Key Takeaways from Week 5 & Key Takeaways from Adulting

Honestly, my least favorite part of adulting might be my growing amount of responsibilities that happen to occur on a Sunday. I miss college when I could go to the gym on a Tuesday at noon or get a haircut on a Thursday at 2 PM. It made it so much easier to relax on the weekends and focus on things like football and going out. Now that I've settled into the 9-5 life, I spend my weekends doing all the things I don't have time to do during the week anymore. It's honestly demoralizing and makes me realize how good I used to have it in school. But it also makes me that much more grateful for the sacrifices that some parents have to make when their child is growing up. I can't imagine going to work all day and then coming home to deal with parenting. Cooking for MULTIPLE people? Changing diapers? Using my brain to help with Homework? I know I'm speaking from a young mind here but that frankly just sounds unsustainable. Point is, make sure to tell your parents/guardians that you appreciate all the sacrifices they made. Cause this adulting shit is already crazy and I don't even pay my own phone bill yet. 

OK OK enough of that. Let's get into the good stuff!

Here are my top FIVE Fantasy Takeaways from Week 5:

The Texans MIGHT not be as bad as we thought:

The Texans came into the season projected to be amongst the worst teams in the league. And while they do sit at 2-3 through 5 weeks, this team has proved capable of being competitive on a week-to-week basis. C.J. Stroud looks like he was worth every bit of the 2nd overall pick in the draft, and with his group of young pass catchers exceeding expectations, this passing attack looks like they are set up for long-term success. However, surprisingly this paragraph is ACTUALLY a Dameon Pierce endorsement. 

Dameon Pierce is a downhill bruiser. And while he is decent in pass protection he is not much of a pass catcher or route runner, which limits his playing time on passing downs. What scared some fantasy owners away from Pierce in the offseason were fears that the Texans would be so bad that they would be forced to constantly pass the ball and play catch-up. Unfortunately, Week 1 did little to calm these concerns as Pierce was limited to a measly 45% of the snaps during the Texans' big loss to the Ravens. However, since then the Texans lost a competitive game against the Colts, put up 37 points in a commanding win in Jacksonville, racked up 30 in a win over Pittsburgh, and lost a nail-biter in Atlanta. This team is for real! Pierce has seen his percentage of the team's rush attempts increase each of the last three weeks. And as their offensive line gets healthy and their rookie QB progresses, this team will only get better. 

Main Idea: Buy Low on Dameon Pierce

Target the Broncos Defense: 

This one's going to be straightforward. Whoever is going up against the Denver Broncos, FUCKING START THEM! I don't care if a guy was picked up off the street the day before, if he's starting against the Broncos, put him in your lineup. 

Let's look at some of the performances against the Broncos defense over the last three weeks: 

• Week 3 - De'Von Achane: 233 Total Yards, 4 Touchdowns | Raheem Mostert: 142 Total Yards, 4 Touchdowns | Tyreek Hill: 157 Total Yards, 1 Touchdown | Tua Tagovailoa: 309 Passing Yards, 4 Touchdowns
• Week 4 - Khalil Herbert: 122 Total Yards, 1 Touchdown | DJ Moore: 131 Total Yards, 1 Touchdown | Justin Fields: 360 Total Yards, 4 Touchdowns
• Week 5 - Breece Hall: 194 Total Yards, 1 Touchdown

Denver is a dumpster fire and set their organization back years with the Russell Wilson trade. Reports have already come out that they are starting to entertain trade discussions surrounding players on their defense, and once that starts it can ONLY go downhill. Next week, the Broncos face the Chiefs on TNF. If you're going against Mahomes, Kelce, or Pacheco, I'm praying for you. 

Main Idea: Start everyone vs. the Broncos sorry excuse for a defense for the foreseeable future

Talent Always Wins Out: 

Before I get into this - I will admit, YES, I am a Chicago Bears fan. And while I am confident that no bias towards my favorite team is influencing this take, who can be 100% sure of anything. 

PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Yes, we've all heard the jokes made about the Justin Fields' led offense in Chicago. This team has vastly underperformed preseason expectations and all chatter regarding the Windy City has already turned to the projected 2024 #1 pick Caleb Williams. BUT WAIT - Just because a team is bad does not mean that players cannot be useful for fantasy football. Specifically, I want to highlight DJ Moore. Through 5 games Moore is on pace for 92 receptions, 1,805 yards, and 17 touchdowns. While these numbers are gravely inflated coming off of a 230 yard - 3 touchdown game, it is clear that Moore is in for a career year. 

There's a general consensus that whenever a player who wasn't drafted in the first 2 or 3 rounds has a blow-up game, it's smart to attempt to "sell high". And in the vast majority of situations I agree with that consensus. This is not one of those situations. DJ Moore is simply better than you think he is. As an ultra-talented WR1 in an offense with little competition for targets, it could pay dividends to realize his fantasy value before the rest of the fantasy community comes to their senses. 

Main Idea: Buy Moore as a top-14 fantasy WR going forward

Achane is a new iPhone 15 & Mostert is an older, more crack-prone, more boring iPhone

The Miami Dolphins offense is elite. Tyreek Hill is playing amazing, Tua is being discussed as an MVP Candidate, and there is speed ALL over the field. A key component to the team's success has been their top ranked rushing attack, which seemingly came out of nowhere. Yet, when discussing the Miami running game, all anyone is talking about is how electric rookie RB De'Von Achane has been. And let me be clear, that is warranted. Since getting real touches for the first time in week 3, Achane is averaging 206 total yards & 2.3 touchdowns PER GAME. He's putting up video game numbers as a rookie and looks electric in this offense. But what is being swept under the rug is the fact that veteran Raheem Mostert is continuing to play more snaps than Achane on a weekly basis. Now sure, he is not producing as much as Achane and you aren't seeing Mostert highlights on BleacherReport, but Mostert is still putting up quality RB2 numbers in this amazing offense. This season Mostert is averaging 21 ppr (point per reception) points per game, good for 4th best amongst RB's who have played more than 1 game (fuck you Austin Ekeler). And since Achane joined the backfield in week 3, Mostert is still averaging 22.2 ppr points per game. While leaguemates are busy drooling over Achane, Mostert is being forgotten about, and that's a mistake. 

Main Idea: Buy Low on Raheem Mostert

[Update as of 8:20 AM on October 10th: Per Adam Schefter, RB De'Von Achane is expected to miss multiple weeks with his knee injury. Still gauge the price on Mostert but be sure not to overpay]

Pay attention to Transactions:

On October 9th it was reported that the Arizona Cardinals claimed RB Tony Jones Jr. off of waivers. This addition comes a day after Cardinals RB James Conner was knocked out of Arizona's 14-point loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. While there is no definitive news on how serious Conner's knee injury is, the fact that he could not return to Sunday's game and that the team used a waiver claim on the top running back available on waivers a day later is not a good sign. Give consideration to RB Emari Demercado on waivers this week!

Main Idea: Prepare to be without Conner for some time

[FantasybyJ]