Good morning. Travis Etienne in Week 5: “I played against myself in fantasy fb today”.

Me with Zach Moss on my bench in two leagues: “I played against myself in fantasy fb today.”

RANKINGS

Deshaun Watson falls to QB12. Despite having a bye week to rest his injured shoulder, Watson still didn’t practice yesterday…

Ja’Marr Chase rises to WR5 after the Bengals offense woke up. Although it was a soft matchup against Arizona, it was nice to see a week-breaking game for one of the best.

Adam Thielen keeps rising to WR39. Not the “true WR1” Carolina’s looking for, he’s seeing WR1 volume nonetheless. Thielen has been a top-20 WR (PPR) in each of his last 4 games and averages an elite 29.1% target share, per @LateRoundQB.

Jahan Dotson drops to WR42. The 2nd year wideout hit a season low 10.4% target share in Week 5 against the Bears, per @LateRoundQB.

Dallas Goedert moves up after he finally came to life on Sunday. The snap rate and targets are there for Goedert, but it hasn’t resulted in production until now. Even if he remains inconsistent, his ceiling makes him worth a weekly start.

Zay Flowers is the new Diontae Johnson (great reddit reaction post).

STORY

Week 6 Waiver Wire

Not available in most leagues: Zach Charbonnet is an injury away from must-start status. Jaylen Warren could lead the Steelers backfield before long. Jaleel McLaughlin is the next Phillip Lindsay. Jeff Wilson Jr. could be RB2 if Achane misses time. Josh Palmer is the clear No. 2 in LA.

Running Back

Roschon Johnson. The rookie was playing ahead of D'Onta Foreman before he got hurt, so even though he might miss Week 6 (concussion), Johnson should be the higher priority. He's averaging 4.4 true yards per carry, which ranks 19th among all running backs and could carve out a three-down role in Herbert’s absence.

Per NFL Insider Tom Pelissero, Herbert is dealing with a high ankle sprain. On average, this is a 3+ week injury for NFL RBs, similar to that of Austin Ekeler and Saquon Barkley.

Emari Demercado. James Conner injured his injured knee against the Bengals, which left Demercado to take over as the top back. He did well in Conner’s absence, totaling 57 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 touches. The compactly built RB (5’9”, 215 pounds) is versatile enough to contribute on all three downs while Conner is out of the lineup, per Fantasy Points’ Week 6 Waivers.

• Note: the Cardinals signed RB Tony Jones Jr. on Monday, which could be a sign that Conner’s injury is serious.

Chuba Hubbard. Hubbard is “simply a better running back than Miles Sanders is, and we shouldn’t be surprised if he surpasses the former Eagle on the Carolina depth chart at some point this season (he already played more snaps and touched the ball more than Sanders did in week four)”, per Noah Hillis (the RB Whisperer).

Jordan Mason. Elijah Mitchell could be back soon, but he’s always injured. Mason may end up being the better injury upside bench stash even if Mitchell returns.

D’Onta Foreman. Khalil Herbert is hurt and Roschon Johnson has a concussion (RBs, on average, miss 1.8 weeks, with 75% missing at least one game). That leaves Foreman, who could be a Week 6 streamer.

• Kendre Miller has injury upside behind Kamara.

• Tyjae Spears could be a league winner if Henry misses time.

• Craig Reynolds operated as the backup to David Montgomery with Jahmyr Gibbs sitting.

• Ronnie Rivers is worth stashing while McVay runs Kyren Williams into the ground.

• Rams backup-backup Zach Evans “has the highest ceiling of any longshot running back in the player pool”, per Noah Hillis.

Wide Receiver

K.J. Osborn is no Jordan Addison, but he was targeted nine times against the Chiefs. With Jefferson expected to miss time moving forward (see below), Osborn would become a viable fantasy option, per Michael Fabiano of Sports Illustrated. And he does see looks in the red zone, which is always nice.

Josh Downs has quickly become the WR2 for the Colts and his best three games have come with Minshew at QB. With Minshew expected to start the next few weeks, Downs is a solid WR3/Flex option in PPR leagues against the Jaguars in Week 6.

Rashee Rice. Rice has now scored double-digit points three times in five games. He's leading the Chiefs wide receivers in targets despite ranking fourth in snaps. Rookie WRs are historically more productive in the second-half of the season.

Quarterback

Bryce Young’s Panthers are so bad that the Lions played prevent defense in the second half. We expect to see that again this week against the Miami Dolphins, making Young a “take off the safety belt let’s do this” streamer.

Tyrod Taylor is still in the NFL. He’s also worth adding in Superflex leagues, because Daniel Jones (neck) said the pain feels “similar” to the injury he had in 2021 — which led to a six game absence.

Of course, Sam Howell, Gardner Minshew and Baker Mayfield would be priorities.

Tight End & D/ST

Logan Thomas. Catching nine of 11 targets for 77 yards and a touchdown at the TE position immediately makes you worth adding. It helps that QB Sam Howell is locked into the middle of the field and Thomas ran 77% of routes.

Gerald Everett has been one of the Chargers best players with the ball in his hands after the catch, and he could be a factor against a Cowboys defense that allowed George Kittle to score three TDs.

Dalton Schultz had his best game as a Texan but is barely playing above 50% of the snaps.

Three D/ST Options: Raiders (vs Patriots), Falcons (vs Commanders) or Rams (vs Cardinals).

One D/ST stash for Wk7: Packers (@ Broncos).

MARKETS

Post Week-5 Notes

It took five weeks, but Joe Burrow is back. The tape shows Joey Franchise recovered his long ball (video) and his scrambling ability (video) en route to his highest passer rating (108.1) of the season. His mobility opened-up the playbook, extended plays and kept drives alive.

Evidence his mobility is back? Burrow’s time to throw (2.48 seconds/play) was by far his highest of the season. We are also encouraged by CIN’s rate of play; they regularly had 10+ play clock seconds remaining, after draining clock through the first four weeks (per @Pat_Thorman). Bengals face the middling Seahawks in Week 6 before heading into their bye.

Key Injuries at Each Position

QB: Anthony Richardson has an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder. HC Shane Steichen said QB Richardson will miss "some time" but they are unsure how much. This likely means an IR stint: The team is bracing for him to miss 4-6 weeks, per @DMRussini. AR’s OROY odds fell from +900 to +2000.

RB: De’Von Achane has an injury. NOOOO. Asked if Achane (knee) is undergoing MRI, McDaniel said there are there are “various things that he’s undergoing, handshakes as well, high fives. I think from all accounts he had a good breakfast and lunch.” Ass.

In this video, you can see Achane's right ankle trapped under a tackler. Possibly a right MCL injury, as the defender lands on him & bends his knee inward (@jmthrivept). Achane's OROY odds fell from +380 to +600, significantly less than Richardson’s. And Vegas doesn’t lose (to me at least), so this could be a 2-3 week absence.

• James Conner suffered a knee injury. Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon told @BurnsAndGambo that it looks like Conner will miss "a little bit of time." This video shows the awkward play where he injured his knee.

• Aaron Jones missed MNF, ruining many matchups. As Sigmund Bloom of FootballGuys noted, the Packers have one of the more conservative medical staffs and with the bye next week for them, they've taken the safe path here.

WR: Justin Jefferson injured his hamstring. 80% of WRs miss at least one game with documented hamstring injuries, but the majority miss multiple weeks. Jefferson could be out for the next few games, taking with him any hope of winning in my 16-team PPR league.

TE: Travis Kelce briefly exited Sunday's game with a right ankle injury, but returned. It’s highly likely Kelce plays Denver in the Thursday night game this week, but you’ll want a backup plan (see Deep Dives below).

• Bills TE Dalton Kincaid is in the league’s concussion protocol and TE Dawson Knox has a wrist injury. McDermott said they’ll see how the week goes for both (@SalSports). Visiting London was Buffalo’s Red Wedding.

Deeeep Dives

Streaming Samuel

The idea is you pick up players the week before everyone adds them off the waiver wire. Last week, the perfect pickups were Josh Downs and Logan Thomas.

WR Curtis Samuel (14.7%) has scored just over 18 ppr fp in each of his last two games. He’s an ideal stream this week, as he “will run about 68% of his routes against Dee Alford (77.3% catch rate and 125.8 passer rating), who is the easiest corner matchup on the board for the Washington passing attack,” per FantasyPros.

TE Jonnu Smith (9.8%) has boasted a 20% target share over the last 4 games. During that span, he also has at least 4 receptions and 6 targets in each game, per Austin Thomas of Last Word on Sports.

RB Keaontay Ingram (1.2%) “is supposed to be Conner’s backup and the first man off the bench at running back, but he was inactive in Week 5 due to an injury. It remains to be seen if he’ll be ready to play in Week 6, but he has a shot to lead the backfield if he suits up and Conner doesn’t,” per Mike Moraitis of USA Today’s TitansWire. Sneaky pivot from Emari Demercado.

We should mention TE Noah Gray (1.1%) is the insurance policy Travis Kelce owners need. The Chiefs play on TNF and Kelce was listed as a DNP on Monday’s report. Gray played 88% of snaps in Week 1 with Kelce out, and even Donna Kelce could drop 150 yards and 2 TDs on the Broncos “defense”.

QUICK SLANTS

Chuba’s Usage 📈

📖 Read NFL Trade Reports by Dov Kleiman of BroBible. The Broncos have reportedly been active on the trading front, with teams calling about numerous players including Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton.

📖 Read is Gabe Davis Finally the guy we thought he could be? thread on reddit.

📖 Read NFL Week 5 Recap by Nathan Jahnke from PFF. Nathan believes Chubba Hubbard should be a waiver wire priority.

• “Hubbard has been, by far, the more efficient runner this season, gaining a first down or touchdown on 37.1% of his carries compared to Sanders' 14.8%.

• Hubbard played more offensive snaps than Sanders for a second straight week.

• The roles of the running backs were the reverse of what we’ve seen all season. Sanders played the majority of third-down snaps while Hubbard took the majority in short-yardage situations.

• This change might stick going forward.”

📖 Read Three Up, Three Down: Week 6 ($) by Dave Kluge from FootballGuys. Kluge details why Matt Stafford’s efficiency should pick up, vaulting him into a weekly starting fantasy option for owners.

🎙️Listen to Week 5 Recap from Nora Princiotti and Steven Ruiz from The Ringer. They go in depth on Week 5 and debate if the 49ers are the best team in the league. Also: how high Brock Purdy should be in the QB rankings.

🎙️Listen to Week 5 Reactions from the Fantasy Footballers. They go through the studs & duds, key takeaways and give their opinion on how both Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua can both thrive in the Rams offense.

📺️ Watch Tape on Brock Purdy’s Week 5 masterclass. Mandatory Warning: Cowboys fans may experience PTSD.

Anyone else think NFL RedZone host Scott Hansen is almost as great as the game of football? He spends all week prepping for Sunday, then arrives at the NFL RedZone studios at 6:00 AM on Sunday morning. “I’m a junkie, I can’t help myself” - Hansen.

He’s basically a handsome, fit and overall better version of us.

Tweet of the Day

Dak Prescott on first-down passing Sunday: 4-of-10 for 13 yards, two INTs, 8.3 rating (@GehlkenNFL). Yikes.

Before we go, send your well wishes to anyone touching the turf in London. After All-Pro LB Matt Milano fractured his leg, Bills players are lashing out about the ‘F---ing Cement’ Turf.

To make things better, the NFL posted a pre-game turf hype video... As Andrew Cooper said, it looks like they put a carpet down over a parking lot.

This will hopefully motivate the NFL to move to all natural grass, much like FIFA has done. Keep our fantasy teams safe, Goodell.

- Jake, Eddie & Marcus

Thanks to our sponsors

Ready to draft? Underdog Fantasy is giving subscribers an extra $100 for depositing $100. Click here to access the offer.