Tue Oct 7th 2025

Week Five Dynasty Takes

Week Five Dynasty Takes

1. Week Five Top Storyline

• What I'll remember most about this week is the changing running back landscape leading up to Sunday's games. Three injuries developed late, and news broke very late in the week that Trey Benson would be put on IR, and Bucky Irving and Chuba Hubbard were ruled out. Suddenly, three dynasty teams lost starting running backs and three gained starting running backs, including one, Michael Carter, who was available off the waiver wire even in deep dynasty leagues. The severity of Benson's injury was a shock. Then, managers who had picked up Emari Demarcado off waivers last week (as I did) were shocked again to learn that Michael Carter had been elevated from the practice squad and named the starter. He dominated the backfield with 23 touches, 18 carries, and five catches. He didn't do much with his touches, but he did get a goal-line carry for a touchdown. I picked him up in one league and started him immediately, especially because I have Chuba Hubbard and Bucky Irving on my roster in that league. Their injuries were reported much later in the week, and they were declared out by the end of the week, giving Rico Dowdle and Rachaad White's managers new startable running backs. White had a 21-point fantasy game on the back of his touchdown runs in the red zone, giving his dynasty managers a great day. Rico Dowdle's day, however, was far more than great. He had the highest scoring running back day of the week, with more than 200 combined yards and a touchdown, scoring 31 fantasy points in the Panthers' comeback win over Miami. His outstanding play demands that he reduce the workload of Chuba Hubbard when he returns from injury. It will no longer be Hubbard's backfield alone. Dowdle's dynasty stock rises significantly after this performance, while Hubbard's will fall. It was a wild week of running back roulette, changing dynasty managers' lineups and win-loss records as a result. 

2. Week Five Right and Wrong

• Right Call
  • It's time for my humble brag. Jacory Croskey-Merritt was my favorite sleeper this year's rookie class, and he was my most drafted rookie. He finally had his breakout game, which allowed me to include him in this segment. He had his first 100-yard rushing day and helped lead the Commanders to an upset win on the road against the Chargers. I'll admit that many of his runs were perfectly blocked for him, but they still looked awesome. He now leads the league in yards per carry (6.58) and yards over expectation with 2.17 yards per attempt. The Commanders said they planned to increase his play time, and they were rewarded when they did. There's no way Chris Rodriguez and Jeremy McNichols will eat into his playtime as much anymore.
• Wrong Call
  • I was the quickest to add Darren Waller in most of my leagues with an open waiver wire during the offseason. I added him to four of my nine dynasty leagues and was outbid on him in the rest. I saw him go for 50% of FAAB in several of my leagues and 80% in another. That seems like I made the right move, but I didn't, because I have since dropped him in all four leagues I added him to. His lingering injury to start the season caused me to doubt whether he would ever come back and, if he did, if he'd be permanently limited. Oops! Now he's on other teams' rosters, scoring touchdowns for the second week in a row. I should have been more patient and willing to wait to see if he could make his heroic return to the NFL. It seems like he has. His snap count doubled from two weeks ago, and I expect it to continue growing, giving him every chance to become a top-12 tight end, if even just for this season. I made a bad call by dropping him at our roster cut dates and/or early into the season.

3. Week Five Injury Injury Report

• Omarion Hampton was seen in a walking boot after the game. This report is terrible news for his managers, since he was just starting to break out. Hopefully, it is nothing serious, and he can return in a few weeks. Kimani Vidal and Hassan Haskins split the workload after Hampton left the game, and I imagine they will split the workload again, making them the top waiver wire additions this week in shallower dynasty leagues.
• Antonio Gibson's injury looked serious on Sunday night based on his facial expression and tears on the sideline. TreVeyon Henderson's managers, who have been begging for more opportunities in New England, will finally get their chance. That said, even with his fumbling issues, the Patriots' coaching staff likes Rhamondre Stevenson more than any of his dynasty managers do. I expect a split backfield throughout the season, unless either of them gets injured as well. Stevenson's involvement should remain the same, but now Henderson will balance out the backfield touches with Gibson sidelined.

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Stock Up

Theo Johnson

• Johnson had the best game of his career, scoring two touchdowns on Sunday. He and Jaxson Dart have a connection already, especially in the red zone, where Johnson scored twice on Sunday. In Darts' second start, Johnson tied for the lead in team targets with seven. Dart is hesitant to throw the ball downfield so far and is pleased to check down to his tight ends and running backs, who accounted for 15 of his 24 completions on Sunday. Dart will get better, as will Johnson, but it was nice to see a breakout game from Johnson so early in their playing time together. Johnson was one of the players I tried to trade for the most this offseason. I expected a breakout year for him. I was only able to add him in one league, but I also drafted him in my most recent start-up draft. I'm thrilled to see his stock rise as I expected. Now he will be even harder to buy. 

Mason Taylor

• Taylor has looked awesome the last two weeks and has established himself as the second most targeted player on the Jets, which is fantasy gold for tight ends. This week, he led the team in targets with 12 as the Jets frantically tried to come back against the Cowboys. The Jets' wide receiver depth chart is among the weakest in the league behind Garrett Wilson, so someone had to step up in the passing game. It's Taylor. He and Tyler Warren have already broken out in this year's tight end class, along with Harold Fannin. If only Colston Loveland could join them after he's healthy and the Bears return after their bye week with greater conviction to use him. It's great to see tight ends break out immediately. Taylor's breakout game was this week. It's too bad he plays on a team with a questionable offense and an inaccurate passer, but playing from behind and catching five to ten yards per catch is not a bad thing if you're the second most targeted player on the team.

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Stock Down

Derrick Henry

• Every time dynasty managers think it, they are wrong. In recent years, Henry has defied father time and continued to produce even at his size and age, but I think this is the year his dynasty stock falls the most. It's not because he is incapable. It's that all the situation cards are stacked against him in Baltimore. I can't imagine a way this season that they will stay competitive in games with Lamar Jackson injured and more than half of their defensive starters out. They have the worst defense in the league and will play from behind all season as a result. Henry hardly plays when the Ravens are trailing, and they will trail a lot this season. In most cases, one bad season would not ruin a player's dynasty stock, but at his age, it does. Henry's dynasty stock will fall so long as the Ravens continue to play terrible defense and miss Lamar Jackson. He needs Jackson back sometime this year to create one last opportunity to sell him. 

Tee Higgins

• I'll go from one circumstantial fall to another. Things would be very different if Joe Burrow were healthy, but he is not, and the Bengals can't move the ball with their backups. They did just enough this week to please Ja'Maar Chase's managers, but Jake Browning can't raise the bar for two receivers in this broken offense. Higgins is great as a possession receiver and red-zone threat, but he's not the run-after-the-catch playmaker that Chase is, and they need someone who can make their own plays to give their struggling offense any chance at all. Higgins will play with Burrow again and will produce when he does, but that's a year away now. Meanwhile, many of the younger up-and-coming wide receivers will produce and pass him by in dynasty rankings. Higgins is falling slightly, but at the same time, others are passing him quickly.

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Young Guns

Tyler Warren

• Warren has been as consistent a playmaker as any dynasty managers could hope for. He's highly targeted with almost five targets per game. He's a weapon in the red zone as a runner and a receiver with a running touchdown last week and a receiving touchdown this week. He rarely leaves the field, with nearly 80% of the team's snaps this year, and it would be even higher if backups were not put into the game in two of the blowout games. He was a do-it-all college player, and it's translated immediately to the NFL. Sadly, I had Loveland ranked ahead of Warren, and I drafted Loveland in three leagues. I'd trade them all back for Warren if I could. Barring injuries, Warren will be an every-week starting tight end for a decade or more. That's such a valuable asset on dynasty rosters.

Tetairoa McMillan

• I've been waiting to write about McMillan until he had an actual breakout game, but it hasn't yet happened. Still, what he has done is quite impressive. He has become one of the top-targeted wide receivers in the NFL and has provided an incredibly consistent floor for his dynasty managers. All he's missing is touchdowns, but they will come. He's had 10, 9, 8, 8, and 8 targets to start his career. He's tied for the 7th most wide receiver targets in the NFL after playing only five NFL games. He's averaging 70 receiving yards, which is 14th in the league among receivers. Bryce Young's inconsistent play is a problem for McMillan, but I expect Young to improve this year, just as he did last year. If he does and McMillan starts seeing the end zone, his ceiling will rise to the consistency of his current floor. He's not broken out yet, but it's coming.

Emeka Egbuka

• What else can be said about Ebuka? Only Randy Moss and Puka Nacua have had a better five-game start to their rookie seasons. Sunday was his most productive game yet in the crazy comeback win against the Seahawks. He caught all seven of his targets for 163 yards and a touchdown, giving him a season-high 28-point day.  In his worst game of the season, he scored 12 fantasy points, averaging 18 points per game. He's quickly rising to the top tier of wide receivers in my dynasty rankings. He's now my 10th-ranked dynasty wide receiver. I am so glad I drafted him twice, and I regret passing on him once when I selected Colston Loveland ahead of him in a tight-end premium league. Can you tell from this article that I'm on Loveland today?  

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Old-Man Strength

Stefon Diggs

• Diggs looked awesome on Sunday night in his revenge game against the Bills. He's had back-to-back 100-yard receiving games, something he has not done since weeks five and six in the 2023 season. He and Drake Maye have a connection, and they led the Patriots back to an upset win in Buffalo. I expected Diggs to end his career in a whimper in New England because I expected the many young receivers they drafted to pass him by. However, he has emerged as the top target on the team, and there's no going back after what he did Sunday night. Contending teams should consider adding him to their rosters to provide depth and a starting piece in their Super Bowl run. I declined such an offer last week after his first 100-yard game, and now I am regretting it big time. 

Chris Olave

• I've been waiting for an actual breakout game for Olave to give him an old-man strength award, but I thought he deserved it this week just based on his consistency and his ability this year to stay healthy. He still struggles to find the end zone, as he has throughout his career, but at least he scored last week for the first time this season. What prompts me to mention him here is the ridiculous number of targets he's receiving. He's averaging more than ten targets per game and six catches per game.  His yards per catch are extremely low at 7.4 yards, but in PPR leagues, Olave is still providing a remarkably consistent floor. I've added him back in one of my starting lineups for the first time in what feels like years. He's a suitable WR-3 in dynasty lineups because I can expect 10-15 points to be on the bank each week. I've always loved Olave and hate that he's battled injuries and mainly played with terrible quarterbacks and coaches. Kellen Moore sees value in Olave and has made him the focal point of the passing game. Perhaps next year, they will have a new quarterback to help elevate Olave to all he can be. For now, his consistency is an improvement from the last injury-riddled years, at least.

Sam LaPorta

• It feels like it has been years since I've seen LaPorta making big chunk plays downfield. Last season was a massive disappointment after his incredible TE-1 rookie season. Thus far, year three has looked a lot more like year two than year one, but this week LaPorta looked like his year-one self.  I couldn't tell if it was based on the game plan or if the Bengals just played terrible defense, but he had several chunk plays, including a long one of 39 yards. Detroit has so many offensive weapons that make anyone besides Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown reliable every week, but it was good to see that LaPorta still has it in him when it's his turn to shine. He looked fantastic on Sunday, and it was good to see him as the second-most targeted player in the pass game. That's what we want from our top-tier tight ends. I wish the Lions would use him this way more often, but I don't think they will.

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Waiver Watch

Kimani Vidal and Hassan Haskins

• As I mentioned above, Vidal and Haskins are this week's top waiver wire targets. One or both of them are available in most of my leagues. Hopefully, news about the severity of Hampton's injury will break before waivers run. If Hampton's injury puts him on IR, then I would spend a lot of FAAB on these players, with a priority of Haskins over Vidal, since Haskins was ahead of Vidal on the depth chart before this injury. Vidal might be better in the passing game, though. 

Chimere Dike

• Dike is a rookie, and his playtime has increased from week to week this season.  Calvin Ridley and  Elic Ayomanor are the clear top two receivers on the Titans, but Dike has become their WR-3.  He had his highest snap total of the season with 49% and his most yards receiving, a modest 17 yards. Early in the season, he was used as a gadget guy on running plays, but now they are using him as a receiver. He's a rookie, so he's worth adding to see if his role can increase.

Xavier Hutchinson 

• Hutchinson caught two touchdowns on Sunday. Touchdowns may be flukey, but snap counts are not. Hutchinson has the second-most receiver snap counts on the Texans. He's playing ahead of Jayden Higgins, Christian Kirk, and Jaylin Noel by more than ten snaps per game. I don't expect him to hold off the Texans' rookies for too long, given that he's had so many opportunities with the team already in his career. However, he could be productive for a portion of this season if the snap counts continue.

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Dynasty Trades

Jakobi Meyers <=======> Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Chris Rodriguez

• In a league where I have successfully rebuilt a roster after two years, I consider myself a competitor. I'm 3-1 and have a lot of rookie running backs on my team, but I lost Malik Nabers last week. Nabers and Jaxson Smith-Njigba were the core of my wide receiver room that I hoped would carry me and my boatload of rookie running backs to the playoffs.  I wanted to stay competitive, so I looked for an opportunity to trade a running back for a receiver. Meyer has provided one of the safest floors over the last few years, and I expect the same as the WR-1 this year in Las Vegas, even though he was unproductive this week. I have Ashton Jeanty, Quinshon Judkins, Cam Skattebo, Travis Etienne, and Jaylen Warren as my top running backs in this league, so I was willing to give up my guy, JCM, to stay competitive. After JCM's breakout week and Meyers' bad game, I'm regretting the trade. However, I am eager to see how this one plays out.

Deebo Samuel and Wan'Dale Robinson <=======> Matthew Golden and Isaiah Likely

• In the same league, I added more wide receiver depth by giving Golden and Likely to a rebuilding team for Deebo and Robinson. I hated giving up Golden, but his modest start and the Packers' seeming unwillingness to make him a top target made me willing to move on from him. I love Likely, but I have Tyler Warren and Tucker Kraft on this roster, so he was easier to move on from. This was a fair trade offer from a competitor to a rebuilder. This week, Meyers and Deebo were in my starting lineup, and I won my game. Time will tell on these trades, but I'm pleased with them so far. 

Cooper Rush, Davante Adams, and Chris Godwin <=======> Malik Washington, Olamide Zaccheaus, and a 2026 1st round pick

• In a superflex league where I am rebuilding, I traded away Rush, Adams, and Godwin for Washington, Zaccheaus, and a first-round pick. This league is very unique in that our rookie draft is an auction. Each pick is allotted a certain amount of money, so instead of having actual draft picks, you have money for bidding on the rookie class. I already have two picks in every round of the 2026 rookie draft and want to trade players for additional picks, allowing me to have even more money for next year's auction. The problem in this league was that my old guys were helping me win games. I was tied for second place in my division when I made this trade last week. I realized I need to help my team get worse by selling my older players to collect as much money as I can for next year's rookie draft, where I should have the most money already. I have some hopes for Washington but less so for Zaccheaus. This trade was all about making my team worse and acquiring a first-round pick. Future pieces I hope to move are Keenan Allen, Zach Ertz, and George Kittle, who demand a lot in this tight-end premium league.  Let the rebuild begin! 

Jake Ferguson <=======> 2026 2nd round pick

• This trade took place late Saturday night, and it annoyed me. Jake Ferguson is worth more than a second-round pick. The manager who acquired Ferguson is a competitor, as am I, and we're playing each other this week. After adding Ferguson to his lineup, our matchup is now tight and will come down to two players on Monday night, thanks to Ferguson having yet another great day. Ferguson will be incredibly consistent and valuable for the rest of the season, but even more so while CeeDee Lamb is out. I understand selling low when you are just trying to accumulate draft picks on a rebuilding team, but this seems like a steal of a deal. Let's see if I can pull it off against the new Ferguson manager on Monday night!

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