Find out the answers to the biggest burning questions for Week 5 of the 2025 fantasy football season below.
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Fantasy Football Burning Questions
What’s Going on in San Francisco?
According to Aaron Schatz, the 49ers were the most injury-riddled team in NFL history last season, finishing dead last in adjusted games lost (AGL), which accounts for both absent players and those playing at less than 100% strength. Fast forward to 2025, they were already without Brandon Aiyuk (knee) and lost George Kittle (hamstring) in the first half of the season-opener, who was placed on injured reserve (IR), set to miss at least one more game.
Jauan Jennings (ankle, ribs) and Brock Purdy (toe) have also missed multiple games and have already been ruled out for Thursday night. Even Ricky Pearsall, who was the only starting member of the receiving core that had yet to miss a game, won’t play in Week 5, is dealing with a knee injury. As a result, Mac Jones will draw the start, after missing last week with a PCL sprain, playing with mostly backups outside of Christian McCaffrey.
Can Cooper Rush Keep the Ravens Afloat?
The Ravens were humiliated last week, losing 37-20 to the Chiefs, playing without Lamar Jackson for most of the second half, who exited the game with a hamstring injury. At 1-3, Baltimore is off to their worst start since 2015, and could be without Jackson for multiple weeks.
Cooper Rush would get the start in place of an injured Jackson. Rush completed nine passes on 13 dropbacks (69.2% completion rate) for 52 scoreless yards through nearly two quarters in Week 4. Rush fared well in relief of Dak Prescott last season, but the offense will likely run through Derrick Henry, who hasn’t looked himself. The veteran back has been held to 50 or fewer rushing yards in each of his last three games, handling no more than 12 carries since Week 1.
What are the Expectations for Dillon Gabriel?
The Joe Flacco era is over in Cleveland with the team naming third-round rookie (No. 93 overall) Dillon Gabriel as the starter for Week 5, set to take on the Vikings in London. Although it is a small sample, Gabriel has quietly been one of the most efficient signal-callers in the league, completing three out of four passes for 19 yards and a touchdown, leading all quarterbacks in success rate (75%) and trailing only Andy Dalton (1.42) in expected points added (EPA) per play (0.55).
It’s hard to take anything away from only four dropbacks, but the offense can’t look much worse than it did with Flacco, averaging a lowly 14 points per game, ahead of only the Titans (12.8) for the second fewest among all 32 teams. Aside from traveling overseas, Gabriel will have his work cut out for him in his starting debut, facing a stout Minnesota defense allowing the third-fewest passing yards (171.3) and second-fewest passing touchdowns (0.75) per game to opposing quarterbacks. They also rank first overall in DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) against the pass (-18.8%).
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