Daniel Jones and Justin Herbert struggled in Week 4 after a fruitful three weeks to start the season. Both quarterbacks are poised for fantasy bounce-backs heading into Week 5.
Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season is underway, and with it comes bye weeks and even more injuries. These are the fantasy options you should consider starting and sitting heading into Sunday.
▶ Quarterback
Start: Daniel Jones, Colts
Week 4 was a letdown for Jones and his backers, but he remains a top-10 fantasy QB on the year. He is third in EPA per play and eighth in completion rate over expected. More importantly, Jones is 11th in rush attempts among quarterbacks and third in carries inside the five. Hosting the Raiders, Indy has a 27-point implied team total. That is higher than every team but the Bills and Lions. Jones has played well this year and Vegas is fully bought in.
Start: Justin Herbert, Chargers
Speaking of teams Vegas hasn’t lost faith in after one bad week: The Chargers have a 25-point implied team total, making them next in line behind the Colts. With an eight percent pass rate over expected, the Chargers are the most pass-heavy team in the league.
In turn, Herbert is fourth in passing yards and eighth in touchdowns. Also like Jones, his rushing output makes him a minor dual threat. Herbert is 10th in rush attempts among quarterbacks. True to his offseason word, Herbert went from 4.1 attempts per game last year to 4.9 this year.
Sit: Bo Nix, Broncos
Per usual, the Eagles are a tough matchup for opposing passers. They have given up one 200-yard passing performance this year. Philly is allowing the 12th-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks and fittingly ranks 12th in EPA per dropback allowed. Nix has largely struggled this year. He currently ranks as PFF’s No. 33 passer out of 37 qualified quarterbacks. His fantasy output is only slightly better. He is the QB20 in points per game. Nix will get right at some point, but a road trip to face the Eagles with a team total lower than the Giants is not the spot.
Sit: Baker Mayfield, Bucs
Mayfield on the Bucs head west this week for a date with the Seahawks. Mike Macdonald has the Seattle defense humming in year two under his leadership. They rank seventh in EPA per play and have given up the sixth-fewest fantasy points to opposing passers. The Bucs are also less inclined to let Mayfield sling it this year compared to 2024. Their pass rate over expected went from slightly positive to -2.4 percent through four weeks of the 2025 season. Combined with a downturn in efficiency, Mayfield is averaging nearly 40 fewer yards and .4 fewer touchdowns per game. Mayfield is still in the QB1 ranks, but he’s no longer a must-start option.
Patrick Daugherty▶ Running Back
Start: David Montgomery, Lions
Montgomery was electric in Week 3, averaging a stunning 12.6 yards per carry with two scores. That player disappeared in Week 4 and Montgomery was stonewalled for 12 yards at 1.2 YPC. I’m betting on a return to form in Week 5. The Lions are 10.5-point favorites over the lowly Bengals with a league-leading 30-point team total. The Bengals have given up the second-most yards before contact per carry this year and sit at 27th in EPA per attempt allowed. Both Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs are getting home this week.
Start: Woody Marks, Texans
Marks completed the backfield takeover in Houston last week. He flipped Nick Chubb in carries, out-rushing the veteran 17-13. Marks also out-caught Chubb 4-2. Marks set season-highs in snap share (58 percent) carry share (52 percent), and target share (19 percent). Now he gets to take on a Baltimore team without Lamar Jackson, setting him up for positive game script for the better part of four quarters.
Sit: Tony Pollard, Titans
Even if Tyjae Spears isn’t activated off injured reserve this week, it’s hard to expect things to get any better for Pollard or the Titans in Week 5. They are more than touchdown underdogs on the road versus a Cardinals defense that ranks fifth in EPA allowed on the ground. Pollard is 37th in PFF’s rushing grade and 29th in yards after contact per carry. PFF also has his team’s line as the No. 26 unit in run blocking situations. Pollard has one top-30 fantasy finish this year. He’s stuck in the RB3 ranks until the Titans’ offense turns things around.
Sit: Chase Brown, Bengals
Imagine Tony Pollard, but in an even worse situation. Brown’s line holds the No. 32 spot in PFF’s run blocking rankings. Brown himself sits at 50th in yards after contact per carry (2.1) and 40th in rush yards over expected per attempt (-.9). The Bengals are double-digit underdogs on the road and Brown’s role through the air is spotty at best. He has a modest 13 percent target share and is running fewer than half of the available routes. Much like Pollard, fantasy managers are stuck waiting for something to get better in Cincinnati before they can play him.
▶ Wide Receiver
Start: Michael Pittman, Colts
No team runs more zone coverage than the Raiders this year. They use it on 85 percent of their coverage plays. Pittman leads the Colts’ wideouts with 2.24 yards per route run against zone coverage, a mark that ranks top-25 among all wideouts. His 25 percent target share and 89 percent route rate also lead the Colts’ pass-catchers. Pittman isn’t the most exciting wideout on the menu this week, but all signs point toward another WR2 finish for the veteran.
Start: Xavier Worthy, Chiefs
The Chiefs took their time with Worthy following his brutal shoulder injury. When they finally cleared him for action, Kansas City used Worthy as their clear WR1. He ran 71 percent of the routes, earned a 24 percent target share, and was responsible for 57 percent of the team’s air yards. Fantasy managers should have no hesitation getting him back in their lineups as a WR2.
Sit: Jerry Jeudy, Browns
Dillon Gabriel — the Browns’ Week 5 starter — did not attempt a single deep pass on 37 attempts during the preseason. His 10.6 percent deep throw rate at Oregon in 2024 ranked 140th in the nation. He is a point-and-click quarterback who is at his best when checking down to open receivers. Jeudy, on the other hand, currently has the fifth-most deep targets in the NFL and an aDOT of 14.6. We should be skeptical of a rookie quarterback making his first start anyway. With a clear skill set mismatch between Jeudy and Gabriel, the former is a fade this week.
Sit: Mavin Mims, Broncos
Much like Nix before him, the matchup is too bad to rely on Mims. Unlike Nix, Mims also has a role issue. He has not logged a target share over 18 percent or a route rate above 63 percent this year. Mims’ yards per route run is also down from 2.4 in 2024 to a dreadful 1.3 this year. Mims will hit on the occasional spike week, but both his role and his efficiency are prohibitive for fantasy purposes.
▶ Tight End
Start: Darren Waller, Dolphins
Waller logged a backup-level route rate of 36 percent in his first game of the year, but he was targeted on 40 percent of his routes. That resulted in a solid target share of 17 percent. He cashed in with two touchdowns.
TOUCHDOWN DARREN WALLER!
— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2025
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Waller has already said he expects his role to grow going forward and that will be emphasized even more with the loss of Tyreek Hill. Waller ran 83 percent of his routes from either the slot or out wide in Week 4. With Miami down a starting receiver, that is a perfect setup for Waller to stay hot into Week 5.
Start: Mason Taylor, Jets
If you’re desperate for a tight end streamer, Taylor is a decent option. His target share has increased every week this year, culminating in a seven-target game with a 26 percent target share in Week 4. He was also responsible for a quarter of the team’s air yards. Taylor missed time in camp with an ankle injury and got off to a slow start. He’s now operating as the Jets’ No. 2 pass-catcher, putting him in play as a TE2.
Sit: Travis Kelce, Chiefs
Kelce remains a “Sit” until further notice. He ranks 21st in target share (16 percent) and 26th in air yards share (10 percent). He is the TE13 in expected points per game and the TE16 in actual points per game. The Jags have a surprisingly stout defense, sitting at second in EPA per dropback allowed. Kelce is a low-volume tight end facing a stingy defense. He is nothing more than a TE2.
Sit: Chig Okonkwo, Titans
Okonkwo was making the most of a bad situation with four catches per game through the first three weeks of the season. That house of cards came crashing down in Week 4 when he caught just one pass. Now the Chig experiment appears to be over.
Titans OC Holz: Gunnar Helm expected to have increased opportunities.
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) September 30, 2025
You can cut ties with Chig on the next run of waivers.
Category: General Sports
