📝 Week 5 Key Takeaways

MIN - Jordan Addison was surprisingly benched for the first quarter, though no reason to believe his playing time will be affected going forward. Vikings are on bye next week and we’re likely to see JJ McCarthy back week 7 for the first time with a full cast of pass catchers. Jordan Mason on played 66% of the snaps, partially due to his fumble but also giving up snaps to fullback C.J. Ham who played on most third downs.

CLE - Dillon Gabriel made his debut, playing a game-manager role and heavily relying on his TEs (Njoku went 6/67/1 on 9 targets and 96% of the snaps, Fannin going 4/13/1 on 4 targets and 79% of the snaps). Isaiah Bond played the second most WR snaps (57%) but led the WRs in targets with 6 - his role and usage has trended upward and is worth a waiver wire consideration. Judkins is a must-play in any game we expect the Browns to be in contention.

HOU - Nick Chubb got the start and shared playing time pretty evenly with Woody Marks. Marks is still a valuable fantasy asset but it may take a bit longer for the rookie to emerge as the true lead back. Nico Collins gets a TD but otherwise remains a frustrating player for a first round fantasy pick, only getting 5 targets this week. Xavier Hutchinson had 2 TDs on 3 catches but I wouldn’t chase him on waivers as this game was likely an outlier.

BAL - Lamar Jackson missed the game and the entire offense suffered. Derrick Henry scored the offense’s only touchdown but failed to do much else, turning his 15 carries into 33 yards. Will be hard to trust any Raven until Jackson is back at QB.

MIA - In the first game without Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle led the team in snaps, routes run, and targets going 6/110/1 on 9 targets. Darren Waller followed up his 2 TD performance with a strong 5/78/1 line and it was far from gimmicky as he was making impressive catches over the middle (played 58% of the offensive snaps). He’s looking like a top 10 TE rest-of-season. De’Von Achane struggled rushing behind the offensive line but brought in 6/30/1 in the air. There will be tougher matchups ahead bu this offense looked solid.

CAR - Rice Dowdle gets a WOW crossing 200 rushing yards, getting a TD, and adding on 3 receptions. I am not expecting him to take Chuba Hubbard’s job (Carolina staff LOVE Hubbard) but Dowdle has likely earned a larger role going forward. TMac was my BUY last week - he didn’t find the end zone but looked good going 6/73 on 8 targets. No other Panther even matched Dowdle’s 4 targets. I’m calling a 100-yard breakout game for TMac next week vs Dallas.

LV - Geno Smith struggled behind this makeshift o-line that has been plagued with injuries. Ashton Jeanty was the lone bright spot combining for 109 all-purpose yards and leading the team in targets. This is the role we need for Jeanty to pay off his expensive pre-draft cost but the Raiders will also need to play better. Bowers sat this game out to rest the knee with next week’s availability being up in the air.

IND - The offense didn’t need to do much this game with their defense giving them great field position all game. Jonathan Taylor beasted with 3 TDs. With Alec Pierce out, and AD Mitchell losing his role after last week’s issues, Ashton Dulin played in the WR2 slot alongside Pittman but going forward, I think it’s clear that’s Alec Pierce’s role. DJ Giddens’s elite handcuff prospects took a hit as if JT were to go down, Ameer Abdullah may play a larger role than we’d like to see.

NYG - Wan’Dale Robinson led the team in snaps, routes run, and targets and will likely remain Dart’s number one option (of note, Darius Slayton left this game in the 4th quarter with a hamstring injury). Dart heavily targeted his TEs as they combined for 10/85/2 on 11 targets. Skattebo had a high volume role on 68% of the snaps with Tyrone Tracy likely to return soon. Dart will continue to be a QB flyer with a high floor given his rushing ability (7 for 55 yards) but his throwing woes will limit his upside.

NO - After Rashid Shaheed’s snaps were taking a dip, he climbs bag up to almost match Olave’s playing time and had his biggest game of the year, going 4/114/1 on 5 targets. Olave’s big game is coming as he led the team in snaps, routes run, and targets. Kamara played his least snaps of the year as Kendre Miller both outcarried him in rushes and yards - the Ingram/Kamara comparison is playing out. Juwan Johnson struggled in the box score but also lost playing time to Foster Moreau and Taysom Hill. He still has a valuable role but as elite as the first couple weeks.

DAL - With Lamb still out, Dak can support three offensive players: George Pickens, Jake Ferguson, and Javonte Williams. Ryan Flournoy went 6/114/0 on 9 targets but should not be relied upon, especially once Lamb is back. Ferguson tied for the most targets and continues to be Dak’s security blanket without Lamb (also had 2 TDs). He is TE1 on the season and with Lamb likely coming back in next couple of weeks, may be worth seeing if you can flip him for an elite asset.

NYJ - With Braelon Allen out an extended period of time, the backfield mostly consolidated to just Breece Hall and Isaiah Davis. Breece Hall with this usage and his talent is on the edge of being an RB1 rest-of-season. Mason Taylor led the team in targets on 84% of the offensive snaps but we cannot expect Fields to have 46 attempts most games as they were most the game.

DEN - JK Dobbins led the backfield with his 20 carries for 79 yards and a TD, but Tyler Badie played the third-down and two minute roles. No one likes a three-headed backfield and RJ Harvey looks like the biggest loser. Courtland Sutton is the only pass catcher that can be relied upon in fantasy (no one else played more than 60% of the offensive snaps).

PHI - Saquon Barkley played his lowest snaps of the season, likely due to a more throw-heavy game script and Will Shipley being healthy. The Eagles offense ran 24 plays in the second half: 1 designed run, 23 passing plays. Good to see if the Eagles need to, they’ll allow Hurts to drop back and pepper his trio with targets (DeVonta 10, AJ Brown 7, and Dallas Goedert 8).

TEN - Despite the Titans limiting Calvin Ridley’s snaps due to his injuries, he turned a 66% snap share into a 5/131/0 game on 10 targets - no one else had more than 5. Tyjae Spears made his season debut and is likely to ramp up his role over the next couple of weeks. While Pollard and Ridley had decent weeks, I am still not comfortable starting any Titan in fantasy.

ARI - As we projected, Michael Carter was the starting RB, playing only 57% of the snaps but getting 18 carries for 51 yards and a TD. He also had a strong role in the passing game catching all 5 targets for 22 yards. Carter can be trusted as an RB2/flex going forward.

TB - As expected, Rachaad White led the backfield in Bucky Irving’s absence, turning 80% of the snaps into 14/41/2 and 4/30 in the air. Expecting Irving to miss next week as well and Rachaad White to continue his lead back opportunity. Egbuka strengthens his OROY candidacy, continuing his high efficiency with 7/163/1 on 7 targets. Godwin played almost as many snaps as Egbuka but only had 4 targets as he is still likely recovering from last year’s injury.

SEA - The backfield roles have become more clear: Kenneth Walker gets the majority of the early down work while Charbonnet gets most the third-down, two-minute drill, and goal line work. So long as both are happy, they will both be match-up dependent starts. JSN continues his strong season (8/132/1) and case for being a first-round draft pick in 2026.

DET - Lions were up multiple TDs for the majority of the game so want to take any usage stats with a grain of salt. Montgomery and Gibbs had a near 50-50 snap split, with Montgomery getting the majority of the carries and Gibbs running the majority of the routes. I think this will be an outlier due to game script but worth monitoring going forward.

CIN - Jake Browning went from some of the worst QB play you’ll ever see to garbage time savant, finishing with 3 TDs and 3 INTs. If Browning did enough to keep CIN from trading for Russell Wilson or Kirk Cousins, this could be the worst result for Bengals skill players. Ja’Marr Chase is a top contender for this week’s SELL after going 6/110/2, with almost all of that coming in the 4th quarter and 64 of those yards and a TD coming on a broken play.

WAS - Deebo Samuel led the team with 11 of Jayden Daniels’ 23 targets. Anyone want to guess how many targets the next-highest player had? Two! Jacory (Bill) Croskey-Merritt may be emerging as the primary rushing RB, as he played almost twice the snaps of Chris Rodriguez and turned it into 14/111/2. PFF continues to highlight him as one of the top rushers in 2025.

LAC - The Chargers unexpectedly struggled against a Commanders defense that just gave up 34 to Atlanta. Not much to learn that we didn’t already know from this likely outlier of a game other than Omarion Hampton suffered an ankle injury which had him in a boot after the game.

If you want more detailed information on each game, including the full breakdown from the Bills/Patriots game, I highly recommend Nathan Jahnke’s weekly article which is the data source for much of this information.

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📊 Poll of the Day

Last Friday’s poll: Who are you planning on taking this week for Survivor?

Tough week with the Rams TNF loss and the Cardinals losing after what was looking to be a blowout before Demercado’s fumble. The FFin60 Splash Sports survivor pool is down to only 31 entries remaining.

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