Week 4 in fantasy football absolutely belonged to Julio Jones and Matt Ryan. The duo was unstoppable in the Falcons collegiate-style shootout victory over the defending NFC Champion Carolina Panthers. Sitting at 1-3, the Panthers appear to have fluke like symptoms from last year’s Super Bowl run.
Unfortunately for Atlanta, the Falcons travel to Denver this week to take on the actual defending Super Bowl champs, who do not appear to have fluke like symptoms. As great as the dynamic duo was in Week 4, I’m fading them this week in the tough matchup. There are other more favorable matchups in Week 5. Here’s a look at some of the top GPP options this week.
NFL DFS DraftKings GPP Plays for Week 5
DailyFantasyNerd DraftKings GPP Play of the Day
DeMarco Murray (TEN) @ MIA $7,200
DeMarco Murray is officially back baby! After a drop-off season in Philadelphia, Murray is revolutionizing his career in Tennessee. He’s been the most consistent running back through the first four weeks, and now gets to face-off against a bad Dolphins team.
The Dolphins continue to have one of the worst run defenses in the league, giving Murray a very high ceiling for Sunday’s matchup. Murray has gone over 20 points in PPR formats for four consecutive weeks now. He should continue that trend on Sunday, and may very well go for 30+ in this one.
Quarterbacks
Tom Brady (NE) @ CLE $7,500Â
Guess who’s back? With Brady’s official reinstatement this week after serving his four-game suspension, Deflategate is officially over (breathes sigh of relief). Brady will have to wait a week to make his debut at Gillette Stadium, but gets the closest thing to a JV squad in this week’s matchup against the Browns.
The Browns rank near the bottom in nearly every category. There’s a chance Brady may look a little rusty to start this one, but it shouldn’t take very long for Brady to get back in sync. This one could turn into a blowout, but I expect Bill Belichick to keep his foot on the gas after what happened to the Patriots last week.
Carson Wentz (PHI) @ DET $6,400
It can be argued that Carson Wentz benefited from the first two weeks against lowly opponents like the Browns and Bears, respectively. However, by Week 3 Wentz proved his doubters wrong (if he still had any) in the Eagles dominance over the Steelers. Fresh off the bye week, Wentz and the Eagles get another friendly matchup this week against Detroit.
The Lions defense has been on a steady decline ever since Ndamukong Suh bolted for Miami. They’re now one of the worst ranked teams against opposing quarterbacks. I see no reason why Wentz can’t continue his solid play.
Brian Hoyer (CHI) @ IND $5,500
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Speaking of the Lions, Brian Hoyer just finished toying with them last week. In his second consecutive start, Hoyer again surpassed 300 yards on 28-of-36 throwing. He gets to face-off against another weak defense this week in Indianapolis.
The Colts are coming off their loss to the Jaguars in London. It’s puzzling as to why the Jaguars are on a bye this week, but the Colts are not. Timing could be an issue for the Colts this week as they try to get adjusted again. As for Hoyer, the starting job may be his even when Jay Cutler returns, and it’s easy to see why.
Other Notables:Â Philip Rivers (SD) @ OAK $6,900, Derek Carr (OAK) vs. SD $6,800, Derek Anderson vs. TB $5,500
Running Backs
David Johnson (ARI) @ SF $7,900
Johnson and the Cardinals get the early matchup this week in a division showdown with the 49ers. The Cardinals are obviously underperforming at 1-3, and should lean heavily on Johnson to try and get back in it.
Johnson is one of those players that doesn’t need to score all the time to be effective in fantasy football. Carson Palmer has been ruled out for Thursday’s contest. Drew Stanton will get the start, and despite being a complimentary backup, look for Johnson to have even more touches than he’s used to.
C.J. Anderson (DEN) vs. ATL $6,900
The Falcons may have Julio Jones and Matt Ryan running their offense, but it does nothing to help their defense. Atlanta has won three straight, but it’s been all thanks to the offense. The defense has given up over 30 points in each of the first four weeks, forcing Atlanta to go college shootout style in order to win games. Let’s see how long that lasts.
Anderson has slowed down a bit the past two weeks after a strong showing in the opener against Carolina, and then again the following week against Indy. This is the perfect opportunity for Anderson to get back to fantasy relevance, both rushing the football and being involved in the passing game.
Jordan Howard (CHI) @ IND $5,200
If you were one of those people who inserted Howard in your lineup last week at the discounted price of $3,700, then you were in luck. To quote his head coach John Fox, Howard was “outstanding” in his starting debut against the Lions. Yes, just about anyone could be outstanding against Detroit, but it’s clear that Howard has earned the starting gig in Chicago.
Next up for the Bears is the Colts, who are just as equally bad as the Lions against the run. It would have been nice to have Howard at least another week under $5,000, but he’s expected to have another big game this week with no problems of reaching value.
Other Notables:Â Melvin Gordon (SD) @ OAK $7,000, Terrance West (BAL) vs. WAS $4,800, Jerick McKinnon (MIN) vs. HOU $4,000
Wide Receivers
Antonio Brown (PIT) vs. NYJ $9,800
It may come as a surprise to some, but I don’t personally target Antonio Brown in DFS as much as one may think. The sole reasoning is based around his expensive price tag, making it difficult to fill out the rest of my roster with players to my liking. This week, I’ll find a way to make it work in the majority of my lineups.
To be successful in GPP tournaments, inserting at least one of the top receivers (Brown, Jones, Beckham, Green) in your roster is vital. I don’t love the matchups for Jones or Green this week, and Beckham has been untrustworthy to start 2016. Brown, however, squares off against the Jets this week. The same Jets that allowed A.J. Green to go off for 180 yards in Week 1.
Emmanuel Sanders (DEN) vs. ATL $6,800
Sanders continues to receive more targets than his counterpart Demaryius Thomas. QB Trevor Siemian went down last week, but rookie Paxton Lynch stepped in looking like he’s been playing in the NFL for the past decade.
It looks as though the Broncos may have caught a break with Siemian’s injury, with a chance he could play this week. No matter who is under center, Sanders could have a field day in this matchup. He has three touchdowns off of 17 receptions in the past two weeks, including 13 targets a piece in each contest.
Julian Edelman (NE) @ CLE $6,700
With Brady back from suspension, one has to expect the reemergence of Julian Edelman as well. Edelman was productive with Jimmy Garoppolo under center, but understandably struggled to get anything going with Jacoby Brissett in as the starter. Edelman loses appeal due to a lack of upside for touchdowns, but the Browns struggle mightily against slot receivers.
Gronk is still dealing with a hamstring injury, and although Martellus Bennett has been a nice addition for the Patriots, it could take some time for him and Brady to create some chemistry. Edelman should easily reach double-digit targets this week.
Other Notables: Kelvin Benjamin (CAR) vs. TB $7,300, Jordan Matthews (PHI) @ DET $6,800, Travis Benjamin (SD) @ OAK $6,500
Tight Ends
Zach Ertz (PHI) @ DET $3,500
Tom Brady isn’t the only player returning this week. Ertz was having a great game in Week 1 until he suffered from a displaced rib that has kept him out of action until now. He gets a very friendly matchup in his return against the Lions, who rank 31st against tight ends.
Carson Wentz and Ertz seemingly had something going before Ertz’s injury. Now that doctors have cleared Ertz for availability, I expect the two to pick up right where they left off.
Cameron Brate 9TB) @ CAR $2,900
Jacob Tamme may have had a quiet week last week against Carolina, but that can be blamed on Julio Jones’ monstrous production. Tamme still managed to find the endzone, however, against a Carolina defense that appears lost.
The Panthers defense may not be as bad as we saw last week, but they have struggled against tight ends so far this season. Cameron Brate has surged for the Buccaneers since the team’s dismissal of Austin Seferian-Jenkins. In the two weeks since Jenkins’ release, Brate has seen a total of 18 targets and two touchdowns. That trend should continue this week with Jameis Winston struggling, and expected to look for his top tight end to get going.
Other Notables:Â Delanie Walker (TEN) @ MIA $4,700, Martellus Bennett (NE) @ CLE $3,700, Hunter Henry (SD) @ OAK $3,300
Defense
Minnesota Vikings @ HOU $3,400
In case you haven’t realized yet, the Vikings defense is for real. They started the year with two defensive scores against the Titans in the opener. They followed that up with pure dominance over two of the league’s best quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton. On Monday night, they held the Giants to just 10 points, and no team yet has been able to put up more than 16 against them.
The matchup isn’t the most ideal against the Texans, but neither were the previous three games. The Vikings defense still amanged to control the game, and those offenses played much more up-tempo than the Texans do. The Texans do have some better offensive weapons now, but the Vikings should continue their dominance against Brock Osweiler and company.
Other Notables:Â New England @ CLE $3,700, Los Angeles vs. BUF $3,200
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