offGrid NFL – NFL Fantasy Football 2025: Start ‘em, Sit ‘em – Week 5
Welcome back to Fantasy Football Start ‘em, Sit ‘em – where each week we explore some of my best picks for who should be starting in fantasy managers’ lineups, and who should be sitting the week out.
Week 4 was our last week without byes until week 15, meaning there’s now the additional obstacle of having to sub your best players out depending on the week. There were also a few more substantial injuries suffered last week – Ravens MVP QB Lamar Jackson is set to miss 2-3 games with a hamstring injury, the Cardinals now have RBs James Conner and Trey Benson on IR, and both star WRs Malik Nabers and Tyreek Hill suffered season ending knee injuries. Bucs RB Bucky Irving’s availability is also in question.
Enough messing around. Let’s get back on track this week.
Ian’s Record: 15-17
Start ’em
Matthew Stafford (QB, Rams) vs 49ers
Following a huge day against the Colts, Stafford and the Rams are already making a serious case for winning the NFC West. Their front seven on defense look borderline unstoppable, and Stafford has two veteran wide receivers that are absolutely lighting up defenses.
San Francisco’s pass defense is much weaker without Nick Bosa as they just can’t stop piling up injuries. I’m expecting a solid 250+ and two touchdowns from Stafford this week as LA keeps rolling.
Cam Skattebo (RB, Giants) at Saints
The matchup here and this being Jaxson Dart’s first start on the road means this game could get messy, but I like what I’m seeing from Skattebo as he continues to grow into a RB1 with Tyrone Tracy sidelined. He was given the ball 25 times against the Chargers and overall is just fun to watch.
Is he a little reckless? Sure. Should you trade for him? Maybe wait to see if the Giants can keep it up. But if he’s been sitting on your bench up till now, now is the time to use him. He has a much more favorable matchup in New Orleans and HC Brian Daboll just lost his top playmaker after he tore his ACL.
Michael Pittman Jr. (WR, Colts) vs. Raiders
Star rookie Tyler Warren may be taking some targets away, sure, but Pittman is still the WR1 in Indianapolis that just found sweet relief in the recent success of Daniel Jones. Not to mention, he’s scored in three of their four games so far.
This could turn into a higher-scoring game as both secondaries have been very forgiving to wide receivers so far. I like Pittman to find the endzone for the third week in a row lined up with Vegas’s bum cornerbacks.
Darren Waller (TE, Dolphins) at Panthers
In his Miami debut, Waller was immediately an impact player with two touchdowns on three catches. If he can stay healthy from here on out, he could make the same (if not more) noise that Jonnu Smith was making in Miami last year.
He probably won’t score twice again, but never say never as Tyreek Hill is done for the year and Carolina sucks against TEs.
Sit ’em
Bo Nix (QB, Broncos) at Eagles
Bo’s had an up-and-down first four weeks, and I’m expecting him to cool down again in this tough matchup on the road.
Philly’s secondary isn’t fantastic, but they’re a stout front seven that can get to any QB quick. I can also see the Eagles dominating Time of Possession with the absence of home-run plays, which would make this a hard game for Nix to perform well in.
Chase Brown (RB, Bengals) vs Lions
It’s unfortunate to see Brown’s struggles so far after all the success he found last season, but Jake Browning has cost just about every skill-position player in Cincinnati serious fantasy value.
Most simply put, this has rout written all over it. Brown could maybe see 10-15 touches, but there’s no way he gets the yardage/score to be fantasy relevant this week – maybe even until a QB change.
Jordan Addison (WR, Vikings) at Browns
Addison was okay in his return – I’d be surprised if he didn’t pan out relatively soon – but not this week.
You can’t trust Wentz to spread the ball around with Justin Jefferson in his pocket, and regardless Cleveland’s pass rush will be over him all afternoon. Pass.
Evan Engram (TE, Broncos) at Eagles
I liked this signing when it first happened – I was assuming Engram would only really compete for targets with Courtland Sutton – but now you have Marvin Mims Jr. and Troy Franklin stealing targets from him.
Don’t count on a rebound this week, as Philly is surrendering a league-low 6.9 yards per catch to opposing tight ends and haven’t allowed a touchdown to one yet. He could blossom later on, but keep him stashed away for now.
BYES: GREEN BAY PACKERS, ATLANTA FALCONS, CHICAGO BEARS, PITTSBURGH STEELERS
