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If you need help setting your fantasy football lineups for Week 5, Scott Pianowski offers some assistance.
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Start-sit decisions can be vexing for even the best of fantasy managers. Here’s our Week 5 traffic report to help you make some of those tough calls.
Green Light
QB Justin Fields vs. Dallas: His rushing upside speaks for itself, but he’s also made improvements with his accuracy and pocket awareness this year. Fields clicks with his Ohio State buddy Garrett Wilson, and they’ll attack a leaky Dallas pass defense.
WR George Pickens at N.Y. Jets: He was up to the alpha assignment last week (8-134-2 against the formidable Packers) and although CB Sauce Gardner should be a challenge here, Pickens posted a 5-111-1 line against Gardner in Week 7 last year.
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WR Marvin Harrison Jr. vs. Titans: The drops have been soul-crushing, though Harrison still got his 66 yards and a touchdown last week. It’s encouraging to see him drawing more layup targets, and this is a layup opponent — the Titans rank 26th in pass defense DVOA.
RB Woody Marks at Baltimore: He’s quickly asserted himself as the best back in Houston, and this week he gets to negotiate a Baltimore defense that’s riddled by injury. Marks is a long-term play, too; it’s likely Joe Mixon is done for the season.
Yellow Light
WR Jaylen Waddle at Carolina: He steps into the WR1 chair for the Dolphins, but he’s still held back by the limitations of QB Tua Tagovailoa (6.6 YPA). Remember Waddle has a modest four touchdowns over his past 19 games.
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QB Jaxson Dart at New Orleans: The Konami Code can carry Dart into fantasy relevance, although he looked inexperienced and confused as a passer last week. And you worry that perhaps he’s too eager to take on contact when he tucks and runs.
RB Quinshon Judkins vs. Minnesota: He’s quickly become the featured man in Cleveland, collecting 44 touches over the last two weeks. That workload will likely carry over to London, but with Minnesota on the schedule and QB Dillon Gabriel under center, the touchdown equity takes a hit.
RB Derrick Henry vs. Texans: He’s obviously too good to bench in traditional formats, but my DFS plans won’t consider Henry this week. Lamar Jackson is unlikely to play and the excellent Texans defense will be targeting Henry off the bus.
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WR Chris Godwin Jr. at Seattle: I wanted to see a prove-it game for Godwin and in some ways it came — he was targeted 10 times and played in 81% of the snaps last week. Still, the result was a modest 3-26-0 line, and now he has to negotiate an outstanding Seattle secondary.
RB Jordan Mason vs. Cleveland: His projected volume will probably push him to a lot of starting lineups, but be careful. Cleveland has the second-best rushing defense per DVOA metrics, and Zavier Scott is probably Minnesota’s preferred passing-down back.
Red Light
RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt at L.A. Chargers: I’m stunned he hasn’t played more, given a juicy 5.9 YPC and classy 72.4% success rate. But the Washington offense likes to rotate multiple backs, and that’s in addition to mobile QBs Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota. Until JCM gains more market share, he’s too risky of a fantasy play.
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WR Ladd McConkey vs. Washington: Keenan Allen has become the featured short target in L.A., while Quentin Johnston has been a monster downfield. Most fantasy managers won’t have the depth to bench McConkey, but I’m not married to the draft capital here — I want a prove-it game before McConkey gets back into set-and-forget status.
TE Dallas Goedert vs. Denver: Touchdown deodorant has carried him the last two weeks, with three spikes on a modest six targets. But we know the Eagles don’t like to throw the ball proactively, and the Broncos have the stingiest metrics for tight end coverage.
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