The Week 5 NFL Dashboard
For the rest of our positional breakdowns and team previews, visit our NFL dashboard.
Buccaneers at Panthers
Because of Cam Newton‘s questionable status, Vegas has not yet released lines for this game. Keep tabs on our auto-updating Vegas dashboard here.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
QB – Jameis Winston
The Panthers defense has performed quite well against quarterbacks this season. Outside of Matt Ryan‘s statistical explosion last week — which accounted for 45.9 percent of the passing yards and 50 percent of the passing touchdowns allowed by Carolina on the year — the Panthers have limited the other opposing quarterbacks to an average of just 14.8 fantasy points on FanDuel. Winston is coming off the heels of his worst fantasy performance of the year (13.1 points) and faces off against a defense that is top-five in sack percentage and takeaway percentage. His -0.1 Opponent Plus/Minus on FD puts him in GPP-only territory this week.
RB – Charles Sims
Sims (knee) is officially doubtful for Week 5. He missed practice this week and isn’t expected to play. If Sims can’t play, Jacquizz Rodgers would likely serve as the lead back.
RB – Jacquizz Rodgers
The Quizz saw seven touches last week with Sims missing time; he gained 29 total yards. Although he’s a talented receiving back and had some success with the Falcons, Rodgers has limited upside, considering he’s never gained 50 rushing yards and scored a touchdown in the same game. He hasn’t done much in three games this season, averaging just 0.59 fantasy points per opportunity. Rodgers is minimum-priced on DraftKings and has a 98 percent Bargain Rating.
RB – Payton Barber
A big-bodied plodding undrafted rookie who entered the NFL with two years of college eligibility left, Barber is likely to get at least a couple of carries as the between-the-tackles runner if Sims misses Week 5. Barber actually has some sneaky potential. In his one season as the lead back at Auburn, had rushed for over 1,000 yards and averaged one TD per game. If goal-line carries are given to a RB, he (and not the diminutive Rodgers) could be the guy to get them.
WR – Mike Evans
Per Pro Football Focus, Evans and Julio Jones line up nearly the same amount of the time on the left side of the formation. That should leave Evans with a good amount of Bene Benwikere, who just gave up 228 yards in coverage to Julio last week. Evans continues to have top-end market shares of targets, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Evans makes for a fine cash or tournament play this week, even with his +$1,000 Salary Change on DK.
WR – Vincent Jackson
V-Jax continues his disappointing 2016 campaign and has now failed to meet expectations each week this season on FD:
Jackson’s seen a decline in targets for three straight weeks. Despite the abundance of snaps, they haven’t translated to direct usage; V-Jax is seeing just 15.6 percent of the team’s targets. James Bradberry currently grades as PFF’s 58th-ranked cornerback, but he may not get tested much with Winston showing declining trust in Jackson.
WR – Adam Humphries
After putting up a 9-100-0 stat line in Week 3, Humphries laid a near goose egg with a 1-4-0 line in Week 4. Denver’s Chris Harris Jr. is no joke in coverage and Humphries draws a much easier assignment this week in Robert McClain. Because of Carolina’s pass rush, Humphries may be a frequent target this week as a quick outlet receiver for Winston. Humphries’ 6.0 average depth of target (aDOT) remains one of the lowest in the league, but after seeing Humphries garner a dozen targets a couple weeks ago, he could provide value on a full PPR site like DK with his minimum $3,000 price.
TE – Cameron Brate
The Panthers have been beat up by opposing tight ends; Brate could continue that trend in Week 5. The Panthers have allowed the third-most touchdowns and sixth-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends on DK. Over the past two weeks, Brate ranks in the top-five in snaps, routes run, targets, and red-zone targets among TEs. He’s emerged as an integral part of the offense during that span, averaging nine targets per game and 16.7 points per game. At just $2,900 on DK with a 98 percent Bargain Rating, Brate could be considered in both cash and GPP lineups.
Carolina Panthers
QB – Derek Anderson
Cam Newton (concussion) has been ruled out for Week 5. Anderson will start in his place and has a great matchup. Tampa Bay has allowed the seventh-most fantasy points and fifth-most passing touchdowns so far this season. The Bucs have yielded QB5 (Matt Ryan), QB4 (Carson Palmer), QB19 (Case Keenum), and a combined QB15 (Paxton Lynch and Trevor Siemian) performances to date this season. Tampa Bay’s cornerbacks have struggled and it has yielded big days for quarterbacks and pass catchers alike.
Anderson came on in relief last week and scored 14.88 DraftKings fantasy points in a little over a quarter of play. Anderson has done well previously in relief of Newton. At $5,500 on DK, he enters the discussion as a potential cash play if Newton doesn’t start.
RB – Cameron Artis-Payne
Projected for just five points on DK in our Player Models, CAP is a risky play with limited reception and touchdown appeal.
RB – Fozzy Whittaker
Whittaker saw nine targets last week and caught all of them en route to 86 receiving yards and an 18.2-point outing on DK. Running backs that are averaging over four targets per game so far in 2016 have fared quite well:
Whittaker is currently leading the Panthers backfield in snaps (54.1 percent) in the past four weeks. Tampa Bay has allowed the seventh-most receiving yards to opposing running backs so far this season; Whittaker has some appeal as a low-owned GPP dart.
RB – Mike Tolbert
Seeing just 4.5 touches per game, Tolbert isn’t getting enough volume to warrant DFS exposure.
WR – Kelvin Benjamin
The Bucs have given up the most touchdowns and the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers on DK so far this year. Per our NFL Matchups tool, Benjamin will likely see a lot of Alterraun Verner on the outside, who had trouble slowing down Denver’s talented starting receivers last week. Benjamin’s catch totals so far this season (6, 7, 0, and 3) make him a risky cash-game play, but his touchdown potential is always worth chasing in GPPs. Only Sterling Shepard has a higher Upside rating on FD.
WR – Devin Funchess
We’ve seen a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde version of Funchess between the preseason and regular season. Funchess’ lack of snaps and volume make him an incredibly risky play each week.
WR – Ted Ginn Jr.
Ginn isn’t too far behind Benjamin in terms of both snaps and Air Yards so far this season and remains a big-play waiting to happen. Ginn ranks in the top-10 in aDOT so far this season and will spend some time lined up against 5’10” Brent Grimes, who will test him vertically down the field. His volatile boom-or-bust nature leaves him in dart throw consideration.
WR – Philly Brown
Brown was behind only Benjamin this past week in snaps, and it’s fair to wonder what kind of rapport he may have with Anderson if he’s slated to start this week. Brown could be an intriguing player to monitor depending on the quarterback situation.
TE – Greg Olsen
Olsen continues to dominate the Panthers’ offensive market share statistics but gets a rather tough test against a Tampa Bay defense that has held TEs to 1.14 points under salary-based expectations this season. However, that could be just noise given the level of competition they’ve faced.
After Anderson entered the game in the third quarter last week, 32 percent of his passes went Olsen’s way. Whether it’s Cam or Anderson under center this week, we can expect Olsen to once again be heavily involved as a focal point of this offense. Averaging 10 targets and 14.9 points per game on FD, Olsen remains a weekly viable cash or GPP option.
News Updates
After this piece is published, FantasyLabs is likely to provide news updates on a number of players herein mentioned. Be sure to stay ahead of your competition with our industry-leading DFS-focused news blurbs:
