Take It or Leave It: Fantasy tips for week 5

Week 5 is upon us in the NFL so here’s another week of fantasy advice from someone you probably won’t listen to.

Quarterbacks: Philip Rivers against the Steelers defense. Normally I’d take the Steelers defense but Rivers is getting tight end Antonio Gates back from his suspension and that can only mean more yards for the quarterback. The Steelers are giving up just 232 yards through the air but Rivers is leading the league in passing so I expect a big day from him. The flip side, Since Kam Chancellor’s return to Seattle’s already dominating defense the unit has not allowed a touchdown through 18 quarters. Seattle travels to Cincinnati to take on the 4-0 Bengals. The Seahawks held Calvin Johnson to 7 catches for 56 yards; now the Bengals are in better shape than the Lions but to hold one of the best receivers in the league to 7 catches for 56 yards, that’s impressive. All that being said, I don’t like Andy Dalton on Sunday. Moral of the story; start Rivers, bench Dalton

Running Backs: While the Chargers might have one of the best offenses in the league, their run defense isn’t the best. The Bolts give up 126 yards on the ground and in his two games back, Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell is averaging 95 yards per game. Bell is only going to get better too with more reps. I also like the two rookies, Rams back Todd Gurley and the Jags TJ Yeldon. The flip side, much like Dalton against the Seahawks, I don’t like any Cincinnati running back. The Seahawks are allowing 88 yards per game against the run. I like Seattle to shut down the Bengals offense in this one. Moral of the story; start Bell, bench Cincinnati running backs

Tight Ends: I mentioned before that Philip Rivers was getting his favorite target back in Antonio Gates. Gates is coming off a suspension so they don’t have to worry about an injury to deal with. Gates is fresh and should get plenty of looks against an average Pittsburgh defense. The flip side, again it goes back to the Bengals. Tyler Eifert has been Andy DaltoMoral of the story; start Gates, bench Eifert
n’s other favorite target besides AJ Green. Eifert will be matched up with the athletic Seattle linebackers and won’t have many chances.

Wide Receivers: I told you to bench Larry Fitzgerald last week; he had 9 catches for 99 yards. I won’t go down that road again. Start Fitz. The Cardinals are going up against a Lions defense that allows 271 yards through the air. Carson Palmer is having a career revival along with Fitzgerald; I’d expect the two to connect on a couple deep passes. The flip side; there are two receivers I don’t like this week, AJ Green and Amari Cooper. Normally I’d say these two, especially Green, are locks to put up some numbers but not this week. I’m not going to bore you again by saying the Bengals are playing Seattle. The Raiders on the other hand, they get Denver. While the game is at home I still think Denver’s stout defense will be all over Derek Carr, who might not even have the time to look Cooper’s way. Moral of the story; start Fitzgerald, bench Green and Cooper.

Waiver Wire Warriors: If you haven’t been looking for a tight end, go grab the Packers Richard Rodgers. I like him this weekend

at home against the Rams. He could be a season long relationship with Andrew Quarless being out until the end of November.