A week after dominating backfield time in the win over the Bucs, Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire once again fell behind Jerick McKinnon in snaps (38-31) in Monday night's win over the Raiders. He still led K.C. in rushing attempts but took his 9 carries for just 15 yards (1.5 per attempt). CEH also edged McKinnon in targets, 4-3, catching 3 balls for 20 yards. He narrowly missed reaching the end zone on 2 occasions. McKinnon rushed 8 times for 53 yards (6.6) and caught 2 passes for 19 yards. Isiah Pacheco logged just 1 carry for no gain. The Tampa Bay game remains the only time this year that K.C.'s backfield work has swung so strongly in Edwards-Helaire's favor.
Chiefs TE Travis Kelce caught 7 balls for just 25 yards in Monday night's win over the Raiders but caught all 4 of QB Patrick Mahomes' TD passes. Kelce nabbed scores of 1, 4, 8 and 1 yards, while tying for the team target lead with 8. Marquez Valdes-Scantling joined him, catching 6 of 8 targets for 90 yards. JuJu Smith-Schuster matched the duo in looks but caught only 3 for 33 yards.
The Raiders have ruled TE Darren Waller out for the rest of Monday night's game against the Chiefs with a hamstring injury. He left early in the 1st quarter with the issue. Las Vegas was already without #2 TE Foster Moreau. Jesper Horsted sits next on the depth chart. Waller gets a well-timed Week 6 bye.
49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk snagged 3 of 4 targets for 58 yards in Sunday's win over Carolina. The 3rd-year WR is now at a ho hum 18.6% target share in 3 full games alongside Jimmy Garoppolo. Despite some big-play juice, Aiyuk figures to remain a hot-and-cold WR3 for the foreseeable future. Week 6 turns up a road matchup with Atlanta.
Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel was optimistic about WR Tyreek Hill's foot injury on Monday but stopped short of saying that he'll definitely be ready for this weekend's game vs. the Vikings. “He looked pretty good today,” McDaniel said. “He felt all right. He’s a fast healer, but you don’t know for certain that he’ll play Sunday.” We'll continue to keep you updated on Hill's health.
Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel said Monday that QB Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) is not ready for football activities yet. “I’m not really thinking about his timeline, as I’ve said before,” McDaniel said. “We’re just trying to get him as healthy as possible. We’re pretty much in a 12 to 24-hour reoccurring evaluation process. He’s doing well.” Tagovailoa seems like a long shot for Week 6 and might be out beyond that.
Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (quad, hamstring) is active for tonight's game vs. the Raiders. He'd been listed as questionable after his hamstring tightened up during Saturday's practice. It adds a bit of risk to his fantasy profile in this one. But JuJu is available if you were waiting on him.
Bengals QB Joe Burrow managed just 217 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT in Sunday night's meeting with a Ravens defense he slaughtered last year. Granted, this Baltimore D is healthier and Tee Higgins left early after aggravating his sprained ankle. But Burrow can't blame the protection this time. According to Pro Football Focus, no QB faced a lower rate of pressure in Week 5. Burrow took only 2 sacks among 38 dropbacks. He targeted WR Ja'Marr Chase a team-high 12 times but connected on just 7 for 50 yards. TE Hayden Hurst ranked 2nd in targets (7) and receptions (6), led the team with 53 receiving yards and caught Cincinnati's only TD pass. Burrow added a 1-yard TD on the ground. Week 6 brings a decent matchup with New Orleans, and Burrow sits a nice 7th among QBs in fantasy points per game for the year so far.
Rams RB Cam Akers handled all 13 RB carries in Sunday's loss to the Cowboys, gaining just 33 yards (2.5 per rush). He added 1 target that fell incomplete. RB Darrell Henderson worked well ahead of Akers a receiver, running 25 routes to Akers' 5. He caught 4 of 5 targets for 30 yards. Rams RBs have collectively scored 9.9 fewer PPR points than any other set of RBs in the league, and that includes the 2 teams that have yet to play in Week 5 as of this writing.
Rams QB Matthew Stafford technically threw for 308 yards in Sunday's loss to the Cowboys. But 75 yards of that (and his only TD) came via a short throw and long run by WR Cooper Kupp. Outside of that play, Stafford averaged just 5.7 yards per pass attempt. He remains a weak fantasy option. Kupp's long TD beefed up a receiving line that finished at 7-125-1 on 10 targets. TE Tyler Higbee got another 10 targets and caught 7 balls for 46 yards. WR Ben Skowronek checked in 3rd with 8 targets, 6 receptions and 41 yards. And Allen Robinson did just enough to remind us that he's alive.
Cowboys RB Tony Pollard delivered a 57-yard TD run in Sunday's win over the Rams ... but not a whole lot else. He rushed just 7 other times in the game (for 29 yards) distantly trailing Ezekiel Elliott's 22 attempts (for 78 yards). Elliott also continued to run ahead of Pollard as a receiver: 9 routes to 4, according to Pro Football Focus numbers. We'd love to see Pollard's displayed explosiveness force Dallas coaches to give him more touches. But his continued limited playing time makes Pollard bench fodder in most fantasy football leagues.
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb posted a mediocre 5-53 receiving line on 8 targets in Sunday's win over the Rams. Those 8 targets marked a 50% share of Cooper Rush's 16 attempts, though. WR Michael Gallup checked in 2nd with 5 targets (31.3%). WR Noah Brown (2) and TE Dalton Schultz (1, left early) were the only other Dallas players to get any looks. Lamb has been targeted on 34% of Dallas pass attempts for the season. Once Dak Prescott is back to full health, Lamb could be a fantasy football difference-maker the rest of the way.
Niners HC Kyle Shanahan says EDGE Nick Bosa has a groin strain, according to ESPN's Nick Wagoner. He'll be re-evaluated Wednesday, we assume to determine whether Bosa will be ready to practice and/or play this week. We'll watch for further updates, but it continues to sound like a minor injury.
49ers TE George Kittle showed progress with 5 catches for 47 yards in Week 5 at Carolina. He made a few impressive contested catches, although he did lose one fumble. His 6 targets ranked 2nd on the team and represented a decent 20% team share. The veteran entered Sunday with only 50 yards on 6 catches across his first 2 appearances. A low-volume passing game will keep the volatility high going forward, but we’re still likely to see some spike weeks soon. Week 6 turns up a positive scoring matchup at Atlanta.
Ravens HC John Harbaugh said Monday that WR Rashod Bateman (foot) "might" be back for this weekend's game vs. the Giants. Bateman didn't practice at all last week and didn't seem close to playing against Cincinnati on Sunday night. We'll track his practice participation this week, but fantasy owners should plan on being without him again at least for now.
Bengals HC Zac Taylor on Monday labeled WR Tee Higgins "day-to-day" with a sprained ankle. Higgins, of course, ended up going catch-less on just 10 snaps in Sunday night's loss to the Ravens. He was limited in practice all week leading up to that game and listed as questionable on the final injury report. We'll keep a close eye on his practice participation this week. He'll need to get in at least 1 full practice to be a comfortable Week 6 fantasy start.
49ers WR Deebo Samuel mustered only 2 catches for 20 yards in Week 5. He added a score, but the story here was strong coverage from CB Jaycee Horn, who eventually departed in the 3rd quarter with a hip injury. Samuel handled only 2 carries (for 12 yards) and witnessed a sharp decline in his backfield snaps. Starting in Week 1, his RB snaps have gone: 9, 11, 8, 8, 1. Samuel will look for more in a positive Week 6 matchup at Atlanta.
49ers RB Jeff Wilson popped off for 17 carries, 120 yards and 1 score in Week 5. Tevin Coleman mixed in for 8 carries, with 5 of them and a garbage time TD coming deep in the 4th. Coleman did catch a 1st quarter TD, however, while he out-targeted Wilson 3-2. Elijah Mitchell (knee) remains at least a couple of weeks away from returning to action. So Wilson — who’s hit 74+ yards in 4 straight — will remain a viable RB2 in the short-term. Next up is a road matchup with Atlanta.
Titans RB Derrick Henry ran for 102 yards and a pair of TDs on 28 carries in Sunday's win over the Commanders. It was his 2nd straight game with 100+ rushing yards and 4th consecutive game with a TD. Henry also added 30 yards on 2 receptions. Dontrelle Hilliard ranked 2nd on the team with 5 targets for the game, catching 4 for 23 yards and a TD. He has edged Henry in pass routes each of the past 2 weeks. He has just 5 carries through 4 games, though, and isn't really a standalone fantasy option (despite the 3 TDs in 4 games.
Dyami Brown was the big producer among Commanders WRs in Sunday's loss to the Titans. He caught just 2 passes among 4 targets for the game, but both went for scores -- from 75 and 30 yards out. Brown ranked just 5th among Washington wideouts in playing time, though. Curtis Samuel led the group, and led the team in targets for the 5th straight game. He caught 6 of 8 looks for 62 yards. Terry McLaurin trailed Samuel and J.D. McKissic but posted a solid 5-76 receiving line on his 6 targets.
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