Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings: Lineup Advice for Every Position

With four weeks in the books, fantasy football owners should have a pretty good idea about the identity of their team at this point. While the year-end standings probably won't mirror the current ones, there's a lot of statistical proof to separate contenders from pretenders.

No matter which side of the coin you fall on, we're here to help strengthen your position.

Since only two teams have byes in Week 5—the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers—setting starting lineups should be a relative breeze for an October weekend. We'll simplify the process by providing top-10 rankings and taking a closer look at specific players at every position.

Quarterbacks

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1. Matt Ryan, ATL (at PIT)

2. Cam Newton, CAR (vs. NYG)

3. Ben Roethlisberger, PIT (vs. ATL)

4. Tom Brady, NE (vs. IND)

5. Jared Goff, LAR (at SEA)

6. Drew Brees, NO (vs. WAS)

7. Aaron Rodgers, GB (at DET)

8. Patrick Mahomes, KC (vs. JAX)

9. Philip Rivers, SD (vs. OAK)

10. Matthew Stafford, DET (vs. GB)

Shootouts are gold for fantasy football owners. Four of our top 10 quarterbacks are facing each other. Get involved in these contests however possible.

Given the overall depth at quarterback and the fact only two teams have a bye this week, you can throw a draft at our top 10 and hit an intriguing option. That said, there are two signal-callers worth tracking closer than the rest.

One is Brees, who will line up alongside Mark Ingram for the first time in 2018. Brees had a pair of sub-200-yard efforts last season, which not coincidentally came during two of Ingram's four 100-yard efforts.

The other is Mahomes, the touchdown machine who draws his toughest assignment to date. He's too talented to sit, but fantasy owners will cross their fingers that he can solve Jacksonville's defense, the second-stingiest unit against opposing quarterbacks.

Running Backs

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1. Ezekiel Elliott, DAL (at HOU)

2. Todd Gurley, LAR (at SEA)

3. David Johnson, ARI (at SF)

4. Alvin Kamara, NO (vs. WAS)

5. Melvin Gordon, LAC (vs. OAK)

6. Saquon Barkley, NYG (at CAR)

7. Christian McCaffrey, CAR (vs. NYG)

8. James Conner, PIT (vs. IND)

9. Joe Mixon, CIN (vs. MIA)

10. Marshawn Lynch, OAK (at LAC)

There might not be a start-him-or-sit-him debate among these players, but not all matchups are created equally.

While Conner's point total has fallen precipitously each week (31.7 in the opener to 7.9 on Sunday), he's primed to feast on an Atlanta defense allowing the fourth-most points to running backs. But Kareem Hunt, last season's leading rusher, can't even crack the top 10 with Jacksonville's defense awaiting him. The Jaguars have only allowed one rushing score and one 20-plus-yard run all season.

Wide Receivers

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1. Julio Jones, ATL (at PIT)

2. Antonio Brown, PIT (vs. ATL)

3. Michael Thomas, NO (vs. WAS)

4. Odell Beckham Jr., NYG (at CAR)

5. Keenan Allen, LAC (vs. OAK)

6. DeAndre Hopkins, HOU (vs. DAL)

7. Adam Thielen, MIN (at PHI)

8. A.J. Green, CIN (vs. MIA)

9. Davante Adams, GB (at DET)

10. JuJu Smith-Schuster, PIT (vs. ATL)

While Smith-Schuster can't compete with Brown's week-to-week consistency, the former has actually produced a bigger one-week point total (24.6) than the latter (19.8 so far).

If Smith-Schuster can pull that off again, this is the matchup to make it happen. Atlanta ranks 25th in passing yards per game (284) and tied for 25th in passing touchdowns allowed (nine). It also just allowed Tyler Boyd to collect 11 receptions for 100 yards, while three other Bengals wideouts supplied touchdowns.

Also, did you know Thielen leads all players with 56 targets? While he could stand to find the end zone a bit more frequently, it's hard to complain about 40 catches for 473 yards through four weeks.

Tight Ends

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1. Rob Gronkowski, NE (vs. IND)

2. Jimmy Graham, GB (at DET)

3. Zach Ertz, PHI (vs. MIN)

4. Travis Kelce, KC (vs. JAX)

5. George Kittle, SF (vs. ARI)

6. Jordan Reed, WAS (at NO)

7. Kyle Rudolph, MIN (at PHI)

8. Eric Ebron, IND (at NE)

9. Jared Cook, OAK (at LAC)

10. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, JAX (at KC)

While 49ers fans continue mourning the loss of Jimmy Garoppolo to a torn ACL, sharp fantasy owners realize Kittle either won't be impacted or will become even more valuable.

The playmaking tight end had his college quarterback, C.J. Beathard, back under center in Week 4. All Kittle did was turn eight targets into six receptions for 125 yards and a score.

"I know the guy and his tendencies and what he's good at running," Beathard told reporters. "I know how he gets open and it's just kind of a feel thing. We jell together."

Speaking of jelling, Ebron seems to be finding his comfort zone with Andrew Luck. Ebron has been targeted at least 10 times each of the past two weeks, totaling 10 catches for 73 yards and a score over that stretch.

Defenses

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1. Los Angeles Rams (at SEA)

2. Carolina Panthers (vs. NYG)

3. Tennessee Titans (at BUF)

4. Los Angeles Chargers (vs. OAK)

5. Denver Broncos (at NYJ)

6. Baltimore Ravens (at CLE)

7. San Francisco 49ers (vs. ARI)

8. New England Patriots (vs. IND)

9. Houston Texans (vs. DAL)

10. Arizona Cardinals (at SF)

Ideally, you roster a great defense with an appealing matchup. If not, at least try to get the matchup part right.

The 49ers-Cardinals tilt, for example, pits a backup quarterback (Beathard) against a rookie (Josh Rosen). Would you be surprised to know that both offenses are among the 10 most favorable a defense can face?

If you take out Buffalo's surprise win in Week 3, this offense has produced 23 points in three games. Even if you leave it in, the Bills are averaging an abysmal 132.5 passing yards per game with just two touchdowns against six interceptions. Start Tennessee's defense with supreme confidence.

Kickers

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1. Stephen Gostkowski, NE (vs. IND)

2. Wil Lutz, NO (vs. WAS)

3. Chris Boswell, PIT (vs. ATL)

4. Justin Tucker, BAL (at CLE)

5. Matt Bryant, ATL (at PIT)

6. Matt Prater, DET (vs. GB)

7. Jake Elliott, PHI (vs. MIN)

8. Robbie Gould, SF (vs. ARI)

9. Caleb Sturgis, LAC (vs. OAK)

10. Mason Crosby, GB (at DET)

As soon as you have this position in good hands, consider it a tinker-free spot. Consistent production from your kicker isn't something you want to mess with.

Statistics used courtesy of NFL.com. Fantasy scoring information obtained via Yahoo Sports.