Washington was the most involved Dolphins receiver, leading the team in targets and receiving yards. He started things off with an 18-yard rush and saw a steady peppering of low-depth targets. Though he led all Dolphins skill-position players in snaps, Washington doesn’t see many scoring opportunities in the Miami offense. After a Week 6 bye, The 25-year-old is a volume-based FLEX play Week 7 against the Jets.
Golden’s 123 yards were his third new career high in just five games this season. In other words, his breakout year remains ongoing. Golden’s long gain was a soaring 50-yard deep shot over the middle of the field where the wideout had to go up and get it. Golden also contributed a 36-yard reception. Routinely contributing 40-plus yard grabs while also doing some nice compiling, Golden has become not only a WR2 option, but a safe one at that. That will definitely include for Week 6 vs. the Cowboys’ leaky defense.
Olave was averaging over 120 yards per game before today’s contest. The Saints’ extreme play volume and tilt to toward passing the ball turned his great role into elite fantasy production. That finally came to a halt with Brian Flore’s defense shutting down Tyler Shough. The second-year passer completed just 16 throws for 96 yards. Shough and the entire passing attack should improve drastically versus the Giants next week. Fantasy managers can keep treating Olave as a WR1 despite this speed bump.
Bell was targeted just twice on the day, catching neither target. He did see a carry on an end-around play, rushing for 26 yards on his sole touch of the game. He has ramped up to a starting receiver’s workload of snaps, ranking second among Dolphins receivers with 41 snaps. Though Bell is the field more, he is yet to be a key part of the Dolphins offense and will see less opportunities once Caleb Douglas (ankle) returns. Bell is best left on fantasy benches when the Dolphins come out of their Week 6 bye.
The five-catch effort was Kraft’s second straight after previously having zero. His 54 yards were almost his most since Week 1. His 46-yard reception in the third quarter was his longest of the season. All of that is good, though it was still somewhat disappointing amidst a 367-yard Jordan Love outburst where Christian Watson and Matthew Golden both eased by 100 yards. Kraft is averaging a pedestrian six targets. He’s going to need both more looks and big plays to remain a higher-end TE1. It will nevertheless be impossible to bench him for Week 6 against the Cowboys’ shaky defense.
Coleman was heavily involved in the Dolphins’ second-half gameplan, seeing the second-most targets among Miami pass-catchers on the day. He scored on a Malik Willis red zone pass in the fourth quarter and was tackled at the one-yard line on a reception towards the end of the game. Coleman is a fifth-round rookie and unlikely to see this much volume moving forward but is an intriguing deep-league stash in case Malik Washington were to suffer an injury.
Unbelievably, that’s the most efficient Robinson has looked all season. He remains ticketed as the undercard to Carnell Tate and should only be viewed as a FLEX option. A matchup against the Colts next weekend at least is a lot more interesting of a spot than one against Houston’s defense.
Well, at least last week was good. He did have a 40-plus yarder pulled off the board because of a holding penalty. Next week offers a more welcoming Colts defense and Tate should have a path to low-end WR3 numbers there.
Michael Pittman (foot) was ruled out earlier in the week, and then Roman Wilson dislocated his finger during the game, so there wasn’t a lot of competition for Bernard and DK Metcalf. The rookie from Alabama played the same number of snaps as Metcalf and ran a route on 35 of the team’s 38 dropbacks. This isn’t an explosive passing attack, but Bernard looks like the WR2 in Pittsburgh now and is more of an intermediate and short-area target than DK Metcalf, which could lead to decent fantasy value over the next few weeks.
Maye had all day to operate in the pocket against a Raiders front seven that entered Week 5 with the league’s ninth highest pressure rate and fourth highest quick pressure rate. He attacked the Vegas secondary downfield from start to finish, hitting Kyle Williams and Pop Douglas for long touchdowns, and Williams for another long gain that put the Pats inside the five yard line. Maye’s rushing score came on a green scramble in the third quarter. Fully emerged from his early-season struggles, Maye is once again carving up opposing coverage units and causing fits with his scrambling ability. Maye, with eight total touchdowns over his past two outings, should be locked into lineups next week against a middling Jets secondary.
Is this doing anything for anybody? Ridley had a 23-yarder to open the game and vanished thereafter. He has not cracked more than two catches or three targets all year and does not need to be in fantasy consideration in the vast, vast majority of leagues.
Brown took a surprising backseat to Samaje Perine in the Bengals’ win over the Dolphins. He still led out-snapped Perine 38-to-33, but a red zone fumble hurt his fantasy production while splitting backfield touches 50/50. There were a few snaps where Brown lined up as a receiver with Perine in the backfield; the Bengals used both backs heavily. Brown previously dominated all sorts of touches for the Bengals backfield, so this is a new development. Game script certainly played a factor but Brown’s ceiling as an RB1 may be considerably lessened if Perine’s usage sticks. He is a fantasy RB2 with a Week 7 matchup against the Ravens on the horizon after a Week 6 bye.
This was not the game many expected against a beleaguered Colts defense. Two of Metcalf’s three catches were on screens behind the line of scrimmage, and he was only targeted 10 yards down the field once. Aaron Rodgers is not having much success throwing the ball deep down the field, which means Metcalf is likely going to be a touchdown-dependent WR3 in fantasy next week against the Bucs.
45 snaps, one target. Helm has somehow grown less relevant than his 4/28 Week 1 showing would have even suggested. He can be dropped in most leagues at this point.
Perine was involved heavily against the Dolphins, a surprising development given his lack of touches to open the season. He trailed Chase Brown by just five snaps on the day, getting involved in short-yardage situations and seeing an increase in red zone snaps after Brown’s red zone fumble in the second quarter. He caught a touchdown running a route out of the backfield and finished with 78 total yards. We don’t expect Perine to consistently see this kind of usage, but he is back on the radar as a deep-league FLEX value.
Kiner’s seven touches came after TreVeyon Henderson went down with what could be a serious ankle injury in the second quarter. While much of his work came in garbage time, Kiner could work as the Patriots’ No. 2 back behind Rhamondre Stevenson if Henderson is sidelined in Week 6. Kiner is worth a look on waiver wires this week.
Jefferson didn’t miss a beat after returning from a one-game absence due to an ankle injury. He made several spectacular grabs in this game, the most amazing of which was a toe-tapping catch in the back of the end zone with three defenders covering him. Even at less than full strength, Jefferson is simply one of the best receivers in the league. He will remain near the top of the WR1 ranks when the Vikings face the Colts after their bye week.
Raridon, who was out last week, was very much involved in the revived New England passing attack. Hunter Henry, meanwhile, had three grabs for 44 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots have used two tight end sets at a high rate when Raridon is healthy. Unless Henry misses time, Raridon should remain on waiver wires in most 12-team formats. He had been targeted on ten percent of his routes headed into Week 5.
Freiermuth ran 27 routes on 38 dropbacks, which was a distant third behind DK Metcalf and Germie Bernard; however, Aaron Rodgers is far more effective when targeting the intermediate and middle areas of the field, which makes Freiermuth a more consistent target than either of the wide receivers. With Michael Pittman (foot) and Roman Wilson (finger) both hurt, Freiermuth could be a fringe TE1 next week against the Bucs.
Taylor added 37 receiving yards on three catches. As JJ Watt noted on the broadcast, the Steelers knew that the Colts love running off tackle, so they sent extra rushers and had their defensive ends bracket the tackles to force the Colts to run up the gut. It didn’t work out well for the Colts. Taylor had no running room all day and was stuffed inside the three-yard line three separate times. Things will likely be better next week against the Titans, but the Colts are going to need to fix their issues in the interior of their offensive line.
Stevenson was splitting the backfield workload with TreVeyon Henderson before Henderson sustained a potentially serious ankle injury in the second quarter and did not return. Stevenson was somewhat efficient with his opportunities, breaking a few tackles against a low-energy, low-effort Raiders defense. His touchdown came on a goal line carry in the first half. It was his second score of the year. Stevenson will be a top-12 fantasy option next week against the Jets if Henderson is sidelined.
Chase returned from a concussion he suffered last week, seeing 10 targets in a productive fantasy day. He saw a goal-line fade target on the Bengals’ first drive and was later tackled at the one-yard line towards the end of the first half. Joe Burrow missed Chase for a 70-yard touchdown in the second half but Chase made a miraculous catch with his right arm for a 45-yard touchdown later in the half. He finishes with a successful fantasy day and is squarely in the WR1 ranks heading into the Bengals’ Week 6 bye.