Fantasy Flex: Fantasy Football Advice/Recommendations For Week Five

Week Five includes byes for Jacksonville, Kansas City, New Orleans, and Seattle. There are injuries ravaging nearly every roster, and plenty of bad matchups for your remaining fantasy stars on the horizon. So how do you survive the bye week? Let's take a look at who to start and sit in Week Five.  Feel free to ask any roster questions in the comments section below.

Houston Texans' Start of the Week:

This isn't an easy recommendation in a week where Houston faces one of the NFL's best defenses on the road. The Texans' TE position is plagued by injuries, and Lamar Miller has yet to find the end zone this season. Will Fuller and DeAndre Hopkins have each had big weeks, but the rookie is outscoring the vet in fantasy points this year.

I'm going to take a leap of faith and say that I think this is the week where Miller finally gets a touchdown. Houston will have to put points on the board to keep up with the Vikings, and Miller has been waiting to break free all season.

Start Em'/Sit Em' Around the League:

Start

DeAndre Washington (RB--OAK): The time has come for Washington to step up and show what he can do for the Raiders, with Latavius Murray doubtful to suit up on Sunday. Washington will get the start for Oakland, and combined with his pass-catching abilities, he has the potential to take the lead job and keep it. With so many RB injuries plaguing the league right now, Washington is a solid bet for your flex slot and could develop into an RB1 or RB2 down the line.

Zach Ertz (TE--PHI): Those of you who held on to Ertz through his injury will finally get your payoff this weekend. He returns to take on a mediocre Detroit defense that has been generous to tight ends.  He should fit immediately back in to a Philadelphia offense that has been very successful this season.

Your Patriots' QB and WRs: Tom Brady is back, and I'm going to assume he's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder after serving his four game suspension. Add in Bill Belichick's unexpected shutout at home last week, and it is probably going to be an ugly Sunday for Cleveland fans. Brady owners won't be the only ones to get a production boost this week, as Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan both stand to benefit enormously from the return of their fearless leader. Start your Patriots with confidence this week.

Sit

As a side note for this week, I cannot in good conscience put a RB on the sit list. It seems like 1/3 of the teams in the league have devolved to a RBBC because of injury or lack of RB1 talent, and the bye weeks are just making it worse. Validated by the fact that most of our BRB writer's league would kill someone for Jordan Howard, I'm not going to tell you to sit a RB, because odds are you don't have another option.

Stefon Diggs (WR--MIN): Over the first two weeks of the season, Diggs looked like a player who could break 100 yards every week. But in Weeks Three and Four, the wideout has managed 40 and 47 yards respectively, and has been kept out of the end zone. Still struggling with injuries and facing a solid Texans' defense, Diggs should stay on your bench this week if you can help it. When he is back at 100% healthy, he will hopefully be ready to get back into your lineup.

Matthew Stafford (QB--DET): This is less about Stafford and more about his matchup against a Philadelphia defense that has allowed ZERO passing TDs in three games this season. They are also coming off of a bye week and should be well-rested and ready to go. Hard pass on Stafford this week.

Kyle Rudolph (TE/MIN): Rudolph has found the end zone in each of his last three games but will have a tough matchup against Houston this weekend. The Texans have struggled against the run this year, but they have been exceptional at containing TEs. If you have a TE with a better matchup, go with them over Rudolph this week.

Do you have any start or sit advice that you think should have made the list? You can use the comments section to discuss lineup decisions, ask roster questions, and preview this week's matchups.

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