Week 5 is nearing its conclusion, and we still have five remaining undefeated teams—those being the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos. We’ve also seen a flurry of injuries to key players throughout the season, including a (preliminary) diagnosis of an ACL tear for Jamaal Charles this week.
As fantasy football players, we are starting to get to the point where we can begin giving up on players and make some moves to really start making an impact in our leagues. Below, I will outline my five players to add and five players to drop this coming week.
Five Players to Add:
QB Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers put up 38 points this week in a victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Jameis Winston played a big role in this victory. While Doug Martin and Charles Sims combined for 36 carries, Winston kept the offense going. A week ago, he threw four interceptions in a loss against the Panthers. This week, while he only threw for one touchdown, he did not turn the ball over. The Buccaneers’ game plan this week was focused on the Jaguars’ week run defense, so Martin and Sims were utilized heavily. Therefore, Winston only threw the ball 19 times, throwing for 209 yards and a touchdown. Winston’s value can increase, should he start using Martin and Sims more frequently as a pass catcher out of the backfield.
RB Thomas Rawls, Seattle Seahawks
Rawls has stepped up for the Seahawks over the last few weeks, who have been dealing with the absence of star running back Marshawn Lynch due to injury. Additionally, the Seahawks acquired long-time Bills running back Fred Jackson before the season started, presumably to serve as Lynch’s running back. But, now, once Lynch returns to health, it appears as if Rawls will serve as the primary backup to Lynch, with Jackson taking some reps as a pass catcher out of the backfield. I expect the Seahawks to move slowly with Lynch moving forward, as they want to ensure his full health before a playoff run. Therefore, adding Rawls, who rushed for 169 yards and a touchdown in Week 5 against Cincinnati, could be a nice move over the next few weeks. Rawls also rushed for over 100 yards in a Week 3 victory over the Bears.
RB Charcandrick West, Kansas City Chiefs
Jamaal Charles is the latest star player to go down due to injury, as a torn ACL should end his 2015 season. His backup entering the season, Knile Davis, has performed extremely poorly all season long. Therefore, it is now expected that the Chiefs will turn to West as their full-time running back. West, a second-year, undrafted player out of Abilene Christian, spent most of his rookie season on the Chiefs’ practice squad, and made his season debut a week ago in Week 4. With the Chiefs losing faith in Davis, I expect West to get a good look over the coming weeks. The Chiefs are not known for their passing offense, so I expect West to get a lot of carries. He may also catch some passes out of the backfield.
TE Gary Barnidge, Cleveland Browns
Barnidge, a former 5th round pick in the 2008 draft by the Carolina Panthers, is finally starting to make a name for himself in his 8th NFL season. He replaces Jordan Cameron, who left this past season via free agency to Miami and fills a big void in the Cleveland offense. Barnidge has scored a touchdown each of the last three weeks, and serves as a valuable pick-up over the next few weeks as many elite tight ends, in an already limited tight end group this season, are approaching their bye weeks. He accumulated 10 targets in the Browns’ Week 5 overtime victory over the Ravens, the second time he has done so in the last three weeks. In Week 5, he caught eight passes for 139 yards and a touchdown.
WR Kamar Aiken, Baltimore Ravens
Aiken figures to be the Ravens’ top option at the receiver position moving forward with Steve Smith, Sr. and Breshad Perriman out due to injury. Aiken, a third year receiver out of Central Florida, received nine targets in Week 5, a week in which the Ravens’ offense put up 30 points on the Browns, which was the most of any Baltimore receiver on the day. He turned those nine targets into four catches and 78 yards. While the numbers on paper are underwhelming, as long as Aiken continues to see 9-10 targets per game, I expect him to make catches and accumulate points.
Five Players to Drop:
QB Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions
The Lions are perhaps the NFL’s most disappointing team at 0-5, and Stafford is a big reason for this. He has two great receivers, in Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate, yet he’s only thrown six touchdowns in the team’s first five games this season, while also throwing eight interceptions. The Lions are failing to make an impact in the running game as well, and their defense has struggled mightily, due to notable losses this past offseason, particularly the loss of Ndamukong Suh to free agency. After throwing three interceptions early in the Week 5 blowout loss at home to the Cardinals, Stafford was benched in favor of backup Dan Orlovsky. While Lions coach Jim Caldwell still called Stafford the starter after Sunday’s game, I expect him to have a short leash moving forward and you need to explore other options.
RB C.J. Spiller, New Orleans Saints
All season long, fantasy experts have been telling us each and every week that Spiller’s role will continue to expand. Throughout the first five weeks of the season, we have no evidence of this, and it actually appears as if Spiller is now making even less of an impact when he’s on the field. Spiller is the clear third running back in New Orleans, behind both Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson. Additionally, with Drew Brees at quarterback, the Saints will particularly look to pass. Many thought Spiller would be valuable out of the backfield as a pass catcher, but he’s only caught 11 passes on the season. His Week 5 performance was pitiful. He rushed for 10 yards on only three carries, and caught three passes for a combined -8 yards.
RB Tevin Coleman, Atlanta Falcons
Rookie Tevin Coleman, the starting running back entering the season, unfortunately had some poor timing to miss action the past few weeks, as Devonta Freeman exploded while he was sidelined for back-to-back three touchdown games. This week, Coleman came back, running for 3 yards on only two carries. Freeman ended up having another huge game, running for 153 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown. At this point, after Freeman’s monster performances, there’s no point to keep Coleman on your roster.
WR Marques Colston, New Orleans Saints
Colston was once quarterback Drew Brees’ favorite target, but he simply is just not putting it together these days. He only caught three passes, on five targets, for 36 yards in a Week 5 loss to Philadelphia. He has yet to catch a touchdown this season. His best performance came in Week 2, where he caught five passes for 69 yards. He appears to be Brees’ #3 receiving option, at best, behind both Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead. He also left the game this past week due to a shoulder injury. It seems as if Colston’s best days are now truly behind him.
WR Devin Funchess, Carolina Panthers
Although the Panthers were on a bye week in Week 5, I wanted to outline Funchess as one of the most disappointing fantasy players this season. A second-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Michigan, Funchess was regarded as a potential top receiving option for Cam Newton this season. The Panthers are a very run-heavy team on all downs, yet Newton’s targets all season long have primarily been in the direction of Greg Olsen and Ted Ginn Jr. Funchess has only caught three passes on the year. While he may have good keeper value in the coming years, he will be playing on a team that does not rely on its top receivers.
Image: West