Week 5 DFS Bargains

The beauty of fantasy football is that there are always bargains, and week after week, some of those bargains are there for the taking.

Here are some of the biggest Week 5 DFS bargains, using FanDuel pricing.  Many of these players are available in standard leagues, making them terrific streamers if the bye week is crushing your hopes.  But when it comes to DFS, you want boom-bust guys.  If your QB scores 15-18 points, your best hope for a payout is in 50-50 or head-to-head contests.  I’m looking at players with decent shots at elite positional production.

Ryan Tannehill ($7,100) and Brian Hoyer are among the cheapest Week 5 starting QBs.  Tannehill is the ultimate boom-bust candidate who, by virtue of a bottom-tier running game, is the deciding factor for whether Miami wins.  “Good” Tannehill often leads his team to victory, and that’s what we’ll see Sunday.  Meanwhile, barring a miraculous Jay Cutler recovery, Hoyer is a dirt cheap QB facing one of the NFL’s worst defenses.  No Kevin White?  Potentially no Eddie Royal?  Not a concern with Alshon Jeffery, Zach Miller, and Jordan Howard picking up most of the slack.  The Colts will score big in this one, and Hoyer will need to sling it early and often to stay competitive.

DeAndre Washington ($4,700) Jalen Richard ($4,900) are among the biggest DFS RB bargains you’ll find all season.  Latavius Murray is out, and so are some key members of a San Diego defense that, while effective against the run, has been brutalized in the air.  Derek Carr will move the ball with ease, giving Oakland’s backfield tandem plenty of scoring opportunities.  And of course, Baltimore’s RB duo of Terrance West ($6,400) and Kenneth Dixon ($5,800) are affordable enough to take a chance on in DFS (and of course are solid starts in standard leagues).

If Eddie Royal (questionable; $5,700) plays, he’s a perfect guy to match with Hoyer in a boom-bust DFS lineup.  Otherwise, little-known Cameron Meredith ($4,500) will ascend to relevancy.  While I wouldn’t expect more than five catches and 50 yards in this scenario, Meredith offers value at a bottom-of-the-barrel price point.  Similarly, if Stefon Diggs misses Week 5, Charles Johnson’s ($4,700) big-play ability would make him a fantastic flyer.  And if Dez Bryant misses another game, Cole Beasley ($5,500) or Terrance Williams ($5,500) are primed to score against a Bengals unit that’s yielded the third most passing TDs all season.