Great Googly Moogly.
Will the last healthy player left turn out the lights before you leave?
Malik Nabers and Tyreek Hill were both ruled out for the rest of the season this past week, joining Joe Burrow, James Conner, Austin Ekeler, and Najee Harris as fantasy football stars lost for the year.
They join a list that includes the following stars who are hurt and expected to miss time, including Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy, J.J. McCarthy, (do we definitely get Jayden Daniels back this week?), Bucky Irving, Aaron Jones, Trey Benson, Tyrone Tracy, Braelon Allen, CeeDee Lamb, Mike Evans, Terry McLaurin, Ricky Pearsall AND Jauan Jennings. Plus, Brandon Aiyuk is still hurt, so is Joe Mixon, Darnell Mooney, Cedric Tillman, George Kittle and Graham Gano. I mean, what? We’ve got KICKER injuries? Good lord man.
That doesn’t count the folks that have showed up on the injury report with questionable tags like Baker Mayfield, Chuba Hubbard and Deebo Samuel, or the superstars on a bye this week like Bijan Robinson, Drake London, DK Metcalf, Jordan Love, Josh Jacobs, Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, and more.
It’s absolutely brutal and it’s just Week 5. When Thomas Paine wrote, “These are the times that try men’s souls,” in 1776 I can only assume he was in a 12 team Superflex with only an underperforming Chase Brown and Derrick Henry as his healthy RBs. Or maybe that’s just me.
Either way, fantasy football is a war of attrition and we feel that no more intensely than this week with byes starting. Hang tough and let us help you. Fantasy Football Happy Hour airs LIVE every day at Noon ET on YouTube (and is available on demand on YouTube, Peacock, and wherever you get podcasts). And of course, we get you ready for kickoff with last-minute advice, injury updates, the answers to more questions than any other pregame show, and the right amount of nonsense on Fantasy Football Pregame, 11 a.m. ET every Sunday morning on YouTube and Peacock.
Thanks as always to my producer Damian Dabrowski for his help at various points in this column, and all underlying stats, data and utilization numbers are courtesy of FantasyLife.com’s Utilization Report and of course, the incredible Dwain McFarland. A reminder – the best deal on the internet is a subscription to RotoPass.com. RotoPass is my bundle site that combines a bunch of the best premium content and tools sites for one low price (it works out to like a quarter a day) that includes FantasyLife+, of course, and many others. Plus, you get a free 6 month premium subscription to Peacock.
Let’s get to it.
Here are 10 Facts You Need to Know Before Week 5:
1. No team has allowed more rushing yards or yards per carry to opposing quarterbacks than the… Buffalo Bills.
1A. Drake Maye has finished as a top eight QB in each of the past three weeks. This week he plays the Buffalo Bills as an 8.5-point underdog on DraftKings.
2. Among Jaxson Dart’s 10 rush attempts last week, three of them were in the red zone.
2A. And of the three red zone carries for Dart, two of them were in goal-to-go situations.
2B. This year, through four games, the New Orleans Saints allow 20.6 points per game to opposing QBs, which is fifth-most in the NFL.
2C. That includes two of the games being against Mac Jones and Sam Darnold.
3. The Minnesota Vikings are bottom 10 in the NFL in terms of most rushing yards allowed to opposing running backs.
3A. In fact, RBs that have seen at least 15 rushes against Minnesota this season are averaging 18.9 PPG.
3B. Quinshon Judkins has 44 touches over the last two weeks.
4. Last week, Woody Marks led the Texans’ backfield in touches and snap rate.
4A. He also saw an 18% target share, including the team’s only red zone target.
4B. His Utilization Score of 86 was 12th-highest among all running backs.
4C. No team this year has allowed more fantasy points to opposing running backs than Mark’s Week 5 opponent, the Baltimore Ravens.
5. Last year, no RB on the New York Jets RB had a higher fantasy points per touch average than… Isaiah Davis.
5A. So far this year, the New York Jets are third in the NFL in rushing yards per game.
5B. So far this year, the Dallas Cowboys allow the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs.
5C. Jets RB Braelon Allen is on IR.
5D. Let’s not get crazy. Justin Fields and Breece Hall are still going to be the lead runners here. But they like Davis, I think he’s talented and given all the injuries and byes this week you cold do worse for a desperation FLEX.
5E. And as my co-host Connor Rogers pointed out on Fantasy Football Happy Hour the other day, there’s a non-zero chance the Jets, in a rebuilding year, trade Breece Hall. I like him as a stash.
6. In his first game back, Chris Godwin was tied for the team lead in target share. (25.6%)
6A. He also had a 91% route participation.
6B. He also had 45% of the team’s air yards.
6C. By the way, Seattle has allowed the eighth-most yards to the slot this year.
7. Only two teams in the NFL have allowed more yards to the slot this year than the… Indianapolis Colts.
7A. The Colts’ star slot corner, Kenny Moore, is injured.
7B. So far this year, there’s been only one game where Jakobi Meyers had below a 28% target share.
7C. Meyers and the Las Vegas Raiders face the Colts this week.
8. In each of the last two weeks, Malik Washington has been targeted on over 20% of his routes.
8A. On the year, Malik Washington’s 8.1 YAC per reception is third-best among all wide receivers.
8B. Last Monday night was the third straight game Malik Washington had multiple rush attempts.
8C. Tyreek Hill’s injury opens up a 24% target share.
8D. This week, the Dolphins face the Carolina Panthers.
8E. I may or may not have been obsessed with Malik Washington for two seasons.
9. Teams that face the Cincinnati Bengals average a league high 10 tight end targets per game.
9A. So far this year, the Bengals have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends.
9B. This is a Sam LaPorta thread.
10. Every week this year, Mason Taylor’s target share has increased.
10A. It was 26% last week.
10B. He’s had at least a 70% route participation in every game this year.
10C. This week he plays Dallas.
10D. Dallas is not so good.
10E. You could do worse at tight end than Mason Taylor and probably already have.