FANTASY FOOTBALL: WEEK 5 TIPS

             

  Did you survive your first week of byes? On an interesting bye note, as I’m sure you’ve heard, everybody’s favorite malcontent, Randy Moss, has been traded from the Patriots to the Vikings. This isn’t only good news for his owners because hopefully we’ll see happy (and therefore productive) Randy. This also means Randy Moss won’t have a bye week this season, as the Patriots would have been on their bye this week, and the Vikings had theirs last week. So congratulations Moss owners, you’ll have him every week this year (even though this week may not be what you are hoping for…)! Now on to week 5:

Quarterback

BEST:   Matt Ryan- ATL

I really like Ryan this week. He has very good weapons around him with Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez, and gets a soft defense in the Browns in week 5. Ryan has been very solid this year, throwing for 6 touchdowns in 4 games, and only 3 picks. I think Ryan will post even better numbers this week than he did against the Cardinals in week 2 (225yds, 3 TD, 0 INT). Look for Ryan to be somewhere near 300 yards passing with multiple TD’s against Cleveland.

WORST:Â Joe Flacco- BAL

In looking through this week’s match-ups, most of the starting caliber fantasy QBs had pretty favorable matchups, so it made my job picking the worst start very difficult. And before you ask…no, I didn’t even consider Kevin Kolb here, because you should be avoiding that situation like the plague and you don’t need me to tell you that. Flacco didn’t look too bad against a very good Pittsburgh defense last week, so this may be a bit of a dangerous pick by me. However, Flacco has been very up and down this season, like following a 4 pick performance against the Bengals with a 3 TD and 0 INT performance against the Browns. Flacco faces off against the Broncos, who have been mediocre on defense this season, in week 5. I’m expecting very pedestrian numbers from Flacco this week.  He probably won’t kill you if you have to start him, but don’t expect him to win the game for you.

Running Back

BEST:   Steven Jackson- STL

Jackson absolutely DESTROYED the Lions last season, gashing Detroit for 149 yards on the ground and one score. The Lions have improved their defense this season, but I don’t think they’ll have an easy time stopping the Rams’ star running back this week. I don’t expect Jackson to equal his performance from last year, but I’d put money on him going for over 100 yards and scoring at least once. Just remember, he is slightly dinged up, but he played last week, so you should feel comfortable starting him if there are no setbacks this week during practice.

WORST:Â Joseph Addai- IND

I’d be shocked if Addai sees many carries in week 5. The Colts…and by the Colts, I mean Peyton Manning…are facing the Kansas City Chiefs this week. The Chiefs may be the only undefeated team in the NFL, but they also sport the 25th ranked defense. I think the Colts will throw all over Kansas City, and Addai will be lost in the shuffle. He may have some value if he snags a few balls out of the backfield, or finds his way into the end zone.  However, he’s just too risky for me to recommend him this week.

Wide Receiver

BEST:   Roddy White- ATL

Did you see wrote about Matt Ryan? Well White is his favorite target and should see plenty of passes thrown his way in week 5. The Browns are ranked 24th in the league against the pass and have already given up 7 TDs, tied for the third worst total in the league. I think White will find his way into the end zone this week and end up with a healthy number of yards, making his owners very happy.

WORST:Â Randy Moss- MIN

Don’t get me wrong, I think that getting Randy Moss was a very smart move by the Vikings, and will vastly improve their offense going forward. That doesn’t mean it will pay immediate dividends though. It takes some time for a quarterback and wide receiver to get their timing together, and I just don’t think that Moss and Favre will be quite on the same page against the Jets, and the returning Revis Island, in week 5. However, if I’m wrong about this, the rest of the NFL better watch out, because we all know what a game breaker Moss can be when he’s engaged mentally.

Tight End

BEST:   Dallas Clark- IND

Clark is one of the best tight ends in the league, and he should show just why this week against the weak Chiefs’ secondary. It’s tough to guess who will find the end zone for the Colts from week to week, since Peyton Manning loves to spread the ball around, but I think that Clark will find his way into the end zone this week and get at least 80 receiving yards, and possibly eclipse the century mark. You should be starting Clark every week if you have him, but this week should be an especially productive one.

WORST:Â Kellen Winslow- TB

I’m just not generally high on Winslow going forward. He hasn’t been seeing the targets expected this season and still hasn’t gotten into the end zone. Regardless of his match-ups, if you have a solid backup option you should strongly consider banishing Winslow to your bench until Josh Freeman shows that he wants to get Kellen the ball in the red zone.

Defense

BEST:Â San Diego Chargers

The Chargers have been a very strong defense so far this season, and are a top two defense in both standard scoring systems and Spartan Nation leagues. This week they face the Oakland Raiders who haven’t been terrible this year on offense, but haven’t been anything special either. I think the Chargers will grind Bruce Gradkowski into the turf this week and rack up plenty of points mostly due to pressuring the quarterback.

WORST:Â Indianapolis Colts

You probably aren’t starting the Colts in a standard league, but with the requirement to start 2 defenses in Spartan Nation leagues there’s a good bet someone in your league has to start them. Unfortunately the Colts have been horrendous against the run this year, and are facing a very tough rushing attack in Kansas City this week. The Colts will probably give up more points than you’d like this week in what will probably be a high scoring affair. If you happen to have a better option, bench the Colts.

SLEEPER OF THE WEEK

-Sam Bradford, QB, STL

The Rookie hasn’t been too bad this season, especially considering the patchwork receiving corps he’s working with. This week he gets a very suspect Detroit Lions secondary, and Bradford could be a very sneaky play if your starting QB is on bye, or you were starting Michael Vick prior to his rib injury. Great production from Bradford certainly isn’t a sure thing, but if you don’t mind taking a risk, he could end up rewarding you.

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