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What is Chris Ballard’s plan?

Was Jon Gruden holding Derek Carr and Las Vegas back? Unlike Jamal Adams, Stefon Diggs was actually worth a first round pick.

Darrell Henderson is seeing all of the fantasy-relevant backfield touches in LA, and has a mouth watering schedule going forward. Tee Higgins doesn’t see the same elite level of Opportunity Share, but is an alpha receiver who is the secondary target on a team increasing in pace by the week.

DeVante Parker is soaking up opportunity and dominating production in Miami’s receiver room. Miami is throwing the ball at a high rate, getting Tua Tagovailoa soon, and hitting their softest stretch of schedule.

Justin Fields averaged 9.4 (No. 5 among qualified quarterbacks) Air Yards Per Attempt prior to Week 5 and has looked a bit better each week. He hasn’t been running the ball as much as expected, but that will come given his speed. The Packers will be without Jaire Alexander, and replacement corner Kevin King ranks outside the top 100 among CBs for yards per receptions allowed and Passer Rating allowed. Fields has been airing the ball downfield in his first few starts, so expect him to connect on a couple of those against a Packers secondary that is a little more breakable without Alexander.

Cleveland’s defense has been stingy against the run, with Austin Ekeler’s 66 rush yards being the most an RB has gotten against the Browns so far this season. Cleveland’s opponents often go pass-heavy, a game plan that favors Arizona’s receivers and Chase Edmonds more than James Conner. With 5 TDs this season, Conner has been the goal-line back for the Cardinals. However, he only has 4 total receptions and averaged 3.2 (No. 58) True Yards Per Carry prior to Week 5, before gaining just 2.9 yards per tote. Conner won’t see a good matchup for his skillset this week in Cleveland.

Devontae Booker should draw a few starts while Saquon Barkley deals with an ankle injury. Booker filled in well this past week when Barkley left the game, finishing with 58 yards rushing and a TD. Expect high-volume touches for as long as Barkley is out. He certainly meets the criteria if you are a “pay for touches” type with your FAAB bidding.  

David Njoku is coming off an incredible seven-catch, 149-yard and a TD performance in Cleveland’s shootout loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Njoku saw 10 targets. This game is most likely a one-off, but he should be added this week on the chance that he sees increased usage based on production.  

The Indianapolis Colts have struggled to move the ball all season, and now they face an uphill battle against the Baltimore Ravens. Carson Wentz has been serviceable, but his lack of upside makes him a tough start in standard roster formats. He has shown an ability to get the ball to Michael Pittman. Despite negative Game Scripts, the team continues to feed running back Jonathan Taylor.

The Ravens have the much better team. Lamar Jackson is primed to scorch the Colts, in route to feeding Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews. Baltimore’s running back room remains a crap shoot that makes it impossible to trust any of them in seasonal leagues.

The Seattle Seahawks are on pace to give up the most yards in NFL history at over 450 yards a game. They are No. 30 against the run and No. 29 against the pass. After surrendering 476 yards to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night, Seattle has given up almost 500 yards per game since their Week 1 slog with Indianapolis. Opponents have scored in over 42-percent of their offensive drives. Play anyone & everyone against the Seahawks. Start your Steelers, Saints and Jaguars before the Seahawks Week 9 bye.

Carolina will live or die on their defense, Christian McCaffrey, and D.J. Moore. When McCaffrey comes back, he’ll get the goal line carries. Take that away and Sam Darnold won’t do much for your fantasy team. Sell him now to QB-needy squad. If you don’t see much interest after Darnold’s weak Week 5 showing, hang on for upcoming matchups against Minnesota and Atlanta and then move him if you still can.

Welcome to Week 5, Mad Caps. In previous years, this was considered the unofficial “quarter mark” of the football season. It is at this point that the fantasy community realizes some things; no one knows as much as they thought they did, and football really hurts (hence, the piling up of bodies in The Infirmary). It’s not likely to get any prettier as the season goes along, but it’s OK! As Aaron Rodgers once said, R-E-L-A-X… The Infirmary has your back!

Dalvin Cook is iffy for the Vikings, but the smart choice is Alexander Mattison in this spot. Even if Cook plays, he’s not likely to get a full workload. Sure, The Infirmary has been low on Mattison, but in his relief appearance against Seattle, Mattison rolled for over 170 all-purpose yards. There’s no reason he can’t do the same against a porous Lions run defense.

A.J. Brown’s hamstring looks good for Sunday and so does this line. Jacksonville allows 312.2 passing yards per game, the 3rd most in the NFL. The Titans will look to exploit this, as they run an above average 38.0 Team Pass Plays Per Game (No. 10). Brown will return to an elevated target share, with the absence of Julio Jones, resulting in more opportunities to beat cornerback Shaquill Griffin. Griffin, with his +8.5 Coverage Rating (No. 85 among qualified CBs), is going to get torched by Brown.

Justin Herbert will be tested against Cleveland, a team with a strong defense and an offense that controls the time of possession. The Browns allow only 183.8 pass yards per game and have 14.0 sacks through Week 4, making the case strong to take the under on a passing yards line. Cleveland’s offense will provide a challenge for Herbert to eclipse 292.5 passing yards because they run league high 35.0 Team Run Plays Per Game (No. 1) with a slow 1.87 Pace Of Play, which limits the time of possession and total drives for opposing offenses. I’ll let the Chargers’ strength and conditioning coach cut my hair if Herbert is somehow able to produce over 292.5 passing yards.

In college, Kenny Gainwell stood out in a loaded Memphis backfield. It appears to be deja-vu in Philly. On the season, Gainwell has 19 carries and earned 18 targets, compared to Sanders’ 37 and 14, respectively. While the two are equal in terms of True Yards Per Carry (4.4), Gainwell has been the more efficient back. He leads his running  mate in metrics such as Evaded Tackles (7 to 4), Juke Rate (21.9 to 8.3-percent), and Yards Per Touch (6.2 to 5.7). Gainwell earns 14.29 Lifetime Value points to jump eight spots to RB28.

Ben Roethlisberger has struggled mightily since the first snap of 2021. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since he wasn’t necessarily sharp to close out 2020. Big Ben leads the league in both Danger Plays (20) and Interceptable Passes (18). He’s averaging a weak 6.1 Yards Per Attempt (No. 31) with a True Passer Rating of 48.4-percent (No. 30). Four weeks and three losses into the Steelers’ 2021 campaign, Roethlisberger has yet to post a Top 20 QB fantasy finish. His best result is a 15.2 point QB23 performance in Week 3. The stock of the 39-year-old signal caller continues its decent losing another four spots to QB38.

Michael Thomas is expected to return Week 7. I expect him to completely open up this offense and finally give the Saints another dimension they so desperately need. Do I expect them to be high flying through the air? No, but they will increase their passing volume significantly. Finally Jameis Winston can get the ball go to a weapon in the passing game. Once he’s back he will lead the league in target share and be a PPR superstar again. Go get Thomas before your league mates remember who he is.

As historically bad as tight ends have been their rookie year, it may not be enough to derail Kyle Pitts’ breakout. His raw talent is unquestioned but that’s not what will make him productive this season. He has 135 Routes Run (No. 3), 26 Targets (No. 6), 219 Air Yards (No. 6), 6 Red Zone Targets (No. 2). The Falcons are using him and its only a matter of time before his production matches what his metrics suggest. Go get him from the disappointed owner who drafted him.