Welcome to Week 5, where we find another two teams on bye: the surprisingly competitive Detroit Lions and the hopeless Miami Dolphins. My quarterback streamer for last week, Daniel Jones, was not very good despite winning his second game in as many starts. Jacoby Brissett, on the other hand, did not look great in real life but managed to have a great day in fantasy. My dark horse, Gardner Minshew, just keeps winning while putting up solid yet uninspiring fantasy numbers. As for my tight end recommendations, both Will Dissly and Jack Doyle found the end zone. Dissly, along with Darren Waller and Mark Andrews, is starting to look like one of three tight end buys of the 2019 season. Needless to say, he is now out of our league and is no longer a streaming option.
Last, but not least, I hope you went out and got Chris Herndon last week. I do not see if he is there now. If so, get him. If you picked up Dissly this past week, please hold on to him. The big three have started off the season modestly. In addition, O.J. Howard, Eric Ebron, and Jared Cook have fallen from grace. David Njoku and Hunter Henry got hurt before they even began. Don’t be surprised if Dissly ends up as a top-five tight end by the end of this season.
Despite his less than stellar performance, Daniel Jones went from 16% owned in Yahoo leagues to 66% in a week. People believe in him – enough for him to be a streamer no more. Luckily for us, those same people are not as enamored by Luck’s heir apparent, Jacoby Brissett. They also haven’t succumbed to the mustache of Gardner Minshew and haven’t seen enough of newbie Mason Rudolph to be convinced that he can turn the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season around. The exciting new blood resonates well with those who stream, who are relieved to know that they don’t have to resort to Andy Dalton or Joe Flacco just yet. Don’t be surprised to see Kirk Cousins as a streaming option next week based on his poor start to 2019.
Import your team to My Playbook for instant Lineup advice 
Quarterback Streamer of the Week: Jacoby Brissett (IND) at Kansas City Chiefs
Two things were reaffirmed in the Chief’s game last week against the Detroit Lions. First of all, Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league and will win a Superbowl soon, despite having playoff choker Andy Reid as a coach. Secondly, the Kansas City defense is not good and has not been for a while. This leads into the case for Jacoby Brissett this week. Brissett has been a very good option in fantasy for four straight weeks, and he now finds himself against the most generous foe to date. I do not expect the Colts to win this game, but I do expect it to be a similar affair to last week when Detroit almost pulled off the upset. And in the process, Brissett will earn himself a nice fantasy payday.
Alternate Streamer: Teddy Bridgewater (NO) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Teddy Bridgewater is proving to most of us that he will never replace Drew Brees. In fact, he is rather boring and average. He’s only 7% owned, so he has not been coveted by the fantasy community. However, this could be the week to pick him up and use him. Like the Kansas City Chiefs, the Bucs’ defense is starting to show their true colors. Despite defeating a Rams team with their defense near the end of the game by forcing Jared Goff to fumble, which led to a touchdown, Tampa Bay will most likely have higher-scoring games moving forward. Bridgewater has not been very exciting, but he has done his job to keep the Saints’ dream of making it to the finals alive. If Bridgewater has the chance of putting up beefy numbers at all this season, this is the week to bet on it.
Dark Horse Sleeper: Gardner Minshew (JAC) at Carolina Panthers
Until he proves otherwise, or until he just becomes too highly-owned, I will turn to the man with the mustache. He has not put up spell-bounding stats yet but has been a quarterback you can expect to get you in the neighborhood of 15-20 fantasy points per game. He’s still under 20% owned so he should be on your waiver wire. He looks like a seasoned veteran, especially the way he led his team from behind in the fourth quarter to beat a desperate yet solid Denver defense. The Carolina Panther defense has been tough lately, and I expect this game to be relatively low scoring, but Minshew seems to find a way to get everyone involved. I also don’t expect Leonard Fournette to run amok as he did against a Broncos defense that lost some key members to injury. Minshew’s ceiling may be capped, but if you need a quarterback with a decent floor, then he’s probably your guy.
Tight End Streamer of the Week: Jack Doyle (IND) at Kansas City Chiefs
Despite being the tight end to own for the Colts all season, Jack Doyle is still undervalued. Last week’s boxscore was nothing to write home about with regards to efficiency, but the volume was there. Doyle only had four receptions for 22 yards. The important takeaway is that he was targeted eight times. He also scored a touchdown. Sure, it was against the Oakland Raiders, but the Chiefs may be an even better matchup. Doyle is only 20% owned and has proven to be the more consistent tight end in Indy. Ebron has turned into a boom-or-bust option, and he appears to be looking more like the Ebron of old, not like the player who broke out in 2018. In contrast, Doyle brings a sense of safety along with as much upside as his teammate.
Alternate Streamer: Jimmy Graham (GB) at Dallas Cowboys
It is really difficult to figure out which Jimmy Graham will show up this week. Graham has either been prolific like last week’s nine targets, six receptions, 61 yards, and one touchdown, or he has given owners goose eggs. Dallas will not be an easy team for him to reciprocate the production he had against Philadelphia, but if he is healthy, then look for him to become more consistent. He is slowly starting to break the decade-old mold that Aaron Rodgers does not like throwing to tight ends. The best thing of all is that Graham often finds the end zone. Therefore, he could reward you even if he otherwise fails to produce.
Two Dark Horse Sleepers: Gerald Everett (LAR) at Seattle Seahawks and Ricky Seals-Jones (CLE) at San Francisco 49ers
I will once again advocate for two players who have done nothing except break my heart in the past few years, but like a faithful truther, I will fall prey to their potential yet again. Last week we saw the potential of both Gerald Everett and Ricky Seals-Jones. Everett had eight targets, five receptions for 44 yards and a score; Seals-Jones had only three targets but caught all of them for 82 yards and a touchdown. There is a reason these two are dark horses this week. For most of their careers, they have the occasional great game that gets us all excited once again. Both are athletic and have been stitched with the label “breakout” or “this year’s sleeper” many times. Both have capabilities to succeed this year, and they are on teams that can dominate offensively. However, tread lightly with these two. While either of them could finally break out, either might also leave you empty and embittered. Seals-Jones has the better matchup against San Francisco on Monday night. Everett has seen more volume and faces Seattle on the dreaded Thursday slate. If you can’t get Jack Doyle or Jimmy Graham, then pick your poison. Hopefully one can manage to make your Week 5 roster stronger.
View your league’s top available players with My Playbook
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | TuneIn | RSS
Marc Mathyk is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Marc, check out his archive and follow him @Masterjune70.
