WRs to start in Week 5
Vikings’ Justin Jefferson (vs. Seahawks): Despite seeing limited playing time (61 percent of Minnesota’s snaps) in the first two weeks, Justin Jefferson is currently the second-leading rookie wide receiver in fantasy football, only behind CeeDee Lamb.
Jefferson, in the past two weeks alone, has caught 11 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown, proving why the Vikings took him with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. The LSU product can make it three consecutive impressive performances against an abysmal Seattle secondary that’s given up 1,345 yards to WRs, which is 500 more than the second-most team in the NFL.
Panthers’ D.J. Moore (vs. Falcons): Ever since McCaffrey went down with an ankle injury, Bridgewater has had to carry more of the offense on his shoulders. Although that may be true, it hasn’t exactly resulted in fantasy football success for D.J. Moore quite yet.
In the two weeks sans McCaffrey in the offense, Moore has combined for only 17.4 points. Even though Robby Anderson — who is also in play this week — has been the leading receiver so far for the Panthers, Moore has a stellar opportunity to excel in Week 5 against Isaiah Oliver, who has allowed 285 yards in coverage this season (fourth-most among CBs in the NFL).
Falcons’ Russell Gage (vs. Panthers): On the other side of the game, the Falcons should continue putting the ball in the air often with Matt Ryan manning the offense. And with Julio Jones’ status up in the air against the Panthers, Russell Gage could be in line to see a larger share of targets in Week 5.
After getting off to a blazing start in the first two weeks (37 points combined), Gage has cooled off a bit, compiling a total of 8.6 points in the last two games for the Falcons. Even though Carolina’s defense has looked much-improved on defense this season, they presently have the 26th ranked pass defense in DVOA.
Other WRs to consider in Week 5: Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb (vs. Giants), Panthers’ Robby Anderson (vs. Falcons), Ravens’ Marquise Brown (vs. Bengals), Giants’ Darius Slayton (vs. Cowboys)
WRs to sit in Week 5
Browns’ Jarvis Landry (vs. Colts): In Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys, the Browns were able to put 49 points on the scoreboard. While Jarvis Landry notched a modest 15.28 points, a decent portion of his points came when he threw a touchdown to Odell Beckham Jr.
If you remove Landry’s touchdown pass, the veteran wideout has accumulated only 36.1 points in four games this season and he’s yet to find the end zone himself. There’s a decent chance that his streak of no touchdowns is extended to five games versus a Colts defense that is the No. 2 ranked pass defense in DVOA.
Bengals’ A.J. Green (vs. Ravens): As someone who’s been an avid fan of A.J. Green since he came in the NFL, it’s sad watching him play in 2020. Whether it be the plethora of injuries he’s endured in recent seasons or his age (or a mix of both), Green no longer has the explosiveness he once had at the position.
Green has hauled in only 14 of his 33 targets from Joe Burrow for 119 yards and zero touchdowns in 2020. The seven-time Pro Bowler will have a tough getting out of his slump against Baltimore’s secondary that features both Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters.
