The decision on which player to start, or sit, largely comes down to the options on your roster (and/or possibly the players available on your league's waiver wire).
As an example, Marquise Brown is listed below as a "start" for Week 5. And I'd certainly be comfortable going into Week 5 with him as one of my starting wide receivers.
Then again, Brown may be a "sit" for your team.
In other words, if you own both Stefon Diggs, CeeDee Lamb and Brown and only start two wide receivers, you should start Diggs and Lamb and, in turn, bench Brown.
For a more direct answer on whether we would start Player X over Player Y, check our Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings. Instead of making those direct comparisons, the goal here is to highlight players that we like, or dislike, for the week.
Week 5 Fantasy Football WR Start'em
Corey Davis, New York Jets (at ATL)
It's been a bit of a boom-or-bust start to his tenure as a Jet, but Davis had a boom week against the Tennessee Titans in Week 4. In that game, Davis had four catches for 111 yards and a touchdown on seven targets. While the weekly finishes have been up and down (WR5, WR 97, WR58 and WR7, respectively), Davis has a minimum of seven targets in three of his four games.
The Atlanta Falcons have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing receivers this season. In addition, they have allowed the third-most WR touchdowns (seven), fifth-highest TD/R (12.96%) and sixth-highest completion percentage (69.23%) to wide receivers.
Marquise Brown, Baltimore Ravens (vs. IND)
A couple of drops kept Brown from having a bigger Week 3 against the Detroit Lions, but he has scored at least one touchdown and finished as a top-18 weekly fantasy wide receiver in each of his other three games this season. Given Baltimore's run-first offensive philosophy, Brown generally performs better in non-PPR formats, but he is still the WR10 in half-PPR formats through Week 4.
As the table below highlights, Brown is having his best season by far.
| Year(s) | Y/R | Catch % | YPG |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 13.0 | 60.8% | 45.1 |
| 2021 | 17.2 | 67.9% | 81.5 |
In addition, Brown is setting career highs in both yards after catch per reception (6.4) and aDOT (16.0). Brown is once again ranked as a WR2 this week against the Indianapolis Colts.
Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers (at ARI)
The 49ers will start rookie Trey Lance, but Samuel should continue his dominant ways. The third-year receiver is currently leading the NFL in receiving YPG (122.5) and has a total of 28 receptions for 490 yards (17.5 Y/R) and three touchdowns. Samuel has a minimum of five catches and eight targets each week and has double-digit targets in three of four games.
Kyler Murray and the Cardinals can score points in bunches and Arizona's secondary has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season. Samuel remains a solid WR1 even with the QB switch.
Jakobi Meyers, New England Patriots (at HOU)
Chances are that Meyers won't retire some day from the NFL with no (receiving) touchdowns. Could this be the week that he catches his first NFL touchdown?
While it's a bit (or a lot) flukey that Meyers has not scored a touchdown on any of his first 112 career receptions, the third-year receiver has been targeted 41 times so far this season. In addition, 26 of those 41 targets have come in the past two games. It's possible that this week's matchup against the Houston Texans is skewed towards the run, but it's a plus matchup for one of the league's most targeted wideouts.
Meyers ranks eighth in both targets (41) and receptions (27, tied with Calvin Ridley) through Week 4. Due to the volume, Meyers has finished Week 3 and 4 as the WR19 and WR25, respectively. The Texans have allowed the fourth-most Y/R to opposing receivers (14.62) through the first quarter of the season.
Week 5 Fantasy Football WR Sit'em
Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers (at ARI)
Through four weeks, here are Aiyuk's receiving game logs: 0/0, 1/6, 4/37/1 and 1/15. In addition, here are his corresponding target shares: 0.0%, 6.67%, 15.79% and 7.69%, respectively. Especially for fantasy managers hoping that Week 3 was a sign that things were turning around, last week was a disappointing week.
While I don't expect the move to a rookie quarterback this week to impact Samuel much, it certainly would give me even more pause with Aiyuk as the QB transition is another variable that increases uncertainty. I wouldn't drop Aiyuk, but I certainly wouldn't insert him into my starting lineup until he strings together a couple of solid performances.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers (vs. DEN)
Given the state of the passing offense, it's difficult to trust anyone other than Diontae Johnson. Ben Roethlisberger and Smith-Schuster connected on only two of eight targets for 11 yards in Week 4. There were several opportunities where the duo left plays on the field. Either way, they are not on the same page and I'd prefer both Johnson and Chase Claypool over Smith-Schuster this week (and every week). In addition, the Broncos have one of the league's best slot corners in Bryce Callahan, increasing the level of difficulty for a JSS bounce-back.
Curtis Samuel, Washington Football Team (vs. NO)
Returning last week from Injured Reserve and making his WFT debut, Samuel had four receptions for 19 yards, but he played only 25 snaps (37%). I'd expect that number to tick up this week and going forward, but it may not be until Week 6 until Samuel starts to play a full starter's allotment of offensive snaps. When he hits his stride, I think Samuel could become a weekly top-36 option, but that's likely not this week.
Bust alert: Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears (at LV)
Perhaps an appearance here is what Robinson needs in a reverse-psychology kind of way. That said, things haven't been good for Robinson and his fantasy managers this season. Salivating over a matchup against the Detroit Lions, fantasy managers left Week 4 disappointed by Robinson's 3/63 outing. His best performance this season came in Week 2 -- 9.4 half-PPR fantasy points (WR46). On the year, he has finished as the weekly WR67, WR46, WR79 and WR51, respectively. Robinson is barely ranked inside my top-36 wide receivers this week as my WR36.
More positions:
- Fantasy Football QB Start'em, Sit'em
- Fantasy Football RB Start'em, Sit'em
- Fantasy Football WR Start'em, Sit'em
- Fantasy Football TE Start'em, Sit'em
Positional Fantasy Football Rankings:
- Fantasy Football QB Rankings
- Fantasy Football RB Rankings
- Fantasy Football WR Rankings
- Fantasy Football TE Rankings
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