It’s been hard out here for a big-play back in a Zach Wilson-led offense, especially since his snaps were being limited. Then came word from coach Robert Saleh: Breece Hall would be cut loose for Week 5 against the Broncos. No more workload restrictions. The result? 22 carries for 177 yards and a touchdown. Even if you for some reason remove Hall’s 72-yard score — long runs are kind of his thing, you know — that’s 21 carries for 105 yards and a 5.0 YPC.
As was the case in Week 1, Hall’s bull case was on full display. When you give a player of Hall’s breakaway ability 15-20 carries, he’s probably going to break away on at least one or two of them. He did it on 10 handles in Week 1, but couldn’t manage it on four, 12 and six the following three weeks, respectively. Hall simply has to get the touches.
Sunday’s performance should guarantee that happens moving forward, but Wilson remains the wild card. Even against the Broncos’ No. 32 defense, Wilson had trouble sustaining drives. The Eagles’ run-tough unit is a far greater challenge for Week 6. Philly, of course, continues to get scorched through the air. That will tell the tale for both Week 6 and the Jets offense’s going-forward prospects. Can Wilson do anything against the Eagles, elongating possessions and creating volume opportunities for his big-play back? If the answer is yes we might just have a new RB1 on our hands. Even if the answer is no, Hall will still be looking like an upside RB2 heading into premium matchups with the Giants, Chargers and Raiders.
Five Week 5 Storylines
Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase serve notice they’re back. The Bengals claimed during the week that Burrow felt as good as he had since first injuring his calf in August. Although it had the feel of brave talk from a spiraling squad, there were reasons for cautious optimism heading into a winnable game against the Cardinals. We don’t need to be cautious anymore. Burrow finally welcomed himself and his No. 1 receiver to the season by slicing and dicing an overachieving but ultimately lottery level defense. Hell, Burrow even scrambled a few times. It was quite the change after Burrow’s leg was so sore he couldn’t even take under center snaps for fear of backpedaling. We have a way of declaring players “back” too quickly, but Burrow’s resurgence has a strong chance of sticking if he can survive Week 6 against the Seahawks unscathed, as the Bengals head on bye in Week 7.
Anthony Richardson suffers third injury in four games. Three weeks ago we wrote about the promise and the peril of Richardson. It’s been far too much of the latter with the young quarterback seemingly having no idea how to protect himself from some of the largest humans on the planet. Richardson is now out for a month-plus, rendering his rookie season a wash and creating legitimate questions about how he plans to scale his admittedly monumental skill-set to the highest level. Richardson’s rushing ability is what makes him special, but his passing will never improve if his legs keep taking him off the field. In the meantime, check-down legend Gardner Minshew should supply plenty of PPR goodness for Michael Pittman (WR2) and Josh Downs (WR4).
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Daniel Jones re-injures neck as Giants’ disaster deepens. There remains no sugarcoating this one. The Giants ran back a 2022 plan that hit an inside straight on the river. They aren’t getting the cards this time. Now they could be losing one of their only offensive weapons, Jones’ rushing. That’s because even if Jones avoids any missed time, how willing is a twice neck-injured quarterback going to be to literally put his neck on the line? And if Jones isn’t rushing, he isn’t doing anything for you. “Dimes” has remained steadfast in his refusal to improve as a passer, not that this skill corps even makes it possible. If there’s any good news, it’s that it’s hard to see how Tyrod Taylor could be worse for Darren Waller’s fantasy prospects than Jones.
Miles Sanders’ grip on starting job further loosens. Out-carried by Chuba Hubbard for the second consecutive week, Sanders also lost a fumble in the Panthers’ dispiriting Lions loss. It’s true that the vast majority of Hubbard’s work came in the second half of a blowout defeat, but how exactly is that supposed to be good news for Sanders? You know when the Panthers are going to need work in the second half of a blowout defeat? This Sunday in Miami. And most Sundays after that. Although Sanders reclaimed some lost passing-game work in Motown, he has opened up too many avenues to potential Hubbard success. Hubbard may not “win” as a FLEX option, but Sanders has already lost as an RB2.
James Conner buckles under the strain of carrying Cardinals’ offense. The one guarantee of giving Conner 15-20 weekly touches is that he will get injured. It happened Sunday against the Bengals, though Conner claimed afterwards his knee was “feeling OK.” That’s an indication he has avoided a season-ending injury. It doesn’t change the fact that he’s now lost his primary avenue to RB2 value: Dominating all of the Cardinals’ most important touches. The door has been opened for UDFA Emari Demercado, as well as Keaontay Ingram if he can recover from his neck issue. The Cardinals stuck with their Conner plan as long as possible. Reality has set in and every-week RB2 value isn’t terribly likely to return.
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Five More Week 5 Storylines
Cooper Kupp picks up where he left off in 2023 debut. Surely Kupp won’t just keep running wide open and getting schemed the ball at will, right? *Kupp catches four passes on first drive of 2023* Ahh, well, nevertheless. Not that we, or anyone, were surprised. Kupp, coach Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford have superpowers when grouped together, and Kupp’s hamstring is healthy enough to do its part for the time being. The surprising part is that Puka Nacua should continue to do the same. Sunday made it clear that Kupp is going to remain the “1A” in this receiver corps, but Nacua provided hope for a “1B” role, one where he should sometimes take the lead. It’s the best development possible for the Rams. If your defense neutralizes Kupp, you still have to deal with Nacua. That’s the Plan B that never came in 2022. This offense is in a much better place, and Nacua will be a top-18 option as Kupp settles back into the top 12.
Jonathan Taylor’s role as limited as possible in 2023 debut. We knew Taylor was going to be snap-counted in his first appearance. We didn’t know he would be on the field for 10 plays as Zack Moss had a career day. Moss took the rock 23 times for 165 yards and two touchdowns, pulling a Taylor when he housed a 56-yard score. We know Taylor’s role will only grow moving forward, but how much can Moss’s dwindle? Part of Taylor’s fantasy appeal has always reliant on the fact that he’s out there for essentially every play. That’s not going to be the case for at least several weeks. What did you win when you stashed Taylor? For now, it’s looking like a frustratingly low-floor RB2 instead of the high-upside RB1 you gambled on.
Desmond Ridder has first good start of his career. Ridder didn’t just have his best game, he had his best half. That would be the second, where he completed 18-of-21 throws for 201 yards (9.5 YPA) and a touchdown as he did something that had not previously seemed to be in his range of outcomes: Put the offense on his back. One good game, one good half … we try not to overreact to these things. But it is worth a reaction when it was increasingly questionable whether this was even possible for Atlanta’s second-year starter. Now Arthur Smith knows it is, too. Maybe he will actually open up the playbook a bit and let Ridder target studs like Drake London and Kyle Pitts with greater regularity. A Commanders defense that just got annihilated by a similarly-struggling young quarterback in Justin Fields is on tap for Week 6.
Dallas Goedert finally regresses to the mean. Goedert not only had his first 100-yard game of the season, he had the first 100-yard effort by any tight end all year. How is that possible, and how was it Goedert after he entered Week 5 with 88 total yards through four games? We’re not sure, but we’ll take it. Caution does abound. The Eagles’ coaching staff talked up getting Goedert involved during the week then made sure he caught five passes on the opening drive, including his touchdown. Awesome, but schemed. Goedert had only three grabs the rest of the afternoon. Then there is the matter of his Week 6 matchup, the Jets’ elite defense. It was good to see Goedert’s 2023 horizons broadened. but he is still the third option in a run-dominated offense.
Mac Jones paves the way for Bailey Zappe. Genuinely, it was difficult to believe Jones could play worse than he did in Week 4. He did so with gusto against the Saints, climbing the pocket to nowhere before throwing a ghastly pick-six, tossing another pick for good measure, and losing a fumble. Oh, he completed 12 passes for 110 yards in the worst home loss in Patriots history, too. This center cannot hold, something Bill Belichick admitted when he said the plan for Week 6 was to “start over.” Maybe it will still be Jones under center against the Raiders, but the T.V. cameras can only capture Bailey Zappe playing catch on the sideline so many times. Jones’ New England end seems to have had its beginning.
Questions
1. Do the Dolphins understand that these opposing players and coaches have families?
2. Seriously: Does Kirk Cousins ever weary of this?
3. Does Mike McCarthy ever weary of this?
Early Waivers Look (Players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)
QB: Sam Howell (@ATL), Jimmy Garoppolo (vs. NE), Derek Car (@HOU), Joshua Dobbs (@LAR), Bryce Young (@MIA), Desmond Ridder (vs. WAS), Gardner Minshew (@JAX)
RB: Roschon Johnson, Ezekiel Elliott, Chuba Hubbard, D’Onta Foreman, Justice Hill, Tyjae Speas, Jamaal Williams, Jeff Wilson
WR: Rashee Rice, Josh Downs, Jonathan Mingo, Quentin Johnston, Curtis Samuel, Kadarius Toney
TE: Logan Thomas, Dalton Schultz, Chig Okonkwo, Jonnu Smith
DEF: Jaguars (vs. IND), Falcons (vs. WAS), Vikings (@MIN), Titans (vs. BAL), Rams (vs. AZ), Browns (vs. SF)
Stats of the Week
Devon Achane’s 11.3 yards per carry from his 203-yard outburst in Week 3 is his lowest YPC of the past three weeks. At some point the young man will have a Sunday without a house call, but it’s pretty hard to stop the literal fastest player in the NFL when Mike McDaniel’s scheme has him running full speed before the ball is even snapped.
Via ESPN Stats and Info: “Mac Jones’ first-quarter interception was his fourth career pick-six thrown at Gillette Stadium. That’s as many as Tom Brady threw at Gillette his entire career.”
Sheil Kapadia on the Patriots’ offensive futility: “There have been 154 league-wide offensive performances so far this season. Among that sample, the Patriots’ last two games rank 152nd and 153rd in EPA per drive. Patriots are averaging a league-worst 10.6 points per game on offense. After today’s game, they are also 32nd in EPA per drive.”
The Ravens had seven drops against the Steelers, including two in the end zone. That is the most by any team in a game all season.
Awards Section
Week 5 Fantasy All-Pro Team: QB Justin Fields, RB Travis Etienne, RB Zack Moss, WR Ja’Marr Chase, WR DJ Moore, WR Tyreek Hill, TE George Kittle
Tweet of the Week, from Celebrity Hot Tub on Cowboys DC Dan Quinn’s pre-game attire: What you wear when John Wick is gonna kill you in the first 40 minutes.
Tweet of the Week II, from @crumbbutler: Zay Jones saying “crisps” and “quid” after spending seven straight weeks in London.
Patriots Tweet of the Week, from Michael Hurley: The Patriots’ third-down play-calling options: A) Jump ball to DeVante Parker B) Jump ball to Devante Parker, but slightly different.
