Lineup Advice: Week 5
Week 5
BYE WEEKS: Lions, Dolphins
We’ve got some intriguing games here in week five:
LAR @ SEA
Gurley scored twice from the ground in week four but on five, FIVE, rushing attempts. He did haul in seven receptions totaling 54 yards, nearly doubling his reception total on the year in this game alone, but the rushing attempts were pathetic. For the record, Gurley looks fine running the ball but head coach Sean McVay is throwing curveballs to the defense, coming up with unique game plans that opposing teams can’t hope to figure out ahead of time. But for Gurley owners, it’s frustrating and his outlook for the foreseeable future is a complete mystery. No mystery for Cooper Kupp owners – start him everywhere.
MIN @ NYG
Rookie slinger Daniel Jones looked so-so on Sunday in a big win over the Redskins and he’ll be finally tested against a good defense when the Giants host the Vikings. The big story here is really Wayne Gallman who looked awesome in his first start. I’ve always liked Gallman, who hails from Clemson, and he’s under-appreciated. He has three-down size and capability but is missing a certain dynamic. That said, as he proved on Sunday, he’s more than capable and scored twice on 24 touches, once on the ground and once through the air. The Vikings allow 94 rushing yards per game so he’ll have to work for his production. He’s a flex play at best this week. Dalvin Cook is an RB1 without question and we need to see a lot more from Stefon Diggs. What gives?
TB @ NO
The surging Bucs head to NOLA to take on the 3-1 Saints. Chris Godwin became a four-letter word on Sunday when all signs were that he would be extremely limited due to a hip injury, if he played at all. He was benched in most lineups and then promptly put up a ridiculous stat-line of 12/172/2. Ri-diculous! We live and learn. The Bucs have a top defense against the run, allowing only 59 ypg. You can’t sit Alvin Kamara but you may want to reduce expectations. Just to rub salt into the wound, did I mention Godwin was the top fantasy producer in week four? Yes, I benched him in ALL my lineups as well.
JAX @ CAR
Leonard Fournette blew up, finally, and ran for an angry 225 yards but somehow didn’t score a touchdown. He has zero on the year. Carolina allows 131 rushing yards per game so expect another big dose of Fournette but you have to worry about his health with that workload. At quarterback, the Gardner Minshew hype train steams on. So let me get this right, since taking over for Nick Foles, Minshew has thrown seven touchdowns to one interception?!? On the negative side, over that same stretch he’s taken 10 sacks, nine in the last three weeks and he hasn’t thrown for more than 213 yards since week one. On the other side of the ball, Kyle Allen came back to earth in a big way throwing for 232 yards, no touchdowns and took three sacks, burning owners in the process. Carolina allows only 182 passing ypg. so Minshew has the tougher match-up in week five it would seem. Going to be fun to watch.
ATL @ HOU
The only reason this is on my radar is because of DeAndre Hopkins and Deshaun Watson. Hopkins hasn’t scored since week one and is averaging only five receptions and 50 receiving yards per contest over the past three weeks. That’s not going to get it done for, arguably, the top wide-out in the game. For his part, Watson has been incredibly streaky with a total of six touchdowns in two weeks and two games without a single touchdown. To his credit his only interception came in week one but we need to see him get on track and more consistent ASAP. The Falcons allow 222 yards per contest – read that how you like. It’s a mediocre match-up for the Texans in week five and this is far more about Watson’s performance here. On the side of the Falcons, Devonta Freeman has been terrible, logging three games in which he didn’t rush for more than 30 yards. Nor does he have a touchdown yet this season. But Austin Hooper fans rejoice! Hooper is on pace for more than 100 receptions, 1,200 yards and eight touchdowns. Something tells me he’ll cool off but if he doesn’t, he’s going to have a monster season!
Good luck out there. Stay thirsty my friends (I’ve always wanted to say that).
Game on!
2019 Lineup Advice – PLEASE READ before posting
To our knowledge, DLF is the only fantasy site that answers your specific lineup questions all seventeen weeks of the NFL regular season and into the post-season as well. It’s just another feature we offer our valued premium subscribers.
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2019 Lineup Advice
Each year as we near kick-off off of the new season and begin developing our in-season content plan, one of my fellow DLF co-owners approaches me and asks: “You going to do lineup advice again?” After all, from the first year we started offering “personalized” lineup advice to DLF members each and every week of the NFL season, our membership has grown eight-fold. It’s no longer a simple or quick process.
Simply put, I wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s part of our value proposition to each of you and, most importantly, it’s one of the ways I get to know our members individually. Interfacing with each of you is what makes what we’re doing here so special, and we very much hope you see and enjoy that difference. We’re a unicorn in the fantasy space.
But our growing membership base is forcing me to make a few changes to ensure I can keep up with the volume and still provide the quality input you’ve come to expect. Rare are the questions which I can simply “pop off” an answer to. With each one, I research up to seven different variables to arrive at my response and that takes time.
Please see below for my notes concerning this service for 2018. I ask that you read them and hold to them toward helping me help more of you. And, perhaps, helping me to keep my sanity.
Important Notes:
• NEW: If at all possible, please don’t submit your question until AFTER the Thursday night game, unless it involves a player playing on Thursday night. This allows me to concentrate on the TNF game first while also allowing more time for injury news from the previous week. Because of the popularity, I answer questions as they come in and much can change in a few days.
• Because of our comment system, it’s VERY easy to miss your response(s) to my advice. I don’t get alerts to new questions or responses you make to my response to you. I have to physically scroll from top to bottom each time to look for responses. Depending on the number of questions each week, I may miss any response to my advice. When in doubt, make a new entry at the bottom and reference your earlier question if needed.
• Please limit your questions to no more than three within each entry! I love helping each of you but it’s not uncommon to receive a question involving an entire team or set of teams. DLF continues to grow and the popularity is such that I must ask you to limit your questions! If you absolutely must ask more than three, please do so as a separate question/entry.
• Scoring System – Let me know if your league is PPR, non-PPR or if there are any unusual scoring rules that would affect the advice.
• I always like to see what YOU are thinking on your question(s) first. On those “coin-flip” plays, as I call them, knowing which way you are leaning helps me.
• My crystal ball isn’t perfect and I can assure you I “feel” any advice which ends up being incorrect. I do often go back and check my last week’s advice. I’m very proud of my track record and like to think I’m more accurate than the “Magic 8-Ball” approach but, in the end, it’s only an guess. An educated guess, but still only a guess. Go easy on me. I’m hard enough on me for both of us.
• I cannot be the coach of your team and all advice is just that: “advice”. Ultimately, the decision is yours to make and you should always be fully accountable to that. Look to me as that little person on your shoulder chiming in with his thoughts.
• Do NOT wait until game-day to ask your questions! Life here at DLF can be very busy as is my life away from DLF. Waiting until game day runs the risk of not getting a response. I always make an attempt to check before kick-off on game day, but I can’t guarantee it. It’s always best to give me at least 24 hours.
• It’s not uncommon for me to answer questions out of order due to injury status of a mentioned player, players who play earlier in the week or any number of other reasons. If it looks like I’ve skipped you, I likely have saved you for later until I have more information. It’s also possible your question is too long and I’m prioritizing other more easily answered questions. Brief questions always get priority as I can answer more of them quickly.
• I rarely answer questions after kick-off of the first games on Sunday. I often am away to watch the games and can’t guarantee I will/can check. If I’m available and able, I do try to check in.
• HAVE FUN! I so enjoy interfacing with each of you and look forward to your comments to my advice while following along with how your team is performing. This game has a lot to offer us die-hard fans, so don’t let its twists and turns, injuries and/or run of bad luck remove any of the enjoyment. Win or lose, there’s always next week or next year!
Good luck this year. Fortune favors the bold – but there’s no substitute for preparation. Now, let’s go have some fun!
You can find Jeff on Twitter at @dlf_jeff
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