Week 5 of the NFL season is a big week in fantasy football because this is the last week that fantasy managers are going to have full access to their rosters. After this week, the bye weeks will start and those will not end until Week 14. That means that the options for managers will be more limited and players that would normally be on the waiver wire with a full slate of games will be viable fantasy options for fantasy managers looking to survive weeks where their best players are not available.
That does not mean that every player should be a streaming option and some players are still better left on the waiver wire. Here are some players I would look to be cutting in Week 5 heading into the most difficult portion of the fantasy schedule.
Get a free analysis of your team with My Playbook 
12- and 14-Team Leagues
Justin Fields (QB – CHI)
I think some people will want to hold onto him because he is a young rookie with good rushing ability and sometimes quarterbacks that struggle early in the year play better at the end of the year. That is a fair point, but here is my rationale for not keeping him on your fantasy roster. First, we saw him play against a good Cleveland team on the road and he was an unmitigated disaster. He had more sacks (nine) than completions (six). However, that was his first start against a good defense that also went on the road and held the Minnesota Vikings to seven points in Week 4. You cannot judge a player on one game and Fields was able to lead the Bears to a victory over the Detroit Lions at home.
His statistics were underwhelming in that game too against a below-average defense. He had 209 yards passing, no touchdowns, and one pick. He chipped in with three rushing attempts for nine yards. Matt Nagy is steadfast in his commitment to Andy Dalton. He also is steadfast in his commitment to have Fields be a pocket passer when Dalton is not able to play. For some reason, a quarterback that ran a 4.45 40-yard dash has six rushing attempts for 21 yards in his last two starts. Even if Andy Dalton remains the starter for only a few more games, that will not fix the issues that Fields has in fantasy. This is also a scheme problem where Fields is offering nothing in the passing game and the coaches are not dialing up any running plays to help his confidence and fantasy production.
Fantasy managers could live with 209 yards passing if it was accompanied by 80 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. If Fields is not going to be a runner, there is not enough fantasy upside on one of the worst passing offenses in the NFL. Detroit has been terrible on defense this year and Fields could not even account for a passing or rushing touchdown in this game. The offense is about to become even more handicapped with David Montgomery likely to miss at least one month. It is a fantasy situation to avoid and I would not roster Fields at this point.
Justin Fields College vs NFL Rushing Numbers
Ben Roethlisberger (QB - PIT)
I think it is time to sell the idea of this Steelers passing offense doing anything meaningful in fantasy football this year. There is a lot of blame to go around. The Steelers' offensive line is a disaster. Matt Canada does not seem capable of drawing up a game plan to compensate for that bad offensive line. The wide receivers drop too many passes. Ben Roethlisberger misses too many open throws. He seems like a shell of his old self at this point. He is averaging only 258.3 passing yards per game and he is on pace for 17 passing touchdowns and 17 interceptions. They do have four of their next five games at home, but they also have scored only 27 points in their two home games this year. There is enough of a body of work through four weeks to sell this offense and sell Big Ben in fantasy.
Ty'Son Williams (RB - BAL)
I was really excited when I saw Williams tally nine rushing attempts for 65 yards, three receptions for 29 yards, and one rushing touchdown in the season opener at Las Vegas. The problem is that he blew a pass-blocking assignment on Lamar Jackson's fumble in Week 1 and the coaching staff does not trust him anymore. He was not even active in Week 4 as the Ravens activated Le'Veon Bell and made Williams a healthy scratch. There could be hope that Williams reclaims a role later in the year, but with the bye weeks approaching, Williams is going to be a dead roster spot and it makes little sense to roster a guy that is not even a guarantee to remain active. The Ravens are content to go with less explosive veteran options over an exciting young player that does not have a firm grasp of pass blocking.
Mark Ingram (RB - HOU)
The Texans managed only 61 yards passing and 48 yards rushing this week in a 40-0 loss at Buffalo. This offense has not been the same since Tyrod Taylor was injured and Davis Mills became the starter. They have scored 16 points in their last 10 quarters of action. The only upside to rostering Ingram is that he might vulture a one-yard touchdown run, but the Houston offense is not good enough to move the ball into scoring position for that to happen. Ingram has 12 rushing attempts for 45 yards in his last two games combined and he should not be rostered at this point.
Royce Freeman (RB - CAR)
I thought Freeman was a worthwhile pickup last week. You never know how the carries are going to be split when a player like Christian McCaffrey goes down with an injury. Chuba Hubbard might have started the game slow and Freeman played well and earned more playing time than expected. That is not what happened though as Hubbard had 13 rushing attempts for 57 yards. That left Freeman with three carries for 12 yards, as he also lost time to Rodney Smith. Smith finished the game with five targets. Christian McCaffrey should be back either this week or next week and there is not a big enough role to roster Freeman going forward. Hubbard is the player to roster if McCaffrey is unable to play this week.
Tony Jones Jr. (RB - NO)
Jones has only 19 rushing attempts for 77 yards and four receptions for 10 yards on the season. His fantasy value is ruined by playing behind Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill having three rushing touchdowns on the season. Jones Jr was also taken off the field with a high ankle sprain and he will likely miss at least three weeks. It could be longer depending on the severity of the injury. The backup running back role in New Orleans has not been a great fantasy role this year. Kamara is dominating the touches and Hill sees the goal-line work. Even if Jones Jr had not suffered an injury this weekend, I would have considered cutting him. The Saints offense is a work in progress and there just is not much fantasy value behind Kamara.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (WR - TEN)
Westbrook-Ikhine was never going to be a long-term addition to fantasy rosters. He had a chance to put up numbers because both A.J. Brown and Julio Jones missed Week 4 against the New York Jets. Westbrook-Ikhine responded to his opportunity with eight targets, three receptions, and 29 yards. He has a nice matchup against Jacksonville, but it is hard to trust him as there just was not enough separation from defensive backs in Week 4. I would lean toward not rostering him, as the Titans' passing offense has not been much to write home about early in the season.
Terrace Marshall Jr. (WR - CAR)
Curtis Samuel emerged as a viable fantasy wide receiver after McCaffrey was injured last year. There was some hope the same may happen for Marshall this time around, but that did not seem to happen against the Dallas Cowboys. D.J. Moore led the way with 12 targets and Robby Anderson was next with 11 targets. That meant Marshall had one reception on three targets for two yards. He now has 17 targets, 11 receptions, 93 yards, and no touchdowns on the season. There just does not seem to be a big enough role to warrant rostering Marshall. Even with McCaffrey out, Marshall sees a very limited number of targets.
DeSean Jackson (WR - LAR)
If you take out the Tampa Bay game, Jackson has five targets, three receptions, 27 yards, and no touchdowns. Against Tampa Bay, Jackson had five targets, three receptions, 120 yards, and one touchdown. Some fantasy owners will like the big-play upside in the bye weeks, he did show a lot of speed on his 75-yard touchdown reception against the Buccaneers. He has one good play through four games, I do not know if it is a winning strategy to play a guy hoping for a 75-yard touchdown or bust. I would pass on Jackson at the moment, his good play looks more like an outlier than him being a consistent deep threat.
Jalen Reagor (WR - PHI)
Jalen Hurts had a career day with 387 yards passing on 48 passing attempts. Reagor recorded one target, one reception, and nine yards. Greg Ward and Quez Watkins both had more targets than him. It looked like Reagor could have a role on this team after he had six receptions for 49 yards and a touchdown in the opener. He has not found the end zone for three straight weeks and this is the second time he failed to top 10-yards receiving. It is really hard to trust a player that is targeted one time in 48 passing attempts. Reagor is young and sometimes young players put things together in the second half of the season. It is hard to depend on Reagor when it is a struggle for him to gain 10 receiving yards.
Austin Hooper (TE - CLE)
Hooper had five targets, one reception, and 11 yards in a 14-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings. It is the same story, the Browns play three tight ends and they all make each other unplayable. David Njoku had two targets, two receptions, and 17 yards. Harrison Bryant had two targets, one reception, and three yards. The Browns dilute minimal production among three players to the point where no tight ends have value. Unless Hooper finds the end zone, he is unplayable in fantasy football. Hooper does not find the end zone enough to justify a roster spot at the moment.
Pat Freiermuth (TE - PIT)
Ben Roethlisberger is averaging only one touchdown pass per game and Freiermuth is having to compete with Eric Ebron for targets. Freiermuth had one target for one reception and 11 yards in Week 4. Ebron had two targets, two receptions, and eight yards. The offense is a mess, they are not targeting the tight end much, and they are splitting the targets among two tight ends. Freiermuth has a bright future and will probably be fantasy-relevant at some point in his career, but it does not appear that will happen this year.
Shallow Leagues
Teddy Bridgewater (QB - DEN)
Bridgewater was having a good start to the season, but he suffered a concussion and may not play this week at Pittsburgh. After that game, they have a home game against the Las Vegas Raiders and a road game at Cleveland. Bridgewater is not going to be a great fantasy option for the next few weeks and in smaller leagues, it does not make sense to keep Bridgewater on a roster wondering if he will clear concussion protocol. There is also a concern that it may take him a few weeks to regain his form after that hit, which makes him a big gamble in shallow leagues where waiver wire quarterbacks should be plentiful.
Myles Gaskin (RB - MIA)
Gaskin was third on the team with just two rushing attempts and those two attempts gained three yards. He also had no targets in the passing game. He has a tough matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his role is up in the air right now. In deeper leagues, fantasy managers will need to keep him on their roster and hope he rediscovers his early-season role. In shallower leagues, it does not make a lot of sense to roster a guy that has not found the end zone and seems to be losing his role in this backfield with a tough matchup on the horizon.
Will Fuller V (WR - MIA)
This will not come as a surprise to seasoned fantasy managers, but Fuller is hurt again and he may miss multiple games with a broken finger. He has not done much in this offense to date with eight targets, four receptions, and 26 yards. He did score a two-point conversion in Week 3. Fuller has deep play potential and managers in deeper leagues may want to wait and see if he has a more productive second half of the season. In shallower leagues, it does not make a lot of sense to hold a player that has not been doing much and is likely to miss multiple games with injury. His quarterback situation also caps his big-play potential.
Rob Gronkowski (TE - TB)
Gronk has fractured ribs and he is likely to miss multiple weeks with his injury. Tight end is such a shallow position that some fantasy managers may want to hold Gronk in deeper leagues hoping he can find his way back in a couple of weeks and be the elite touchdown threat he was early in the season. In shallower leagues, it is harder to justify holding an injured tight end for that long. Options on the waiver wire will determine if Gronk is worth holding, but with the bye weeks approaching, holding two tight ends will be problematic for some fantasy managers in shallower leagues.
Get a FREE 6-month upgrade with our special offer
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio
Whether you’re new to fantasy football or a seasoned pro, our Fantasy Football 101: Strategy Tips & Advice page is for you. You can get started with Starting Your Own Fantasy Football League or head to a more advanced strategy – like What is the Right Amount of Risk to Absorb on Draft Day? – to learn more.
Derek Lofland is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Derek, check out his archive and follow him @DerekLofland.
