{"id":205517,"date":"2025-10-06T19:20:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T19:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/205517\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T19:20:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T19:20:09","slug":"fantasy-football-week-5-takeaways-emeka-egbuka-seizes-the-day-jcm-breaks-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/205517\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy football Week 5 takeaways: Emeka Egbuka seizes the day, JCM breaks out"},"content":{"rendered":"

The game of the day was in Seattle. The Buccaneers are the new Kardiac Kids<\/a>, winning game after game on their last play. This is not a sustainable business model. Besides both quarterbacks, the star of the game was Emeka Egbuka<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Everything has broken right for Egbuka since the moment he was drafted, with Chris Godwin<\/a> having a setback from his 2024 injury, Jalen McMillan<\/a> severely injuring his neck and then Mike Evans<\/a> succumbing to his annual hamstring injury. But carpe diem for Egbuka, who is a massive enough talent to step into this void and withstand extra defensive attention. He\u2019s arguably the No. 2 WR in fantasy right now.<\/p>\n

Baker Mayfield finally was good for nearly the entire game. Sam Darnold<\/a> outplayed him until a throw bounced off a lineman\u2019s helmet and into the arms of a Tampa Bay<\/a> defender in the final minute. That was the ball game. I wonder what Todd Bowles was thinking watching his former quarterback with the Jets<\/a> go up and down the field against him. Somewhere in the multiverse, they\u2019ve shared a Super Bowl championship by now. Darnold is a great player. Deal with it.<\/p>\n

Early games: Carson Wentz<\/a> and Justin Jefferson<\/a> connect; Derrick Henry<\/a> struggles again<\/p>\n

Minnesota<\/a> vs. Cleveland<\/a> (London): Carson Wentz and the Vikings\u2019 offense performed admirably in London. They gained almost two yards more per play than the Browns typically yield. They may have won more easily if Jordan Addison<\/a> didn\u2019t have the \u201csoft suspension\u201d \u2014 he sat for much of the first half. Addison had the winning TD late.<\/p>\n

Justin Jefferson managers have to hope J.J. McCarthy<\/a> stays benched after the bye. McCarthy\u2019s ankle injury is reportedly not healing as expected. Jefferson is averaging over 100 yards per game with Wentz.<\/p>\n

A missed FG by the Vikings hit the Spiderman camera wire and was no good as a result<\/a>. It would have been a disaster for the NFL<\/a> if that had cost the Vikings the game (it came with them trailing by three in the fourth quarter). But I\u2019m sure a lot of people lost a fantasy game because of it.<\/p>\n

Browns rookie Dillon Gabriel<\/a> looked way better than I expected, better than Jaxson Dart<\/a> has looked in either of his two starts. But Gabriel is so short. The handshake between him and Wentz after the game was comical.<\/a> I\u2019m an avowed heightist and I can\u2019t tolerate short QBs. It\u2019s a lack of imagination by me, I know.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas at Indianapolis: There wasn\u2019t much going on in this contest for fantasy. Jonathan Taylor<\/a> got the three touchdowns but was hardly explosive on a down-to-down basis. Ashton Jeanty<\/a> was finally unveiled as a receiver, a role he thrived at for Boise St. in 2023 . But Geno Smith<\/a> is just bad. He\u2019s like Russell Wilson<\/a> after Wilson left Seattle. Smith has completely collapsed.<\/p>\n

The Brock Bowers<\/a> knee injury\/bone bruise is a big problem. If it\u2019s too painful to play through, this is a 6-to-8-week injury, historically. There\u2019s little blood supply in that area to aid the healing process. Remember, this ended Lamar Jackson<\/a>\u2019s season a few years ago and everyone kept thinking he\u2019d be back the next game, and that \u201cnext game\u201d never came.<\/p>\n

NY Giants at New Orleans: Jaxson Dart was bad again. But his receivers are being blamed by the faithful along with the coaching\/play-calling. Dart is remarkably inefficient, even for a rookie, and he can\u2019t throw a deep ball, contributing to Malik Nabers\u2019 injury with a really bad throw to him last week. He also under-threw a wide open Darius Slayton on a gadget play<\/a> on Sunday. Plus, Dart had a careless fumble. This is one of the worst offenses in the NFL if not the worst.<\/p>\n

The Saints<\/a> basically made one play on offense, the 87-yard bomb to Rashid Shaheed<\/a>. It was perfectly thrown. Spencer Rattler<\/a> converted his big play and Dart flagged his. That was the game, as is often the case.<\/p>\n

Dallas<\/a> at NY Jets: Justin Fields<\/a> is masking early game-losing performance with a bunch of garbage-time nonsense. I continue to maintain rookie Mason Taylor<\/a> (nine catches, 67 yards) is a top 12 TE. Breece Hall<\/a> was in the doghouse for a fumble in the red zone for a series or two. Head coach Aaron Glenn cost the Jets a TD on the first drive by accepting a penalty to make it 2nd-and-goal at the 3-yard line instead of declining and taking 3rd-and-goal at the 1-yard line. The difference is you can\u2019t just slam it in twice from three yards out, as they proved.<\/p>\n

Ryan Flournoy<\/a>\u2019s 6-for-114 receiving line is not something I saw coming. Sauce Gardner<\/a> was solid in covering George Pickens<\/a> but did give up the long TD with all the stupid hand-fighting and grabbing on the play. If you\u2019re close enough to grab and slap the guy, just stick with him and play the ball.<\/p>\n

Javonte Williams<\/a> is just good again. My information was that guys don\u2019t come back strong from his injury history. And while I don\u2019t doubt that\u2019s generally true (the Broncos<\/a> sure thought that was the case), every individual is different. Yet fantasy is still excited about Jaydon Blue<\/a> and sending me questions about him. Stop it!<\/p>\n

Denver at Philadelphia: Once again, Jalen Hurts<\/a> had A.J. Brown<\/a> wide open (by at least five yards) for a long TD and missed him (overthrow). That turned out to be the ball game. Bill Walsh used to yell at Joe Montana if the bomb wasn\u2019t one yard out from the body and chest high to a receiver on the dead run at the catch point. He\u2019d say, \u201cRUN IT AGAIN!!!\u201d I don\u2019t remember Montana missing Jerry Rice deep downfield at all, though I\u2019m sure it happened.<\/p>\n

The Eagles\u2019 receivers complained about a lack of involvement, as receivers are prone to do, and Brown and DeVonta Smith<\/a> combined for 18 targets. But Saquon Barkley<\/a> had six carries. Womp, womp\u2026 It\u2019s not complicated to run an offense through three players. The Rams<\/a> have been doing it for years. Figure it out, Philly. The Eagles<\/a> have yet to have a good offensive game.<\/p>\n

Miami<\/a> at Carolina<\/a>: I\u2019m flabbergasted Bryce Young<\/a> got off the mat in this game. Sure, Rico Dowdle<\/a> deserves props for his 206 rushing yards and a TD. But Young\u2019s throw to Xavier Leggette for the winning score<\/a> was No. 1 overall pick stuff. On the other side of the field, we have to take Darren Waller<\/a> seriously. Going 5-for-5 on targets for 78 yards and a TD is big time. De\u2019Von Achane<\/a> is going to find it a lot harder to run without Tyreek Hill<\/a> around, but it shouldn\u2019t be 10 carries for 16 yards hard.<\/p>\n

Houston<\/a> at Baltimore: I thought Nick Chubb<\/a> was going to have a half share of the backfield role but the juicy stuff would go to rookie Woody Marks<\/a>. Instead, Marks was almost worthless in fantasy while Chubb salvaged his day with a long TD jaunt. Neither caught a pass. I still think this is how it\u2019s going to play out, but what a disappointing day for Marks\u2019 managers.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to throw flowers at C.J. Stroud<\/a> given the Ravens<\/a> were taking applications at the ticket booth to play defense Sunday.<\/p>\n

Zay Flowers<\/a>, who finished with a receiving line of 5-for-72, fell a yard short of a long TD on a 56-yard gain.<\/p>\n

Derrick Henry is nearly 32. My level of concern was about a 1-2 in August. This week, with three-straight meh games, it was in the 3-4 range. Now it\u2019s about a 5. He\u2019s at the crossroads right now. I can\u2019t say with confidence which way Henry is going to go.<\/p>\n

Late games: Hope for Ja\u2019Marr Chase<\/a> and the Bengals<\/a>; Jacory Croskey-Merritt busts out<\/p>\n

Tennessee<\/a> at Arizona: I thought I saw everything until I was told Kyler Murray<\/a> was in concussion protocol after taking a snap to the face<\/a>. It turned out he injured his foot trying in vain to recover the fumble (he later returned to the game). Murray is the fastest player in the NFL when fully powered up in September and October. But then he loses his juice and becomes just another short quarterback.<\/p>\n

We also had another player, Emari Demercado<\/a>, get called for a fumble\/touchback while crossing the goal line. Did he or didn\u2019t he?<\/a> This is two weeks in a row. Carry the ball all the way in, guys! This isn\u2019t complicated.<\/p>\n

For the victorious (somehow) Titans, Calvin Ridley<\/a> finally looked like a No. 1 receiver. Trade him! The offense seemed remotely functional but remember the game-deciding play was falling on a fumble in the end zone after throwing a pick that the receiver left on the ground when he tried to get up.<\/p>\n

Detroit<\/a> at Cincinnati: There is officially hope for the Bengals\u2019 offense. Jake Browning<\/a> was good in 2023, even very good. This collapse has made no sense unless, obviously, the Bengals are so much worse overall now than they were then. Some of their struggles can be blamed on a tough slate of defenses. But a main reason is that they are so Joe Burrow<\/a> dependent. Burrow gets them out of bad looks and into good ones. He usually can outthink the defense. It\u2019s not the offensive scheme that\u2019s winning, it\u2019s Burrow. But Browning just threw one up to Ja\u2019Marr Chase for the ice-breaker then hit him on a bomb and then snuck another one in on a simple flag route to Tee Higgins<\/a>. This all is repeatable going forward. Browning can make throws \u2014 let him make them like backyard football to these top receivers and stop expecting him to read out the defense.<\/p>\n

Just a sickening day for Jameson Williams\u2019 managers. This probably isn\u2019t going to work out. The passing offense is not robust enough to support him reliably.<\/p>\n

Washington<\/a> at LA Chargers: This game turned on a Quentin Johnston<\/a> fumble when he was hit helmet-to-helmet. The refs missed it, as they do seemingly half the time. I don\u2019t understand why this isn\u2019t part of the turnover review process. Everyone in New York saw the illegal hit, so why just ignore that part of the play? It\u2019s madness.<\/p>\n

Jacory Croskey-Merritt<\/a> has fully arrived. There is no committee now. It doesn\u2019t matter where he was drafted in reality anymore or that he\u2019s a rookie. He\u2019s somewhere in the RB1 bucket now, maybe the bottom of it, but who cares. He looks good and shows amazing balance. The TDs were easy runs, but he had impressive ones, too. He is very quick and fast.<\/p>\n

Omarion Hampton<\/a> injured his ankle, knocking him out of the game. You\u2019ll definitely want to monitor his situation this week. As for the Chargers, they sure are \u201cChargering\u201d right now.<\/p>\n

(Photo of Emeka Egbuka: Steven Bisig \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The game of the day was in Seattle. The Buccaneers are the new Kardiac Kids, winning game after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[27556,349,99],"class_list":["post-205517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-fantasy-football","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}