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Which running backs will shine in Week 5 for your fantasy football teams? We’ll take a look at all of them in our PPR rankings.
Welcome to Week 5 of the fantasy football season. We’re still early enough to take those 0-4 teams and turn them around, but it’s going to take a little luck and some smart decisions. Hopefully you made a smart decision a while back and drafted Derrick Henry, because that guy is still quite good at footballing. So good in fact that he leads the league in rushing yards and is tied with Alvin Kamara in the touchdown lead. The Ravens will need to continue keeping games close and hopefully getting out to a lead to help Henry see his full complement of touches, but he’ll continue to get his in this offense.
Other than Henry, Kenneth Walker was also fantasy week-winner on Monday night, as he went for three touchdowns against the tough Lions run defense. He was also coming off an abdominal issue, which makes this huge showing even better for Walker backers. The Seahawks are playing some great offensive football under Ryan Grubb and Geno Smith right now and we should continue to look to them for fantasy goodness.
Week 5 running back bye weeks
David Montgomery, Jammer Gibbs, J.K. Dobbins, Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears
Week 5 running back injuries
Nick Chubb, Browns
Chubb is going to practice this week as his return from I.R. window will start the first week he is eligible to return. When he makes his debut and if he is effective are questions we can’t answer right now, but if for some reason he is on waivers, grab him asap.
Jonathon Brooks, Panthers
Brooks, unlike Chubb, won’t be designated to return this week. Hopefully that will happen next week, but they are going to make sure the top running back in the draft is 100% before putting him out there. And with Chuba Hubbard playing so well, there really is no need to get Brooks into games quickly.
Jonathan Taylor, Colts
Taylor suffered an ankle injury in Week 4. The severity is in question, but the odds of him playing against the Jaguars in Week 5 seem quite long. Trey Sermon is the running back to grab if Taylor can’t miraculously heal.
Joe Mixon, Texans
Mixon returned to practice in Week 4, but wasn’t cleared to play. The odds of him playing in Week 5 appear to be good at this point. If he goes, he’ll face a Bills defense that just gave up 190 yards rushing to Derrick Henry.
Tyler Badie, Broncos
Badie had to be taken off the field on a board in Week 4 after suffering a back injury, but it appears that was mostly them being cautious, as he appears to not have suffered a season-ending injury. We can’t expect him to return soon, but the news overall is good.
Raheem Mostert, Dolphins
Mostert appeared close to returning in Week 4 from his chest injury, but the team decided to hold him out another week. Until Tua Tagovailoa returns though, we can’t rely on any Dolphins fantasy players.
Week 5 running back sleepers
Javonte Williams, Broncos vs. Raiders
The Broncos-Jets game was absolutely atrocious and all evidence of that matchup needs to be shot into the sun. But, we did see a little life out of Williams in a game where Bo Nix totaled 60 passing yards and was negative seven passing yards at halftime. Williams ran the ball 16 times for 77 yards and caught two passes, as he rushed for more than the team passed.
This week the Broncos return home to take on division rival Las Vegas. The Raiders have been better at stopping the pass than run this season, and 26th in run defense EPA and 25th in fantasy points allowed to running backs. Add in the fact that the Raiders won’t have Davante Adams on offense, and this game could be low-scoring, giving Williams plenty of chances on the ground.
Tyler Allgeier, Falcons vs. Buccaneers
It’s not usually fun to start a backup running back in fantasy, but Allgeier continues to show that he is an above average back who is unfortunately behind a top back who was drafted early in Bijan Robinson. But, Allgeier won some work last week and looked good and this week he gets a Buccaneers team that ranks dead last in run defense EPA.
