Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 5: Rounding Up Latest Expert Advice on the Web

A consensus opinion among fantasy football experts doesn't guarantee a sure thing.

Last week, four of five ESPN.com analysts ranked Cam Newton as Week 4's No. 1 quarterback. (The other analyst, Tristan H. Cockcroft, slotted him at No. 2.) And why not? The reigning NFL and fantasy MVP had a great matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, who had relinquished 10 passing touchdowns over three games.

Newton finished with 165 passing yards and a touchdown along with 30 rushing yards. Nobody in their right mind benched him. Plenty of people, however, benched Matt Ryan, who went off for 503 yards and four touchdowns on the other end of the NFC South clash.

Don't treat any outcome as a formality, even if all the pundits agree. That's not to say fantasy players should ignore accord among those who spend considerable time researching trends and data. They can't see the future, but they can determine a plausible outcome.

Let's see how the analysts feel about certain players this week by rounding up advice and FantasyPros' consensus Week 5 rankings. 

Start
Sit
Player	Opponent	Pos. Rank
Carson Wentz, PHI	at DET	No. 8 QB
Andy Dalton, CIN	at DAL	No. 10 QB
Joe Flacco, BAL	vs. WAS	No. 12 QB
Jordan Howard, CHI	at IND	No. 9 RB
Terrance West, BAL	vs. WAS	No. 18 RB
Jerick McKinnon, MIN	vs. HOU	No. 19 RB
DeAndre Washington, OAK	vs. SD	No. 25 RB
Julian Edelman, NE	at CLE	No. 17 WR
Steve Smith, BAL	vs. WAS	No. 20 WR
Terrelle Pryor, CLE	vs. NE	No. 22 WR
DeSean Jackson, WAS	at BAL	No. 25 WR
Zach Ertz, PHI	at DET	No. 5 TE
Kyle Rudolph, MIN	vs. HOU	No. 6 TE
Hunter Henry, SD	at OAK	No. 9 TE
Buffalo Bills	at LA	No. 7 D/ST
Player	Opponent	Pos. Rank
Matt Ryan, ATL	at DEN	No. 15 QB
Ryan Tannehill, MIA	vs. TEN	No. 18 QB
Jay Ajayi, MIA	vs. TEN	No. 34 RB
Jalen Richard, OAK	vs. SD	No. 39 RB
DeAngelo Williams, PIT	vs. NYJ	No. 43 RB
Phillip Dorsett, IND	vs. CHI	No. 34 WR
Dontrelle Inman, SD	at OAK	No. 43 WR
Golden Tate, DET	vs. PHI	No. 46 WR
Jesse James, PIT	vs. NYJ	No. 17 TE
Dallas Cowboys	vs. CIN	No. 20 D/ST

Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons

FantasyPros Position Rank: No. 16

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

According to ESPN.com's Matthew Berry, Ryan was started in only 31 percent of the site's fantasy leagues. A majority of owners missed out on the week's top performer—which nobody could have reasonably predicted against the Carolina Panthers.

He now leads all quarterbacks in passing yards (1,473), completion percentage (72.1) and yards per pass attempt (10.52). His 11 touchdowns through the air ties Ben Roethlisberger for another NFL lead.

He also faces the Denver Broncos this weekend. The defensive juggernaut has allowed an NFL-low 5.6 yards per pass attempt this season.

Do investors risk missing another monster game from Ryan, or should they trust their matchup preparations and sit the red-hot passer? Berry is in the latter group, placing Ryan on his "hate" list with a No. 15 position ranking:

"

It boils down to the Broncos, as they lead the league in sacks this season and Ryan has struggled versus pressure. Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston: None of them have thrown for more than 206 yards against the Broncos this season and Denver has given up just two touchdown passes all season. Ryan is simply not a top-12 play for me this week.

"

Rotoworld's Nick Mensio concurred, citing opposing quarterbacks' 22.9 passer rating when throwing at Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib, who should draw plenty of coverage duty on star wideout Julio Jones.

Berry and Mensio are both high on Derek Carr and Carson Wentz. Because of the Indianapolis Colts' early defensive futility, Brian Hoyer is another popular streamer recommendation. The Chicago Bears quarterback has thrown two touchdowns with 300-plus passing yards in both starts in Jay Cutler's stead, so using him instead of Ryan isn't crazy.

Sports Illustrated's Michael Beller wrote Ryan's owners "shouldn’t be intimidated by any matchup," but he also conceded he'd prefer Wentz or Andy Dalton and would consider Hoyer or Joe Flacco instead.

DeAndre Washington, RB, Oakland Raiders

FantasyPros Position Rank: No. 25

Rob Carr/Getty Images

DeAndre Washington hasn't accrued more than eight touches or 62 total yards in a game this season. The rookie coughed up a fumble last week against the Baltimore Ravens and has yet to score his first career touchdown.

Nevertheless, the fantasy community touted him all week with starting running back Latavius Murray's Week 5 status in question. On Friday's injury report, the Oakland Raiders officially ruled Murray out with an injured toe.

All aboard the Washington bandwagon. He has made the most of his limited reps, averaging 6.4 yards per carry with a run exceeding 25 yards in each of his last three games. Now he should split the workload with Jalen Richard, who began his career with a 75-yard touchdown run in Week 1.

Along with Washington's larger spotlight, Mensio detailed the favorable matchup against the San Diego Chargers, who have already yielded seven scores on the ground:

"

The Chargers are 21st in run-defense DVOA and have allowed the third-most fantasy points and third-most rushing touchdowns to running backs. Not only are the Bolts giving up touchdowns on the ground, they’ve also surrendered the second-most catches for the third-most yards and most receiving touchdowns to opposing backs.

"

Per NFL.com's Matt Harmon, Washington flourished as a pass-catching back for Texas Tech:

Because of Richard, nobody should assume Washington will explode for a massive performance. He's more of a flex play or a low-end No. 2 running back with considerable upside. Just don't ignore the downside.

Phillip Dorsett, WR, Indianapolis Colts

FantasyPros Position Rank: No. 35

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

In his trip to London, Phillip Dorsett brought back 64 yards and a touchdown as a souvenir for fantasy investors. That's not bad at all from a flex play or low-end No. 3 wide receiver.

So why are the analysts all down on the Indianapolis Colts wideout? Those yards came on one late fourth-quarter catch, bringing his season reception tally to nine. Andrew Luck has targeted him one fewer time in each game, starting from six to last week's three.

Mensio, Berry and Beller all cited Dorsett's disappointingly low usage in place of Donte Moncrief, as well as a sneaky good Chicago secondary. As Beller noted, the Bears have contained a few high-quality receivers this season.

"They held DeAndre Hopkins to 54 yards, Dez Bryant to 40 yards, and Marvin Jones to 74 yards," he wrote. "Dorsett has made exactly one play since Donte Moncrief’s shoulder injury. I see him as no more than a WR4 this week."

Dorsett needs one big play to justify his spot in starting lineups, and the Bears have managed to avoid getting scorched deep. Barring early byes or injuries, gamers in shallow leagues can sit him this weekend.