Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings Risers & Fallers: Upgrade D'Andre Swift With Kyle Monangai Out

There’s a saying in poker: it’s better to win late than win early. The same can be said in fantasy football. From a weekly standpoint, the rankings leading into kickoff are far more important than the rankings early in the week. We get more information as the week progresses, with the final piece of news dropping when inactives are officially announced.

We got our first big wave of news with the Friday injury reports. A handful of big-name players were ruled out, while others appear poised for returns. This results in a definite shake-up in the Week 5 fantasy football rankings.

Let’s dive into some of the biggest movers.

Risers In The Week 5 Fantasy Rankings

D’Andre Swift, RB, CHI

Swift was officially removed from the Bears’ injury report, and he appears poised for his largest workload of the season. Kyle Monangai has been ruled out with turf toe, and it’s possible he misses next week’s contest as well.

Swift and Monangai have split the workload close to 50/50 this season. Swift has handled 56% of the snaps and 49% of the rushing attempts, while Monangai has been at 41% and 42%, respectively. Monangai and Swift have also split the carries around the goal line.

With Monangai now out of the picture, Swift should operate as the Bears’ bell-cow back. It’s possible that Roschon Johnson gets in the mix, but Swift should handle the majority of the opportunities. Something like 80% of the snaps and carries – with most of the receiving and goal-line work – is within the realm of possibility.

That’s a big boost to his fantasy outlook. Our rankers have moved him up to the consensus RB13 in this matchup, just one spot behind Ashton Jeanty. Our projections are even more bullish, with Swift up to RB6 for the week.

Jaylen Waddle & Courtland Sutton, WRs, DEN

It’s hard to be too excited about anyone in the Broncos’ passing attack. They’ve been pretty inefficient to start the year, ranking just 20th in EPA per pass.

That said, Waddle and Sutton could both see a boost in value moving forward. Pat Bryant was placed on IR this week, meaning he’ll be out of the lineup until at least Week 9. Bryant has a 63% route participation and 10% target share this season, so he’s been a legit factor in the passing attack.

Waddle and Sutton are the most logical options. Waddle was expected to serve as the team’s No. 1 receiver after being acquired from the Dolphins. He does have two top-25 finishes at the position through the first four weeks, but his 22% target share overall is a bit disappointing. If he can get above 25% following the injury to Patrick, he has the potential to be the biggest winner.

Sutton’s fantasy value is currently on life support. He’s just WR96 through the first four weeks, despite a respectable 87% route participation and 18% target share. The absence of Bryant isn’t enough to make him start-worthy, but he’s at least worth keeping on your roster. That didn’t necessarily feel like the case after last week’s 0.9 fantasy points.

The Broncos face off with the Chargers in Week 5, who are still looking for their first win. That said, their defense hasn’t been the issue. Waddle checks in at WR24 in our projections and WR18 in our consensus rankings, while Sutton is at WR41 and WR39 respectively.

Dallas Goedert, TE, PHI

Goedert has missed the past two games for Philly, but he appears poised for a return in Week 5. That’s good news for the Eagles, who need him pretty desperately. They’re currently without both DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley, so they’re very thin in terms of playmakers.

Goedert could be thrust immediately back into a big role. In his lone full game this season, he posted a 79% route participation and 24% target share. He racked up 21.7 fantasy points in that contest, which was the second-highest mark at tight end.

Matthew Berry has Goedert inside the top 10 in his Week 5 TE rankings. Our projections have him closer to TE15, but he could easily surpass that mark if he isn’t limited in his return.

Fallers In The Fantasy Football Rankings For Week 5

Jaylen Warren, RB, PIT

Warren has pretty quietly had some of the best utilization in football over the past two weeks. He’s played on 94% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps and handled 87% of their rushing attempts. He’s also carried a 14% target share, resulting in a 92 Utilization Score overall. Only Jahmyr Gibbs and Kyren Williams have had better marks at running back over that time frame.

Unfortunately, it seems as though Warren’s day as the Steelers’ bell cow is coming to an end. Rico Dowdle is officially questionable to return, but after getting in three limited practice sessions, he’s probably closer to probable. He will immediately cut into Warren’s prospects. Warren had just a 54% carry share while sharing the field with Dowdle in the first two weeks, while his UR Score dipped to just 68 in those outings.

It’s possible that Dowdle is limited in his first game back, or that Warren has earned a larger share of the work with his play recently. Still, it’s hard to imagine him getting anywhere close to his marks from the past two weeks. Warren is still a solid starter at running back, but he’s more of an RB2 than an RB1.

Tee Higgins, WR, CIN

It seemed as though Higgins was headed toward a week as the Bengals’ No. 1 wide receiver. Ja’Marr Chase suffered a concussion in Week 4, which almost always sidelines a player for the following week.

However, Chase is apparently a quick healer. He is making progress through the concussion protocol, and he got in a full practice on Friday. He’s been listed as questionable for Sunday, but as long as there’s no setback, he seems on track to suit up.

That’s obviously a big hit to Higgins’ fantasy value. Chase is one of the best receivers in fantasy, and he posted a target share of 33% in Weeks 2 and 3. If he’s a full go, it leaves Higgins as more of a WR2 than a WR1 for fantasy purposes.

Justin Herbert, QB, LAC

It’s hard to imagine things being much worse for the Chargers at this point. Their offense has already been a disaster this season, and now they’re without Rashawn Slater on the offensive line. The Chargers were already dealing with a ton of injuries along the offensive line, and losing Slater is merely the cherry on top.

You probably weren’t considering starting Herbert anyways, but that becomes a brutal proposition in Week 5. He’s getting minimal help from his offensive line, wide receivers, and coaching staff, and now he’ll have to face a vaunted Broncos’ defense. I’ll pass.