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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
Week 5 Fantasy Football Quarterback and Tight End Rankings & Tiers: Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1747)
00:21:45
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- [00:00]
iHeart Podcast Announcer
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Matt Jones
Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining and twice a week that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover 0 with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
- [00:38]
Chris Welsh
Hello, friends and welcome into fantasy Pros. This is the fantasy football podcast. I'm Chris Welsh and today we have got quarterback and tight end ranks. Top 12 quarterbacks, top 12 tight ends. Hopefully answering some of the big questions for week five. And joining me is Andrew Erickson and Pat Fitz Morris. As always, we are going to be tackling the big dogs, the big stuff. And gentlemen, I haven't been good at quarterbacks. It's actually my worst ranking. But I rank 5 on the season at tight end. So would you like to start taking my advice for tight ends?
- [01:07]
Andrew Erickson
That depends.
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Pat Fitzmaurice
Crickets.
- [01:09]
Andrew Erickson
Are you gonna. Are you gonna tell me to start Darren Waller this week? Because I'd like to know because I got Tucker Craft on by Welsh. I need help.
- [01:15]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Welsh is a 49ers fan. He's going to tell you to start Jake Tonjas.
- [01:20]
Chris Welsh
If you're in a two tight end league or Scott Fishbowl, you should go get ton just 100%. But no, I mean that's going to plummet away.
- [01:26]
Pat Fitzmaurice
You and I play in a two tight end league together. Welsh, do you have Jake Tonjas in that league?
- [01:32]
Chris Welsh
Oh, do I? No, I don't think I do. Isn't it. Isn't that what is. Oh, that's our pentathlon. No, I do not. I should have picked. I have really good tight ends unfortunately, so I just can't start Tanjis. But we'll see if you guys can start Tanjis at the end of the day. And what quarterbacks you might want to jump in and start streaming. There's some pretty interesting names, gentlemen. We're going to be jumping into it. But a couple pieces of Note for everybody. Fantasypros.com rankings if you guys want to follow along. Consensus ranks change throughout the week. I don't know if the quarterbacks are going to change too much, especially with like bye weeks and whatnot. But there are some decent questions outside the top 12 into the streaming market. So go to fantasybros.com rankings if you guys want to check that out as well. We love our giveaways. We love hooking you guys up. And this is your chance. If you guys want to win the funniest, most infamous prize in fantasy football, the Golden Toilet trophy, courtesy of our friends at Trophy Smack, the number one destination for epic fantasy football hardware, then this is your moment. This shining gold toilet is the ultimate symbol of failure, designed to immortalize the last place finisher in your league. It's hilarious, it's bold, and it's guaranteed to bring endless trash talk. Boy, we need one of these at Fantasy Pros and we need the loser to have to put it on their backdrop. Oh, it would be beautiful to enter. All you got to do is subscribe to Fantasy Pro's YouTube channel right now and drop a comment below on any of our videos. And that's it. We'll be announcing a winner right here on the channel, so be sure to turn on notifications so you don't miss your chance to win this trophy and make last place unforgettable. Gentlemen, it's quarterback time. Top 12 quarterbacks for Week 5. Let's look at the big board. Starting with Josh Allen at number one, we've got Jalen Hurts at two, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Justin Fields at five, followed by Jaden Daniels. Injury stuff is still floating out there, but that's, you know, his marker. Drake May, Daniel Jones, Jared Goff, Kyler Murray Murray, Baker Mayfield and Dak Prescott. That's your top 12. Let's start with Justin Fields. He is number five. That's kind of a big eye opener. You guys both have them as QB1s top seven quarterback, I suppose, but you guys are on other ends of it. Fitz, you've got him at seven. Erickson, you've got him at four this week. Erickson, let's start with you on this and I think the easy thing to discuss is the Dallas defense is absolutely atrocious, but is it enough for a guy like Fields and the way he passes and the amount that he passes to make him this fantasy relevant? Obviously you have met four, so I think you're going to say yes. The only thing keeping me off of it is just like give me a big high volume passing quarterback and they're going to throw for three touchdowns versus the Cowboys. Fields is in a little bit of a different spot.
- [04:10]
Andrew Erickson
Well, give me the quarterback that can rush for a 60 yard touchdown. Like that's the guy I want. I mean, that's the easiest way for him. To score fantasy points. So against Dallas, I think you're comparing or you're adding the passing bump just based on the fact that the Dallas Cowboys defense is terrible. In addition to the layer of rushing that Justin Fields offers every single week when he's healthy, I think he's a top five quarterback this week. Just don't overthink the matchup.
- [04:34]
Chris Welsh
Also, Braylon Allen is going to be out, so it's like one less running back that's out there. Not that they were necessarily going to go to him in the red zone, but it's just one more reason. My only argument to that you're like the coolest thing is he could rush for a 60 yard to get. That's about the only thing. I mean, there is a little bit of passing, but this defense provides an opportunity for Garrett Wilson to kind of thrive. Fitzy, you are, you know, slightly lower. But again, these are still like really aggressive ranks for Justin Fields.
- [04:58]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, I should probably move him up like. Fields is averaging 59.3 rushing yards a game, has three touchdown runs in three games. Fields passing numbers really haven't been that bad. And he is going up against that putrid Dallas pass defense that has been by far the worst pass defense in the league. I'm just like, I'm terrified by how low the passing game floor can be with Fields, as we saw back in week two when he had like three completions going into the fourth quarter. Like he's just not a good passer. But admittedly this is probably a spot where Justin Fields passing ability doesn't really matter much. Like if you can throw a spiral, you can torch the Dallas pass defense. I can think of no play that better illustrated how bad the Dallas pass defense is this year than in that Sunday night game where early on Jordan Love just uncorks this deep throw and Matthew golden and Don Tavian Wicks are both running wide open side by side. They've both gotten by the defense and like I thought they were going to collide and it was going to fall incomplete. But at the last second, Don Tavian Wicks had the good sense to just get out of the way and let Matthew golden catch it. I mean, this Dallas pass defense is absolutely flammable.
- [06:11]
Chris Welsh
That that play looked like a play in Madden, by the way, where you just throw it and there's like five people available. You don't know who caught it, but all of a sudden the gameplay is still going. You're like, so I caught it. I don't know. It was a really odd play. There's a little part of me maybe and you shouldn't do this, but you're a little gun shy like Caleb Williams was kind of last week. Justin Fields and he bombed out and you start you, you know, I think starting him over like a guy like Patrick Mahomes, that really hurt. So there's a little bit of that. But the defense is just so bad. Justin Fields can do so much with his legs. It's creates a really good spot. Al just pointing out since we're going to actually move out of the top 12 on a couple names that you guys have higher. Drake May I think this is like the third straight week where he is ranked inside the top eight. Something to consider. He just kind of keeps rolling. Jared Goff, though he is an indoor cat, has got the cats that have absolutely no defense at all in the Cincinnati Bengals. So it's a really good opportunity. Daniel Jones is off of a stinker, but you know, it was the Raiders, so those are some of the interesting ones that are floating out there. Matthew Stafford, we got this question on our out of bounds show, which is live on Twitch. You guys can check out Mondays at 12 p. I always forget that. 2pm Eastern. 2pm Eastern, that's me. Piece of PM Bogman live show. And you guys can answer questions while we're kind of going through it. And I had somebody do this. Why is Matthew Stafford always ranked so low? Specifically they're like, why is he ranked lower than Kyler Murray? It's like, why is he ranked low when he keeps performing at the level that he does? You guys kind of agree because you both have him quite a bit higher than consensus. He is ECR 17 at quarterback. Fitzyou've got him at 13 and Erickson, you got him at 11, so you've got him as a starting quarterback this week. So Erickson, let's start with you on Matthew Stafford.
- [07:52]
Andrew Erickson
I think that we feel confident that the Rams are going to lay the smackdown on this 49ers team. And that means, I mean, Matthew Stafford's on the team like he's, he's going to be along for the ride if he's throwing touchdowns or starting to see him gel a little bit more with Devonte Adams. And Adams isn't just going to go scoreless in the red zone all year long. I mean, he has two catches in the red zone on 10 red zone targets. Now they finally ended up scoring a red zone touchdown last week. Adams has been scoring touchdowns the last three weeks outside the red zone. So I think Stafford is Still good for at least two passing touchdowns. Could see him throwing for 200, 255 passing yards and he's actually improved every week in terms of his fantasy scoring and where his fantasy standing has been since the beginning of the season. So I'm not overthinking this one. The Rams have the fourth highest implied team total. So the way that I think Stafford disappoints is Kyren Williams ends up scoring three rushing touchdowns. Like that's how this doesn't work out for you. But I don't like kind of playing it that way. The process says, hey, Stafford and the Rams are going to score a lot of points. He is the starting quarterback. You should play him in fantasy. And if Kyron beats me because he scores all the touchdowns, then so be it. But yeah, I want to start Stafford this week.
- [09:00]
Chris Welsh
Being a little bit dicey about this because this is a Thursday night game pinning when people are watching this like it's over for people. Let me ask you this, Fitz. Matthew Stafford or Baker Mayfield in week five?
- [09:10]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I right now have Baker Mayfield ranked a little higher, but I don't feel good about it with no Mike Evans and a bunch of offensive linemen hurt for the Buccaneers. So I might have to change that. But Baker Mayfield does give you the mobility in the rushing. Whereas you know, Matthew Stafford is the, the Statue of Liberty is more mobile than Matthew Stafford. So. But like Stafford is averaging almost 270 passing yards a game, 269.6 and two touchdown passes a game. And Stafford has the best one two punch at wide receiver of any quarterback in the league with Pukaniku and Devonte Adams. Like, my only real concern about Stafford this week is that the injury plagued 49ers just can't score enough to force Stafford to keep his foot on the gas all game.
- [10:00]
Chris Welsh
A guy that looks like he might end up being. I'm not trying to put words in your guys's mouth, but one of your favorite streamers of this week who's Outside the top 12 is Sam Darnold. Sam Darnold's got an ECR of 18. You both have got him higher. Erickson's got him the highest. But Fitz, we'll start with you. You've got him at 15. Is that like a fair thing that you think Sam Darnold is a really solid streaming option this week, especially if you've got like quarterback problems?
- [10:24]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, Darnold is QB21 in fantasy scoring right now, but since week two, Darnold is quarterback 14 in fantasy scoring. He had a real quiet week one. 150 passing yards, no touchdowns, but he has been playing really well. Welsh 70% completion percentage a league high 9.1 yards per pass attempt. Like the only real issue with Darnold has been that the Seahawks are the second run heaviest team in the league right now. They're running the ball in 53% of their offensive snaps and Darnold is only averaging 25 pass attempts per game. But then again, because the Seahawks are a run first team, it's going to elevate Darnold's efficiency because when you run the ball well, opponents can't turn the pass rush loose on you and play action passes are that much more effective because opponents have to honor the run.
- [11:12]
Chris Welsh
Erickson, Darnold, you've got it 13, so you've really got him up there. He almost made a QB one for you. I think we were talking off air about him. Give us your breakdown on why you like Darnold this week.
- [11:22]
Andrew Erickson
Seattle has a top 10 implied team total on the week playing at home. The Buccaneers are down some of their cornerbacks. Morrison, Jamal Dean, both got injured last week. So their status for playing in this game in week five is tbd. And we know the Buccaneers defense, they sell out to stop the run. That's what Todd Walls is all about. So if they're going to give Sam Darnold more favorable looks in the passing game, JSN, despite basically no involvement in the first half in Week 4, still ends up having a solid outing in just a half a football. So if he has a monster game, is catching touchdowns, goes over 100 yards, well, Sam Darnold is going to be part of that and benefit from those scoring points. So maybe not a massive yardage game for Sam Darnold unless someone rips off a big play. But I think like Fitz said, he can be highly efficient as a pass. Here, go get two touchdowns, 200 yards and be a solid starter.
- [12:13]
Chris Welsh
Let's go to tight ends. We got a big board for the top 12 tight ends this week. It starts with Trey McBride coming in at number one, Brock Bowers at two, followed by Tyler Warren, Jake Ferguson, Hunter Henry, that's your top five. Sam Laporta at six, Dalton Kincaid, Juwan Johnson, Travis Kelce, Dallas Goddard, Mark Andrews and T.J. hawkinson. You know, big core stuff. Ferguson has kind of implanted himself into that top five with Dak Prescott. Now Hunter Henry could deserve some conversation, but he's the new Chris Carter. All he does is catch touchdowns. So we kind of know where he Sits on there. Let's talk about Mark Andrews. Mark Andrews comes in at ECR 11. You guys both have him slightly lower. He's gonna have Cooper Rush at quarterback. Isaiah likely didn't do anything last week. He's back but he is back in general. Cooper Rush is the worry about what this offense is going to be though. We can have that conversation about like backup quarterbacks, maybe safety netting it to Mark Andrews. Erickson, you know you and I are always talking about Mark Andrews. What's your take on this? Cooper Rush is not good for this offense. But could Cooper Rush be good for Mark Andrews? You have him as your 13th tight end. So not a starter.
- [13:21]
Andrew Erickson
Not a starter, no. Lamar Jackson is a no thanks for me when it comes to Mark Andrews. Mark Andrews biggest appeal attached to Lamar Jackson was that was his red zone guy. We know that when Lamar Jackson is throwing one and a half passing touchdowns over almost every single week. I look because I bet it last week and of course he only throws one touchdown. Of course that's not going to be the case. I mean Cooper Rush to throw over one half touchdowns, I mean that's going to be at some heavy plus money.
- [13:46]
Chris Welsh
For Cooper Rush to throw 500 maybe.
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Andrew Erickson
So the odds are very, very low that Andrews even catches a touchdown. And if he's not catching a touchdown then, then what are you getting from him if he's then splitting routes with Isaiah likely. So Mark Andrews is a strong fade for me this week and I kind of have him in this spot here tight end 13 because he's Mark Andrews. But when you just zoom out and look at some of these other streaming guys that might just have better touchdown odds, I think I might just roll the dice with one of those players because if I could bet against Mark Andrews not scoring touchdown this week, that's what I would bet on.
- [14:19]
Chris Welsh
Mark Andrews becomes like the Bob's. What would you say you do here? Do you know that reference?
- [14:24]
Andrew Erickson
Erickson? Yes.
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Pat Fitzmaurice
Office Phase.
- [14:25]
Andrew Erickson
I love that movie.
- [14:26]
Chris Welsh
Yes, we got it. All right, the Bob's here. Fitz, what do you think? Is this a Bob situation or can Andrews do a little bit more? Can he jump to a better conclusion?
- [14:34]
Pat Fitzmaurice
It's a Bob situation. Like I've got him at tight end 12. I'm probably gonna have to move him down. Sounds like I'm of of like mind with Erickson. And on top of everything Erickson mentioned the drastically reduced touchdown outlook. You know although maybe you would appoint Walsh about Andrews is just a safety valve for Cooper Rush but then at best he probably has A line like he had last week when he had eight targets, seven catches and only 30 yards with no touchdowns, which, I don't know, maybe this week, that's okay at tight end. But yeah, like I'm also worried about with Isaiah likely being back in action. Mark Andrews route participation dropped to just under 50% last week. That is no bueno if you are a Mark Andrews stakeholder.
- [15:22]
Chris Welsh
One guy you guys are in, we were talking off air. You both seem to be into is ECR tight end 14, so not listed on here. But Erickson's got him at 10. Fitz, you've got him at 13. Erickson, we'll start with you on this one. Brenton Strange. You're big into Brenton Strange this week. You've got him over Andrews and probably a couple other significant tight ends. So let us hear why you like Brenton Strange so much.
- [15:45]
Andrew Erickson
He is Trevor Lawrence's security blanket before Evan Ingram kind of fell off the face of the earth in fantasy football. He was really productive with Trevor Lawrence, and I think we're starting to see that carry over from last year where we haven't seen the connection between Brian Thomas Jr. And Trevor Lawrence flourish like we thought it could. But the connection with Breton Strange is real. Strange is fifth in the NFL and tight end receptions this season. So I think the ceiling is always attached to does he score a touchdown or not. But Strange is seeing steady volume in this offense. Travis Hunter is always up and down with his usage, depending on if he's playing offense or if he's playing defense. So I think Strange has a higher floor this week against the Chiefs. Again, it's not the best matchup, but I think that the floor he's offering every single week, catching five balls, I think is worth starting.
- [16:32]
Chris Welsh
Bitsy, did you flip on this? Because I feel like we were talking off air and a little bit on air. You have Andrews at 12 and you've got Strange at 13. Does that feel like something you want to flip Strange over him?
- [16:43]
Pat Fitzmaurice
It does feel like something I want to flip. So, yeah, I'm probably going to move up Brenton Strange past Mark Andrews and Man Welch. If you would have told a Jacksonville Jaguars fan before the season that after four weeks Brenton Strange would be leading the Jaguars in receiving yardage, I don't think they would have been all that pleased, probably aghast, actually, with Brian Thomas Jr. Coming off that sensational rookie year and Travis Hunter the number two pick in the draft that they sacrificed quite a bit to move up and get. So yeah, I mean, the Jaguars passing game just looks kind of limited right now with Trevor Lawrence. And as Erickson mentioned, there's sort of that security blanket factor similar to what we saw with Evan Ingram in his, what was it, 114 catch season A couple of years ago. So my only concern here is that the matchup is pretty tough. Like the Chiefs have allowed the fourth fewest fantasy points to tight end. So not a great matchup for Strange.
- [17:44]
Chris Welsh
The final question, and it will probably be the most asked question this week, to Waller or to not Waller? Darren Waller was back. He got touchdowns. There's no Tyreek Hill. There's theoretically options open, but is he washed? There discussions behind the scenes fantasy pros about Darren Waller's ranks like it's never ending. So Fitzy to Waller or to not waller this week? ECR17, you've got him at 15. I'm not sure the rank tells us. I mean, I don't know, 15 actually might be this. Tell us the story that you want to Waller this week.
- [18:18]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I guess I do. And like Erickson, the irony of me having Darren Waller ranked higher than you after I excoriated you and Debro a couple years ago for having him ranked way too high in your draft rankings. No, but the situation here. I realize Waller only played 16 snaps against the jets on Monday night, only a 28% Snapchat. But you have to figure the snap counts are going to increase for Waller as he gets his conditioning back. And obviously without Tyreek Hill, the Dolphins are going to need other pass catchers to step up. And I'm, I'm trying not to just overreact to the touchdowns. But then again, Waller is a very credible red zone threat because he's 6 foot 6 and has the wingspan of a pterodactyl. So yeah, I guess I'm kind of in on Darren Waller this week.
- [19:09]
Chris Welsh
Yeah, it's not just like a, like a Josh Oliver catching two touchdown situation. It's a guy that can like actually, you know, get target share. And that snap percentage could take. It could slowly increase. It could go from 28 to maybe like 40 or something. But it also could take a huge leap with need. Erickson, what do you think? What are your thoughts on Darren Waller? Because you're going to get asked a lot about it.
- [19:30]
Andrew Erickson
Yeah. So I had to move him up significantly. So I moved him up to tight end 11 because I just had to capitulate that this guy's going to catch a touchdown again and if he catches a touchdown, he's going to be a top 12 tight end. And when I'm making my own waiver wire ads because I have Tucker Craft in every single league. Tucker crafts on by. So I have to go to the waiver wire and the first guy I'm looking for is where's Darren Waller? I got to find this guy because I think with me, with Waller, it's never been about ability. I've always thought Waller, even in his twilight years, let's, let's call him that. His twilight years. He's been effective when he's been on the field. Like the issue has been he's always hurt. Right now he's not hurt. He's healthy, he's ready to go. And there's an opportunity for volume in an offense that no longer has Tyree Kill. Yes. And he's playing the Carolina Panthers. Great matchup for tight ends. Gave up a touchdown to Hunter Henry last week. They're one of the worst against tight ends in terms of dvoa. So yes, Dale Waller is your streamer of the week because if he scores, you're going to be happy that you start him especially in the half ppr. So yeah, let's go Waller.
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Chris Welsh
By the way, if you saw me and Fitzy both react when you said that on our sheet Erickson had him at 18. We were not aware that you had done that is because I was trying to.
- [20:46]
Andrew Erickson
Because I've been the Waller guy. I was trying to practice some discipline. Be like, okay, can't get carried away here. He got two touchdowns.
- [20:52]
Chris Welsh
Throw it out the window.
- [20:53]
Andrew Erickson
They're gonna think that I'm just point chasing. But then I just looked at it versus all the other tight ends that I have no interest in whatsoever. It was all right. Back to where it started, baby. With Darren Waller and his rap album.
- [21:07]
Chris Welsh
There you go. Well put it on, put it on repeat the whole weekend and start your Darren Wallers. And we got your questions for you. There you go. That's going to wrap up quarterbacks and tight ends. You go to fantasypros.com rankings if you want to check out how this all is going to sparse out. I'm gonna tell you right now, Erickson moving him to 11, that's going to have some effect and see where the rest of the rankers go and what Darren Waller sits at. Plus your other streaming quarterbacks and all the positions fantasyprose.com/ Rankings will get you hooked up. For Andrew Erickson and Pat Fitzmaurice, I'm Chris Welsh. Good luck in your week five. Hopefully the ranks helped you out. We'll talk to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros.
- [21:40]
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- [22:23]
Matt Jones
Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that?
- [22:37]
Andrew Erickson
Oh my.
- [22:38]
Matt Jones
We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
- [22:56]
Chris Welsh
I'm Dan. He's Ty.
- [22:57]
Matt Jones
Hello.
- [22:58]
Chris Welsh
And we're the solid verbal college football podcast. Tune in for previews, recaps, bits you won't hear anywhere else, and all the emotional support you need as a college football fan. Join us all season long as we ride the rollercoaster of this ridiculous sport. Listen to the solid verbal college football podcasts on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. We don't just love college football, Ty. We live it.
- [23:26]
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