Week 5 Fantasy Predictions: Top 3 Players At Each Position

Week 5 of the NFL season is on the horizon and while a few teams have had the misfortune of players having to quarantine, the show goes own. With quality games throughout the league and nearing the halfway point, fantasy football is just heating up. So let’s jump right into it and see who has the potential to be the top performers this week.

Week 5 Fantasy Predictions: Top 3 Players At Each Position

Top 3 QBs

Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks

Wilson and the Seahawks will have a Sunday night matchup with the Minnesota Vikings in Seattle. In three of his five career games vs. the Vikings, Wilson has amassed 240+ yards throwing. He’s also had at least 2 throwing TD’s in four of those games. Also, according to https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/, Wilson has 32 touchdowns in 18 career primetime games. Five of those TD’s came in this year’s Week 2 primetime game vs. the New England Patriots. Look for Wilson’s continued success Sunday night.

Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys

I mean, I feel this needs to be in here considering that the Cowboys have been in three consecutive games where Prescott has had 45+ attempts and 450+ yards. The Cowboys take on the New York Giants in Week 5 at home. In the two divisional games last year, Prescott threw 7 TD’s combined in both games. The Cowboys look to bounce back this week and should dial it up early against the (0-4) Giants.

Teddy Bridgewater – Carolina Panthers

Bridgewater and the Panthers head to Atlanta in Week 5 for a pivotal early-season matchup. The Falcons defense this year has surrendered the second-most passing yards against them and the most TD passes (13). Add in that the Falcons secondary got banged up in their Monday Night game vs. the Packers, Bridgewater looks primed to keep thriving in first-year head coach Matt Rhule’s offense.

Top 3 RBs

James Robinson – Jacksonville Jaguars

Robinson has an intriguing matchup in Week 5 vs. the Houston Texans. The Texans in 2020 have given up the most rushing yards to opposing RB’s as well as the 4th most rushing TD’s (6). Robinson has been a solid fantasy RB through four games in his rookie campaign. The Jaguars will have to focus on time of possession this week as the Texans look to break out of their (0-4) slump. Look for Robinson to help notch his second 100+ yard performance this week.

Dalvin Cook – Minnesota Vikings

Cook has been a top back through four weeks of the season. The fourth-year back looks to add another 100+ yard performance for the Vikings in primetime. The Vikings will want to keep the Seahawks and Russell Wilson off the field for as long as possible, and Cook should be the cornerstone of that plan. Though fellow back Alexander Mattison did snipe a RedZone TD from Cook, I still expect him to find the end zone at least twice.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire – Kansas City Chiefs

After a stellar performance in his NFL debut, Edwards-Helaire has seen a slight dip in his fantasy production, but nothing major. In a Week 5 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders, Edwards-Helaire should be able to reach the 100-yard mark again. The Raiders have given up the most rushing TD’s (8) this season, and Edwards-Helaire looks to add to that total. He’s been more involved in the passing game the past three games, so that should add to added fantasy value as well.

Top 6 WRs

Emmanuel Sanders – New Orleans Saints

Regardless if Michael Thomas plays or not in Week 5, Sanders looks to keep building his rapport with Drew Brees. Sanders received a season-high 9 targets in Week 4 as the Saints tried to stretch the field with the veteran. In the Monday night primetime matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers, Sanders will look to have his first breakout performance of the year. Sanders is familiar with the Chargers as he spent five and a half seasons with the Denver Broncos.

Keenan Allen – Los Angeles Chargers

Allen and rookie Justin Herbert have had a solid rapport since he stepped up in Week 2. He’s seen 10+ targets in the last three weeks and a staggering 19 targets in a Week 3 loss vs. the Panthers. Herbert obviously likes to target his veteran receiver who is arguably one of the best route runners in the NFL. The Saints secondary is also banged up and if a few of their defensive backs can’t go, look for a big game from Allen.

DeAndre Hopkins – Arizona Cardinals

So far through four weeks, Hopkins has gone boom, boom, boom, and bust. Last week was his first down week of the year where he got below his projected point total. Fear not Hopkins fantasy owners; the Cardinals take on the Jets this week. The Cardinals as a whole have dropped back to earth at (2-2) after back-to-back wins to open the season. Hopkins is seeing an extremely healthy amount of targets and I see him and the Cardinals getting back on track this week.

Diontae Johnson – Pittsburgh Steelers

Johnson is a sneaky good play this week as the Steelers come out of the bye week with the Philadelphia Eagles at home. Through the first two weeks of the season, Johnson received 23 targets, hauling in 14. It is safe to say that Ben Roethlisberger has trust in his second-year receiver. Though he did not record a catch in a Week 3 win vs. the Texans, I expect the Steelers offense to get Johnson back involved in Week 5. The positive is that Johnson has outpaced fellow starter JuJu Smith-Schuster in targets by six through three weeks.

Amari Cooper – Dallas Cowboys

Cooper is another WR receiving a healthy amount of targets to the tune of 51 through four weeks. It’s safe to say that Dak Prescott loves to look his way, especially if they go down early. Since they have been going down early a lot as of late, I expect Cooper’s production volume to stay high. The tricky part with Dallas is that they have other very talented receivers and a top RB, so touches can get tricky. But so long as Dak keeps hucking it forty-plus times a game, Amari should do well. And I expect that to be no different with the Giants in town.

D.J. Chark – Jacksonville Jaguars

It’s safe to say that the Jaguars and Gardner Minshew missed Chark in Week 3. His return to the lineup in Week 4 rewarded fantasy owners as he had a great day with a stat line of 8/95/2. The Jaguars will be taking on the Texans on the road this week, and while the Texans secondary has limited QB’s through the air four weeks in, I believe that Minshew will target Chark as much as possible. The Jaguars will be looking to keep the Texans winless and that will require points to be scored. Chark should be able to replicate the high production again this week.

Top 3 TEs

Zach Ertz – Philadelphia Eagles

For the fantasy owners that drafted Ertz, your time for a boom has come. Ertz has been relatively quiet through the first four weeks of the season. But it isn’t his fault. The Eagles as a whole have been banged up. After a big morale boost, come from behind win vs. the 49ers, I believe that Ertz and Carson Wentz are going to connect a whole lot on Sunday. Ertz has never played the Steelers in his career, so there isn’t much data to go off of. With that being said, he has been one of the best TEs in the league for the past 6 seasons and I expect him to turn back the clock and have a multi-scoring game.

Travis Kelce – Kansas City Chiefs

Kelce has been an instrumental part in the success of the Chiefs offense for years. Proof being his big play to get the Chiefs offense going in the 3rd quarter vs. the New England Patriots. He’s received a healthy 32 targets through the first four weeks of the season, hauling in 24 of them for two scores. Kelce has excelled vs. the Raiders in recent years having at least five receptions in the last five contests. Furthermore, he’s had three TD receptions combined in those five games, as well as 60+ receiving yards in each contest.

Greg Olsen – Seattle Seahawks

A bit of a sleeper play but a player that I think has some value this week. Olsen had a rough showing in the Seahawks’ first primetime game, letting a ball deflect off his hands and go for a touchdown. Needless to say, Russell Wilson did not target him for the rest of the game. But the trust seems to have been renewed. Olsen has hauled in 10 of his 13 targets in the past two weeks. Olsen’s career stat line vs. the Vikings is 48/528/4 across 13 starts. I expect Olsen to have his first big week with the Seahawks on Sunday night.

Top 3 DEF/ST’s

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams are on the road this week in Washington to play the Washington Football Team. The Football Team just benched Dwayne Haskins for Kyle Allen, a move many have questioned. The Rams defense should be licking their chops as this arguably the most favorable defensive matchup this week. Look for Aaron Donald to cause all sorts of trouble for Allen and the offense.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals will also be on the road this week for a matchup in New York with the Jets. The Jets seem to be trending in the direction of winning maybe three games this year. This looks to be a favorable matchup for the Cardinals as the Jets offense has struggled at the beginning of the season. The Jets did put up a fight last Thursday night vs. the Broncos, but that was an outlier as the Broncos were running with backup QB’s.

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts have had one of the most stout defenses so far this year. Besides their Week 1 blunder to the Jaguars, they have been playing lights out. The Browns on the other hand have been trending in the right direction in terms of offensive scoring. I see this game having multiple turnovers, possibly for both teams and this being a low scoring affair.

Top 3 Kickers

Jason Sanders – Miami Dolphins

Sanders is off to a good start this year ranking in the top 10 for fantasy kickers. He scored the majority of the Dolphins points in Week 4 vs. the Seahawks going a perfect 5 for 5. I don’t expect much different in the Dolphins Week 5 road game vs. the San Francisco 49ers. The Dolphins have shown they can move the ball, but have a propensity at times to stall. Que Sanders and the field goal unit.

Daniel Carlson – Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders have a tough divisional matchup with the Chiefs this week. While I do expect both teams to have a few touchdowns apiece, I think the Raiders will be calling on their kicker more often. If the game stays close, this will also help the #4 fantasy kicker to tack on more points.

Randy Bullock – Cincinnati Bengals

While I like what I am seeing from the Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense, Week 5 vs. the Baltimore Ravens will be their toughest matchup to-date. I expect the Bengals to move the ball but I think they will be stopped multiple times in field goal range. Bullock has bounced back from his Week 1 shank where he tried to pretend that he got hurt.

To Conclude

I know I’ve said it the past three weeks, but I really do think I am on to something this week. There are some good games all day so if anything, try to enjoy some good football even if your fantasy team is losing. If you agree or disagree with me, I’d love to hear from you on Twitter. @RealsleeepyG