Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings: Lineup Advice for Every Position

The NFL is hard enough to predict in terms of game outcomes, and there is even more volatility in fantasy football.

Most teams have played a quarter of their season entering Week 5, though, so the task of fantasy projections becomes a bit easier. Although there are stars who are relatively dependable, daily fantasy and weekly success is about finding the best values and sleepers.

Check out the rankings for every position in the subsections below, accompanied by analysis and a breakdown of several notable players at each spot.

Quarterback

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Tom Brady, NE	@ Dallas Cowboys
2	Matt Ryan, ATL	Washington Redskins
3	Aaron Rodgers, GB	St. Louis Rams
4	Eli Manning, NYG	San Francisco 49ers
5	Carson Palmer, ARI	@ Detroit Lions
6	Andrew Luck, IND	Houston Texans
7	Joe Flacco, BAL	Cleveland Browns
8	Tyrod Taylor, BUF	@ Tennessee Titans
9	Peyton Manning, DEN	@ Oakland Raiders
10	Russell Wilson, SEA	@ Cincinnati Bengals
11	Philip Rivers, SD	Pittsburgh Steelers
12	Josh McCown, CLE	@ Baltimore Ravens

Yes, the Dallas Cowboys are returning Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain from four-game suspensions to help their front seven. That doesn't mean they'll have any prayer at stopping the New England Patriots and Tom Brady.

On what appears to be a vengeance tour for Deflategate, Brady is lighting it up with an average of over 370 yards passing per game, nine touchdowns and zero interceptions. There's no indication New England is going to let up in Week 5—especially off a bye week with extra time to prepare.

A solid value choice who makes sense is Baltimore's Joe Flacco, who welcomes the Cleveland Browns to his home stadium in Week 5. Flacco's supporting cast is diminished at the moment, but Cleveland's defense has been an absolute sieve.

The Ravens ought to be able to run the ball down the Browns' throat and open up some downfield passing plays off play action. Cleveland's hyped secondary hasn't performed well, and its pass rush is rather woeful.

Against a depleted San Diego offensive line in Week 4, the Browns managed only two sacks and conceded 438 total yards. Flacco should feast on the perpetual cellar dwellers in an AFC North matchup.

However, one reason Josh McCown is a viable sleeper QB option is because of how well Flacco will do. McCown will likely be playing from behind and have to throw a lot. He has 697 yards passing in two full starts with four touchdowns.

Running Back

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Le'Veon Bell, PIT	@ San Diego Chargers
2	Jamaal Charles, KC	Chicago Bears
3	Justin Forsett, BAL	Cleveland Browns
4	Matt Forte, CHI	@ Kansas City Chiefs
5	Devonta Freeman, ATL	Washington
6	DeMarco Murray, PHI	New Orleans Saints
7	T.J. Yeldon, JAC	@ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
8	Duke Johnson, CLE	@ Baltimore Ravens
9	Todd Gurley, STL	@ Green Bay Packers
10	Carlos Hyde, SF	@ New York Giants
11	Mark Ingram, NO	@ Philadelphia Eagles
12	Rashad Jennings, NYG	San Francisco 49ers
13	Jeremy Hill, CIN	Seattle Seahawks
14	Chris Johnson, ARI	@ Detroit Lions
15	Joseph Randle, DAL	New England Patriots
16	Chris Johnson, ARI	@ Detroit Lions
17	Dion Lewis, NE	@ Dallas Cowboys
18	Matt Jones, WAS	@ Atlanta Falcons
19	Frank Gore, IND	@ Houston Texans
20	Thomas Rawls, SEA	@ Cincinnati Bengals

Speaking of the Browns, the sleeper flavor of Week 5 is Duke Johnson—mostly because of his receiving value and the lack of other options Cleveland has to turn to in the backfield.

Another rookie back in Jacksonville's T.J. Yeldon quietly racked up over 100 yards against Indianapolis in Week 4. Now he'll run against Tampa Bay's 30th-ranked rushing defense and may well have the best game of his young career.

It seems bold to feature another first-year ball-carrier in the top 10, but it's merited with the likes of Todd Gurley. Gurley had a breakout performance in Week 4 in spearheading St. Louis' upset over Arizona and presents the Rams' only chance of gashing Green Bay at Lambeau Field.

St. Louis must feed Gurley to keep Packers superstar QB Aaron Rodgers off the field. It likely won't be enough to win, but Gurley is a special enough player to capitalize on a defense that ranks 21st versus the run.

Buffalo Bills bruiser Karlos Williams, one more rookie who's exploded onto the scene, was initially in the top 10. Unfortunately, Bills general manager Doug Whaley announced Tuesday that Williams suffered a concussion in Week 4, per Chris Brown of the team's official website.

The top of these RB rankings feature plenty of proven commodities, but there is value to be had among first-year players, particularly in daily fantasy.

Wide Receiver

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Julio Jones, ATL	Washington
2	Julian Edelman, NE	@ Dallas Cowboys
3	Odell Beckham Jr., NYG	San Francisco 49ers
4	Larry Fitzgerald, ARI	@ Detroit Lions
5	T.Y. Hilton, IND	@ Houston Texans
6	Demaryius Thomas, DEN	@ Oakland Raiders
7	DeAndre Hopkins, HOU	Indianapolis Colts
8	Randall Cobb, GB	St. Louis Rams
9	Jeremy Maclin, KC	Chicago Bears
10	Antonio Brown, PIT	@ San Diego Chargers
11	Calvin Johnson, DET	Arizona Cardinals
12	Percy Harvin, BUF	@ Tennessee Titans
13	James Jones, GB	St. Louis Rams
14	Amari Cooper, OAK	Denver Broncos
15	Emmanuel Sanders, DEN	@ Oakland Raiders
16	Jordan Matthews, PHI	New Orleans Saints
17	Kendall Wright, TEN	Buffalo Bills
18	A.J. Green, CIN	Seattle Seahawks
19	Donte Moncrief, IND	@ Houston Texans
20	Keenan Allen, SD	Pittsburgh Steelers
21	Pierre Garcon, WSH	@ Atlanta Falcons
22	Vincent Jackson, TB	Jacksonville Jaguars
23	John Brown, ARI	@ Detroit Lions
24	Rueben Randle, NYG	San Francisco 49ers
25	Kamar Aiken, BAL	Cleveland Browns
26	Brandin Cooks, NO	@ Philadelphia Eagles
27	Martavis Bryant, PIT	@ San Diego Chargers
28	Allen Robinson, JAC	@ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
29	Travis Benjamin, CLE	@ Baltimore Ravens
30	Terrance Williams, DAL	New England Patriots

Any reason to knock Julio Jones down? Can't think of one. Devonta Freeman has scored six touchdowns on the ground in the past two weeks, so one has to presume opponents will key in on him more.

Having a respectable running game isn't something Falcons signal-caller Matt Ryan is accustomed to. It makes Jones all the more dangerous. After only four catches for 38 yards in Week 4's rout over Houston, look for Jones to light up a weak Washington secondary.

The Colts offense has yet to put together a truly complete game. With Andrew Luck appearing ready to return for Thursday's contest against Houston, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the time seems ripe for T.Y. Hilton to have a breakout game.

Hilton has yet to score a touchdown, so he's due to find the end zone—especially if Luck is healthy enough to play.

A nice sleeper bet for Week 5 is Arizona's John Brown. He's a slot dynamo who can play on the outside and should fare well against a thin Detroit cornerback corps that will be keyed in on stopping Larry Fitzgerald.

Tight End

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Rob Gronkowski, NE	@ Dallas Cowboys
2	Jimmy Graham, SEA	Cincinnati Bengals
3	Charles Clay, BUF	@ Tennessee Titans
4	Gary Barnidge, CLE	@ Baltimore Ravens
5	Martellus Bennett, CHI	@ Kansas City Chiefs
6	Jason Witten, DAL	New England Patriots
7	Travis Kelce, KC	Chicago Bears
8	Eric Ebron, DET	Arizona Cardinals
9	Crockett Gillmore, BAL	Cleveland Browns
10	Tyler Eifert, CIN	Seattle Seahawks

In the aforementioned expected shootout between Baltimore and Cleveland, tight ends should play a role as well. Budding Ravens stud Crockett Gilmore gets a bit of a lower mark here since he was out for Week 4, but the Browns' Gary Barnidge is emerging as a legitimate TE1 option.

Cleveland has a bunch of diminutive receivers. Its bigger-bodied free-agent signings in Brian Hartline and Dwayne Bowe haven't panned out. That's opened the door for Barnidge, per Browns Radio Network host Dustin Fox:

It's too premature to label Cincinnati's Tyler Eifert as an elite TE option, but he's flashed the upside to suggest he can be. In facing Seattle's Legion of Boom secondary, Bengals QB Andy Dalton is bound to target Eifert more often to avoid the Seahawks' physical defensive backs at all costs.

The Bengals have done a decent job limiting Gilmore and Kansas City's Travis Kelce in the past two games, but look for Seattle's Jimmy Graham to have a big performance.

Graham is coming into his own and is a unique weapon the Seahawks ought to utilize to have a chance at beating the undefeated Bengals on the road. The connection between Graham and Russell Wilson figures to produce a couple of explosive plays and a trip to paydirt.

Kicker

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Stephen Gostkowski	@ Dallas Cowboys
2	Justin Tucker, BAL	Cleveland Browns
3	Mason Crosby, GB	St. Louis Rams
4	Josh Brown, NYG	San Francisco 49ers
5	Steven Hauschka, SEA	@ Cincinnati Bengals
6	Brandon McManus, DEN	@ Oakland Raiders
7	Chandler Catanzaro, ARI	@ Detroit Lions
8	Robbie Gould, CHI	@ Kansas City Chiefs
9	Travis Coons, CLE	@ Baltimore Ravens
10	Sebastian Janikowski, OAK	Denver Broncos

The kickers tend to correspond with the teams featured most often in the preceding rankings. That's why a player like Stephen Gostkowski is at the top of the board, along with Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.

But someone like the Oakland Raiders' Sebastian Janikowski can be an excellent play.

If Oakland can move the ball at all on Denver's stout defense, it will likely have trouble converting in the red zone. Plus, Janikowski's range is a good as any in the NFL, so he can create points where most kickers can't.

Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro is a fine option after Arizona was forced to settle for five field goals in Week 4's loss to St. Louis. Catanzaro didn't convert a kick from longer than 42 yards, but did show off supreme accuracy to keep the Cardinals in their NFC West showdown.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Team	Opponent
1	New England Patriots	@ Dallas
2	New York Giants	San Francisco
3	Denver Broncos	@ Oakland
4	Kansas City Chiefs	Chicago
5	Buffalo Bills	@ Tennessee
6	Arizona Cardinals	@ Detroit
7	Seattle Seahawks	@ Cincinnati
8	Atlanta Falcons	Washington
9	Philadelphia Eagles	New Orleans
10	Baltimore Ravens	Cleveland
11	Jacksonville Jaguars	@ Tampa Bay
12	Green Bay Packers	St. Louis Rams

To use Janikowski as a point of continuation from the previous section, if all the Raiders can hope for is three points maximum on a possession at home, that's indicative of how dominant Denver's defense is.

Broncos vice president of public relations Patrick Smyth highlights the historic start the team is off to on that side of the ball:

The best defensive performances figure to come from New England and the New York Giants, though. Patriots coach Bill Belichick has to be licking his chops in anticipation of going up against a QB in Brandon Weeden who often can't get past his first read when going through his progressions.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones even expressed skepticism about Weeden's abilities after Week 4's loss to New Orleans, per the Star-Telegram's Clarence Hill:

"

He took his initial look and threw it. He does some real good things, though it's not quite apples and oranges when the guy on the other side of the deal is [Drew] Brees and you're dealing with a guy who is as limited as Weeden. We got in it even running out of time, or short-handed, in 2-minute or what have you, then these quarterbacks like Brees make a difference.

"

After blowing two leads late to start the year, New York has to be soaring with confidence coming off a road win in Buffalo to reach 2-2. San Francisco's offense has been a disaster with the regressing Colin Kaepernick running the show, so the G-Men figure to engineer a blowout in the Big Apple in Week 5.

Special teams TDs are a bit tricky to count on, but it's one reason to take a flier on Seattle despite a tough opponent or the Philadelphia Eagles after their 1-3 start. Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett has already taken a punt and kick to the house, while Philly's Darren Sproles is always dangerous when dropping back deep.

The Eagles may also get aggressive on special teams in search of a spark. New Orleans punter Thomas Morstead didn't make it through Week 4 due to injury, per ESPN.com's Mike Triplett. That means a blocked punt and a potential scoop and score could be in store for Philadelphia.