Starts & Sits for Week 5 in Fantasy Football (2026)

by Matty Kiwoom · Featured

A quarter of the season is down, and the waiver wire already looks like a disaster zone in a lot of leagues. Injuries are mounting, offensive lines are getting shuffled around, and a couple of teams are already playing out the string on their season-long plans.

The good news is that Week 5 gives us some pretty clear signals if you know where to look. There are a couple of total blowout environments, and a couple of games nobody should want their players anywhere near.

Let’s get into the calls.

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Week 5 Starts & Sits

Quarterback

START Jared Goff, Lions

Goff has been excellent all season, and this week he gets rewarded with one of the best matchups on the board. Detroit heads to Arizona in a game that projects as one of the highest-scoring games on the entire Week 5 slate. When a shootout environment like that lines up with a quarterback playing this well, you don’t overthink it. Chase the barn burner.


Arizona’s defense has also been generous to opposing quarterbacks this year, which only adds to the appeal. Goff’s been one of the most consistent arms in the league through four weeks, and a game with this much expected scoring gives him every chance to put up a monster line. Fire him up with confidence.

SIT Jalen Hurts, Eagles

I know it’s hard to sit a quarterback of Hurts’ caliber, but enough red flags are piling up in Philadelphia that I can’t recommend it this week. DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley are both banged up, Dallas Goedert‘s status is unclear at best, Lane Johnson retired, and the Eagles just traded away a two-time Pro Bowl center. That’s an offense with a completely different identity than the one we drafted in August.

On top of all that, Jacksonville brings a genuinely nasty defense into this one. This game projects as one of the lowest-scoring environments on the slate. When the weapons are banged up, the offensive line is in flux, and the matchup is this tough, it’s not the week to get cute. Let Hurts ride the bench if you have a viable alternative.

Running Back

START Emanuel Wilson, Seahawks

Wilson looks like the clear RB1 in Seattle right now, and he should hang onto that role until Zach Charbonnet is healthy enough to push back into the picture. Until then, this is Wilson’s backfield, and the opportunity share backs that up.

The matchup isn’t scary either. San Francisco’s run defense hasn’t been anything to fear this season, which only adds to the appeal of a back who’s firmly entrenched as the lead option. Play Wilson with confidence as long as he’s got the keys to this backfield.

SIT TreVeyon Henderson, Patriots

The touches in New England have been maddeningly unpredictable all season, and Henderson has been caught in this fantasy nightmare. Even in weeks where the role looks promising on paper, the efficiency just hasn’t shown up, and he hasn’t done enough with his opportunities to trust him.


Until this backfield settles into something predictable, Henderson is tough to pencil in. I’d rather watch from the sideline than guess at touch distribution in an offense that’s been this unpredictable.

Wide Receiver

START Michael Wilson, Cardinals

Detroit’s defense has been an absolute open gate against opposing wide receivers this season. We just watched Tetairoa McMillan torch them on Sunday Night Football. That’s the blueprint, and Wilson is next in line trying to run it back.


Wilson’s been producing at a strong level in Arizona’s offense all year, and a matchup against a defense that’s been this generous to the position is exactly the kind of spot you want to exploit. Get him into your lineup with confidence this week.

SIT Denzel Boston, Browns

Boston’s been electric to watch this season, and I get the temptation to keep riding him. But chasing fantasy points in a Browns-Jets game feels like the wrong process. New York has been a difficult matchup for wide receivers, and this game isn’t projected to have much scoring to go around in the first place.

Talented player, bad environment. I’d rather bench the name and find a receiver in a game that actually projects to have points on the board.

Tight End

START Isaiah Likely, Giants

Jameis Winston has made it clear he’s not afraid to let it fly, and Likely has already benefited from the Jameis experience. He produced for the Giants last week, and the role looks real. When your quarterback is pushing the ball around the field like that, a tight end with Likely’s skill set is going to find his way into the box score.

The matchup makes this an even easier call. Washington has been one of the better matchups for opposing tight ends this season. That combination of role, quarterback aggressiveness, and soft matchup makes Likely one of my favorite streaming plays at the position this week.

SIT Harold Fannin Jr., Browns

This is the same game environment that’s got me fading Boston applies here, too. The Browns-Jets matchup just isn’t projecting to have much scoring. But Fannin’s issue runs deeper than the matchup. Outside of a two-touchdown outing in Week 3, Fannin hasn’t consistently turned his usage into big fantasy production, and the overall game mechanics in Cleveland haven’t done him any favors either.

When you combine a limited role with a tough, low-scoring matchup, there’s just not much of a path to a usable fantasy week. Look elsewhere at the position until the offense and the role both improve.

Final Thoughts

The theme this week is simple: chase the games that project to have points and run away from the ones that don’t. Goff and Likely are both sitting in favorable scoring environments with real opportunity, while Hurts, Boston, and Fannin are all stuck in tough matchups compounded by situations working against them. Build your lineup around the game environment first and let the matchup data do the rest of the work.

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