Dominate your fantasy football leagues with these favorable Week 5 matchups.
Tony Pollard vs. IND
Pollard has played four games this season and is averaging 61% of the Titans’ snaps while commanding over 19 opportunities per game. The Titans paid Pollard starting RB money this offseason, $21.8 million across three years. Through four games he’s been the clear lead back over Tyjae Spears and currently ranks top 10 in yards after contact and has three top-20 finishes already this season.
This week, Pollard exits his bye and immediately finds himself in a strong matchup against the Colts. Indy allowed 120+ total yards and two touchdowns to Tank Bigsby last week. Overall this season, the Colts have allowed the second-most rushing yards per game. Start Pollard with confidence in Week 6.
Terry McLaurin vs. BAL
McLaurin has been unlocked this season with rookie QB Jayden Daniels under center. Over the past three games, McLaurin has been a top-20 fantasy receiver averaging 88 yards per contest. Entering Week 6, Terry ranks third in the NFL in deep targets of 20+ yards according to PlayerProfiler. This type of usage will lead to consistently explosive plays.
Expect the strong utilization to continue in a great matchup this week. The Commanders will face the Ravens, who have a much worse secondary this season. Baltimore currently allows the second most passing yards per game. Start McLaurin in this sneaky good matchup.
DeAndre Hopkins vs. IND
Hopkins is coming off a much-needed bye week. Through his first four games this season, Hopkins has been battling a knee injury. This has limited him to running just 44% of the Titans routes, according to Fantasy Life.
But despite being limited, Hopkins has led the Titans in target share the past two games, ahead of Calvin Ridley. Hopkins also ran a season-high 57% of the routes in Week 4 before the bye. There’s a good chance his role is expanded coming out of this extra week of rest.
Hopkins finds himself in a great matchup this week. He’ll face the Colts who have allowed three straight 100+ yard games to No. 1 outside receivers. Last week, we saw rookie Brian Thomas Jr. put up 120+ yards and one touchdown. In total this year, Indy has allowed 105 yards per game to No. 1 outside receivers. Hopkins fits this description; you can start him in Week 6.
Chase Brown vs. NYG
Brown’s role has expanded over the past two weeks. Over his first three games this season, Brown played on just 20% of the Bengals snaps and earned only 14 total carries. But over the last two games, Brown has played 40% of the snaps and handled 27 total carries. He’s turned this usage into performances of 22.2 and 12.9 fantasy points, respectively.
Heading into Week 6, Brown’s backfield running mate Zack Moss is dealing with an ankle injury. His status is uncertain for Sunday, but either way Brown is a start this week. He’s a favorite in a good matchup against the Giants. NYG allows the third-most rushing yards per play, according to NFL Pro. Start Brown whether Moss is active or not.
Rome Odunze vs. JAX
Odunze is coming off an encouraging week. The entire Bears offense got back on track against a bad Panthers defense. Caleb Williams had time to throw against the Panthers’ bottom-five pass rush, and it led to a 300+ yard passing day. DJ Moore was the Bears WR who benefitted the most in this contest. He produced over 100 yards and two touchdowns against his former team. This led to a smaller box score for Odunze, who totaled 40 yards on five receptions.
But here’s the good news: Odunze quietly had his best usage of the season. He ran a route on 97% of the Bears passing plays, his most in a game with Keenan Allen active this season. This led to a 21% target share, his second-highest mark on the season.
The Bears offense is coming together nicely, and this week they get another strong matchup against the Jaguars. Jacksonville has a bottom-10 pass rush according to PFF and they allow the fourth-most passing yards per play according to NFL Pro. Start Odunze in Week 6.
Dontayvion Wicks vs. ARI
Wicks was a popular waiver add last week who many fantasy managers started. Christian Watson was out, and Romeo Doubs was suspended one game by the Packers. It was the perfect setup for Wicks to have a big day. But he didn’t.
Wicks posted just two catches for 20 yards on seven targets. Once again, he had two drops in this game and was just missed by Love deep on two more targets. The box score looks bad, but we were a few inches away from a big day here. Most importantly, Wicks was open often in this game. In Week 6, Wicks will have another strong matchup against the Cardinals. Arizona allows the fifth-most receiving yards per play this season. Start Wicks again in Week 6.
