second-most yards per carry to opposing running backs through four weeks. However, they have given up the third-fewest receiving yards to the position. That would figure to favor Henderson. However, Stevenson has been more explosive out of the backfield as a pass catcher than the rookie. I ranked both Patriots consecutively among running backs, with the slight edge to Henderson. But if you prefer Stevenson, I wouldn’t go out of my way to talk you out of it.

Wide Receiver Notes

I am not telling anyone reading this to bench Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown this week. What I am telling you is that I might be benching him. That is probably an emotional response on my part, and time will tell if I go through with it. My brain tells me to start him, and thus I still have him ranked as a top-20 wide receiver.

I also have DeVonta Smith inside the top 30. But I do not feel good about either player at all. The Philadelphia Eagles look like they’re running one of those offenses you see in memes from the 1930s. They appear to have no interest in throwing the ball unless they absolutely have to. Philadelphia had zero passing yards in the second half last week. The worst part is that they are 4-0, so they are not compelled to make any changes.

There were a pair of season-ending injuries to prominent wide receivers last week. Malik Nabers tore his ACL, which will prematurely end his sophomore season. In his stead, Wan’Dale Robinson should be the top target for the New York Giants and new quarterback Jaxson Dart. Robinson has always been a PPR threat and should continue to earn plenty of targets. Darius Slayton probably gets the most significant bump in value in Nabers’ absence. I ranked Slayton well outside the top 100 overall in previous iterations of this column. This time around, he is firmly inside the top 100 of my Week 5 Flex rankings. I would not be entirely comfortable starting Slayton this week, but that decision may depend on your other options. Drake London, Rome Odunze, and DK Metcalf are just a few of the prominent wide receivers with a bye.

Miami Dolphins wideout Tyreek Hill is also out for the season after suffering a knee injury on Monday night. Jaylen Waddle should be a much safer weekly start in the future than in previous weeks. I had generally ranked Waddle as a WR3 in 12-team leagues before this week. I have him ranked as my overall WR14 for Week 5. His matchup is not ideal against a Carolina defense that is more susceptible to the run than the pass. However, he should easily draw the most targets from Tua Tagovailoa as we move forward. Malik Washington and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine should be more involved, but I would not consider either player a reliable start at this juncture. Washington is a borderline WR4 for me in 12-team leagues, while Westbrook-Ikhine is a touchdown-or-nothing player for fantasy purposes.

Tight End Notes

Ironically, the biggest winner from the Tyreek Hill injury may be tight end Darren Waller. Waller made an immediate impact last week in his first NFL action in nearly two years. He caught two touchdown passes, proving his value as a red-zone threat. We do not need to go very far to remember what Jonnu Smith did in this offense a season ago. I am not saying Waller is a top-five tight end as we advance. But there is precedent, and we know Waller is talented even at this stage of his career. Carolina has given up the second-most yards in the NFL to opposing tight ends. Those who start Waller this week may have more on their side than simply chasing last week’s points.

We often discuss split backfields or even wide receivers who can complement each other. Rarely is that the case with tight ends. However, that is the situation given how Cleveland has deployed David Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr. Through four games, Fannin has 17 catches for 160 yards on 24 targets. Meanwhile, Njoku has 14 grabs for 128 yards on 21 targets. Further clouding the situation is that the team is leaning towards rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel as this week’s starter. I would be lying if I told you I had a strong hunch towards either Njoku or Fannin this week. I do not have either player inside my overall Top 100, meaning I prefer to bench both if possible.

Check out all of our Week 5 Rankings: Flex Rankings | QB Rankings | RB Rankings | WR Rankings | TE Rankings