Tee Higgins, Julio Jones, A.J. Brown, and Chase Claypool all figure to be game-time decisions in Week 5 after missing last week’s contests. All are on teams will multiple fantasy-relevant wide receivers, so their statuses have a big effect on Week 5 WR rankings. Get the latest ahead ahead of your fantasy start ’em, sit ’em decisions.
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WEEK 5 FANTASY: Sleepers | Busts | Start ’em, sit ’em
Tee Higgins injury update
Higgins (shoulder) returned to practice Wednesday but did so in a limited capacity. If he’d practiced in full, we’d feel great about his chances to play in Week 5, but until we get more information, he should be considered “questionable” at this point. What we do know is Green Bay has been a top-10 defense against WRs, but they haven’t played a receiving corps like the Bengals. On paper, their secondary is thin and Jaire Alexander (shoulder) is expected to miss the game.
Higgins has a real chance to produce right away, but we’ll temper his expectation a little bit coming off the injury. He’s our WR33 in PPR leagues and WR34 in standard. If he’s out, wheels up for Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, and possibly TE C.J. Uzomah.
WEEK 5 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Julio Jones injury update
Jones (hamstring) missed Wednesday’s practice, but we can’t read too much into that with him. In Atlanta, he hardly ever practiced on Wednesdays, and we imagine Tennessee doesn’t have a big issue with him not practicing much either. Be prepared for this to go either way ahead of Tennessee’s matchup in Jacksonville.
If Jones does play, he has a chance to look like vintage Julio against an atrocious Jags’ secondary. Statistics say the Jags’ are merely a middle-of-the-pack team against WRs, but this is due to teams getting big leads on them and running the ball. Their defense is weak on all three levels, so they shouldn’t be able to stop Jones. He is our WR11 in PPR and in standard leagues. We’ll discuss the rest of the Titans WR depth chart below.
WEEK 5 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
A.J. Brown injury update
Brown (hamstring) was back on the practice field Wednesday in a limited capacity. He’s another guy we’ll have to watch carefully, but he’s often played in games where he was a mere limited practice participant leading up to Sunday. We won’t speculate past that at this point, but like Jones, he could see a nuclear performance if he suits up.
If one or both of Tennessee’s Pro Bowl WRs don’t play, Josh Reynolds and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine led WRs in targets vs. the Jets, so they are candidates for deep leagues flex options. Reynolds had the most success, but Westbrook-Ikhine did receive eight targets.
Brown is our WR14 in PPR and WR10 in standard leagues if he plays.
WEEK 5 DFS LINEUPS: FanDuel | DraftKings | Yahoo
Chase Claypool injury update
Claypool (hamstring) was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice, but he seems to be on track to play in Week 5 against Denver. However, Big Ben has proven to be insufficient down the field, where Claypool thrives. Outside of Diontae Johnson and Najee Harris, no one on this Steelers team can be relied upon, especially in a matchup with Denver. Denver has a strong secondary and a pass rush that should slaughter the lackluster Steelers’ offensive line, leaving Big Ben dinking and dunking once again. This is clearly not a recipe for success for Claypool.
MORE WEEK 5 DFS: Best stacks | Best values | Lineup Builder
It may seem weird, but Claypool falls all the way down to WR54 in PPR and WR52 in standard. Based on what we’ve seen thus far, he’s far from a must-start — even as a flex option.