2016 NFL Fantasy Football Week 5: Start Em’ or Sit Em

Welcome to the Week 5 of the 2016 NFL season!

Every week, I will pick some players who I think will overachieve and underachieve based on ESPN’s weekly rankings. Please feel free to ask any lineup questions here or on Twitter.

Last week, I went 9-3 with my Overachievers and 9-3 with the Underachievers. We are on a pretty good roll!

Overachievers

QBs

• Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco - QB 13: Washington’s defense is putrid. They are to the point you should play against them every week if possible.
• Chicago Bears QB Brian Hoyer - QB 15: He has been a top 5 fantasy QB the past two weeks. Their opponent this week, the Colts, are not stopping anyone.
• Carolina Panthers QB Derek Anderson - QB 22: I do not think Cam Newton plays this week. Anderson has always done well when stepping in for Carolina, and Tampa Bay is another awful defense you can play against.

RBs

• Baltimore Ravens RB Terrance West - RB 17: He looked great last week against Oakland, and Washington’s rush defense cannot stop anyone.
• Philadelphia Eagles RB Darren Sproles - RB 30: He’s a fine RB2 all season. For this week, I still have doubts about fellow Eagles RB Ryan Mathews’ health, so Sproles could get an unusually high usage rate.
• Miami Dolphins RB Jay Ajayi - RB 37: Dolphins HC Adam Gase came out and said he is going to a two-back system. I think Ajayi gets the bulk of the carries.

WRs

• Oakland Raiders WR Michael Crabtree - WR 16: He has been in this column more than anyone. It’s still the case that he receives the most targets in and out of the red zone on the Raiders.
• Green Bay Packers WR Randall Cobb - WR 25: The opposing New York Giants defense will focus on WR Jordy Nelson which should leave Cobb to run free.
• New York Giants WR Sterling Shepard - WR 27: He has been the best fantasy receiver on a team with WR Odell Beckham, Jr., and WR Victor Cruz. The Packers pass defense is pretty shaky being in the bottom 10, so Shepard could shine again.

TEs

• New England Patriots TE Martellus Bennett - TE 11: I am worried about TE Rob Gronkowski. QB Tom Brady could throw the ball all over the field against the Browns coming off of his four-game suspension.

K

• Philadelphia Eagles K Caleb Sturgis - K 14: I have the Eagles scoring over 25 points this week, so he should be good for a solid eight or nine.

D/ST

• Pittsburgh Steelers - D 10: They have been very much improved and get the turnover-prone New York Jets.

Underachievers

QBs

• Detroit Lions QB Matt Stafford - QB 11: The Eagles stopped the Steelers cold in Week 4. Stafford’s offense is worse than Ben Roethlisberger’s so this could be rough for Detroit with Philly in town this week.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston - QB 14: He seems to have regressed. I can see a bounce back from the Carolina Panthers’ defense as well.
• Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan - QB 16: He is the number one fantasy QB, but I wouldn’t play against the Denver Broncos defense who Ryan is facing this week.

RBs

• New England Patriots RB LeGarrette Blount - RB 10: Tom Brady is back. I don’t expect much running in this one.
• New York Jets RB Matt Forte - RB 14: The Steelers have the number one run defense. With Forte banged up right now, the Jets probably won’t lean into him heavily against Pittsburgh this week.
• Oakland Raiders RB Latavius Murray - RB 22: Playing awful in a three-way job share.

WRs

• Houston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins - WR 10: Do not play any offensive player against the Minnesota Vikings right now, especially at home.
• Oakland Raiders WR Amari Cooper - WR 20: Raiders QB David Carr ignores him in the red zone.
• Cleveland Browns WR Terelle Pryor- WR 22: The Patriots will take away the Browns’ best offensive option this week.

TE

• New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski - TE 3: The hamstring has still not healed. I am quite concerened.

K

• Washington K Dustin Hopkins - K 7: The Ravens will slow down this offense, so I do not expect many opportunities.

D/ST

• Houston Texans - D 9: They looked a bit shell shocked last week in their first game without DL J.J. Watt. Now they hit the road to take one of the best defenses in the NFL in Minnesota.

Thank you for reading and hit me up on Twitter.