Week 5 Fantasy Rookie Rankings

We’re now one-fourth of the way through the regular season and rookies are beginning to have their roles defined in their respective offenses. Terry McLaurin is already the bonified WR1 in Washington, David Montgomery is turning into the bell cow back in Chicago like we all knew he could be, and Daniel Jones has put himself beside Kyler Murray and Garnder Minshew as the head signal-caller in New York is his rookie tenure. We’ve earned that Philadelphia is having a difficult time choosing between Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders, which has created a fair amount of uncertainty when starting either one of them.

We’ve also learned, yet again, how (nearly) impossible it is to trust any rookie wide receiver. After Hollywood Brown’s breakout week one performance in Miami, he has yet to catch another touchdown and both his receptions and yards have decreased in every week after. A.J. Brown has been the epitome of boom or bust. The Georgia product put up 100 yards on his debut, followed that up with four catches for 29 yards over the next two weeks, and then scored two touchdowns along with 94 yards last week against a vulnerable Atlanta secondary. Both receivers have plenty of upside, Marquise more so, but their lack of consistency makes it difficult to trust them on a week to week basis. Outside of Terry McLaurin, there isn’t a rookie wideout that you should plug into your starting lineup on a regular basis.

With the last couple of weeks being down from this group of rookies as a whole, I have found it difficult to find separation between the bottom half of the list, particularly Kyler Murray. However, the show goes on and this is how the 2019 rookies rank up with each other headed into week five!

Per usual, TNF between the Seahawks and Rams will be reflected in the week six edition.

10. Daniel Jones, QB, New York Giants (Previous Week: 10)

Although Daniel Jones found a way to bring the Giants back to .500, this performance compared to his against Tampa Bay was not good by any stretch of the imagination. Jones’ day finished up to the tune of 225 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. His completion percentage settled at an impressive 74.2%, but that is a reflection of a 7.3 ALOT (average length of throw). Jones ability to run, 61 yards in his two starts, adds on an extra element to his fantasy value, but don’t get fooled. Jones is still a rookie in a New York Giants offense and his play against Washington was nothing short of a typical Eli Manning performance.

9. T.J. Hockenson, TE, Detroit Lions (Previous Week: NR)

Hockenson finds himself sliding back into the top 10, whether it be from a lack of competition on this list or because of execution in week four, nonetheless he is back. His story seems to be similar to other rookies, struggling in weeks two and three and coming back strong in week four. Hockenson found himself back in the endzone against Kansas City to go along with his 27 yards through the air. Albiet not an eye-catching game, Hockenson found himself productive and could be a huge confidence boost for him in the coming weeks.

8. Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals (Previous Week: 7)

Murray found the Cardinals lone touchdown against Seattle with his legs, his first rushing TD of the season. Other than that, it was another ho-hum game from Murray. Kyler threw for a respectable 241 yards against a stout defense in yet another negative game script. Murray also threw for an interception to bring his TD/INT ratio back to one. Without Christian Kirk this week against Cincinnati, Murray should still be a fringe QB1 based on the matchup alone.

7. A.J. Brown, WR, Tennessee Titans (Previous Week: NR)

Brown hauled in three receptions for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Titans 24-10 victory over Atlanta last week. Outside of Delanie Walker, Brown looks to be Mariota’s most reliable target, even with very quiet weeks two and three. It can be tricky at times to find pay dirt in an offense ran through Mariota, who is as inconsistent as a starting quarterback can be. Regardless, A.J. is the most fantasy-relevant receiver in the Titans offense, but still shouldn’t be started until we see more constant production.

6. Gardner Minshew II, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars (Previous Week: 9)

Minshew was able to help the Jaguars battle back against the Broncos last week to bring them to 2-2 on the season. Minshew took a back seat to Leonard Fournette en route to the comeback victory, but was still productive, throwing for two touchdowns and 213 yards. In four starts, Minshew has thrown seven touchdowns to just one interception, which highlights his ability to keep the ball safe. However, his 7.5 ALOT will hinder his yardage totals going forward. Minshew is a decent backup QB to own moving forwards, but currently finds himself only as a plug-and-play or matchup based QB in most fantasy formats.

5. Marquise Brown, WR, Baltimore Ravens (Previous Week: 3)

Brown has found it tough sledding recently in an offense that was supposed to be one of the most explosive in the entire league. Brown was just able to muster up 22 yards on four receptions last week as the Ravne lost their second in a row, this time to Cleveland. This game could be a outlier yardage wise, as the Browns had plenty of help over the top last week to prevent these chunk yardage plays. Brown is still the WR1 in Baltimore and should see brighter times ahead.

4. David Montgomery, RB, Chicago Bears (Previous Week: 4)

Montgomery saw a jump in usage last week against Minnesota, 24 total touches, but couldn’t do much with it, 67 total yards. This matchup was always going to be a tough one for whoever was leading the Bears’ backfield, but the volume Monty received is very promising moving forward. His breakout game hasn’t happened yet, but there is a good chance that it could be here in week five against Oakland. A game that Chicago is favored to win, the Bears should elan on the run game, especially with QB, Mitch Trubisky, out for the contest. Montgomery could wind up finishing week five as a top-12 RB.

3. Miles Sanders, RB, Philadelphia Eagles (Previous Week: 5)

Sanders had his best performance on the ground against a stout Green Bay defense, rushing for 72 yards on 11 carries. However, Jordan Howard also found it nice in week four as well. Howard put up three total touchdowns and had over 100 total yards in a performance that might have his number called more often in the future. The Eagles’ backfield has been productive this season as a whole so far, but for Sanders’ sake, it is troublesome. The Eagles have a very favorable matchup against the Jets this week, and Sanders could very well have a great game, but I would leave him out of your lineup following up Howard’s fantastic week four.

2. Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Redskins (Previous Week: 1)

Terry McLaurin found himself on the sidelines in week four with a hamstring issue. There is a chance McLaurin is also inactive for their week five contest, so fantasy owners need to keep an eye on that headed into Sunday. However, his injury shouldn’t drop him down from the top of this list due to his consistent form to start his career.

1.  Josh Jacobs, RB, Oakland Raiders (Previous Week: 2)

Jacobs had 19 total touches for 108 total yards in Oakland’s week four win on the road in Indianapolis. Jacobs has been the catalyst for an Oakland offense that lost very, very disgruntled WR, Antonio Brown, to begin their season, and a big reason why Oakland has been able to capture two wins so far in 2019. Jacobs is averaging an impressive 5.0 YPC to open his NFL career and has been productive through the air when targeted. Jacobs has been more than worthy of his late third-round ADP and shows no sign of slowing down.

Just Missing Out: D.K. Metcalf, WR, Seattle Seahawks; Mecole Hardman, WR, Kansas City Chiefs; Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers; Noah Fant, TE, Denver Broncos

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