Fantasy football: RB sleepers and stinkers for week 5
By Matt Kobold
Fantasy football week 5 RB sleepers:
David Johnson ESPN Week 5 Consensus RB16
I’ll start by saying that Houston is a touchdown favorite at home against the Jaguars with a healthy projected point total of 54.5. I don’t want to guarantee anything and get anyone worked up, but David Johnson falling into the end zone this weekend is pretty close to a guarantee.
The matchup is there for the taking with Jacksonville giving up the 7th most yards on the ground and 6th most fantasy points to opposing running backs. We know this defense can be had after we just saw Joe Mixon run wild last week.
Week 4 saw Duke Johnson return to the lineup. That makes me a tad nervous as that game saw David Johnson only play 59% of the snaps. But the game script this week is in his favor to possibly see 20 carries. I’m not afraid to put this former fantasy stud in my top 12 for the week.
Melvin Gordon ESPN Week 5 Consensus RB21
I think people are sleeping on Melvin Gordon a bit. I like the big back from Wisconsin and so do the Broncos. The $8m their forking over to him in 2020 makes him the 10th highest paid back in the league this season.
We saw what he can do last week, albeit against the Jets, when he gained over 100 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Denver travels to New England this week in what should be a tough matchup. The Pats are 6th-best against opposing backs.
Phillip Lindsay also should be making his return from a three week absence which clouds the backfield workload a bit, but I don’t think Lindsay is much of a factor here and would be surprised to see more than 8 touches from him.
The Broncos will lose this game and will have to rely on whoever they start at QB more than they want but that doesn’t mean Gordon won’t eat. Here’s a guy who has caught more than 40 balls each of the last four seasons while playing alongside Austin Ekeler. Gordon’s not coming off the field no matter the game flow. 20+ touches with a couple extra days of rest from playing last Thursday, makes Gordon a top 17 back for me.