Browns HC Kevin Stefanski declined to commit to QB Deshaun Watson (shoulder) playing vs. the 49ers this weekend. Stefanski labeled Watson "day-to-day," adding, "working hard, getting better." Not exactly what we wanted to hear with Cleveland coming off the bye week. Even if Watson ends up playing on Sunday, he won't be a recommended QB1 against San Francisco.
Vikings WR Jordan Addison scored his third TD of the season in Week 5. Not only that, but he led the team in targets (9), catches (6) and yards (64). Justin Jefferson went down in the 4th quarter with a hamstring injury, leaving his Week 6 status up in the air. If he’s out, Addison will become a must-play at Chicago. To date, Addison’s lost snaps in 2-WR sets to K.J. Osborn, who posted 5 grabs for 49 yards on Sunday.
Chiefs WR Rashee Rice garnered 5 targets on only 10 routes run in Week 5. It’s eye-popping efficiency for the rising rookie, who tallied 4 grabs, 33 yards, and 1 score. Ahead of Rice, Chiefs WRs ranked as follows in routes: Marquez Valdes-Scantling (29), Justin Watson (23), Skyy Moore (23), Kadarius Toney (10). Rice also played only 20 snaps. So, the rookie will need to see the field more often to become a viable WR3/FLEX, but that’s the potential here – especially as bye weeks continue rolling in. Rice squares off with the Broncos on Thursday night.
Raiders WR Davante Adams (shoulder) is expected to play vs. the Packers tonight, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports. Adams has "barely practiced" since hurting the shoulder last week, Pelissero adds, so he comes with elevated risk in Week 5 fantasy lineups. But Adams should be available if you've been waiting on him. We'll get the Raiders' inactives around 7 pm ET.
Cowboys LB Leighton Vander Esch suffered a neck injury late in Sunday night's loss to the 49ers. X-rays at the stadium came back negative, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. Vander Esch will have an MRI Monday to assess the injury further. It's a particularly touchy situation because LVE has a history of neck issues dating back to college. We'll watch for more on his outlook for Week 6 and beyond.
Cowboys S Donovan Wilson suffered an injury to his right leg in the fourth quarter of Sunday night's loss to the 49ers. Former NFL team doctor David Chao says there's "some hope by video the injury is not significant." We'll watch for the diagnosis. Wilson played a season-high 77% of Dallas snaps in his third game back from a calf injury before leaving. If he misses further time, Markquese Bell would get some extra snaps. Bell hasn't played more than 45% of defensive snaps in any game yet this year, though.
Cardinals S Jalen Thompson left Sunday's loss to the Bengals with a hamstring injury less than halfway through. We'll see about his outlook for Week 6 against the Rams. Arizona will miss the other starting safety, Budda Baker, for at least one more game. He's on IR with a hamstring injury. K'Von Wallace and Andre Chachere finished Sunday as the top two safeties for the Cardinals. The duo would add upside to the Rams' deep-passing game if left to start next week.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Colts QB Anthony Richardson has been diagnosed with a Grade 3 AC joint sprain. If a Monday morning MRI confirms that, Richardson would be expected to miss at least a month. Indy's bye doesn't come until Week 11, so that would mean at least four starts for Gardner Minshew. We're not sure the QB switch makes much difference for the outlooks of Indy pass-catchers. Minshew obviously doesn't come close to Richardson in fantasy-scoring upside. But he has been a functional starter across three teams now, including 227 yards and 1 TD in a Week 3 OT win at Baltimore this year. Losing Richardson for a month plus will make him tough to keep on some fantasy rosters, if you don't have an IR spot or deep bench.
If you stuck it out with 49ers TE George Kittle through his rough go to begin the season, congratulations. The veteran found the end zone three times on Sunday to go along with 3 receptions and a team-leading 67 receiving yards. His teammate Brandon Aiyuk saw a team-high 7 targets in the contest but was only able to convert those opportunities into 4 catches for 58 yards. This 49ers offense is an incredibly efficient unit thus far in 2023. We’ll be excited to throw these guys back into lineups in Week 6 vs. the Browns.
49ers RB Christian McCaffrey had a bit of a down game (by his absurdly high standards) with 78 total yards and a rushing TD on 22 touches vs. the Cowboys in Week 5. However, this was mostly due to the fact that he was pulled from the game by the fourth quarter once San Francisco had the victory in hand. The early shellacking that HC Kyle Shanahan and company were able to put on the Cowboys made it so CMC’s efforts weren’t needed. We’ll again have McCaffrey ranked highly in Week 6 vs. the Browns.
49ers QB Brock Purdy completed 17 of 24 attempts for 252 yards with 4 TDs in Week 5’s blowout win vs. the Cowboys. San Fransisco dominated this contest so early that Purdy was pulled from action by the time the fourth quarter rolled out. Through five games, the second-year signal-caller ranks as the QB7 in fantasy points per game (19.8), tied with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. That’s some special company to be in. Next week, Purdy and company will travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns.
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb posted a team-leading 49 receiving yards on 4 catches in Week 5’s loss vs. the 49ers. TE Jake Ferguson posted a respectable 3-catch, 28-yard performance that’s passable in PPR scoring, but these Dallas pass-catchers were otherwise underwhelming on Sunday night. The errors forced by QB Dak Prescott (3 INTs) had a tangible impact on the outcome of this contest. Hopefully, this offense will collectively bounce back in Week 6 vs. the Chargers.
Cowboys RB Tony Pollard had a quiet game in Week 5. The veteran tallied 64 total yards on 12 touches with a lost fumble vs. the 49ers. His teammates Deuce Vaughn and Rico Dowdle combined for 8 carries and 22 rushing yards, so it’s not as though any other Cowboys RB had much greater success in the blowout 42-10 loss. Fortunately, Week 6 brings a matchup against a Chargers defense that ranked as the 11th-easiest opponent in adjusted fantasy points allowed to RBs prior to their bye week. Fantasy managers will have to get over this bummer quickly and hope for better days ahead.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott completed 14 of 24 attempts for 153 yards with 1 TDs and 3 INTs in Week 5’s loss vs. the 49ers. It sure seems like this guy has a bad case of the whoopsies. Since returning from a thumb injury in Week 7 of last season, Prescott has thrown 15 INTs in 16 regular season games. He’s going to remain off the fantasy radar in 1QB leagues until there’s some demonstrative improvement. Next week, he’ll face off against the Chargers.
Jets RB Breece Hall had his 2023 breakout game vs. the Broncos, racking up 194 total yards and a TD. The highlight was a 72-yard TD burst in the third quarter. Hall was a broken tackle away from breaking a few more big plays in this one. He's looking closer and closer to 100% each week. More importantly, the Jets fed Hall 22 carries and three targets in Denver -- easily his biggest workload of the season. That came just a few days after HC Robert Saleh said that Hall is no longer on a pitch count. He won't get to face the Broncos again this year. But if Hall is going to continue to get 71% of the RB opportunities like he did this week, he'll be at least a weekly RB2 going forward.
Cardinals WR Marquise Brown saw a team-high 10 targets on Sunday, converting 4 catches for 61 receiving yards and a TD vs. the Bengals. TE Zach Ertz had been hot as of late with the second-most targets among TEs (30) entering Week 5, though he had a bit of a down game in this one. The veteran hauled just 2 of 4 targets for 10 yards. Fortunately, he found the end zone and salvaged his fantasy day from that standpoint. Rookie WR Michael Wilson flopped after last week’s breakout with just one 18-yard catch in the contest. We’ll be happy to go back to Brown and Ertz in lineups again in Week 6 vs. the Rams.
Cardinals RB James Conner logged 6 carries for 48 yards in Week 5 vs. the Bengals before leaving in the second quarter with a knee injury. In his absence, rookie Emari Demercado put up 45 rushing yards and a TD on 10 attempts. We’ll keep an eye on Conner’s health throughout the week. Should he miss time, Demercado would be a name to consider off the waiver wire ahead of Week 6 vs. the Rams.
Cardinals QB Joshua Dobbs struggled with turnovers in Sunday’s loss vs. the Bengals. He totaled 15 completions on 32 attempts for 166 yards with 2 TDs in the contest to go along with a pair of INTs and a lost fumble. Dobbs’ rushing has consistently helped bring up his fantasy scoring floor of late, but he unfortunately only managed 1 rushing yards in Week 5. We’ll see if he can bounce back in Week 6 vs. the Rams, but he’s best left out of the lineup conversation in 1QB leagues.
Coming off one of his better games as a pro in the Week 4 loss to the Chiefs, Jets QB Zach Wilson disappointed against a bad Broncos defense. The indecision and inconsistent accuracy that's plagued Wilson for most of his NFL career resurfaced in this one. He finished 19 of 26 for 199 yards, 0 TDs, and one INT. He took four sacks and fumbled twice, although both were recovered by the Jets. With his best matchup of the season behind him, you can go back to ignoring Wilson in fantasy football.
Falcons TE Jonnu Smith hauled in six of seven targets for 67 yards in the Week 5 win over the Texans. And that came despite TE Kyle Pitts having his best game of the season. Smith tied WR Drake London for second on Atlanta in catches and ranked third behind Pitts and London in targets and yards. He benefitted from the Falcons running 74 plays and throwing it 38 times, but Smith registered a solid 18.4% target share. He's now tallied 6+ targets and 4+ catches in four straight games. Next up is a Washington defense that just got smoked by the Bears. Smith will be in the TE1 discussion for that one.
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