Guillotine Leagues™️ Targets for Startup Leagues Before Week 5: Quentin Johnston, James Cook and More
Sam Wallace identifies four players to target ahead of Week 5 Guillotine Leagues drafts, including Quentin Johnston, Omarion Hampton, James Cook and more.
Fantasy football can be cruel. We spend so much of our time researching and analyzing just for our entire season to be unraveled by season-ending injuries. Thankfully, Guillotine Leagues™️ are here to help you reset and get back in the game each and every week. Looking to draft a new team ahead of Week 5? Check out Guillotine Leagues.
Guillotine Leagues Rest of Season Rankings, If You're Drafting a New Team Now
Quentin Johnston—Time to Believe?
It's mildly terrifying to even be typing this, out but it might be time to start believing in Quentin Johnston. The former first-round pick (2023) had a brutal rookie season but then turned around and scored eight TDs last year. Through four games of Year 3, here are his per-game averages:
- 9.3 targets
- 84 receiving yards
- 19.9 PPR
- 1 TD
He might actually be as good as everyone initially though. Third-year breakout, anyone?
Even the return of Keenan Allen and impressive rookie campaign from Ladd McConkey haven't prevented Johnston from becoming the go-to option for Justin Herbert. As impressive as his numbers have been overall, it's the consistency that jumps off the page for me: Johnston has topped 70 receiving yards in each game thus far.
If you are jumping in a Guillotine League draft this week, how on earth should you be valuing Johnstons? Fantasy managers everywhere will remember the scars from 2023 and even from portions of last year. Part of me is waiting for his "house of cards" production to fall apart, but he's earning targets at a solid clip.
Our own Matthew Freedman has Johnston as his WR24, but I don't mind being a bit more aggressive than that. Yes, Allen is right there with him in terms of target share, but it's Johnston's downfield threat that made him so appealing coming out of college that we're seeing play out on the field.
After four games, which is really 25% of the fantasy season, we have enough data to make informed decisions. Don't be afraid of what's happened in the past; go and get Johnston.
Omarion Hampton: The 2025 Ride or Die
Our fearless leader Matthew Berry picked rookie RB Omarion Hampton has his 2025 Ride or Die, and it's looking like Berry is going to be spot on … again.
Yes, the first two weeks were tough. Hampton totaled just 11.6 PPR across those two performances. However, the unfortunate injury to Najee Harris led to the confirmation of what we already knew to be true: Hampton is a certified baller.
Over his last two weeks, Hampton is averaging 25.7 PPR and is significantly involved in both the rushing and passing games. We knew going in that his landing spot with Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers would be optimal for his fantasy outlook, and we're finally seeing the returns of that play out on the field.
Freedman has Hampton slotted in as RB12 for the rest of the season. In my mind, it's hard to keep him out of the top-tier of players at his position. In a year where RB injuries again seem to be mounting, locking down an elite, three-down talent to anchor your team for the rest of the season seems like a no brainer to me.
Shoutout to those of you who already have Hampton; enjoy the rest of his impressive rookie campaign.
James Cook: The RB Buffalo Needed
As I was perusing Freedman's rest of season Guillotine League rankings, James Cook jumped out to me. He's got him ranked as the RB5 and it's not hard to see why.
Despite the contract dispute that occurred between both parties this offseason, in which Cook wound up signing a four-year extension worth $48 million ($30 million guaranteed), it would seem as if both sides are happy with how things have turned out so far.
Cook got the bag, and I'm always pulling for players to get those paychecks, and the Bills locked up what looks to be an elite player.
Cook has scored in each game (5 TDs total) and has scored between 20-25 PPR each time he's stepped onto the field.
This really looks like the year the Bills could (and should) represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. Joe Burrow is out for potentially the season, Lamar Jackson is dealing with a hamstring strain and Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs haven't looked good until this past weekend. With Josh Allen, anything is possible, and Cook provides the ideal balance/punch they need.
If I'm drafting now, similar to how I'm approaching Hampton, it's going to be hard to keep Cook out of either the first round or the 1/2 turn at worst.
Tyler Warren: The Next Great TE
The 2025 TE class was headlined by Colston Loveland (10th overall) and Tyler Warren (14th overall). Both topped our Rookie TE Model and both are top six in the model since 2017.
However, after the first month of the season, it's been Warren who is showing that he could be in that elite-tier for the foreseeable future.
While Loveland has just three receptions on the year and was inactive in Week 4 with a hip injury, Warren has quickly become an integral part of the Colts' offensive game plan. He's topped 70 receiving yards in three of his four games and, while he hasn't scored through the air yet, he found the end zone on a rushing attempt this weekend.
Maybe Daniel Jones has rediscovered some magic or maybe Warren is just that good. Either way, it's been an impressive start for the rookie. Freedman is in total agreement as shown by his TE3 ranking of Warren for the rest of the season.
It's hard to argue there. The involvement in the passing game was already enough for me but the fact that the Colts are manufacturing touches for him the ground game speaks even more to how highly they view him. That means fantasy managers need to feel the same.
