The bye weeks are now officially upon us. With less players taking the field each week, there could be some surprises in the Daily Fantasy market.
The week 4 top bets weren’t sleepers by any means, with Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, DeMarco Murray and Jordan Reed as the top players at each position.
Picking those top options is just as important as finding those sleepers on a weekly basis in DFS.
Here’s the top plays for the week 5 slate of NFL games for Daily Fantasy.
Quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger vs. New York Jets
Roethlisberger was a popular pick in the offseason as being a top-three quarterback play in fantasy football this year. If he can keep up the momentum from week 4, then he’ll be on pace to be a regular top choice.
The Steelers veteran went for 300 yards passing and five touchdowns, outdueled only by a magical performance from Ryan against Carolina. Roethlisberger can put up those type of numbers and has shown that in the past. His only issue is consistently being that force, which has evaded him.
However, this week, he should keep the ball rolling against a New York Jets defense that isn’t as good as we’ve become accustomed to against the pass. The Jets rank in the bottom-10 against the pass and allow a staggering 9.7 yards per pass play, the most in the NFL by almost an entire yard.
That’s a bad sign against a big-play offense like Pittsburgh. I think the Jets will compete well in this game, but Roethlisberger makes this game a shootout.
Running Back
David Johnson vs. San Francisco 49ers
The Cardinals need somebody to step up. And so far, the only person who has been that consistent force is Johnson.
I’m expecting the second-year back to be the only viable fantasy option coming out of the Thursday night game, and he should have an opportunity to put up some major points.
The Cardinals aren’t traveling with Carson Palmer and San Francisco is the worst defense in the NFL against the run. Johnson has at least 80 yards rushing in three of four games and has gone for more than 100 yards from scrimmage in each game.
If you expect him not to get the ball on pretty much every down, then you’re just not following the NFL this season. Johnson gets plenty of volume on Thursday night and has shown a regular ability to make the most of those touches.
Wide Receiver
Brandon Marshall vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
As mentioned previously, I expect the Steelers vs. Jets to take on a new look this season. Both defenses are down and injuries are hindering their abilities to make many stops.
That should open the door for some solid fantasy totals. I’m giving Marshall the edge over Antonio Brown based on the limited options available to Ryan Fitzpatrick. Matt Forte was limited in practice this week and Eric Decker is still out with injury.
That means Fitzpatrick has to target Marshall early and often. Marshall generated a season-high 12 targets last week and that was against cornerback Richard Sherman. He’ll have a large volume again in week 5.
Tight End
Delanie Walker vs. Miami Dolphins
Walker returned from injury in week 4 and saw eight targets in a loss against Houston. That was the most of this season and I expect those to keep coming his way if Marcus Mariota wants to break out of this slump.
Mariota has been in a funk during his sophomore campaign. That likely has to do with his inability to be accurate to his tight end, which helped carry him to a solid rookie campaign.
If he’s going to be get better, he has to target Walker, and I believe he finally realizes that. Miami owns one of the worst defenses in the NFL and I anticipate Mariota to make a special point to target Walker early and often. Several other high-profile tight ends have difficult matchups, so I’m backing Walker this week with a breakout game.
