Fantasy Football Week 5: Vicks Sleeper of the Week

Vicks Sleeper of the Week is Brandon LaFell. A matchup against the Saints with Cam Newton tossing the ball around makes it too easy for LaFell to go big this week. Hope you're ready for some fantasy advice...

 

QB Starters

 

Drew Brees

He's got quite the fluffy setup here going against the Panthers. Enjoy. Start him.

 

Matthew Stafford

He's made his place as a never sit quarterback. Bears can be stingy, but the Stafford and Johnson connection should hook up for at least one touchdown. Stafford is a good QB. Start him.

 

Matt Hasselbeck

I'm doing it. He's starting for me in place of Schaub. He's been extremely consistent and he's going up against a Steelers defense that has been unusually generous this season so far. It's hard for defenses to game plan against him because he spreads the ball out to so many receivers. Start him.

 

Cam Newton

He gets those points, one way or another. I expect him to have a decent day against the Saints. Start him.

 

 

QB Benchers

 

Curtis Painter

Don't even. Pure luck and wide receiver skill that this guy gets points. His completion percentage this last game was 43.3%. Garcon made him look good. He's not. He might get lucky here going up against the Chiefs, but do you really need to take that gamble? Bench him.

 

Matt Schaub

He has gone far enough to lose his place in my starting line up. He's minus his big target Johnson for at least two weeks and this week he happens to be facing one of the more surprisingly good teams in the Raiders this week. They've been surprisingly stingy and Schuab has not been impressive thus far. I think Johnson's absence will be felt. Bench him.

 

Ben Roethlisberger

He's gonna be playing with a gimp foot versus a vicious defense. Not to mention he's been pretty mediocre so far in his career this season. Bench him.

 

RB Starters

 

Ahmad Bradshaw

Brandon Jacobs has a sprained MCL and may not play Sunday. Add in the fact that they'll be playing the Seahawks and this week is ripe with opportunity for Bradshaw to shine. Start him.

 

Chris Johnson

He finally got his first 100 yard game. Sunday he'll be shooting for his second. The Steelers have allowed two 100 yard rushers already this season in Ray Rice and Arian Foster. They also let Joseph Addai run for 86 yards on 17 carries with one touchdown. The Steelers maybe angry, but how scary is a toothless Bumble? Start him.

 

Thomas Jones

If there was a week for him to shine, this would be it. I'm not saying he's gonna go "BOOM, BOOM, EXPLODE" all over them, but he is the feature back right now and this is a good matchup. Lots of us are hurting at the RB position and this may be one play to help you make it through the week. Don't have high expectations. Start him.

 

Darren Sproles

He's been productive as both a running back and a receiver this year. I see no reason why he shouldn't continue to do well this week when he meets the Panthers in Carolina this weekend. Start him.

 

RB Benchers

 

Rashard Mendenhall

Titans have been awfully stingy towards runners. Hillis- 46 yards, Ray Rice - 43 yards, McGahee - 52. It also isn't a sure thing that he'll play Sunday. He has also yet to break 100 yards this season. Enough said. Bench him.

 

Jahvid Best

He just hasn't been getting the carries. You can't expect a lot if you're not getting the touches. Bench him.

 

 

WR Starters

 

Wes Welker

You just can bench players like this. Temper your expectations and maybe if you have a wide receiver with a great match up, swap him out, but otherwise you gotta start him. He's a dangerous man. Start him.

 

Brandon LaFell

He's been pretty consistent this season and he should be one of the tools Newton uses as the Panthers enter into a shootout this weekend versus the Saints. Start him.

 

Julio Jones

He's legit. I don't think he'll struggle versus the Packers. In fact, I think he's gonna see a lot of targeting. Start him.

 

 

WR Benchers

 

Malcom Floyd

He just hasn't been getting the receptions. He's also been dealing with an injury. Bench him.

 

Hines Ward

He is old and in a struggling offense. It certainly doesn't help that that he's playing the Titans this week. Bench him.

 

 

TE Starters

 

Dustin Keller

The Patriots defense has been quite generous. Devin McCourty has been allowing the most yards allowed by any corner in the league right now. Keller is Sanchez's  favorite target. 

 

Tony Gonzalez

It's an offense loaded with receivers but Tony's still getting looks, especially in the redzone. Packers haven't had the toughest defense lately either. Start him.

 

Owen Daniels

With Johnson out of the lineup, Daniels should see even more targets. He does have a tough matchup against the Raiders, but I think he'll find the endzone and get his fair share of receptions. Start him.

 

 

TE Benchers

 

Marcedes Lewis

Things have yet to get any better for him. He also faces one of the better defenses in the league this week. Bench him.

 

Heath Miller

Steelers are struggling and Heath certainly isn't doing any better. Don't look for his breakout to come this game. It ain't happening. Bench him.

 

Antonio Gates

Most likely he will not be playing this Sunday. The injury is still bothering him. Bench him.

 

 

D/ST Starters

 

Titans

Bengals

Buccaneers

 

 

D/ST Benchers

 

Saints

Bears

Eagles

 

 

Waiver Wire

 

Jermaine Gresham TE - Bengals

He's been doing well and been getting the looks in the redzone. He's only owned in 33.8% of ESPN leagues.

 

Um..... I'm drawing a blank here. I've said most of them in the past weeks and haven't really seen anymore pop up this week. We'll just have to wait for more to rise!

 

Feel free to shoot fantasy questions at me!

Best of luck this week!

 

You can follow me on Twitter @JustinBozemanMT