NFL Player News

Austin caught two 20-plus yard passes against the Chargers, with the first coming on a 25-yard play that helped set up a Chris Boswell field goal. His second long reception was on an impressive catch and run after he turned upfield on an intermediate throw to turn it into a long gain and a score. Austin entered the day with just two receptions, and it’s just the fourth time he’s seen five or more targets in a game. The 95 receiving yards also mark a new career-high. It was a nice day for the former fourth-round pick, but we’d wait to see a few consistent outings before chasing this outlier performance.

Coker easily paced the Panthers in receiving yards. He put over 30 yards between himself and the next Carolina receiver while also leading the team in receptions. On the other hand, much of his damage was done in garbage time. He caught two passes for 31 yards on the Panthers’ final drive. Andy Dalton and some of the starters had hit the bench by this time. The rookie from Holy Cross is an intriguing stash on deep dynasty rosters but isn’t in the redraft picture for Week 6.

Schultz is mainly catching dumpoffs, and he’s not generating much fantasy value. He’s had just one red zone target in five weeks. He’s been under 35 yards in all five weeks. It’s hard to recommend him in fantasy leagues at this point.

Out-snapping Travis Etienne as he doubled him up in carries, Bigsby had the first 100-yard performance of his career while scoring his first two touchdowns of 2024. His scores came from 19 and 65 yards out. For the 19-yarder, he emerged powerfully from a pile and broke all manner of tackles. For the 65-yarder, he took a pitch, cut back across the middle of the field, and broke several tackles en route to the house. He aced the eye test and probably moved ahead of Etienne for the time being in the Jags’ backfield pecking order. If there’s a concern, it’s that the Jags could have trouble moving the ball in Week 6 against the Bears, but Bigsby will probably find himself inside the top 30, if not top 24, in most ranks.

Kmet got behind the Panthers’ defense for a 25-yard gain in the first half. He could have picked up even more yards on the play if Caleb Williams had led him instead of underthrowing the pass. Kmet came back with a 26-yard gain later in the game as well. Despite the chunk plays, Kmet’s fantasy outlook coming off this game isn’t ideal. He was fourth on the team in targets and logged a measly 14 percent target share. It was his second week in a row with exactly four targets. With Keenan Allen back in the fold, Kmet is low in the pecking order for targets in Chicago. He sits in the TE2 ranks for his Week 6 game versus the Jaguars.

Ertz got behind the Browns defenders up the seam for what looked like a 98-yard touchdown pass, but Jayden Daniels just said the ball over his head. Granted, it’s no certainty that Ertz would have won the foot race after the catch, but it might have been nice to see him try. Instead, he ends with just two catches and a poor fantasy day. There should be bigger days ahead with the way this Commanders offense looks right now.

McCaffrey was second on the team in catches and tied for third on the team in targets but it certainly wasn’t a big day. Some of that had to do with the Commanders being up by multiple touchdowns for much of the game, but McCaffrey also isn’t seeing many targets deep down the field which caps his fantasy upside.

Allen is still looking for his breakout game as a member of the Bears. He appeared to be close to a spike week after seeing 11 targets in Week 1. That hype quickly faded after he missed two games with a heel injury. He has six catches on nine targets for 52 yards over the past two weeks combined. Despite the quiet fantasy outings, fantasy managers should hold the faith with Allen for at least one more week. Caleb Williams is getting better every week and Allen is still seeing enough targets to remain in the mix as a WR4. He will look to turn things around in the Bears’ Week 6 matchup with the Jaguars.

Brown was tied for 5th on the team in targets, but he made both of his count, including a 41-yard touchdown on a beautifully thrown fade in the back corner of the end zone. The big play was nice to see but Brown is still not seeing enough targets to make him worth rostering outside of the deepest fantasy leagues right now.

McLaurin got deep for a long would-be touchdown in the first half but Jayden Daniels sailed the pass over his head. McLaurin returned the favor in the second half by failing to haul in a fade in the back of the end zone. The coverage was good on McLaurin’s dropped touchdown, so it wasn’t a gimme but it was certainly a catch that he’s more than capable of making. This could have been a much bigger day for the 29-year-old but he remains a rock-solid WR2 with WR1 upside with Jayden Daniels under center.

He added minus-5 yards rushing if that wasn’t impressive enough for you. For a game where Nico Collins was mostly sidelined with a hamstring injury, this was a rough account for Dell. He wasn’t targeted deep and was mostly involved as a gadget guy on offense. If Collins is out for Week 6, it’s possible his route tree expands, but we’ve been making excuses for why you should believe Dell will do better than this for five weeks and it’s possible he just won’t at this point.