Fantasy football Week 5 WR preview: Zay Flowers a cautious start with Lamar Jackson likely out — SkimNews
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- Zay Flowers leads all NFL receivers with a 39.3% target per route run rate and 6.29 yards per route run, averaging 22.4 fantasy points per game (sixth-best) despite playing more than 33% of offensive snaps for the first time in Week 4.
- Lamar Jackson is sidelined by an ankle injury, with Tyler Huntley projected to start Week 5; Huntley has averaged 156.9 passing yards per game, 10 TDs and 9 INTs across 16 career NFL starts.
- Tyler Huntley's presence under center drops Flowers to a WR2 ranking, with the source estimating 8 targets, 5 catches and 70 yards based on Huntley's 64.5% career completion rate as a starter.
- DK Metcalf has racked up 488 targeted air yards (fourth in the league) and looks like a low-end WR2, while Drake London is averaging 4.02 yards per route run — trailing only Flowers and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
- CeeDee Lamb's 31.5% target share leaves just 19.4% for George Pickens, making Pickens a boom/bust WR3 in the source's projection.
- Michael Wilson has nine red zone targets this season (third-most among receivers), and Mike Evans is on pace for a career-best 70.8% catch rate.
- The Houston Texans have surrendered a league-high 44 PPR fantasy points per game to opposing receivers, a vulnerability the source flags as exploitable in Week 5.
Why it matters: For fantasy managers who used premium draft capital on Flowers, Jackson's likely absence and Huntley's career 156.9 passing yards per game drop Flowers from elite WR1 to mid-range WR2 — capping the value of metrics like his league-leading 39.3% target per route run rate until Jackson returns and forcing start-sit decisions on an otherwise automatic lineup lock.
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