The Advice You Need for NFL DFS Week 5 (10/8/23)

Welcome back to my weekly DraftKings main slate DFS article! I had a rough week, missing on almost all of my chalk plays not named Kyren Williams. I played Tank Dell in almost every lineup and that completely burned me because Nico Collins nuked the slate. And not to mention, I played zero CMC last week, so that was great. But, the only way to go is up! On to week 5!

Quarterbacks

Lamar Jackson ($7,800) @ PIT

After a slow start to the season, Lamar showed last week why the Ravens paid him $260 million this offseason. He scored 4 total touchdowns in a rout of the Cleveland Browns totaling 29.14 DK points. In a week where a lot of ownership will be on KC-MIN and LAR-PHI, I think Lamar provides huge upside as great leverage over the QBs in those games.

Joshua Dobbs ($5,200) vs. CIN

The pickings are slim for QBs below $6,000 this week. Outside of Stafford, the field should be eyeing the higher-priced QBs on this slate. Given that, I think Dobbs is really interesting here. Dobbs has been steadily improving as the starter in Arizona and managed to put up 23.4 DK points last week against San Francisco. We are also getting more information on who Dobbs likes to throw to, albeit a small sample size. With Dobbs and his stacking options all being cheap, running an Arizona stack will open up a lot of salary to build with.

Running Backs

Joe Mixon ($6,400) @ ARI

It has been a brutal start for the entire Bengals offense to start the year. Joe Mixon has been okay week to week, but he has not been good for any DFS contest. The one bright spot for Mixon? The backfield is completely his. Facing essentially no competition for snaps, all Mixon needs is a good game script and he may explode. I think Arizona could provide that game script Mixon needs. He also serves as a great leverage play off of Ja’Marr Chase, who will undoubtedly be popular if Tee Higgins is out.

Breece Hall ($5,400) @ DEN

Yes, I am buying into Robert Saleh’s coachspeak. Normally, I avoid coachspeak as much as I can, but when it’s announced that Breece Hall will no longer have his snaps limited versus this Broncos defense, you listen. At $5,400, Breece will not need to score 40 or even 30 to be a great GPP play. Even if he doesn’t see a huge uptick in rushing attempts, if he can break off just a couple big runs and get in the endzone, he can be in the optimal lineup.

Wide Receivers

Zay Flowers ($5,500) @ PIT

After a bit of a letdown week with Bateman and OBJ out injured, the field may be looking elsewhere from Flowers. Going along with my Lamar pick, I really like this spot against a sputtering Pittsburgh defense. The return of Bateman and possibly OBJ should make Flowers a more difficult click allowing his ownership to stay reasonable. He has been hot and cold in his ability to draw targets thus far. He posted 10 targets in week 1, 5 in week 2, 10 in week 3, and then 4 in week 4. Expect a great bounce back week for Zay Flowers in Week 5.

Terrace Marshall ($3,600) @ DET

Terrace Marshall has quietly drawn in 18 targets in the past 2 weeks. 10 of those came with Bryce Young under center. In a game where the Panthers will almost certainly be trailing, Marshall should be running lots of routes. If he can earn 10 targets again, playing in a dome with little-to-no ownership, he is such a great play at $3,600.

Tight Ends

Dallas Goedert ($4,200) @ LAR

Goedert has had a really rough go of things to start the year. He has yet to hit the double-digit point mark in a week this season. But, I like Goedert this week as a way to attack the PHI-LAR game differently. While everyone will be looking to play the receivers on both sides, Goedert provides a good alternative at a relatively good price. If Goedert can get in the endzone twice, he can easily separate as the top tight end on the slate while giving you leverage on the other popular pass catchers in this game.

Tyler Conklin ($3,200) @ DEN

I like Conklin as a good punt TE option this week. He has managed to earn 5 or more targets in each of his last 3 games, and Zach Wilson is actually beginning to show signs of life. Playing that already-discussed Denver defense, he should have as good of a chance as ever to score a touchdown in this Jets offense.

Defenses

Arizona Cardinals ($2,800) vs CIN

I know I talked about Mixon being in a good spot versus Arizona, but I think at $2,800 Arizona is a great option for your non-Bengal lineups. We all know how bad Burrow and Cincy have been, and if you’re betting that trend continues, Arizona is a great play this week.

New Orleans Saints ($3,000) @ NE

This pick may be chalky, but as Buffalo showed two weeks ago, the defense that significantly separates from the pack is the defense you need to win your contest. This is a phenomenal spot for the Saints defense, who may have struggled last week, but should be in line for a big bounce back versus the struggling New England Patriots.

Thanks for tuning in to another DFS article! I’m hoping for a much more successful week this time around, and hoping for the same for you all! If any of you have DFS, start/sit questions, or any other fantasy questions, feel free to DM me or tweet at me on X/Twitter! Have a great week!

Here’s a link to last week’s article for any interested in my picks from last week!

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