Welcome to Week 5 of Money Makers and Heart Breakers for the 2024 NFL season! Every week I break down the main slate to tell you who get you some money ad who is going to break your heart.
This season has felt like we are all literally falling into fall as far as fantasy football goes with injuries. But if that has you down in season long I have just what you need to pick your spirits up in DFS. This is better than an apple cider donut whoopie pie. Ok, it might not be better than that but it is better than any of that pumpkin spice stuff.
Here is a brief definition of each of my terms for anyone that might be new:
💰Money Maker – This player will perform better than expectations
💔 Heart Breaker – This player will perform lower than expectations
Week 5 Money Makers💰
Quarterbacks
Joe Flacco
Flacco came out and dusted himself off in Week 4 against the Steelers in relief of an injured Anthony Richardson. He managed to pass for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns. Richardson may miss Week 5. The Colts get to play the Jaguars in Week 5. The Jaguars give up the most fantasy points to opposing teams quarterbacks. I’ll take Flacco with good wide receivers against a really bad defense any day of the week.
$5,500 on DraftKings
$6,800 on FanDuel
NOTE: If Captain Inaccuracy (Anthony Richardson) plays remove any and all Colts players involved in throwing or catching passes. Richardson has missed more targets than a blind guy playing darts this season.
Jordan Love
Jordan Love is back, and yes, we Love it. To top things off the Packers play the Rams in Week 5. The Rams give up the fifth most fantasy points to opposing teams’ quarterbacks. Quarterbacks average 233 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams. In Week 4 Love passed for 389 yards and four touchdowns. This should be a very big game for the Packers’ passing attack.
$6,5000 on DraftKings
$8,200 on FanDuel
Brock Purdy
The Niners play the Cardinals in Week 5. The Cardinals give up the fourth most fantasy points to quarterbacks. Brock Purdy plays quarterback for the Niners. This will be the easiest defense Purdy has passed against this season. That one sure does have a Purdy pass.
$6,200 on DraftKings
$7,700 on FanDuel
NOTE: The Cardinals/Niners game is tied for the highest over/under on the main slate. I didn’t put this in his write-up because I keep jinxing shootouts. Let’s see if a note will help us get there instead. No, I am not superstitious at all.
Other Quarterback DFS Picks for Week 5
Trevor Lawrence
$5,700 on DraftKings
$7,000 on FanDuel
Josh Allen
$7,700 on DraftKings
$9,300 on FanDuel
Jayden Daniels
$6,800 on DraftKings
$8,700 on FanDuel
Running Backs
Joe Mixon
Believe it or not the Bills give up the most fantasy points to opposing teams running backs. Also, as of the writing of this article it appeared that Joe Mixon may play in Week 5. You see, Joe plays for the Texans and the Texans play the Bills in Week 5. If Mixon is playing I am playing him this week in a complete smash match up. If he isn’t playing, I am out on Texans running backs.
$6,900 on DraftKings
$8,000 on FanDuel
Deandre Swift
In Week 4 Swift had 93 yards and a touchdown rushing. He also caught 7 passes for another 72 yards. It was his best game of the season against a team that can’t cover running backs, the Rams. In Week 5 The Bears play the Panthers. The Panthers make the Rams run defense look tough. When the match-up is right it is right. I mean the Bears coaching staff could easily screw all this up with bad play calling, but I am trusting them not to this week.
$5,700 on DraftKings
$6,400 on FanDuel
Derrick Henry
Henry has double-digit fantasy scores in every game this season. He has over 30 fantasy points in each of the last two games. In Week 4 Henry 209 total yards and 2 touchdowns. The Ravens play the Bengals in Week 5. The Bengals gave up 20 fantasy points to Chuba Hubbard in Week 4. Smash spot for the King in Week 5. I’m down with the King.
$7,800 on DraftKings
$9,200 on FanDuel
Other Running Back DFS Picks for Week 5
Chuba Hubbard
$6,100 on DraftKings
$6,800 on FanDuel
Jordan Mason
$7,400 on DraftKings
$8,700 on FanDuel
Josh Jacobs
$6,400 on DraftKings
$7,000 on FanDuel
Wide Receivers
Jerry Jeudy
As stated here weekly, the Commanders are really bad at defending the pass. How bad you may ask? Well, wide receivers average 14 receptions, 175 yards, and 2.5 touchdowns per game against the Commanders. Jeudy leads the team in receptions and yards. Now Jeudy will produce in Week 5. (Amari Cooper will too, I wanted to pick the one that was not as obvious and priced great)
$5,200 on DraftKings
$5,900 on FanDuel
Michael Pittman Jr.
In Week 4 with Flacco under center, Pittman had season highs in the following categories: Targets (9), Receptions (6), and Yards (113). He gets to play the Jaguars defense in Week 5. The Jaguars defense gives up double-digit fantasy scores like a fat kid eats cake, all the time. Look for Josh Downs to do well this week as well.
$6,000 on DraftKings
$6,100 on FanDuel
Jayden Reed
Did I happen to mention that Jordan Love is back in the lineup? I did, didn’t I? Reed has over 138 yards and a touchdown in each of the games Jordan Love has started this season. One game was 138 yards. The other was 139 yards. I like Jordan but Reed loves Love. The Rams are up in Week 5 and they give up the sixth most fantasy points to opposing teams wide receivers. I love it when a plan comes together.
$6,500 on DraftKings
$7,200 on FanDuel
Other Wide Receiver DFS Picks for Week 5
Christian Kirk
$5,700 on DraftKings
$6,100 on FanDuel
Dontayvion Wicks
$5,000 on DraftKings
$5,900 on FanDuel
Khalil Shakir
$5,900 on DraftKings
$6,200 on FanDuel
Tight Ends
Cole Kmet
The Panthers give up the fourth most fantasy points to opposing teams’ tight ends. Kmet has been sporadically involved in the Bears passing attack. Lets face it, Caleb is more likely to get the pass to guys like Kmet and Swift this week than he is down field to DJ Moore. Spin that Tight End Roulette wheel one more time.
$4,300 on DraftKings
$5,200 on FanDuel
Tucker Kraft (Rams 6th)
Oh my, what do we have here? Another Packers player who is better when Jordan Love is on the field. That is unheard of. Kraft is now dominating the tight end snaps, he had 86% of them in Week 4. He also saw his highest volume of targets on a day when Jordan Love had to throw the ball a lot. So the volume may not be 9 targets this week. But the matchup is nice. Let’s stack the Pack.
$3,500 on DraftKings
$5,300 on FanDuel
Other Tight End DFS Picks for Week 5
Brock Bowers
$5,500 on DraftKings
$6,300 on FanDuel
Brenton Strange
$3,200 on DraftKings
$5,100 on FanDuel
DEF
Patriots
The Patriots have a pretty good real-life defense. I would like to refrain from talking about their offense, it is quite frankly just offensive. The Patriots play the Dolphins in Week 5. Since Tua Tagovailoa has been out the Dolphins have given up double-digit fantasy scores to every defense they have played. This game will be messy. Look for the Patriots to get three or four sacks and an interception against what appears to be the worst offense in the league right now. I can hear Benny Hill music playing in my head when watching the Dolphins. (If you don’t know who that is look it up)
$3,200 on DraftKings
$3,700 on FanDuel
Broncos
The Broncos defense is good. They have double-digit fantasy scores in three of the four games to start the season. This week they play the Raiders, who give up the fifth most fantasy points to defense. The Broncos will get sacks, they have 12 in the last two games, and probably an interception in this one.
$2,800 on DraftKings
$4,100 on FanDuel
Seahawks
The Giants haven’t been as bad as they were in Week 1 against the Vikings’ great defense. They also haven’t been great. To top it off Malik Nabers may miss this game. There will be sacks, there will be fumbles, there may even be an interception. Seahawks
$3,000 on DraftKings
$4,100 on FanDuel
Week 5 Heart Breakers💔
Quarter Backs
Sam Darnold (Jets)
Darnold has been magnificent through four weeks. I love it too. It’s a good story. But in Week 5 Darnold gets to play against the Jets. Yeah, revenge game! Not so fast. This Jets team give up the least fantasy points to quarterbacks. That happens because they defend the pass better than anyone else. Don’t play Darnold in DFS.
Caleb Williams
Caleb has taught me many things in his short career. Last week he taught me that no matter what color his nails are, or how great he played the previous week in a great matchup he still stinks. If you have the guts to trust Caleb in this fantastic match up you are braver than I am. All I can say is Don’t, Don’t believe the hype.
Andy Dalton
Daltons made the skill position players for the Panthers viable. I thank him for that. This week he gets to play against the Bears. The Bears have only allowed one quarterback this season to score over 10 fantasy points against them. Put the Red Rifle back in the cabinet for Week 5.
Running Backs
Rico Dowdle
The Cowboy’s run game is barely in existence. Dowdle is the guy leading that backfield. In Week 5 he gets to lead the backfield into the Steel Curtain. The Steelers give up the second-fewest fantasy points to running backs. Jonathan Taylor had a good game against the Steelers in Week 4. If I catch you comparing Dowdle to Taylor in any way shape or form I will punch you.
Alvin Kamara
I have him here because the match is bad. Like, the worst possible match-up there is. The Chiefs give up the least fantasy points to opposing teams running backs. With that said, in season long you are playing Kamara everywhere. You may even want to play him in DFS. He is simply that good, he will get you to double digits. I look at it this way in PPR, play him.
Zack Moss
The Ravens give up the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing teams running backs. The Bengals play the Ravens in Week 5. Zack Moss is the starting running back for the Bengals. Therefore, Zack Moss may struggle in Week 5. That seems easy right? Well, Moss has been pretty good this season, but this Ravens team has only give up one double-digit fantasy score on the season.
Wide Receivers
Nico Collins
I am playing him in season-long everywhere. The Texans will throw the ball and Nico is fantastic. Then why he is a Heart Breaker Mike, what the hell are you doing trying to confuse us? You know, like you did with Kamara. Look, Christian Kirk is the only wide receiver to score double-digit fantasy points against this defense. The Bills are a run-funnel defense. So teams tend to run on the Bills.
Tre Tucker
The Raiders play the Broncos. Patrick Surtain plays for the Broncos. Surtain will cover Tucker. No, no, on Tucker in Week 5.
Patriots WRs
I do not care how desperate you are. Do not play a Patriots pass catcher of any sort this week. I wanted an easy one as we get to the end of the article and this is one we might be able to say every week. But this week the match-up against the Dolphins is bad on top of the Patriots being bad.
Tight Ends
Dalton Kincaid
Bills play the Texans in Week 5. The Texans give up the third-fewest fantasy points to tight ends. It’s Khalil Shakir week people, just go with it.
Mark Andrews
Talk about wanting an easy one. Hey, don’t play Andrews in a tough matchup in DFS. Don’t play the guy that has 2 combined targets in the last two games. That’s right just one per week. Yeah, don’t play him in Week 5. I hope you didn’t need me to tell you this. It felt good talking about how bad Andrews has been. Schadenfreude anyone?
Thanks for checking out Money Maker and Heart Breakers. For more great content from Fantrax, follow us on X and @MikeReedyFF for more great content.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!