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Mark Ingram and Julian Edelman are back.
With their suspensions completed, Ingram and Edelman will be re-inserted in their team's lineup, but should they be in yours? That's tricky.
Ingram was a top-10 running back last year, even during Kamara's breakout. My expectation is he gets about 50 percent of the work in the running game and 10 percent of the team's targets. If that's the case, he's a must-start running back from this point forward. But we won't know for sure until Monday night when Sean Payton shows us what his plan is.
Edelman is even trickier. It's been a long time since we've seen Edelman, Rob Gronkowski and James White all on the field together. It happened for seven weeks in 2016 and the results for Edelman were mixed. In non-PPR, he had fewer than four Fantasy points in non-PPR in four of those seven games. He only scored double-digits in PPR three times.
Certainly, this could be a game where the Patriots rest Gronk or feature Edelman, but the history when these guys are all healthy is pretty spotty for Edelman. I'm sitting him in both formats, but I understand if you want to start him in PPR.
You might actually want to bench Patrick Mahomes.
I know he's the best quarterback in Fantasy. This sounds ludicrous. But he's facing the best defense in football, and I think his most recent performance is instructive. Yes, Mahomes had a brilliant second half and looked every bit the part of a superstar. He also scored 24 Fantasy points and finished as the No. 13 quarterback in Fantasy.
Jacksonville is better than Denver, but this game is at home in K.C., so expect something similar from Mahomes. It's enough where you don't feel like you must bench him, but the Jaguars defense limits his upside enough to where you can. Matt Ryan should be better in a shootout with the Steelers. Andy Dalton, too. I'd even start Blake Bortles, against that awful Chiefs defense, but understand if you'd rather stick with your starter.
The Broncos and Vikings are in difficult spots.
At first glance, a matchup against the Jets may not seem that difficult, but the degree of difficulty is definitely raised for the Broncos. They just lost a division game they should have won on Monday night. They have a short week of practice and have to fly to the East Coast for an early game (11 a.m. their time). Plus, the Jets defense has actually been pretty good. Emmanuel Sanders is the only Bronco I'd call a must-start, but you can consider flexing Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman.
The Vikings had a long rest since their debacle against the Rams, but their matchup is much tougher. This is their second consecutive road game, also on the East Ccoast. They're facing the best run defense in the league with an offensive line that has generated almost zero push. Kirk Cousins, Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs should have enough volume to be good, but I'm mostly benching Dalvin Cook and dropping the Vikings defense.
Aaron Rodgers has a banged up receiving corps.
He's Aaron Rodgers, so we're starting him on one leg ... but are we starting him with one receiver? Randall Cobb still isn't practicing due to his hamstring injury,and Geronimo Allison is still in the concussion protocol. If neither is ready for Week 5,Rodgers will be throwing to Davante Adams, Jimmy Graham and a bunch of rookies.
The strength of this Lions defense so far has been their defense of outside receivers, but that's probably because they've faced some terrible receiving corps. Adams should see all the targets he can handle,and Graham should get a bump as well. I do think it's fair to bump Rodgers outside of the top five if Adams is his only healthy receiver, but Andy Dalton is the only quarterback who may be available that I'd start over him.
The Falcons and Steelers have the highest over/under of the season.
This is a record that may be broken numerous times this season,but the Falcons and Steelers have an over/under of 57.5 as of Thursday morning,and it's climbing. I'm not sure it's high enough.
You're essentially starting everyone in this game, but the Falcons running backs are interesting. With Devonte Freeman returning, e have a timeshare in Atlanta again. I expect Tevin Coleman to be the lead back because it's Freeman's first game back and would treat Coleman like a low-end No. 2 running back. Freeman is more than a flex, but the fact this should be such a high-scoring game gives him a decent chance of scoring.
There are two games you'd do well to avoid.
On the flip side, you should stay away from Buffalo and San Francisco this week. The Bills host the Titans and the 49ers play the Cardinals in a pair of games that should be a treat for anyone yearning for the days of low-scoring slugfests. David Johnson, George Kittle and the Titans defense are the only entities I'd consider must-starts.
There are other flexworthy options including Matt Breida, Dion Lewis, Corey Davis and Derrick Henry. I'm not saying you have to sit these players, but touchdowns are what carry you in Fantasy Football and they're playing in games short on them. So, start them if you must, but all tiebreakers should go to players playing in games with a higher projected offensive output.
Tight end is about to get better, but maybe not this week.
Are you struggling at tight end? You aren't alone. But if you're still struggling a month from now, it's probably your own fault. Because there are multiple stash candidates who will bolster the position in the coming weeks.
- Greg Olsen is running routes and ramping up his activity. An optimistic timeline probably has him 3-4 weeks out, but once he returns he's instantly a top-10 option.
- Cameron Brate has long been Jameis Winston's security blanket. With Winston named the starter and O.J. Howard out for the the next few weeks, you should consider Brate a must-start tight end in Week 6.
- Hayden Hurst was one of my favorite sleepers in the preseason and looks like he'll be back in Week 5 or Week 6. Joe Flacco is still peppering tight ends with targets in this offense, and I'd expect a plurality of them to go Hurst's way once he gets re-acclimated.
Drew Brees aims for history while Adrian Peterson looks for revenge.
Monday night could be an emotional one in New Orleans. Brees needs just 201 passing yards to break Peyton Manning's record for the most career passing yards. He'll reach that mark almost certainly but he won't be the only other player with something on his mind. It's also a return for Adrian Peterson.
Peterson is one of the few players in the NFL who seems to actually take the whole revenge game thing seriously. Even though he's banged up, it's hard to imagine he'll miss a chance to show the Saints what he still has left in the tank. As long as he's practicing by Saturday, I'll plan on starting him on Monday night.
So who should you sit and start? And what shocking QB could win you Week 5? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy football rankings for every single position, and see which shocking QB finishes in the top 10 this week, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.
