Fantasy Football Week 5 Wide Receiver Start/Sit: Dontayvion Wicks, Xavier Legette, Brandon Aiyuk

Ted breaks down three wide receivers to lock into your fantasy football lineups ... and three to leave on the bench.

Welcome back to FantasySP’s weekly fantasy football wide receiver start/sit breakdown. This is the first week of byes, which means the caliber of players on the border of lineups will be lower than usual. In previous weeks, I’ve suggested benching legitimately solid options because of bad matchups or situations; that won’t happen anymore with four teams on bye. With that in mind, let’s get started!

For more help with your toughest Week 5 Start/Sit decisions, check out FantasySP’s NFL Start/Sit tool!

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers To Start Week 5

Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs vs. New Orleans Saints

This play is a bit risky. Four weeks into his career, Worthy has posted a thoroughly mediocre 14% target per route run rate. His overall target share in the Chiefs’ offense is just 11.6%. However, with Rashee Rice now officially on IR, someone is going to have to step up for Kansas City.

Last week, with Rice exiting after just a few plays, Worthy easily led Chiefs WRs with an 82.4% route participation rate. He did see just three targets (a 10.3% share), but one of them went for a 54-yard touchdown. At the end of the day, that’s a large part of this bet. Worthy’s lack of proven target-earning ability means he has a very low floor. But he is the fastest man in NFL history, and he’s playing with the best quarterback of all time. If he’s going to be posting an 80%+ route share, I like his chances to break at least one big play. 

Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers @ Los Angeles Rams

I was in on Wicks coming into the season as potentially the best wide receiver in this crowded Packers offense. Now, with Christian Watson sidelined, Wicks is getting a chance to show what he’s got. Last week, after Watson exited early, Wicks racked up 13 targets. The Packers did have very high volume across the board in a negative game script, but that was still good for a 24.1% target share.  

This week, Wicks should again play a full-time role against the Rams, who have been the sixth-most generous defense to opposing WRs so far this season. Expect Wicks to put up another big game to continue his year-two breakout. 

Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals

I wouldn’t have thought this was necessary, but my own sister told me she was planning on benching Aiyuk after his slow start to the season. His performances have been rough enough that she might not be alone, as Aiyuk is averaging just 5.8 half-PPR points per game. However, fantasy managers shouldn’t give up on Aiyuk yet, especially not in a matchup with the Cardinals.

Aiyuk has undeniably not looked like himself to start the season, likely rusty from missing the majority of training camp. But this is still one of the league’s most talented receivers, a 26-year-old fresh off ranking in the top three for PFF Receiving Grade and yards per route run while posting the highest yards per target in NFL history. Even during his disappointing start to this season, Aiyuk still has a solid 20% target share and ranks fourth among all players in Fantasy Points Data’s separation score. Keep him in your lineups for at least one more week.

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers To Sit Week 5

Jakobi Meyers, Las Vegas Raiders @ Denver Broncos

With the recent news that Davante Adams is likely on his way out of Vegas, Meyers is moving up in the world. The former Patriot has always been a very underrated receiver and posted a massive 41% target share last week with Adams sidelined. He could push for WR3 or even WR2 production the rest of the way … just not this week.

This week, Meyers will match up with the Broncos, who have allowed the third-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers. More specifically, he will match up with Patrick Surtain, who has been absolutely eliminating opposing teams’ WR1s. So far this season, Surtain has held D.K. Metcalf, Mike Evans, Garrett Wilson, and Geroge Pickens to an average of just 29 yards per game. Meyers should have a strong season, but this is not the week to play him.  

Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers @ Chicago Bears

A very similar logic applies to Legette. Everything is pointing up for the final pick of the first round of this year’s draft. Andy Dalton has brought life to the Panthers’ offense. Adam Thielen’s trip to IR has opened up a full-time role for the rookie. He set new career highs in every metric last week with a 6/66/1 stat line on 10 targets.

So why am I suggesting you sit Legette this week? For one, he was actually still third among Panthers WRs last week (behind Diontae Johnson and Jonathan Mingo) with just an 81.4% route participation rate. Just as importantly, the Bears have been a rough matchup for opposing receivers so far this season. Thanks to a combination of a bad offense and a good secondary, they’ve allowed the sixth-fewest points per game to opposing WRs so far this season. Although Legette is flashing and could eventually blossom into a weekly play, it’s better to be a week late than a week early with inserting the rookie into your fantasy lineup. 

Keenan Allen, Chicago Bears vs. Carolina Panthers

Allen returned to the Bears’ lineup last week after missing Weeks 2 and 3 with a heel injury. However, the veteran did not return to the role he saw in Week 1. In his Bears’ debut, Allen saw a massive 27.6% target share as well as a 35.0% first-read target share. In Week 4, those numbers were down to 13.0% and 14.3%. Meanwhile, Allen’s route participation rate was just 69.2%.

It was always going to be a struggle for the 32-year-old to maintain large volume given that the Bears have three talented receivers. However, those issues have been compounded by the fact that Chicago’s offense has been one of the worst in the league. Unless his role bounces back or we see Caleb Williams take a step forward, Allen should remain on fantasy benches for the foreseeable future. 

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