Week 5: Daily Fantasy Football Preview

Week 5 is already here. Now everyone is starting to see who the real teams/players are and who were preseason darlings but regular season busts. Also, bye weeks start this week, so the field gets even more difficult to choose from for fantasy football teams. Draftkings and Fanduel have adjusted pricing accordingly (no more super cheap pricing for Kareem Hunt).

Obviously, it is good to play the Tom Brady and Leveon Bells of the world so don’t pivot off of them for all of these guys. Just try to mix and match my picks with the no-brainer picks each week

Quarterback

Philip Rivers

The Giants have not looked great at all on defense so far and LA is a pass driven offense. New York gave up over 300 yards to Tampa last week and it goes without saying that Rivers will be licking his chops at this matchup. Add into it that the Chargers are against the ropes with an 0-4 record so far and Rivers will be airing the ball out as much as he can to finally get a W this season. Expect over 300 yards and 2-3 TDs from a low cost quarterback.

Carson Palmer

Palmer is facing an Eagles defense that is known to give up large downfield plays. The starting Dbacks for the Eagles are considered the slowest in the league and Arizona has burners outside. Also, Larry Fitz has huge career numbers against the Eagles.

The key is going to be Palmer having time in the pocket. With Eagles star, Fletcher Cox, most likely not playing again this week Palmer’s pocket time should increase and Zona WRs should be able to run long routes.

Deep Sleeper: Joe Flacco

I hit big with my deep sleeper last week when I took Andy D. This week I am taking a similar approach and going big on Joe Flacco. He will be low owned and is going against a Oakland defense that I seem to target every week. Their secondary is not the caliber of the rest of the team. At Flacco’s price, a two-touchdown game will bring home above average value and fans can expect that, if not more.

Running Back

Todd Gurley

He is the engine that gets the Rams offense running. They need to continue feeding him the ball as much as possible earlier in the game. This allows them to run play action and hit the big plays late that they have been accustomed to. Gurley has also been a receiving threat out of the backfield. A running back that can do that is in the fantasy sweet spot.

Carlos Hyde

Somebody has to have a big game for the 49ers and on that offense, that is Carlos Hyde. The guy is an underrated beast. If he was on a contending team, he would be seen all over fantasy websites. Unfortunately for him, he is on the Niners. No one really ever knows what to expect from San Fran but with an offensive guru like Shannahan, running the team, expect him to over-utilize his top asset to try to get a win against a week Colts team.

Deep Sleeper: Ameer Abdullah

This pick depends mostly on if AA reaches the end zone. He has never been a back that puts up huge rushing totals but at his cheap cost if he scores at least one touchdown any fantasy team could be in good shape. The Panthers are not an ideal matchup so expect him to be very low owned.

Wide Receiver

Larry Fitzgerald

He destroys the Eagles whenever they play and this year, they may have the worst secondary that they ever had. He is in line for a monster game.

Jeremy Maclin

It has taken time for Maclin t9 gel with Joe Flacco, but this week will be the week that he finally breaks out. Expect 70 + yards and a touchdown and again with Maclin’s low cost, anyone with him on their team will be able to insert a few No-Brainer plays into their lineup. Stack Maclin and Flacco and then build with studs around them.

Deep Sleeper: Nelson Agholor

Expect Agholor to keep building on his strong year so far. He is increasingly becoming a hot target for Carson Wentz and with Torrey Smith having a case of the drops so far this season Agholor could become a larger part of the offense.

Tight End

Delanie Walker

No matter if it is Mariota or Cassel walker is going to be the main target in the Tennessee offense, however, if it is Cassel, anyone with him on their  can expect an extremely high usage for Walker. Cassel loves the tight end. He is also in a great spot against Miami who do not have physical linebackers to bang around with Walker in the middle of the field.

Hunter Henry

This depends on if Rivers decides to use his tightend like he has in the past. Henry has the talent to be a top tight end in the league but he has not received the opportunity so far this year. The Giants tend to leave the middle of the field open. This could be a game where Rivers takes a trip into his time machine and goes back to wat has always worked. Throw a Rivers/Henry lineup in a GPP and build around them. If that combo hits you could be in great shape for a big win.

Deep Sleeper:  Austin Seferian-Jenkins

Over the last two weeks, Seferian-Jenkins has looked like he is becoming a bigger part of the Jets overall scheme. Fantasy owners have waited for this for years. Now the question is will he be a redzone target or not. His quarterback, Josh McCown historically loves throwing to tightends and especially loves throwing to them in the redzone. Use him now while he is still cheap; maybe play him and Henry in a two tight end lineup.

Defense

Baltimore Ravens

The Raiders are starting EJ Manuel at quarterback. Start the Baltimore defense and expect them to be highly owned.

New York Jets

DeShone Kizer loves throwing interceptions and as usual the Browns are a mess. Could the Jets win 3 games in a row? Defense wins championships, and sometimes daily fantasy contests.