Fantasy football Week 5 2017 rankings: Who to start and sit

Which big-name players should you bench this week? Who should be the first names in your lineup?

We’re at the quarter mark on the season, and we had another week of surprises, blowouts and injuries – all of which have shaken up the fantasy landscape. Let’s look ahead to Week 3’s set of matchups and pick out some players to start and some to avoid.

Sit: Jordan Howard

It’s go time for number second-overall pick Mitch Trubisky in Chicago this week against the Minnesota Vikings. It’s not going to be easy for the rookie in his first start on Monday night football, so the team should be attempting to establish the run game early with a heavy dose of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. The two have both been reliable for their fantasy owners, but this week it’ll be tough to continue.

The issue is – Minnesota so far have only 71.3 rushing yards per game (third in the NFL). Mike Zimmer’s defense looks fantastic and now that the team has lost Dalvin Cook to injury and Sam Bradford is still out, they will be relying even more on this dominant unit to shut down opponents.

There is every chance that the Vikings will go all out to prevent the run and force the rookie QB to beat them through the air. Even though Howard has racked up 252 yards and four touchdowns so far (on 63 carries), I’d be wary of relying on any Chicago Bears runner this week. Both Howard and Cohen may struggle, along with the rest of the offense, to succeed.