Week 5 Flex Rankings for Fantasy Football

We are entering Week 5 which means fantasy football managers must now begin dealing with those dreaded bye weeks. It feels like the NFL staggered the bye weeks in a stranger way than normal this year. Only 10 teams will have a bye over the next four weeks. This week features four teams on a bye – Detroit, Los Angeles Chargers, Philadelphia, and Tennessee. However, I still listed over 200 players in my Week 5 Flex rankings. That should accommodate leagues and rosters of all sizes.

The running back position is going to lose the most production due to this round of byes. Five of the top 20 running backs in total fantasy points are off this week. Comparatively, just five of the top 40 wide receivers and one of the top 15 tight ends (albeit the overall TE1 in Dallas Goedert) have a Week 5 bye. This feels like a week where some productive “backup” running backs make viable Flex plays. Some examples include Chase Brown, Bucky Irving, and Rico Dowdle. All of those players finished as top-24 backs last week and could very well do so again in Week 5. I currently have Zack Moss ahead of Brown and Rachaad White ahead of Irving. But I admit those rankings may change between now and Sunday.

And yes, Kareem Hunt is also squarely in the Flex conversation this week. That may sound crazy considering that he was on his couch two and a half weeks ago. But things change quickly in the NFL. Especially when you are an undrafted rookie making your first start and fumble away your first carry. That is exactly what happened to Carson Steele a week ago. Steele saw limited action from that point forward. The rookie played just 11 total snaps, while Hunt played 28 and Samaje Perine played 25. For now, I am giving Hunt the edge over Perine, with the latter only being a consideration in deeper leagues. Steele is off the Flex radar until further notice.

I know I discussed tight ends last week, so I do not want to belabor the same point. But since we are now in October, we are just a few short weeks from National Tight Ends Day. However, if tight ends continue to perform at such a poor and inconsistent rate for fantasy football managers, we may have to consider canceling the festivities this year. I currently have just six tight ends in the top 90 overall in my Week 5 Flex rankings. And based on year-to-date production, that might be generous. Dalton Kincaid is the overall TE7 through four weeks, and he comes in at 105 overall among all Flex players.

The top 15 overall scorers at tight end have played a total of 56 games. In those 56 games, they have scored six (yes, six) fantasy points a combined 23 times. That is just 41.1 percent! It is not like scoring six points is a particularly high bar. There have been just 52 total instances of a tight end scoring six fantasy points in a game this season. I guess if you want a reason for optimism, that number has increased every week (10, 12, 14, 16). Still, I generally advise you not to put a tight end in your Flex spot even under favorable conditions. So that goes double in a year like this, where even would-be studs are failing to put up consistent numbers.

Below are my current Week 5 Flex rankings. These are based on Half-PPR scoring, so adjust as needed based on your league specs. As always, feel free to shoot me any specific questions regarding your lineup decisions. May the fantasy football gods be in your favor this week!

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

Week 5 Flex Rankings

Make sure to check out all of our Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!