Fantasy football Week 5 is upon us, so let’s set our sights on setting the best possible lineup. If you have Saquon Barkley, Nick Chubb or Christian McCaffrey, you know what to do. If you don’t and have to make a tough choice, this is the place to be for those tough fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em decisions.
Welcome to our weekly fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em article for RBs!
QB Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em
WR Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em
Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em: Week 5 RBs
Start: Breece Hall Fantasy Outlook vs. Dolphins
After starting off the year being out-touched by the incumbent Michael Carter, the highly-touted Breece Hall has flipped the script over the last two weeks, with a 14-12 advantage in Week 3 and 19-11 advantage last week. He has been more effective as well, averaging 4.7 yards per carry (ypc) in comparison to Carter’s 3.7, and he is averaging 7.5 yards per reception (ypr) in comparison to Carter’s 5.9.
Look for Breece Hall to continue to receive more usage. He looks to be a “start” in our weekly fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em analysis for the foreseeable future.
Start: Damien Harris Fantasy Outlook vs. Lions
Start your “insert position here” against the Detroit Lions looks like a solid strategy after four weeks of the season. Their defense is off to a historically bad start, allowing 141 points through four games. They are dead last in fantasy points per game (fppg) to opposing QBs and second-last with 28.4 allowed to opposing RBs. Aside from a rough showing in Week 1, Damien Harris has been at least an RB2 every other week. In Weeks 2-4, he has been the RB13 averaging, 14.9 fppg, and that seems like his floor in this matchup.
Get him in your lineup this week. You can even consider Rhamondre Stevenson as a borderline RB2 this week as well.
RELATED | Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings — PPR + Half PPR
After you read this Week 5 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em article, check out our Week 5 fantasy football rankings and TrophySmack, who have the best fantasy sportsbook awards on the market.
Sit: Ezekiel Elliott Fantasy Outlook vs. Rams
Ezekiel Elliott is the fantasy football RB36 through four games, with 36.4 fantasy points, which is exactly 0.1 ahead of his backfield mate Tony Pollard. On the season, Elliott has 64 touches for 254 yards and one touchdown while Pollard has 43 touches for 233 yards and one touchdown. Being a volume-dependent back in a two-man committee is not going to lead to solid fantasy production most weeks.
Elliott has only hit double-digits twice this season, although both have happened in the last two weeks. The Los Angeles Rams are giving up only 12.2 fppg to opposing RBs though, which is best in the league. It would be unwise to bet on a third week in a row. Both Elliott and Pollard belong on your bench this week.
Sit: Rashaad Penny Fantasy Outlook vs. Saints
The most recent RB benefactor of a game against the Lions defense was Rashaad Penny, who rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns. In his previous three games combined, Penny had only 141 rushing yards. This week, he has a matchup with the New Orleans Saints, who are allowing only 15.7 fppg to opposing RBs.
It may be tough to put him back on the bench after his performance last week, but this fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em article suggests. it. He is much more likely to rush for closer to the 47 yards he was averaging prior to last week than approaching last week’s performance.