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Week 5 Start/Sit: Fading Freeman

With four teams on bye this week (Carolina, Minnesota, the N.Y. Jets and Miami), your lineup options this week are likely to look a little thinner than you'd like. To help your Week 5 cause (full season or daily), here's a few players I expect to look better/worse than usual on Sunday.

STARTS

QB - Marcus Mariota, Ten vs Buf ($32 in DFS) - You can't run against Buffalo (no RB has reached even 50 rushing yards against) and opponents know this, which helps explain why the Bills have had the most pass attempts against (48 per game). It's also a big reason why the Bills have allowed the fifth-most passing yards and second-most TD passes. Mariota, who is coming off a bye, is top 5 among QBs in Yahoo default scoring, and he's done most of that work with his arm - watch out if he's ever cut loose in the running game. Given the set-up this week, though, he should do just fine (QB1 level) even if his fleet feet don't factor in once again.

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LeGarrette Blount oozes TD upside. (Getty)
LeGarrette Blount oozes TD upside. (Getty)

 RB - LeGarrette Blount, NE at Dal ($19)

- Blount is currently only being started in 31 percent of Yahoo leagues. That's crazy low for a RB coming off a 27-point fantasy outing in Week 2, even if he is tied to Bill Belichick. Blount should own the goal line work in the backfield (he's already cashed in three of five such carries while only playing 38 snaps on the season). Belichick's whims are always a concern for Patriots backs, but there's less interference in this backfield than usual - pretty much just Blount and Dion Lewis, and their roles are clearly defined, with Lewis being the change-of-pace, passing down back. There should be a regular 15-plus carries for Blount, and that should work out nicely this week against a Dallas defense that has allowed the third-most fantasy points to the RB position.

 RB - Joseph Randle, Dal vs NE ($21) - I'll stay in the same game (DAL/NE) for my second RB start nomination. Randle's stock took a bit of a hit this week after a near-fumble in Week 4 led to him being benched in the second half of a loss to the Saints. But, while there's been increased talk of backup Christine Michael seeing more work this week, Randle remains the team's starter. And with Lance Dunbar out for the year with a knee injury, Randle appears best-suited to handle passing down situations, as well. It may be that Michael eats into some of the early down work, but Randle should be able to offset any losses there with increased work in the passing game, which should be lucrative for at least as long as Brandon Weeden is behind center. The Patriots allow a healthy 4.7 YPC to opposing RBs, which bodes well for Randle's success on the ground. And if the Pats jump out to a big lead, don't be surprised if Randle returns a very respectable PPR line.

 WR - Kamar Aiken, Bal vs Cle ($14) - Aiken passed the go-to guy eye test last week versus Pittsburgh, grabbing seven passes for 77 yards and a TD. Aiken has good size (6-foot-2, 215) and he used it against the Steelers to make some nice grabs in traffic. With Steve Smith Sr. out, Aiken is going to play a lead role for Joe Flacco once again, and he'll do it against a Browns secondary that has allowed six touchdowns to the WR position (fifth most in the NFL)

WR - Rueben Randle, NYG vs SF ($19) - Nobody drinks the Randle Haterade like I do. I'm certainly not a fan. But I can't help but be optimistic about his prospects for Week 5. Victor Cruz is still out, so Randle is the clear No. 2 wideout in the offense behind OBJ. Randle has found the end zone in each of the past two weeks and has a good shot to extend that streak to three games against a San Francisco defense that has been torched on the road this season, allowing an average of 273.5 receiving yards to the receivers of Pittsburgh and Arizona in those road affairs.

 TE - Derek Carrier, Was at Atl ($10) - Jordan Reed's latest concussion was unfortunate, but predictable, as he's had a long history of such injury. His latest setback opens the door for the backup Carrier, a tall, athletic specimen that the Redskins targeted in a trade this past summer. Redskins QB Kirk Cousins likes to lean on the TE position, and the Redskins finished fifth in TE receptions in '14 - they also rank second this season. Carrier has the look of a red zone beacon, and a line in the neighborhood of 5/60/1 this week wouldn't be surprising.

[Week 5 rankings: Quarterback Running Back Receiver | Flex | All Positions]

SITS

QB - Andy Dalton, Cin vs Sea ($31) - Dalton is loaded with weapons and has put them to good use, thus far, ranking behind only Aaron Rodgers in QB fantasy scoring to this point. But he's a tough QB1 sell this week versus a Seattle defense that has allowed the second-fewest fantasy points per game to the QB position, allowing 203 passing yards and less than a TD pass per game.

RB - Devonta Freeman, Atl vs Was  ($27) - I understand that it's hard to sit Freeman after back-to-back TD hat tricks, and I'm not expecting that you will follow this advice. But if you have decent depth of quality in your RB stable, you should consider other options over Freeman, who I have ranked as a middle RB2 this week. He's facing a Redskins defense that is no joke against the run, having yet to allow a RB to reach 9 FAN PTS this season. And rookie Tevin Coleman is expected to make his return from a rib injury this weekend, which should cut into Freeman's workload a bit, though Freeman is clearly the top dog in the backfield. I have Freeman down for 81 YFS with a worse than 50/50 chance of scoring a TD. That's obviously a far cry from his recent returns.

RB - Carlos Hyde, SF at NYG ($21) - I have much respect for the talent of Hyde, who is leading the NFL in Missed Tackles for a very bad offense. Unfortunately, things are likely to get worse for Hyde this week before they start getting better. The 49ers defense has been abysmal on the road this season, losing to Pittsburgh and Arizona by a combined score of 90-25. Having to travel all the way across the country to New York this week, game flow could certainly be a problem again for Hyde. And if that doesn't bite him, there's a good chance the Giants defense will. The G-Men are allowing just 3.3 YPC to opposing RBs and have yet to let a RB top 65 rushing yards against them.

WR - Amari Cooper, Oak vs Den ($26) - Until Mike Wallace posted 83 yards and a TD against Denver last week, the Broncos had done a bang-up job of limiting opposing WR1 types, holding Steve Smith, Jermey Maclin and Calvin Johnson to a combined average of 4.7 FAN PTS. The Broncos employ two of the top corners in the league in Chris Harris and Aqib Talib, and are helped by one of the league's best pass rushes. It's a low upside set-up for the rookie Cooper, who had just 49 yards last week against Chicago, but salvaged a respectable fantasy tally with a TD.

WR - Antonio Brown, Pit at SD ($32) -  Again, I understand that you are going to be hard-pressed to sit a WR of Brown's ilk. I would be too. But this week I have him ranked (15th) as low as I can ever remember. Yes, it's the Vick thing that is weighing on me. With Vick behind center last week, Brown's streak of 36 straight games with at least 50 yards came to an end. And now Brown is on the road against a talented Chargers secondary that has allowed just one WR to eclipse that 50-yard mark, and that WR (Travis Benjamin) only went for 79 yards.

TE - Gary Barnidge, Cle at Bal ($14) - Time for the Barnidge roll (top fantasy TE over past two games with average of 15 FAN PTS) to end this week. To say that he has a tough matchup would be selling it short. Baltimore has allowed a combined 31 receiving yards (0 TDs) to the position, which equates to 0.8 FAN PPG. That's just ridiculous. And it's not like the Ravens have faced the sisters of the poor, as they've shutout Tyler Eifert and Owen Daniels and Heath Miller to a combined 3 catches for 6 yards. Yikes!