Attention all fantasy football trade addicts: this article is for you. Here, I’ll be re-ranking the top 50 most valuable players each week, with PPR scoring in mind. You can use these rankings and writeups to make informed roster and trade decisions heading into Week 6.
These are my personal rankings, which will often differ (sometimes significantly) from consensus. If I have a player ranked higher than you believe most in your league would, I’d recommend buying that player at market price – not starting negotiations where I have the player ranked. I envision this coming into play this week with a pair of newly-injured players who can potentially be fantasy playoff superstars.
As always, you’ll find the player’s positive or negative movement from the week before in parentheses.
1. Christian McCaffrey
RB1, SF (0)
McCaffrey had an 88.9% snap share in the first half before the game got out of hand and is averaging a league-leading 27.0 FPG. He's still RB1.
2. Tyreek Hill
WR1, MIA (0)
Hill leads the position in FPG (26.5), the Dolphins have generated the most total yards of offense through five games of any team in NFL history (2,568), and Hill's closest competition for the top WR spot is now on IR.
3. Ja'Marr Chase
WR2, CIN (+8 spots gained)
With Tee Higgins out and Joe Burrow seemingly on the mend, Chase reminded everyone exactly what he's capable of, making up his entire expected points deficit (-3.9 FPG below expected) in a single 19-target, 192-yard performance. Chase now leads all WRs in XFP/G (22.1) and should again be viewed as a top-2 WR going forward.
4. Austin Ekeler
RB2, LAC (+3)
According to Ekeler, he has a "99% chance" to return following the Chargers' Week 5 bye. Ekeler earned 23.7 XFP in his only game this season, which would rank first among all RBs.
5. Tony Pollard
RB3, DAL (-1 spot lost)
Pollard is tied for 1st among RBs in red zone carries (27) but has scored only twice from that range — a 7.4% red zone TD rate that ranks 4th-worst among RBs with at least 10 red zone attempts. Pollard's late-season injury from last year is likely still slowing him down somewhat, and the Cowboys couldn't get anything going against the 49ers. Still, Pollard played on 69.4% of the snaps (RB9) and commanded a 19.2% target share (RB1) this week. His grip on his role doesn't seem to be slipping at all, so I'm inclined to continue ranking him high and believing the TD regression will come.
6. Bijan Robinson
RB4, ATL (0)
It's rather bewildering that Tyler Allgeier is still out-carrying Bijan Robinson 17-14 in Week 5 — considering Robinson has 0.42 missed tackles forced per attempt (RB4) and has been stuffed on only 43.3% of his attempts (RB18), while Allgeier ranks outside the top-35 in each metric — but Robinson has still run a route on 66.9% of the Falcons' dropbacks this season (RB3). Maybe we ought not to hold our breath for Arthur Smith to deploy his skill position players optimally, but it's hard to drop Robinson much given his game-breaking ability on every touch he does receive.
7. Travis Kelce
TE1, KC (-2)
Not much has changed at the TE position. Kelce still leads the way with 5 end zone targets (despite missing a game) and 17.5 XFP/G (26.8% more valuable volume than the next-closest TE). He is dealing with nagging lower body injuries, but the weakness of the position ensures Kelce will remain ranked very high.
8. A.J. Brown
WR3, PHI (+1)
Brown now ranks 3rd among all WRs in XFP/G (21.0). The Eagles have had a positive pass rate over expectation in 4 of 5 games this season. He's still a stud.
9. Stefon Diggs
WR4, BUF (+1)
Diggs ranks top-10 in every category you would want him to — target share (28.0%), receiving YPG (104.0), air yards (565), and FPG (24.0). The Bills are the NFL's third pass-heaviest team by PROE.
10. Davante Adams
WR5, LV (-2)
Adams still leads the league in first-read target share (47.5%) but ranks just 9th in FPG — largely because he's only run about 80% of the routes that Ja'Marr Chase and Puka Nacua have.
11. Keenan Allen
WR6, LAC (+1)
Aside from reduced positional competition due to the Justin Jefferson injury, little has changed for Allen coming out of the bye. He still ranks top-5 among WRs in XFP/G (20.8).
12. Cooper Kupp
WR7, LAR (+13)
Kupp immediately took on 40% of the Rams' first-read targets and ran 87.8% of the possible routes while averaging nearly 3.3 YPRR. As long as there are no setbacks, he looks well set up to be productive rest-of-season.
13. Chris Olave
WR8, NO (+2)
Derek Carr was back to throwing deep at a top-3 rate (23.1%) in Week 5, so it seems he's at least feeling better. Olave and Carr didn't happen to connect much in a positive game script, but Olave still led the Saints in first-read target share (33.3%) and can be viewed optimistically going forward.
14. Josh Jacobs
RB5, LV (+9)
Jacobs is now averaging 19.7 XFP/G (RB4) behind only Christian McCaffrey, a single game of Austin Ekeler, and two games of Alvin Kamara. He ranks 2nd among RBs in target share this season (17.7%) and ranked behind only Kyren Williams in snap share in Week 5 (84.4%). With the workload looking so great and the Raiders' schedule softening, I view Jacobs as a top-5 RB rest-of-season.
15. Amon-Ra St. Brown
WR9, DET (-1)
St. Brown seems much likelier to play this week. He's still a borderline WR1 with his 34.9% first-read target share (WR10).
16. Puka Nacua
WR10, LAR (+1)
Nacua saw only one fewer target than Cooper Kupp, still led the team in air yards, and scored over 20 fantasy points despite Kupp running a full-time route share immediately. He continues to look like the waiver wire league-winner of the season.
17. Saquon Barkley
RB6, NYG (+5)
Barkley could return this week, but it's by no means a guarantee. While Barkley should return to the role that had him averaging 17.4 XFP/G (RB10) earlier this year, it's worth remembering that he averaged only 10.5 FPG after his low-ankle sprain in 2021 — and it's not as if this Giants roster is much better than that one.
18. Kyren Williams
RB7, LAR (-2)
Despite the pedestrian result, Williams still ran a route on 73.2% of team dropbacks this week (RB2) and played 85.5% of the snaps (RB1). The main difference from past weeks is that the Rams did not lean on their backfield much, instead opting to throw to two of the league's best receivers in a game they were trailing against an Eagles defense that has allowed the fewest rushing FPG of any team in the NFL (8.52). Of course, there could be more games like this in the future now that Kupp has been added to this offense's weapons, but there were no hints of WIlliams losing his role at all.
19. Jonathan Taylor
RB8, IND (+2)
The Colts apparently intend to bring Taylor along slowly and protect their investment after just signing him to a multi-year contract, as he played on just 17.6% of the team's snaps and carried the ball only six times while Zack Moss again handled bell-cow duties. Anthony Richardson being out is likely a good thing for Taylor's potential goal-line opportunities, but it may be tricky to know when to start him unless Shane Steichen becomes very candid with his plans.
20. Josh Allen
QB1, BUF (-1)
Allen ran where it counted this week, punching in the Bills' lone goal-line attempt. Allen's impressive play through the air has continued, as he's now tied for the league lead in CPOE (+7.1%).
21. Justin Herbert
QB2, LAC (-1)
Herbert's bye should have allowed Austin Ekeler to get truly healthy, providing fantasy football's QB2 (24.2 FPG) with another sorely needed weapon.
22. Justin Jefferson
WR11, MIN (-19)
Jefferson was placed on IR and will miss at least four games with his hamstring injury. NFL teams rarely make moves like this, but it sure would make a ton of sense for the Vikings to trade Kirk Cousins and not rush Jefferson back in hopes of securing one of the better QB prospects we've ever seen in the 2024 Draft. On the other hand, Jefferson has yet to sign his second contract in the NFL, so he'll be highly incentivized to return and perform at a high level. This makes ranking Jefferson difficult, but for now, I'll assume he'll be back in plenty of time for the fantasy football playoffs, meaning he can't fall too far. Whether you should be buying or selling is entirely dependent on your record.
23. CeeDee Lamb
WR12, DAL (-10)
After Jerry Jones' bewildering comments in which he balked at getting Lamb the ball more and stated he prefers to spread the ball around, it's probably time for my Lamb ranking to face the music on his incredibly ordinary 14.4 XFP/G (WR25) and 23.9% first-read target share (WR35). I've excused the results based on odd game scripts until now, but the Cowboys have indeed spread the ball around.
24. Jalen Hurts
QB3, PHI (+5)
Hurts leads the league in rushing attempts (57) and is averaging 9.5 XFP/G on the ground — more than two passing TDs per game from his legs alone.
25. Kenneth Walker III
RB9, SEA (+1)
Walker's 16.5 XFP/G slots him in as the RB12 in usage, largely due to his 8 goal-line attempts ranking 2nd among RBs despite already having his bye. So long as Zach Charbonnet does not become more involved, the only real concern with Walker is that he faces the Eagles (7th-fewest schedule-adjusted FPG allowed to RBs) and Titans (12th-fewest) in the fantasy playoffs, though it's a little early to be making moves based on projected playoff matchups.
26. Joe Mixon
RB10, CIN (+11)
Mixon compiled a whopping 31.8 XFP this week (RB1) thanks to five opportunities inside the five-yard line, after seeing only one such opportunity in the previous four weeks. With the Bengals' offense finally functioning as expected and Burrow looking somewhat healthier, Mixon is moving up.
27. Brandon Aiyuk
WR13, SF (+1)
Though Deebo Samuel outscored him, Aiyuk saw double the first-read targets (6 to 3) and led the team in air yards share as usual (45.5%). Aiyuk won't pop as much in positive game scripts, but it's hard not to feel pretty good about him with Brock Purdy playing so well.
28. Travis Etienne Jr.
RB11, JAC (+15)
Etienne ranks top-5 among RBs in snap share (78.4%) and routes run per dropback (52.4%) but just outside the top-12 in XFP/G (16.1), largely due to a lack of goal-line opportunities, of which he still has only one on the season. However, with Tank Bigsby doing nothing to inspire confidence (2.7 YPC) and the Jaguars' offense again showing signs of life, I'm open to Etienne's TD equity continuing to improve.
29. D'Andre Swift
RB12, PHI (+19)
Swift saw a season-high 46.5% route share and 15.8% target share in Week 5. His and Goedert's increased involvement on shallower routes may have been gameplan-related, but it's an encouraging signal nonetheless that the Eagles are finding more ways to get the ball in Swift's hands and fully utilize his skillset.
30. Patrick Mahomes II
QB4, KC (-6)
Mahomes' upcoming schedule still looks incredible, getting the Broncos, Chargers, and the Broncos again over the next three weeks.
31. Lamar Jackson
QB5, BAL (-1)
Jackson leads all QBs in rushing YPG (53.0) and has the best completion % of his career (69.9%). His +6.4% CPOE ranks 3rd-best. But even with all that, he's averaged a relatively disappointing 20.3 FPG due to a career-low 2.8% touchdown rate through the air. I'd expect some positive regression.
32. David Montgomery
RB13, DET (+Previously Outside Top-50)
Montgomery has now averaged 25.0 XFP/G over the past two weeks (RB2), with Jahmyr Gibbs on the shelf in Week 5. The Lions rank bottom-3 in pass rate over expectation (-3.8%), suggesting they will continue establishing the run unless they're pushed. Each of their next six matchups is against teams ranking top-13 in schedule-adjusted FPG allowed to RBs, and they should be easily favored in at least four of those games. Gibbs could certainly begin to mix in more, but what the Lions are currently doing is working, so it's tough to see them making major changes in the near future.
33. Alvin Kamara
RB14, NO (+3)
Kamara earned only an 11.5% target share after being at 35.9% last week. Derek Carr was back to throwing deep at a top-3 rate (23.1%) in Week 5, so it seems probable that the Week 4 checkdown bonanza was the anomaly. Kamara still managed a nice fantasy score despite also only receiving 52.4% of the team's rushing attempts (would rank RB19 over the season so far) and running a route on only 33% of dropbacks (would rank RB35) in a blowout, so any squeamish managers have a great opportunity to cash out on the 28-year-old this week before Jamaal Williams returns to potentially steal early down or goal-line work. I think that makes some sense.
34. Calvin Ridley
WR14, JAC (-1)
Ridley posted a 35.0% first-read target share in Week 5 (WR11) and 17.6 XFP (WR12). Moving forward it seems that Ridley will receive WR1-level usage in some matchups, but take a backseat to Christian Kirk against man coverage-heavy defenses.
35. Breece Hall
RB15, NYJ (+14)
Hall handled 68.8% of the Jets' rushing attempts (RB7) in Week 5, finally breaking free of the three-way timeshare as was promised. Michael Carter ran more routes but commanded the same number of targets. Hall won't deliver long TDs nor play against the Broncos' 2nd-worst defense in schedule-adjusted FPG allowed to RBs every week, but viewing him as a high-end RB2 at worst seems more than fair given his explosiveness and his team's growing commitment to him.
36. Mike Evans
WR15, TB (-4)
As I mentioned last week, hamstring injuries tend to linger for older WRs like Evans. Baker Mayfield has the best passer rating while under pressure in the NFL (105.4) after ranking 18th and 23rd over the past two years. No QB with more than 100 pressured dropbacks in 2021 or 2022 posted above a 95.4 rating. To some extent, we are going to see Mayfield regress. Perceptions of Evans are still quite positive due to his 17.9 FPG (WR13), but that won't necessarily endure if he misses this week. I'd sell now.
37. DeVonta Smith
WR16, PHI (-19)
Smith has seen only 11.1 XFP/G (WR51) and just a 28.3% air yards share (WR40) this year. Big plays will be hard to come by if he's not seeing exceptional downfield usage.
38. Jaylen Waddle
WR17, MIA (-4)
Waddle saw a season-high 31.8% first-read target share and 22.4 XFP in Week 5 thanks to a whopping 4 end zone targets. However, his actual fantasy output fell well below what his opportunity would imply (14.5 fantasy points), and his aDOT was minuscule (4.8). I'm still somewhat worried.
39. Tee Higgins
WR18, CIN (-4)
With Joe Burrow and the Bengals' offense apparently on the mend, it's now easier to take Higgins' 14.7 XFP/G (WR20) and 40.4% air yards share (WR13) a bit more seriously. Higgins only got in one limited practice last Friday, so it remains to be seen if he's ready to return.
40. Marquise Brown
WR19, ARI (+Previously Outside Top-50)
Brown's 16.2 XFP/G ranks 13th among WRs, while his 41.2% air yards share ranks top-12. Brown is seeing the usage of a borderline WR1, and absolutely nobody is talking about it.
41. Nico Collins
WR20, HOU (0)
Collins took a backseat to both Robert Woods and Tank Dell in Week 5, finishing with just four targets despite the other two leaving with injuries at different points. It's not as if the Texans found much success with Collins uninvolved, but it is the second time this season Collins has finished 3rd among the team's WRs in first-read targets.
42. De'Von Achane
RB16, MIA (-11)
Achane was placed on IR and will miss at least four games, but that leaves the possibility he will tear up the fantasy playoffs squarely open. Production during fantasy playoff weeks is worth roughly five times more than in regular season weeks. Achane is the second-fastest player in the league, benefits from a run game designed by a genius head coach, and has leveraged his situation to average 25.7 FPG (RB3) and break every efficiency metric we have. Among RBs with 30 or more touches, Achane ranks first in missed tackles forced per touch (0.57), yards after contact per touch (5.11), yards from scrimmage per touch (11.21), and explosive play rate (14.9%). This could easily not work out, but you should always be looking to add potential game-changing players to your team in exchange for non-game-changing "safer" depth pieces, and you can likely acquire Achane for significantly cheaper than I have him ranked. You're playing for first place.
43. James Cook
RB17, BUF (-5)
The Bills hardly used their backfield at all in Week 5, and it's tough to blame them with the way Josh Allen is playing. Cook encouragingly ran a route on 54.8% of team dropbacks this week (RB8) and received both snaps inside the 5-yard line, but the Bills have deprioritized their running backs as Cook's market share usage has improved. Three of their next four opponents rank in the bottom half of schedule-adjusted FPG allowed to RBs.
44. Christian Watson
WR21, GB (-4)
Watson led the league in air yards share in Week 5 (70.3%) and connected with Jordan Love on a deep ball. He'll need to hit on more than one per game to be an elite fantasy asset, but with Love throwing 20 or more yards downfield on 14.9% of his attempts (QB5), I'm still intrigued enough to leave him around where I've ranked him all season.
45. Jakobi Meyers
WR22, LV (+Previously Outside Top-50)
Meyers ranks top-12 in XFP/G (18.6) and targets per game (9.0). The Raiders’ offense is nicely concentrated, and Meyers immediately got back on track with Garoppolo playing again.
46. Derrick Henry
RB18, TEN (-4)
Through five weeks, Henry ranks 5th in rush attempt share (68.3%) but just 50th in routes run per dropback (26.3%), 23rd in snap share (56.8%), 21st in XFP/G (13.5), 20th in FPG (13.6), and 17th in goal line attempts (4). Am I really supposed to rank him highly just because he's dominating low-value touches and failing to outperform that low-value workload?
47. Amari Cooper
WR23, CLE (-3)
Cooper's solid usage on paper (16.2 XFP/G) is less impressive considering he has seen only 19 catchable targets this season. Deshaun Watson is still day-to-day with his shoulder injury, and only one of Cooper's six targets from Dorian Thompson-Robinson was deemed catchable in Week 4.
48. Mark Andrews
TE2, BAL (-2)
Zay Flowers has tied or beaten Andrews in first-read target share during each of the past three weeks. Andrews is now the clear TE2 in FPG, and he's the type of player who can overperform his volume over a full season, but he's not seeing anywhere close to the usage he would need to challenge Kelce.
49. T.J. Hockenson
TE3, MIN (-4)
Maybe Hockenson's route share (75.3%, TE9) or TPRR (0.24, TE15) will increase without Justin Jefferson on the field, but it won't change who Hockenson is as a player. The best-case scenario is probably that he sees some more downfield usage, which his 6.4 aDOT could use.
50. Joe Burrow
QB6, CIN (+Previously Outside Top-50)
While Burrow still took only one of his 51 dropbacks from under center, he was finally able to deliver a passable fantasy performance, though it came against a Cardinals' defense that had given up the most schedule-adjusted fantasy points to QBs of any defense entering the week. Still, if Burrow is healthier, as the team claimed leading up to Week 5, he should be at least considered for fringe top-50 status going forward. The Bengals own the league's 5th-highest pass rate over expectation (+7.4%).
Just outside the top-50
D.J. Moore, Jahmyr Gibbs, Rachaad White, DK Metcalf, Sam LaPorta, Michael Pittman, Dameon Pierce, Tua Tagovailoa, Raheem Mostert
