You Can Turn Your Roster Around in Week 5... Here's How! | ESPN Fantasy

Well, first of all, we got to talk about a quarterback because this position, despite how much we talked about its depth heading into the season, is really frustrating. Hey, I'm Liz Loza. This is Facts versus Feelings. And today's Facts is that things can always and often do change. Hello, Daniel Dopp. Welcome to Week 5. How you feeling about it? Feeling pretty good. I honestly can't believe that we are over a month into the season at this point. But we still got a lot of football left, girls. So we're going to dive in. We got a bunch of players I'm going to bring to the table, enough of a sample size that we can start to really react to what some guys have looked like. And I want to start with one of the best running backs in the game. Christian McCaffrey, you and I had some thoughts coming into the season. Now that we got four games under our belt, how you feeling about this guy? Well, I am feeling like his role has shifted in the 49ers offense. Now, let me be very clear. I am not telling anyone to sit Christian McCaffrey. I am however asking you to open your mind to a potentially new perspective. Because as it stands, McCaffrey's receiving work, that which he was most known for, has dried up. If you look at last year, four weeks into 2025, he was the RB1 in Routes Run, the RB1 in catches and the RB1 in receiving yards one month into the 2020 season that we are presently in. He is the RB10 in Routes Run, the RB6 in catches and the RB6 in receiving yards. In fact, he's become a bit of a goal line, Gremlin, and he's averaging 4.4 yards per carry. And this coming off of a career low 3.9 yards per carry last season. Yeah, the four touchdowns he has this year. Liz Lose, one yard rushing touchdown, one yard rushing touchdown, a one yard rushing touchdown, and another one yard rushing touchdown. So it has been nothing but goal line work for Christian McCaffrey. And even in that receiving game where you talk about, he has not had a game with more than 45 yards receiving yet. That's just not the guy that we thought Christian McCaffrey was going to be. Now, from a rushing perspective, I am not anticipating a bounce back given the matchup against the Seahawks Seattle's defense is allowing the sixth U.S. yards per carry right now, but maybe this is a silver lining. Maybe we'll see an adjustment. The Seahawks have been fairly generous to opposing running backs through the air, allowing the fourth most receptions to the position. Also worth mentioning Kyle Eustrick is out. He is often involved in the passing game, the receiving game, if you will. So his absence might boost McCaffrey in that regard a little bit regardless. I am not ranking McCaffrey inside my top five at the position four week five. He is inside my top 10 though. I was going to say not inside my top five, but not outside of my top 10, either still in one given the kind of volume he's getting. All right, speaking of volume, did you know that the Detroit Lions defense just gives up nothing but volumes of fantasy points to quarterbacks, Liz? Jacobi percent draws him this week. I don't even want to be here for this conversation, but you should tell the people why it's a good idea to start him here. Well, first of all, we got to talk about a quarterback because this position, despite how much we talked about its depth heading into the season, is really frustrating, right? We've got Patrick Mahomes and Bryce Young both on a buy those two quarterbacks, by the way, top 10 fantasy producers at the position, which is a different kind of tilt. Also, Caleb Williams out, Jackson Dart out, Lamar Jackson out, we do have Jaden Daniels returning. We have question marks around Drake May, not so many around, Justin Herbert anymore. And so, now people might be scrambling for a stream, and I think Berset can be serviceable in that regard. He has been the QB5 in Red Zota Tams and the QB5 in designed run, so we're seeing some rushing upside. He also leads the league in games with 40 plus pass attempts since the start of 2025. So, the Cardinals defense also keeps helping Berset in terms of passing volume and that sort of volume against the sieve that has been the Lions defense. I'm sorry, it's just true. They're bottom five in completion percentage, passing yards and passing touchdowns. They've allowed the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks at an average of nearly 28 per game. Tell me I'm wrong, find the lie, babe. No, no, no, no. I actually, I went into a super market the other day and they didn't have SIVs anymore. When you picked it up, it's labeled Lions defense, is what it says. So, it's tough right now, right? If you are a Detroit Lions fan, the one thing you can hang your hat on is start all of the guys that are playing against your team in fantasy football. I'm with you on Jacobi Berset being a top 10 option this week. But let's talk about your squad. Okay, you came after my team a little bit. How about your team, the Chicago Bears? We got Luther Burton. A little bit up and down in his game first month of the season. How you feeling about him? You know, she has a certain level of stubborn. And so while I will admit that Burton and the rest of the big three, if you will, have not performed at the level we were hoping, Burton at least has been emerging in a particular way. He leads the Bears in overall targets. He's tied with Colston Lovelin in both Red Zone and End Zone targets at the top of the list. So we do like that in terms of volume. He's also the only wide receiver with 60 receiving yards and a rushing attempt in back-to-back games. I like the way that sets up in this matchup against the Packers because Green Bay's defense is incredibly banged up. Micah Parsons not playing. They just lost Eddrin Cooper. Green Bay has already given up over 16 and a half PPR fantasy points to a wide receiver won this season three separate times. Justin Jefferson, Garrett Wilson and Drake London all managed those numbers. And the Packers specifically have struggled to contain players in space. We know that Luther Burton excels after the catch. So I think this is one of those moments. We're going to see him rip off one of his trade mark after the catch. Yak moments and it's only going to help fantasy managers. Think you can start him as a wide receiver too. I like that as well. I haven't been that same range in that 20-ish range so far here in week five. I don't know what Tyson Baygent being there. Tyson Baygent looked good enough last week that I'm not worried about him being the guy under center. That's not going to downgrade the wide receivers because of that for me. So feeling good about him. All right, Liz lows up before we. Oh, come on. Do you hear that? Bonus playoff. This is, hey, bonus playoff. Bonus playoff. Bonus playoff. Bonus playoff. We got so many problems at the quarterback position. You listed everyone that's going to be out. You listed, unfortunately, all the injuries. What you didn't list is Jalen Hertz, who I don't want to start a quarterback anymore because he's been bad for the entire season basically. So give me one more guy that maybe I could think about starting this week over Jalen Hertz. How about Matt Stafford? I know that the rushing upside is basically zero, right? He recorded one rushing yard in all of 2025's a regular season. But his arm, girl, it's only week five. I think it's going to be real sore at the end of the season because right now he is the QB2 and pass attempts. The QB4 and passing yards. The QB1 and air yards, which is a stat, even if field gates doesn't like it. I certainly do. And I really, really like the fact that Matt Stafford with all of that passing volume is facing a Buffalo Bills defense that's allowing the fourth most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, including over 1,000 passing yards and 10 passing scores to the position. Right now, Matthew Stafford, by the way, started in under 50 percent of ESPN fantasy leagues. I would absolutely consider him this week with Puca back having Devonte there and going up against this squad like you're talking about. Matthew Stafford locked in as a top 10 quarterback for me as well this week. All right, guys, don't forget to like and subscribe to the video. It helps other people be able to find it means the world to Liz and I. Thank you so much for doing that. And make sure you leave us a voicemail. 3, 2, 3, 3, 9, 1, 4, 8, 5, 5. Regardless of what your question is, Liz and I are basically experts at everything in life. So we have got you handled and make sure you leave your IG handle when you leave your question. All right, Liz, we're a month into the season. Starting the guys that we know is easy part. Everyone wants to know, hey, should I flex this person or flex this person? It's always the biggest questions we get every single week. So we decided to bring four players to the table. We each have two guys and we're going to start with you. Who do you want to talk about as far as options here in week five? I am flexing yes on Carnell Tate. This was a player that I talked up throughout the summer because I made a talent bet on him. We have to remember that evolution takes time, but that is starting to come to fruition. He has recorded a target share of 32 and a half percent over the last three weeks. That ranks for context well ahead of Amon Ross Saint Brown and Tetmick Millen to obvious lineup locks. His three deep catches of over 15 yards last week are evidence of his evolution because he managed just one such catch over the first three weeks of the season. And we definitely like the momentum that is happening right now as he faces a regressed Texans defense. The Houston defense has allowed over 18 fantasy points to a wide receiver in every game this season. They are DJ Moore, Jamar Chase, Keenan Allen and CD Lam. I think you can confidently flex Tate and probably frankly get wide receiver to production out of him in week five. I like that one Liz. I am on the tiptoes of excitement going to flex Emmanuel Wilson in my lineup this week. 21 carries 81 yards for a touchdown plus three catches for another 39 yards and a receiving game touchdown last week, 27 fantasy points. This was the role that we had kind of talked about. We thought would eventually materialize for a Seahawks running back. I, silly me, thought it was going to be a jadearian price. He's now on IR. A manual Wilson is in a spot this week and maybe only for this week and next week to continue to be the guy until someone else comes back into that backfield. But they're taken on the San Francisco 49ers. Three of the four running backs to play them have scored at least 15 and a half fantasy points. All of the starting running backs that have played them have scored at least 12 and a half fantasy points. I've got him as a low end RB 2 option for myself flex. Yes, on a manual Wilson Liz. I absolutely dig it. I picked him up in a lot of leagues off of waivers and you know, I don't know if the Seahawks want a role with him forever as evidenced by the fact that they did bring Joe mixin in now mixin did not pass his physical. So it's not going to be a bit of a problem. But there is a window here and we know in fantasy that windows close pretty quickly. So you got a hammer it while it's available. I am definitely with you on this one. Love that. All right. Let's talk about another player here. Who's another one that you're thinking about flexing or not flexing in week five? Well, I want to flex no on Quentin Johnson because interestingly while Lad Maconkey has been banged up its tray Harris who has in fact been receiving most of the subsequent volume. It's really fascinating to me because tray Harris is not Mike McDaniel's type, right? The Harris is more of a possession ex-receiver. He's not particularly fast or flashy, but he is being utilized both outside and in the slot. So that versatility is affording him more opportunities. And we know obviously that Lad is still week to week. He hasn't been performing anyway. So I think that it is Harris who could. Now, this is definitely a flex for deeper leagues more of a sleeper play. Maybe you're playing him in DFS, but I don't mind the matchup so much given that Pat Sartane is out for the Broncos and knowing that Quentin Johnson has drawn at least five looks in back to back games while also registering 60 or more receiving yards in consecutive efforts. Yeah. Former third round pick. Hopefully he can be somebody that will do something in this offense. Liz, I'm going to pivot and say flex no on a guy named Ali Gordon because I think fantasy managers might get caught here back to back weeks with a touchdown back to back weeks with at least 14 and a half fantasy points back to back weeks where he still plays in the Miami Dolphins were the worst team in the NFL. I understand how many fantasy points he had. I understand that he was able to break a big one. Nine carries for a hundred yards and a touchdown against the Vikings. By the way, that's one big play happening to be able to get us to that point. I want consistency. I want volume. I want dependability. I haven't seen that from this backfield, even though I've seen some pockets of fantasy points at all this season and given how much they're going to be down, how much they're going to be trailing. No, just get the flex out of here with this question. Flex no. I am absolutely not starting him. Ali Gordon can go flex himself for all I care. Wow. I think we should just get the flex out of this segment. This is a safe place. It's a place where we can feel free sharing our feelings. Daniel, a lot of people have told me that they feel like they went from drafting an A plus squad at the top of September to managing an urgent care in the middle of October. So I'm sure we have plenty of fantasy therapy submissions. Yes. Let's get to it. Yeah, I'm going to start puffing on my mono dragon order to help get through this first voicemail. Hey, Lou, hey, Dopp. This is Andrew Mondragon from Fortland, Oregon. Great. Dopp. Do I trade? My other running backs are Jonathan Taylor and Derek Henry. Let me know what you guys think. Have a great day. My Instagram handle. Michael Mondragon 123. Okay. Interesting. I love that we are shaking things up. And I also love that this guy was like, I am going to him or the running back position while I am drafting. And look how it's worked out for him. I don't know about you, Daniel, but like I think I would prefer to sell high on Jonathan Taylor or Derek Henry over Chase Brown. Even though Brown is not the best fantasy performer of them, we know he is consistent. He's right now what the RB 14 and fantasy points per game. But Taylor and Henry are both coming off of 2025 campaigns in which they cleared 300 carries a piece. And there is a long season ahead of us. We saw the way after Daniel Jones got injured at the end of last season. Taylor's production came down when I am looking at the Colts offense. I am not alive in by any sort of amount of upside or hope, right? So to me, sell high on Jonathan Taylor and know that you have a solid stable with Henry and Chase behind you. I just want to be really transparent. I don't want to trade any of these guys. Unless I need somebody else, I want to keep all three of these running backs because of the problems that running back still with that injury. However, we're trading this player for a reason. If I had to pick one Liz, you kind of basically set it for me. I just like the offense for Chase Brown and the Bengals even more. I like the offense for Derek Henry and the Ravens. I think there's a higher upside for both of them. I am out and when moved, Jonathan Taylor, if I had to pick someone, I also think you could maybe get the most for him out of anybody in this list as well. Awesome question. All right. I like it when you call me big Papa Isaiah has a question here. Liz. I have both Tyler Shuck who's taken on Minnesota and Jaden Daniels who's taken on the Giants at quarterback. Who should I start this week? Yeah, so I totally understand the redisense because Daniels is coming off of an injury. There's rust. He's injury prone. All of those narratives, but his matchup against the Giants is a thousand times better. Then Tyler Shuck's versus this Brian Flores led Vikings defense. I don't want any part of it like Kudos to Shuck for continuing to produce whether it's through the ground or in garbage timer and over time like he's getting it done, but oh, that is just I don't want a piece of that matchup. So give me Jaden Daniels in week five, even if he's rusty. One one million hundred percent I would rather have Jaden Daniels. I do not want anything to do with the Brian Flores defense. All right. This next one Liz Lowza is a bit of a flex question, which we live. Okay. Hey, um, they said out of Boston, I've got a question for you on wide receivers. I'm carrying pickings, a group of bullied neighbors and bullied Washington and which is the right trio of PPR league to start in my wide receiver and I see one of these guys. Yeah. Here's the problem. Jet came into the season thinking, I've got George Pickens, Ameca Abouca and Malig neighbors. I don't have to make any flex decisions this season. Those guys are locked up the rest of the year. Is there a chance you would sit one of them though, really? Yeah, I'm going to sit Ameca Abouca. Like to me, it's between either Malig Washington or Ameca Abouca because of the quarterback concerns, frankly, but Malig Washington has managed five catches in at least 55 receiving yards as well as two rushing attempts in back to back games. So I am going to lean in that direction and this is wild. But yeah, sit a book on week five. Yeah. Once I found out that Jayla on Daniels was going to be the starting quarterback again, I decided to go with pretty much any other quad receiver. Unfortunately, so I am out on Ameca Abouca. Next question here comes from Andrew. Andrew wants to know this. Would you trade away? Liz Loza. Brock Bowers. Liz Loza, would you trade away? No, we would never trade away. Liz Loza. No way. My gosh. To where? Okay. Brock Bowers for Poca, Nakua. I already have Jumeer Gibbs and Lamar Jackson and Nico Collins. I traded Ken Walker the third earlier this season in order to get both Lamar and Nico. So would you now move Brock Bowers for Poca, Nakua? Andrews trade game is on strong. I love the early season hustle. See Andrew is doing it, right? You got to get in there. You can't be completely married to the squad you drafted. You have to shake things up. Surprise, everyone. Maybe yourself too. And the short answer, though, is no. I am not trading Brock Bowers for Poca, Nakua. I totally understand how tempting it is. But I do not want to deal with the stress of the tight end position. I'd rather lock it up and know that Bowers was going to produce at a top three level on a week-to-week basis. I'm with you on that. I just think the tight end upside with it being an island position is bigger for me than Poca, Nakua. I am totally with Liz. We got another voicemail. This one coming from an unnamed friend, but I think you are going to like it, Liz. Oh, okay. Hey, Liz, I'm a big fan of the show. I'm going to leave where I've got all for me. Mike Washington and Ashley Vendique for my Quincyon Duncan and Marguergestin. Try to accept the trade or class. Thank you. Oh, thank you. I really appreciate you listening. You're amazing. Okay. Also, I love that you don't have an Instagram handle. That is great parenting. Anyway, great parenting. Well done. Parents of Unnamed Child who's calling into our fantasy therapy line. So basically, the trade is, would you like to trade the Raiders Backfield for Quincyon Judkins and Lamar Jackson? And when I first looked at this, I was like, Oh, man, I think you might be getting fleeced. But ultimately, I think I like it. I mean, Lamar Jackson is already banged up. He's going to miss some time. We already talked about at the top of the episode how you can stream at the position, just play whoever's facing the lions. Although I do think they have a buy in week six. Anyway. And yeah, I think that Ashen Genting is going to be more productive on a regular basis. Then Quincyon Judkins, you've got an insurance policy behind him with this trade. Go ahead and make it. Let us know how it works out. I mean, Daniel, do you agree before I just seal it up? I do think that I agree. The one thing I would want to make sure of is that there is at least someone a quarterback on the waiver wire that is worth being able to add and it's not just like, you know, a heap of garbage. But assuming like we have been talking about given the depth of the quarterback position, I think I'm with you. I would rather have Ashton Gentie and a replacement level quarterback starting for me than Lamar Jackson and Quinch on Judkins for the rest of the season. Yeah, that's a great question unnamed kid. All right, next one. This one comes from Nick Wright 99, bit of a long one. Okay, buckle up here. Hello, have a big question. I would like some advice regarding my lineup. I asked about a few weeks ago. I've got Drake May and CJ Stroud at quarterback, Bijan Robinson and Jeremiah Love at running back. Drake London, Christian Watson, Garrett Wilson at wide receiver and George Kittle and Travis Kelsey, and I'm about to be one in three, but I'm second in point scored. Yeah, is there any trade targets? Y'all would recommend or would you hold type and hope that the record eventually evens out with the point scored. Thanks y'all and go saints. Liz, low is a second a point scored, but one in three. What are you doing here? I mean, this is sometimes the fantasy gods just need to be appeased. Number one, I would drop CJ Stroud. I don't think you need a waste, a spot on your roster carrying him. Just get rid of him and then it seems like the only problem here is quarterback. So if you did want to package a trade, I wouldn't mind packaging a Christian Watson and Travis Kelsey trade Christian Watson. We imagine at some point we'll probably break down. And so while he's healthy and hot, frankly, maybe now is the time to sell high on him. So I think if you did want to make a trade, he would be my target. And then if you felt like packaging Kelsey based on what it is you would like to receive in return, those would be the two players. And as a part of that trade negotiation, I would kind of highlight the fact that Travis Kelsey at the tight end spot, having his buy happened this week means that if you trade him to a manager who has a tight end that will hit buy at some point, you don't have to worry about that with Travis Kelsey. I think I would do the same thing as you, Christian Watson and Travis Kelsey and trying pivot that into a potentially better quarterback spot because the rest of that lineup is Bijan and Jeremiah love Drake London, Garrett Wilson, George Kittle, like that's a that's a really good squad Nick. So I would I would hold tight there. All right, that's going to wrap the voicemail question calling with your cashouts, crash outs, life advice, all of it. If you have a roster questions, make sure you ask us about week six, the voicemail line, 323 391 4855. Today we learned that CMC has apparently morphed into a goal line Gremlin. The Daniel Dopp will take any opportunity to reference Big Papa and that things can always get better. It just means you rolling up your sleeves and shaking things up. Now go out there and shock your league, maybe yourself as well. Be sure to check out my week five edition of the Facts versus Feelings column, which is currently live on the dot com and leave us a voicemail. The number to call is 323 391 4855. Until next time, may your facts be solid, your feelings be right and your bus be someone else's problem. Yo. Lock in.