Week 5 Studs/Duds
Week 5 had its share of breakouts and letdowns. Here’s a stud and a dud at every position.
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Now, on to the picks…
🔥 QB Stud: Drake Maye (NE)
Second week in a row Maye is my stud QB. Two weeks after questions about whether his confidence was shot, Maye delivered the best fantasy game of his season against the Raiders.
Completed 26-of-34 passes for 374 yards and four touchdowns, and added a rushing score on a third-quarter scramble
Has 8 total touchdowns over his last two games, after ranking 32nd in fantasy points per dropback through Week 3
Hit Kyle Williams and Pop Douglas for long touchdowns despite entering the week without A.J. Brown (ankle) and with Mack Hollins (calf) expected out
This looks like the quarterback who led the NFL in yards per attempt (8.9) last season, so lock him in against a middling Jets secondary in Week 6.
🧊 QB DUD: Tyler Shough (NO)
Shough’s volume-driven production finally ran into a defense that wouldn’t allow it.
Completed 16-of-25 passes for just 96 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions in a 23-13 loss to Minnesota
Only one of the Saints’ five first-half drives lasted more than three plays, and two of their four second-half drives ended in interceptions
His earlier fantasy value came from heavy passing volume (56 attempts in Week 1, 48 in Week 4), which Brian Flores’ defense shut down
He gets a much easier Giants matchup in Week 6, but this game showed his floor, so treat him as a QB2 streamer rather than a set-and-forget starter.
🔥 RB STUD: Jaylen Warren (PIT)
With Rico Dowdle (toe) still sidelined, Warren turned in an RB1 performance against the Colts.
Totaled 188 yards and two touchdowns (15-101-1 rushing, 6-87-1 receiving), including an 80-yard catch-and-run and a 50-yard touchdown run
Has handled 20 or more touches in three straight games, including a 97% snap rate in Week 4
Entered the week tied for top-5 in missed tackles forced (19) and gashed a Colts defense that allows the 6th-most fantasy points to opposing backfields (28.1 per game)
Warren was drafted as a committee “1B” that several coaching staffs wouldn’t make a workhorse, and Pittsburgh now has every reason to give him the lion’s share even after Dowdle returns.
🧊 RB DUD: Omarion Hampton (LAC)
Hampton was a summer breakout pick, but five weeks in he is stuck in a timeshare.
Ran 14 times for 33 yards (2.4 per carry) against Denver
His snap share fell to 42% in Week 3, with Keaton Mitchell (38%) and Kimani Vidal (25%) cutting into his work after back-to-back fumble games
Since his 23-carry workhorse game in Week 2, he hasn’t topped 15 carries
Hampton was projected as a top-10 RB1 in Mike McDaniel’s offense, but right now he’s a touchdown-dependent flex who needs the backfield to consolidate again.
Still to come: the tight end many of you drafted to lead the position in scoring, whose numbers through five weeks are hard to believe.
🔥 WR STUD: Christian Watson (GB)
Watson bounced back from his only quiet game of the year with a big-play performance against the Bears.
Caught 6-of-8 targets for 143 yards and two touchdowns, from 42 and 53 yards out
His two 140-yard, two-touchdown games this season are among the three highest receiving totals of his career
Already has 6 touchdowns through five games, matching his 2025 total from 10 games
Watson went into the summer as a high-upside WR3, and he’s now firmly in the weekly WR1 mix with a potential smash spot against Dallas, the softest defense against receivers in our defense-vs-position data.
🧊 WR DUD: DK Metcalf (PIT)
Metcalf got a beat-up Colts defense and still finished with almost nothing, while Pittsburgh’s big plays went to its running back.
Caught 3-of-4 targets for just 12 yards, and two of those catches were screens behind the line of scrimmage
Saw only one target 10+ yards downfield, a bad sign for a receiver who ranked 4th in air yards share (43%) last season
Apart from Warren’s 80- and 50-yard touchdowns, the Steelers had just one play longer than 17 yards, as Aaron Rodgers continues to struggle throwing deep
Add the early-season drops and miscommunication with Rodgers, and Metcalf looks like a touchdown-dependent WR3 against the Bucs next week, with the 2nd-hardest WR schedule still ahead.
🔥 TE STUD: Isaiah Likely (NYG)
Likely set career highs against the Commanders and is building real chemistry with Jameis Winston.
Caught 11-of-13 targets (a career-high in receptions) for 94 yards and two touchdowns, including a 17-yard score on fourth-and-8
Has seen 25 targets over his last two games and has reached 66+ yards in three of five games
Has 33 catches through five games, already more than his entire 2025 season (27)
He’s a solid TE1 heading into a Week 6 date with the Saints, one of the friendlier TE matchups on the board.
🧊 TE DUD: Colston Loveland (CHI)
He was supposed to be fantasy’s top tight end, and the slump is now a trend rather than a slow start.
Caught 2-of-5 targets for 19 yards against Green Bay, the same team he burned for 8-137 in last season’s Wild Card win
Has 110 receiving yards and no touchdowns through five games, compared with 597 yards and 6 scores over his final 10 games of 2025
Usage hasn’t been the problem: he posted an 86.6% snap rate and 92% route share early in the season, but the production hasn’t come
Caleb Williams’ likely return against Atlanta in Week 6 is Loveland’s last stand; if he doesn’t get going with his quarterback back, he becomes a TE2.
That's the list. Keep your eye on these guys to see whether Week 5 was a blip or the start of a bigger trend.
-Joe
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