Here’s a look at the studs and duds of Week 5. We’ll look at one stud and one dud from each of the quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end positions. The purpose of this exercise is not simply to identify the best and worst at each position but to find players who had over- or underwhelming performances that warrant discussion.

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Quarterback

Stud: Mitch Trubisky (CHI)
26/50; 333 Yards; Two Touchdowns, Two INTs; 6 Rushes for 81 Yards and a Touchdown

This was a Blake Bortles-esque (more on him later) type of day for Mitch Trubisky, who put up the fantasy points with mediocre play. Trubisky has developed a really bad habit of tucking the football and taking off at the first sign of adversity, and it only kind of worked today because the Patriots have one of the slowest defenses in the league. When he did throw, he was all over the place, and it’s almost surprising that he mustered up even a 50% completion rate. Trubisky has plenty of weapons at his disposal, and while he did lose Allen Robinson down the stretch in this game due to injury, Chicago’s issue was not players getting open. Ultimately this run-first approach is actually great for fantasy even if it hurts his ability to help his team win games, and it makes Trubisky an interesting prospect at the position going forward.

Dud: Blake Bortles (JAC)
6/12; 61 Yards; Two Fumbles

Bortles has been getting worse and worse each of the past few weeks, and though he at least was putting up good fantasy numbers to combat his putrid play at first, now he’s not even getting it done for those of us on the couch. Bortles was on a short leash and eventually pulled after just one half after letting the team dig a big hole once again and losing a pair of fumbles. Cody Kessler appeared in relief and looked a lot better, but it would be presumption to look too far into it — backup QBs usually look pretty good in relief situations such as these. Jacksonville’s receiving corps is competent at worst and probably pretty good in the grand scheme of things. For whatever reason this guy just can’t put together a complete season, and now he’s not even capable of redeeming himself in garbage time, meaning he should be dropped and ignored in every league for the rest of the year. This team is spiraling out of control and can’t be trusted on any front.

Running Back

Stud: Marlon Mack (IND)
19 Carries for 126 Yards and a Touchdown; Two Receptions for 33 Yards and a Touchdown

Marlon Mack’s teammates had so many opportunities to take his job. Jordan Wilkins was basically given five weeks to do something with the two-down role and came up empty. Nyheim Hines was nearly a thing as a scat back, but it was clear early on that the team didn’t have much faith in his ball security. Hines might play more of a role when the Colts are in semi-competitive games, but for the most part this is going to be the Marlon Mack show. The Bills, for as bad as they are, sport a stout defense that had begun to get a hold of the running back position after the first two weeks of the season. Mack is a big-time talent that should be able to thrive with all of the touches that are coming his way, and props to those of you who stuck with him or at least found a way to pick him up just in time for his moment in the spotlight.

Dud: Austin Ekeler (LAC)
12 Carries for 42 Yards; Five Receptions for 26 Yards

Melvin Gordon was a surprise inactive for Week 7’s London game, which is as troublesome as it gets in terms of timing. For his owners who did replace him in time for the early kickoff, many of them probably just slotted in backup Austin Ekeler, who has been a borderline flex play even with Gordon healthy, resulting in high expectations for a feature role. But even with almost 20 touches, Ekeler wasn’t much better than his best weeks with Gordon on the field. Tennessee’s defense contained the Chargers’ offense for all but a select few plays, which left little room for Ekeler to operate. This will likely just serve as another wake up call to anyone still holding on to the notion that Melvin Gordon is a product of the system and volume, but any Gordon owners who don’t own Ekeler can use this opportunity to buy low in case another incident like this one rears its ugly head down the line.

Wide Receiver

Stud: John Brown (BAL)
7 Receptions for 134 Yards; One Touchdown

Brown certainly had his supporters going into 2018, but it was easy to be skeptical given the situation. Brown had never been the top option in an offense, and was always second fiddle at best with the Cardinals during his early days. He only had one actually good season to his name, and health concerns had been becoming more prevalent lately. The Ravens had been trying and failing to integrate cast-offs in the seasons leading up to this one, and it never ended well. Finally, Joe Flacco was giving his staunchest supporters reason to doubt his ability to lead this team. But somehow none of this has mattered, and John Brown has emerged as the unquestioned top receiving option in an offense that’s actually pretty capable. He already has four touchdowns not even halfway into this season and seems to be securing deep balls with regularity. He’s pretty much the only one on this offense worth starting every week, but that’s not an indictment on him.

Dud: Stefon Diggs (MIN)
Eight Receptions for 33 Yards

Players in full PPR scoring leagues weren’t completely let down by Stefon Diggs’s Week 7 outing, but it’s a bizarre stat line given his role. Diggs is supposed to be the team’s X receiver who plays on the outside and goes for the big(ger) plays and draws the attention that allows Adam Thielen to be so spectacular in the slot. Knowing this, 4.125 yards per reception doesn’t compute. He’s getting the targets, which is encouraging, but it’s still discouraging for those of us who picked Diggs ahead of Thielen to see the latter put up historic numbers while Diggs fights tooth and nail for every bit of production. One would have to imagine that teams would begin to focus more on Thielen, giving Diggs more opportunities, but most defenses’ best corners are more comfortable on the outside rather than in the slot, so most of the time the teams can’t make the adjustment even if they wanted to. His time will come, if last year taught us anything, so don’t even think about benching Diggs.

Tight End

Stud: David Njoku (CLE)
Four Receptions for 52 Yards; One Touchdown

Cleveland’s offense hasn’t really taken that next step forward that many had hoped for once Baker Mayfield got the nod, but Njoku is one player who’s seen a noticeable bump in production since the rookie took over. Njoku has at least 50 yards in each of the four games that Mayfield has started (he had fewer than 50 yards in each of the first three games), and now has touchdowns in back-to-back weeks. Don’t look now, but the Browns get to play a bunch of soft defenses in the coming weeks, namely the Steelers, Chiefs, and Falcons all in a row. Fifty yards per game is already good enough to put Njoku in borderline stud territory (sad but true), and these coming weeks shouldn’t slow him down in the slightest.

Dud: Vernon Davis (WAS)
Zero Receptions on Zero Targets

Rob Gronkowski’s owners were left scrambling when news broke Saturday that the generational tight end missed the flight to Chicago and was expected to be out for his team’s game against the Bears. Some of these owners might have looked at the Redskins, seen that they were down Chris Thompson, Jamison Crowder, and Paul Richardson, and thought to themselves “hey, somebody has to get those targets; why not Vernon Davis?” This would prove to be a faulty line of reasoning, as Davis managed to post his first goose egg of the entire season and only ended up having his name called on the broadcast when he ruined one of Adrian Peterson’s big runs. This is a not-so-gentle reminder that A) the Cowboys have a good defense that should be respected, and B) players in line for targets will still find a way to disappoint if they’re in a bad offense.

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Shane McCormack is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Shane, check out his archive and follow him @ShaneMcCormack_.