Welcome to Week 5 of The List! This season, our Rankings Team will be providing a few thoughts on players they are particularly high or low on this week to give some perspective on their FLEX and positional rankings. You can find these thoughts below, followed by our full Top 150 FLEX. Positional rankings are also available to help you make your toughest lineup decisions of the week!
Woody Marks enters Week 5 as one of the biggest risers in all of fantasy football. The breakout game that was foretold by many of the QBList staff came to pass as Marks surpassed Nick Chubb and exploded for a 23.9 fantasy point outing, finishing as the RB5. There is no shortage of praise out there for the rookie out of USC, but arguably the most excited of the lot is Head Coach DeMeco Ryans, closing his post-game presser by sharing “we’re excited to see how much more he can handle.” An expanding, three-down workload for Marks after this type of performance has his vaulting 16 spots in our consensus rankings and up to RB15 for me personally. –Eric Romoff
You need only go to the opposite sideline to find one of this week’s biggest fallers, Derrick Henry. Henry enters Week 5 having carried the ball just 49 times, a 208-tote pace that would be his lowest since his 2nd year in the league back in 2017. It’s well-documented that his lack of involvement as a pass-catcher makes Henry one of the more touchdown-reliant players in the fantasy landscape, but even finding the end zone 3 times this season can’t lift him into the top-20 at his position. Henry’s fumbling issue from the early part of the season was kept in check last week, but another low-volume game script makes him very hard to trust this week, settling in as my 14th-ranked back. –Eric Romoff
Breece Hall is another significant riser as we turn the page to Week 5. Hall has been up and down this season as he’s shared the workload in a three-headed backfield where his quarterback is taking his fair share of carries. The tides turned in Hall’s favor in Week 4, however, as an injury to teammate Braelon Allen paved the path for a 20 opportunity outing, which he converted into 100+ scrimmage yards and 16.1 PPR points. The Jets will need his best this week as they are set to host the Dallas Cowboys in what projects to be one of the highest scoring games on the slate. Hall is a focal point of one of the league’s most-consolidated offenses and arguably the 2nd option in the Jets’ passing game. Dallas enters the week having allowed the 6th-most fantasy points to running backs this year and a whopping 57 receiving yards per game to the position. Hall jumps all the way up to my RB7 on the week and cracks the consensus Top-10 for the first time this year. –Eric Romoff
The day has finally come. Despite one of the most dominant opportunity shares in the NFL, Chase Brown simply cannot will his way to fantasy relevance in this stagnant Bengals offense and has officially fallen outside of the RB2 range in rankings. To be fair to Brown, he did show a bit more pop in Week 4’s game against the Broncos. He managed to set a season-high with 71 scrimmage yards with the Bengals dishing out just 15 total opportunities to their running backs against Denver. It’s highly unlikely that anyone emerges to challenge Brown for his touches in this backfield, but that merely makes him a bottom-basement buy-low target, not someone you can start with confidence. At least until further notice. –Eric Romoff
With Tyreek Hill sidelined, Jaylen Waddle steps into the WR1 role. The last time he was the featured option, he averaged nearly 9 targets per game. He should lead the Dolphins in targets against the Panthers. The matchup isn’t overly favorable for wide receivers, but Waddle’s volume and role make him a reliable WR2 play in Week 5. –Steve Pintado
Darius Slayton also gets a boost with Malik Nabers out. In two games without Nabers last season, he saw 22 targets, 179 yards, and 1 TD. This week, he faces the Saints, who rank in the bottom 10 in fantasy points allowed to WRs. That sets him up as a sneaky FLEX option with WR3 upside if the Giants lean on him again. –Steve Pintado
Chris Olave has been a target machine (43 on the season) and now draws the second-best matchup for WRs against the Giants. Just last week, we saw Quentin Johnston finish as a top-5 fantasy WR against this same defense. With volume plus matchup aligning, Olave profiles as a strong WR2 with WR1 upside in Week 5. Rashid Shaheed moves into the FLEX conversation during bye weeks. The Giants’ secondary has been a liability, and his big-play ability makes him a high-variance but appealing option. In deeper leagues or if you’re short on starters, he’s a boom-or-bust FLEX in Week 5. –Steve Pintado
It might be tempting to roll Jerry Jeudy out with Cedric Tillman on IR, but this is a spot to fade him. Rookie QB Dillon Gabriel makes his first start — on the road in London — against a Vikings defense that’s been stingy. Minnesota ranks 1st in fantasy points allowed to WRs and comes into this matchup well-prepared after adjusting to the time zone. With shaky QB play and a tough defensive matchup, Jeudy is best left on benches in Week 5. Let’s not forget that the Vikings have been hanging out in Europe after playing in Dublin last week. –Steve Pintado
Just like we all drew it up, Jake Ferguson is the TE1 through the first four weeks of the season. Averaging just under ten targets per game, he’s scored over 15 fantasy points in three straight games. It’s time to rank him inside the Top 5. -Jay Felicio
It’s not a drastic drop, but I can’t in good conscience rank Brock Bowers inside the Top 5 until we see a big game or two with Pete Caroll at the helm. His target share hasn’t been awful, averaging about six targets per game. But that’s nearly three targets missing per game, and it’s making an impact on his stat line. The Colts have only allowed one touchdown to the position and given up over 50 receiving tards to a tight end once. -Jay Felicio