With the first month of fantasy football in the books, you will begin to see the best and worst fantasy teams in your league. If you are one of the better teams in your league, then it is time to keep the pressure on the other teams and keep racking up the wins. If you are one of the losing teams, now is the time to turn your team around and take a look at the waiver wire. In this article, I will be giving fantasy advice on who to start, sit, and pickup as Week 5 begins Thursday night with the Arizona Cardinals at the San Francisco 49ers.
Quarterbacks
Start
Carson Wentz: The rookie quarterback from North Dakota State has been a star in his early NFL career. He has three career starts and is averaging 256 passing yards, 5 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. In his last start in week 3, Carson Wentz gathered 25 points against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a standard league setup. The rookie quarterback is also facing the Lions defense, which has been awful against the pass this year allowing the second-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. The Lions defense averaged 283 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and just 1 interception. The Lions defense is also suffering from injuries, including Ezekiel Ansah (ankle) and DeAndre Levy (quad). Therefore, Carson Wentz is a great choice at quarterback this week, and he should finish as a Top 10 fantasy quarterback.
Derek Carr: Carr will be making his fifth start against the Chargers in Week 5. In the standard league, Derek Carr has had two games against the Charger’s which he has had at least 29 points, but in his other two matchups against the Chargers he has scored 17 points or less. If this happens to be a trend, Carr’s two big games came in the first meetings with the Chargers in every year. In his last start, Derek Carr scored 31 points against the Baltimore Ravens! Derek Carr will also be facing a Chargers defense which has averaged 307 passing yards, 8 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. Therefore, Derek Carr should have another great week at home against the San Diego Chargers.
Sit
Matt Ryan: Ryan has been a very nice surprise for fantasy owners this year, and through the first four weeks he has been ranked the No. 1 fantasy quarterback. Matt Ryan has taken advantage of his schedule, and he has scored at least 23 points in each week. Although Matt Ryan has had an amazing start, every good thing must eventually come to an end as he faces a very good Denver Broncos defense. The Broncos defense has not allowed multiple passing touchdowns and more than 206 passing yards this season. Therefore, even though Matt Ryan has had a great start to the season, the Broncos defense makes me a bit skeptical and it might be a better idea to start a different quarterback this week.
Matthew Stafford: In last week’s game against the Chicago Bears, Matthew Stafford scored a season-low 7 points in a standard league. He may be at home this week, but everything says that he will fail against the Philidelphia Eagles. Despite playing Cleveland and Chicago this season, the Eagles defense is ranked No. 1 in fewest fantasy points allowed this season. In the Eagles defense’s last game, they were given the task of Ben Roethlisberger in which they dominated allowing just 257 passing yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. Matthew Stafford will also be playing his former head coach, Jim Schwartz, and the last time these two met was when Jim Schwartz was the defensive coordinator for the Bills. Jim Schwartz and the Bills held Matthew Stafford to just 231 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception. In conclusion, Matthew Stafford is a quarterback in which every fantasy football owner should avoid this week if possible.
Running backs
Start
Terrance West: West stole the starting running back job from former teammate Justin Forsett, and he clearly took advantage of the opportunity in his Week 4 matchup against the Oakland Raiders. Against the Raiders defense, Terrence West carried the ball 21 times for 113 yards and a touchdown. He is expected to put up similar stats in his Week 5 matchup against the Washington Redskins. The Redskins defense has done poorly against the run this season, allowing the second-most Fantasy points in a standard league to running backs. The Redskins defense has also already allowed five running backs to reach double-digit Fantasy points this season. On the other hand, Baltimore Ravens running back, Kenneth Dixon, returns from his knee injury this Sunday. This may cause Terrence West to lose some carries, but all in all Terrence West should dominate the Ravens touches. In conclusion, seeing what running backs have done to the Redskins defense, many fantasy owners should start Terrence West this Sunday.
Jordan Howard: Howard has seemed to emerge as the Chicago Bears starting running back coming out of Week 4. In his last game against the Detroit Lions, he had 23 carries for 111 yards and 3 catches for 21 yards. Jordan Howard will be expected to put up the same numbers against a tired Indianapolis Colts defense. The Colts defense has struggled against the run throughout the season, and have already allowed five running backs to score double-digit Fantasy points this season in a standard league, and Jordan Howard will most likely be the sixth running back to join the list. Therefore, Jordan Howard will dominate the touches for the Chicago Bears, and he is most likely going to be a Top 10 Fantasy running back this week.
Sit
Tevin Coleman: Coleman may not be getting much playing time against the Denver Broncos for health reasons. Tevin Coleman has sickle cell trait, which is a blood disorder that creates health issues. The blood disorder may especially cause health issues in low altitude areas such as Denver. Tevin Coleman is expected to play this week, but he could have limited carries. Fantasy owners should play it safe this week and sit Tevin Coleman.
Matt Jones: Do not be fooled by Matt Jones’ stats in Week 4! Matt Jones scored 19 Fantasy points in a standard league against the Cleveland Browns, but his upcoming matchup against the Baltimore Ravens defense is not in his favor. The Ravens defense has been very good against the run in their last two matchups allowing a combination of T.J Yeldon and Latavius Murray to only score 5 Fantasy points in a standard league. Therefore, it is safe to sit Matt Jones this week against the Ravens.
Wide Receivers
Start
Steve Smith: Smith’s last two games against the Jaguars and Raiders have been very solid. He has had at least 11 targets and 87 yards in each of those last two games, and he will have a chance to have another big day this Sunday against the Redskins. The Redskins defense has done a very poor job against opposing team’s No. 1 receivers this season, allowing every team’s No. 1 receiver to score a touchdown or have at least 100 receiving yards. The Redskins defense has also allowed six wide receivers to score double-digit fantasy points in a standard league. Therefore, fantasy owners should take advantage of Steve Smith production and start him.
Julian Edelman: Edelman has mightily struggled this season because of the Patriots lack of a quality quarterback. Julian Edelman has not yet scored a touchdown this season and he has not yet scored double-digit fantasy points in a standard league yet. But now that Tom Brady is back, we should see Edelman’s production heavily increase. Not only does Edelman have a star quarterback in Tom Brady, but he will also be playing against a weak Cleveland Browns defense. The Browns defense has struggled with wide receivers in three out of four of their games this season, and we can see Julian Edelman as a potential receiver to break out against their defense on Sunday. All in all, it is safe to start Julian Edelman in your fantasy league this week.
Sit
Stefon Diggs: Diggs should be no more than a No. 3 wide receiver option this week. His targets have slowly declined and he has been held to under 50 receiving yards in these past two weeks. Stefon Diggs also has a tough matchup against the Houston Texans defense which has only allowed one receiving touchdown and one player to have over 100 receiving yards in a game this season. Sam Bradford has also hurt Stefon Diggs fantasy value because Kyle Rudolph has seemed to emerge as Bradford’s go-to threat. Therefore, it is safe to sit Stefon Diggs if you can.
DeAndre Hopkins: Hopkins is a bad matchup versus the Vikings defense, especially because he has been struggling recently. In his last two games, DeAndre Hopkins has only 5 catches for 60 yards and no touchdowns. This is not completely Hopkins fault, as he has only been targeted 14 times in the past two games by Brock Osweiler. This probably will not change with Will Fuller playing very well and Lamar Miller getting more and more carries every game. DeAndre Hopkins also faces Xavier Rhodes and Terrance Newman who have been lights out on defense this season. Xavier Rhodes and Terrance Newman have eliminated the past two No. 1 wide receivers that they have faced, and they plan to eliminate DeAndre Hopkins too. Therefore, fantasy owners must be careful when starting DeAndre Hopkins because this matchup against the Vikings defense does not favor him.
Tight Ends
Start
Zach Miller: Miller has turned himself into a very solid fantasy football option for fantasy owners that need a tight end. Zach Miller’s production has gone up since Brian Hoyer became the starting quarterback for the Bears. With Hoyer at quarterback, Zach Miller has racked up 11 receptions, 109 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns. Zach Miller will also be matched up against the Colts defense, who have been very bad against pass-catching tight ends this season. All in all, Zach Miller is a must-start heading into Week 5.
Zach Ertz: Ertz will be back and ready to play after sitting out two games with a rib injury in which he suffered in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns. He will be facing a weak Detroit Lions defense, which has allowed the second most fantasy points this year behind the Atlanta Falcons. The Lions defense has also been specifically bad against tight ends, allowing a tight end to score in every game this season. Therefore, Zach Ertz should be a starter for many fantasy football owners.
Sit
Eric Ebron: Ebron had a very solid game against the Colts in Week 1 scoring 10 Fantasy points in a standard league. But Eric Ebron has not been the same since Week 1, and he is only averaging 5 fantasy points per game. We do not expect him to break this slump against the Philadelphia Eagles because the Eagles defense has allowed the fewest Fantasy points to tight ends this season. The Eagles defense has only allowed tight ends to catch 8 catches for 52 yards. If you can, it is best if you try to avoid starting Eric Ebron this Sunday.
Dwayne Allen: Since scoring a touchdown in Week 1 against the Lions, Allen’s production has faded as he is forced to split playing time with Doyle. In fact, Dwayne Allen has only scored 7 Fantasy points in his last three games. He will also be facing the Chicago Bears defense who has only allowed one touchdown to tight ends this season. If Dwayne Allen does not put up Fantasy points this week fantasy owners should start doing their research on other tight end options. Therefore, do not start Dwayne Allen in your fantasy lineup.
Waiver Wire Pickups
1. Terrence West
2. Bilal Powell
3. Quincy Enunwa
4. Robert Woods
5. Carson Wentz
6. Hunter Henry