Welcome to Week 5 of the NFL season and the next edition DFS RB Coach! For a second straight week, we had someone in here go bananas ad be a slate breaker, as Christian McCaffrey finished with 48.7 points. We also had Kyren Williams (27.7 points) and James Cook (14.7) provide nice games, while Jaylen Warren (11.5) proved to be a solid value at his price! Enough about last week though, let’s look to keep that momentum going into Week 5. It’s time to start putting those DraftKings and FanDuel lineups together and hit the big paydays! The Kansas City Chiefs vs. Minnesota Vikings game has the highest total on the slate, so be sure to keep that in mind. Let’s dive into my favorite RB plays!

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Week 5 Plays

NFL DFS RB Top Plays

Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons

Robinson makes his debut to the RB Coach for me (though he would have been here last week if he was on the main slate). He has been incredible thus far, scoring over 20 points in three out of four games. He has at least 5 targets in all four games and at least 4 receptions in every game as well. He has averaged over 5.6 YPC in three of four games and already looks like he might be the most talented back in the NFL not named Christian McCaffrey. The Texans are a good matchup for running backs this year and I expect the rookie to take full advantage of them/it. 

Saquon Barkley, New York Giants

I will keep this one pretty short because, as of right now, we have no clue if Barkley is going to even play this week. This matchup against the Dolphins is a good one though and they give up a lot of points, so the Giants offense could *potentially* not be trash for once (though with Daniel Jones, it’s still possible as we saw on MNF against a Seattle team that had allowed 27+ points in every game prior to playing the Giants). The last time we saw Barkley play (Week 2) he scored 27.2 fantasy points. 

UPDATE: He is OUT

 

NFL DFS RB Mid-Tier Plays

David Montgomery, Detroit Lions

Despite as much as fantasy football twitter complains about Jamyr Gibbs (not me, I liked Monty coming into the year and didn’t like Gibbs, so I’m loving it) not getting more touches, this will continue to be the Monty show. He is a grinder who moves the chains and keeps the flow of the offense going in the right direction while pounding in goal line touches as a high rate. He already has five touchdowns on the year and will continue to get those carries. I would be surprised if he doesn’t get another 20+ carries this week with another touchdown. This is a good spot against Carolina. 

De’Von Achane, Miami Dolphins

Achane has looked flat-out incredible thus far, rushing for 309 yards on just 27 attempts! Of course, he won’t average 11.4 YPC the whole year, that’s just impossible, but he can continue to impress and play well in this Miami high-powered offense. He has also shown good chops as a receiver with 7 receptions on 9 targets over the last two games and he has shown a knack for the end zone with SIX touchdowns in his last two games. The Dolphins will probably run all over this terrible Giants team, so both Achane and Mostert could provide strong games, but Achane appears to be taking over this backfield right now. 

 

NFL DFS RB Value Plays

Matt Breida, New York Giants

Much like Barkley, I will keep this one short because this is fully contingent on if Barkley plays or not. He had a solid game in the Giants Week 4 loss to the Seahawks, despite having just 30 yards on 14 carries, because he caught all five of his targets for 48 yards. He has always shown to be a good pass-catcher and he has caught all 9 of his targets this year, including all 8 over the last two games as a starter. The Giants oline is #NotGood and it leads to a lot of short passes.

UPDATE: Barkley is out, so Breida is in play. 

Gus Edwards, Baltimore Ravens

The Gus Bus didn’t really gain a whole lot of steam last week against the Browns, rushing 15 times for just 48 yards, but he did get the volume and even caught a pair of passes. He is the lead back in this offense and this matchup against the Steelers is better than the Browns. He also gets the benefit of being the goal line back (if Jackson isn’t just running it in himself). His upside is fully dependent on getting a touchdown or two though (as he doesn’t see much, if any passing work), so just keep that in mind. 

Jaleel McLaughlin, Denver Broncos

Much like Barkley/Breida, I will keep this one short because this is fully contingent on if Javonte Williams plays. If Williams plays, I have no interest in either Broncos back this week, but I do like McLaughlin if Williams is forced to miss a game. McLaughlin had a monster game in relief of Williams last week, rushing 7 times for 72 yards and catching all three of his targets for an additional 32 yards and a touchdown. The Jets are a fine matchup for running backs this season as well, so he would have a nice opportunity to keep the good times rollin’. 

UPDATE: Williams is OUT, so I do like McLaughlin today. 

 

NFL DFS RB Fades

Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings

This one might seem a bit strange, since this game has the highest game total on the slate and Mattison is coming off two straight productive games, but I just can’t get behind playing him. The Chiefs have been tough on defense this season, especially against running backs. On top of that, Cam Akers is now in the fold for Minnesota and he looked good with them last week, so we can expect him to be involved as well. We also saw Akers joining the fold lead to a season-low ONE target for Mattison last week, while Akers had two, despite far fewer snaps. 

*Check back later in the week for an updated version once we know the injury status’ of Saquon Barkley and Javonte Williams.