Welcome to the Week 5. Sorry for the delay but this real life work got in the way.

For standard leagues, I’ll pick some players outside the top 10 and 15 who I think will play well as well as some higher rated players who I see underachieving using the ESPN rankings. I’ve got my FanDuel picks at the bottom. Last week, I went 14-6 in underachievers and overachievers, and my worst week yet in FanDuel. Let’s get to it. We have our FanDuel league with over $4,000 in prize money this week.

Click here to enter

Underachievers

• Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning:  He has been average at best and I do not consider him a weekly start at this point.
• Seattle Seahawks QB Russel Wilson:  They usually struggle a bit on the road and especially going across the country in a short week with an awful OL.
• New Orleans QB Drew Brees:  His arm looked very weak and now going outdoors on the road against a tough Philadelphia Eagles defense.
• St Louis Rams RB Todd Gurley:  He looked great last week but it was more about the OL which opened gaping holes and while the Packers are not great defending the run, he is not the 3rd down back and if they fall behind big it will be Benny Cunningham time.
• Oakland Raiders RB Latavious Murray: I would not start any players against the Denver Broncos defense.
• San Francisco 49ers RB Carlos Hyde:  The New York Giants are in the top 5 in all rushing defense categories and the 49ers should be trailing all game.
• Chicago Bears WR Alshon Jeffrey:  I need to see him do well before starting him in any lineups.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans:  It is not about injuries but about quality and he is grossly underachieving, another need to see it before starting.
• Oakland Raiders WR Amari Cooper:  As I said above, I am benching all Oakland Raiders this week.
• Chicago Bears TE Martellus Bennett:  The Kansas City Chiefs are a top 3 team defending the tight end.

Overachievers

• New York Giants QB Eli Manning:  The San Francisco 49ers are going across the country where they are much worse on the road.
• Kansas City QB Alex Smith:  He almost threw for 400 yards last week and gets maybe the worst secondary in the NFL in the Chicago Bears.
• Tennessee Titans QB Marcus Mariota:  He has been a top 10 QB and now gets the very overrated Buffalo Bills pass defense at home.
• Cincinnati Bengals RB Giovanni Bernard:  I see them having issues in running with Jeremy Hill and will utilize the short passing game.
• New England Patriots RB LeGarrette Blount:  It will be blowout time which almost guarantees a td and 15 rushers.
• Washington Redskins RB Matt Jones:  This is a long shot bye week play but I think they will run the ball 40 plus times.
• Tennessee Titans Wr Kendall Wright:  The Buffalo Bills are struggling against slot receivers so this is a nice play.
• Washington Redskins WR Pierre Garcon:  He should get all the pass opportunities with Jordan Reedout.
• Atlanta Falcons WR Leonard Hankerson:  I see a very high scoring game and start as many as you can on each side.
• Buffalo Bills TE Charles Clay:  The Titans are bottom 5 defending the tight end and who else will Tyrod Taylor throw to this week?

Here are my FanDuel picks for the week where I will give some higher and lower salaries I like at each position. As you will see, I will be focusing on the defenses to pick on:

QB

• Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan, $8,300:  This should be a shootout and I see him as best high priced play
• San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers, $7,500:  With a mid priced salary against a very shaky Pittsburgh Steelers pass defense.
• Kansas City Chiefs QB Alex Smith, $6,900:  This is my best cheap play due to the Chicago Bears awful pass defense.

RB

• Pittsburgh Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell, $9,100:  This is the place to put your money as the San Diego Chargers have really struggled strong the run this year.
• Green Bay Packers RB Eddie Lacy, $7,600:  This is when he started breaking out last year in week 5 and the St Louis Rams have not been great defending the run.
• New England Patriots RB Dion Lewis, $6,900:  This is a bargain in a game the Patriots may score 50 points.
• Jacksonville Jaguars RB T.J Yeldon, $6,600:  He is in the top 5 in RB carries and the Tampa Buccaneers defense is not good at all.
• Washington Redskins RB Chris Thompson, $5,100:  This is the best cheap play if you are spending a ton in other areas.

WR

• Atlanta Falcons WR Julio Jones, $9,200:  He is bounce back is a perfect match up.
• San Diego Chargers WR Keenan Allen, $7,700:  Another game I see going up and down the field.
• New England Patriots WR Julian Edelman, $7,700:  As steady as it gets.
• Kansas City Chiefs WR Jeremy Maclin, $6,900:  In the top 5 in NFL target, a huge bargain.
• Jacksonville Jaguars WR Allen Robinson, $6,300:  He has been inconsistent but this is a pure upside play at this price.  Go big!
• Atlanta Falcons WR Leonard Hankerson, $6,000:  I am getting as many guys in what should be the highest scoring game of the week.
• Chicago Bears WR Eddie Royal, $5,500:  Jay Cutler seemed to look for him a ton last week.
• Washington Redskins WR Jamison Crowder, $5,200:  He has had 16 targets the past 2 week and is my best long shot play.
• Philadelphia Eagles WR Nelson Agholor, $5,200:  This is a tourney play.

TE

• New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski, $8,400:  This is a great week to Gronk!.
• Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, $6,500:  I am expecting a huge passing day in Kansas City.
• Denver Broncos TE Owen Daniels, $4,900:  This is my cheap play especially with the Oakland Raiders being the worst team in the NFL defending the tight end.

Thank you for reading and have a great week, feel free to ask any questions here or on Twitter.

Mike Dietrich

Mike Dietrich is the fantasy football columnist for JetNation.

See Full Bio