Week 5 of the NFL season is almost too much fun from a fantasy football standpoint.
Where to start? New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady returns to beat up on the Cleveland Browns. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz gets to thrash the Detroit Lions secondary.
Elsewhere, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston gets to throw all over a leaky Carolina Panthers defense on Monday Night Football. Oh, and Sunday Night Football boasts a fantasy wonderland, when the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers get together.
Those are all matchups to exploit, by the way. The following is a look at matchup comparisons and notable situations to either take advantage of or avoid.
Quarterback
Matchup to Exploit: Ben Roethlisberger, PIT (vs. NYJ)
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger joins Brady, Eli Manning of the Giants, Wentz of the Eagles and Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers among the signal-callers with must-play matchups in Week 5.
Fantasy’s third-biggest scorer at quarterback so far, Big Ben gets to take on the New York Jets in quite a juicy encounter.
While known for its defense, New York has been a goldmine for quarterback production. The unit has allowed eight passing scores over four games this season.
Making this even more attractive is the news corner Darrelle Revis has a doubtful tag for Sunday, per Kimberley A. Martin of Newsday.
Matchup to Avoid: Andrew Luck, IND (vs. CHI)
Other than a 35-point outburst to start the season, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has been one of the bigger fantasy disappointments this year.
At first glance, Luck looks like a great play against the Chicago Bears. But Luck hasn’t scored more than 17 points in an outing since this season’s opener behind a line that can’t protect him, and it’s not usually quarterbacks hurting the Bears.
Case in point: Chicago held Detroit’s Matthew Stafford to seven points in Week 4 and has only allowed four passing touchdowns so far. Given the situation around Luck, the fact he was on the injury report ahead of the game and Chicago’s performances against quarterbacks, there’s no reason to trot him out simply on name power.
Running Back
Matchup to Exploit: Melvin Gordon, SD (at OAK)
Though many solid options exist at running back in Week 5, San Diego’s Melvin Gordon looks like the surest of them all.
Gordon leads all backs, with six touchdowns on the season, and he sits second in scoring. He’s hit the 17-point mark three times, which has begun to start looking near where his floor should reside for rest of the season.
A date with the Oakland Raiders is nothing but a good thing. Oakland coughs up the fifth-most points to backs on average, having allowed three rushing scores over four games and three outings of 21 or more points by opposing backfields.
In what could wind up as a high-scoring affair, Gordon boasts one of the most exploitable situations of the week.
Matchup to Avoid: Ezekiel Elliott, DAL (vs. CIN)
Though it’s not easy to sit Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, it is the best course of action when he encounters a team such as the Cincinnati Bengals.
To his credit, Elliott has turned it on after a pair of hum-hum performances, recording 16 and 20 points over his last two outings respectively. He has three rushing scores on the year and has started to come on with more experience.
Cincinnati knows how to shutter a rushing attack, though, as noted by the fact the Bengals allow the fifth-fewest points to backs on average so far. Not only has the defense kept backs out of the end zone, but entire backfields have totaled 18 points twice and five points twice against the unit.
Elliott won’t hit the 18 points on his own against this unit—even at home.
Wide Receiver
Matchup to Exploit: DeSean Jackson, WAS (at BAL)
Other than notable wideouts for some of the exploitable matchups already mentioned, keep an eye on Washington Redskins receiver DeSean Jackson.
Look, Jackson owners probably grumbled at the idea. Fair enough—Jackson caught one pass for five yards and didn’t register a fantasy point in Week 4 against the Browns, of all teams.
Fine, but it means Jackson has a rebound on his radar. Few better defenses than the Baltimore Ravens present a good chance at one too. Baltimore has been terrible against receivers over the past three weeks, as the numbers show:
Jackson won’t have any problems continuing the trend.
Matchup to Avoid: DeAndre Hopkins, HOU (at MIN)
Forget Luck: Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been the most disappointing fantasy player so far (the AFC South is a fantasy graveyard).
Hopkins hit double digits twice to start the season, but over his past two outings, he has tallied five total points. It doesn’t help Houston’s big adds, quarterback Brock Osweiler and running back Lamar Miller, have face-planted.
Now is not the time to think Hopkins turns it around. He has to go against the Minnesota Vikings, owners of a defense allowing the second-fewest points to receivers on average.
Not impressed? Minnesota held Carolina wideout Kelvin Benjamin catchless in Week 3, then kept New York’s Odell Beckham Jr. in line with three catches for 23 yards last time out.
Tight End
Matchup to Exploit: Cameron Brate, TB (at CAR)
When Mike Evans isn’t torching the Carolina secondary, Winston will turn to tight end Cameron Brate.
Owned in just 36.2 percent of leagues, Brate has come on over the past two weeks, catching 10 total passes and totaling 22 fantasy points.
Meanwhile, the Panthers have allowed 14, 14 and 16 points to tight ends over the past three weeks.
With Brate’s usage shooting through the roof and a great matchup, he’s an exploitable name to know at a position that’s downright unpredictable before the season.
After all, Brate is a good example.
Matchup to Avoid: Kyle Rudolph, MIN (vs. HOU)
Minnesota’s Kyle Rudolph might sit second in scoring at tight end and boast a touchdown in three straight games, but the fun ends against the Texans on Sunday.
In what seems set to be a defensive affair, Rudolph has to deal with a defense that has allowed one, three, one and three points respectively to opposing tight ends in its four games this season.
And it’s not a matchup-based rank, either. Zach Miller, Travis Kelce, Martellus Bennett and Delanie Walker all struggled against the unit.
Rudolph is merely the next to hit the wall.
All scoring info and statistics courtesy of ESPN.com standard leagues, as are points-against info and ownership stats.
Follow Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) on Twitter.
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