Jonathan Taylor Looks Good to Go! 👍

Good morning to everyone who started Justin Fields and D.J. Moore! Hopefully you didn’t take the under on that game like I did.

What’s in store:

• Cooper Kupp, Jonathan Taylor primed for returns! Tow of fantasy’s mega stars are slated to start in Week 5.

• Drake London’s got an uphill battle to a strong performance this week. Houston has been playing WRs hard so far this year.

• Does Romeo Doubs have another big week in him? Christian Watson is only getting healthier, but the matchup is great against Las Vegas.

• The bounce back is coming for Jakobi Meyers. It was a rough ride last week, but Jimmy G can help him right the ship this time around.

• Rams WR Cooper Kupp is participating at full speed in practice, per HC Sean McVay

  • There was optimism at the beginning of the week that Kupp could make his return to action this week against the Eagles, and recent reports have suggested more and more that the Rams’ top pass catcher could be making his 2023 season debut in Week 5. Kupp hasn’t seen the field since the middle of last year, and seems to be making good progress towards playing at 100% this week if he’s ultimately ready to go. McVay said that he was run through a normal practice this week, which bodes very well for his shot at getting back onto the field against Philly. There’s a chance they have him on a snap count after missing a lot of time this offseason and into the regular season, but he should be started without a second thought if he’s active. Puka Nacua has been extremely productive, so he won’t just go away – but he becomes a likely WR2 with upside as opposed to a set and forget WR1.

• Colts RB Jonathan Taylor appears primed to play out 2023 with Colts, slated to make return to field in Week 5

  • Things seemed to have gone from falling apart to solidly intact overnight with Jonathan Taylor, who appears to be content to play out the rest of the 2023 season with the Colts after being activated from IR. Maybe it’s because the Colts have looked plenty competitive in each of their four games this season and that’s not something Taylor anticipated; or, maybe he’s just recognizing that his options are limited and he doesn’t want to miss out on game checks, no matter how small they may be comparatively to what others are making. In either case, Taylor appears primed to make his 2023 debut in Week 5 against the Panthers, who are allowing the 4th-most fantasy points to the position through the first quarter of the season. Taylor could be on a snap count given the work that Zack Moss has done in his absence, but any claim over the Indy backfield Moss has right now looks primed to dissipate over the next week or two.

• Bengals WR Tee Higgins misses practice for second-straight day, status for Sunday up in the air

  • Not sure the Bengals could afford to be without their second-best playmaker on offense in a game they desperately need to win against a competitive Cardinals squad, but reality is often disappointing. That’s the case this week with Higgins, who has yet to practice ahead of Cincy’s Week 5 tilt in Arizona. Outside of a week-winning performance against the Ravens in his second game of the year, Higgins has failed to eclipse five fantasy points in a game - an indictment not so much on Higgins himself as it is on QB Joe Burrow. Burrow has been hampered by a calf injury that has done its damage with regards to the fantasy values of everyone on the Bengals offense, and that’s shown most prominently in Higgins’ game log so far. Until the Bengals clean things up on offense, he’s nothing more than a fringe WR2/WR3.

• WR Adam Thielen, CAR

  Have I said to sell Adam Thielen these past two weeks? Yeah, I have. Has he finished as a top-20 wide receiver the past three weeks? You know it. Am I going to recommend starting him this week? Yabsolutely. Vegas has the Lions as 10 point underdogs in Detroit, and that feels like it’s right on par with what we should be expecting in this one. That translates to the Panthers likely chasing points in this matchup, which means more dropbacks and more opportunity for Panthers receivers. Thielen has been a fine start every week based on volume alone, but he’s even more attractive of an option with the Lions just happening to allow the most points per game to slot receivers! Thielen runs 75% of his routes from the slot, which sets him up to be a really strong WR3 start and he can even be serviceable as a WR2 in a pinch.

• WR Drake London, ATL

  You know what really doesn’t go well with a wide receiver that has chronic flareups of low usage and a quarterback that has trouble pushing the ball downfield? A matchup with the Texans! Houston is allowing the fourth-fewest fantasy points to perimeter wide receivers, and whaddya know - London runs 85% of his routes on the outside. These are two 2-2 teams meeting up in Atlanta, and Vegas sees this being a close game: somehow, it’s the FALCONS who are favored by one and a half points. Regardless, a close matchup means that the Falcons will be able to do what they love to do early and often, and that’s run the ball. You think the Falcons - the ARTHUR SMITH Falcons – are going to go into a matchup against a defense that’s struggled way more against the run than the pass and not run the ball into oblivion? The Texans are allowing the 7th-most fantasy points to RBs this year. That sounds like a recipe for failure for Drake London, and with just a 41 point over-under, this doesn’t sound like shootout material that he could capitalize on.

  WR Romeo Doubs, GB

  Christian Watson will definitely be more involved this week than he was last week - remember, he ran just 48% of routes against the Lions - but Doubs has seen a target share where, at the very least, he’ll remain a significant part of the Packers passing attack. He hit season highs in target share (38%) and air yards share (41%) last week even with a sub-100% Watson running routes, and has scored 18 PPR points in three out of four games this season. Now he’s got a matchup against the Raiders, who are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to WRs that line up on the left side – which is where Doubs primarily runs his routes from. Teams are picking on Raiders corner David Long early and often - he’s been targeted on over a quarter of his routes defended, and that’s something that spells good news not only for Doubs, but the entire Packers WR corps.

Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers got off to a blazing hot start to the 2023 season, rattling off 29 and 16 PPR points in two games, the latter of which he sustained a concussion in and couldn’t finish. After missing week 3, Meyers re-entered the lineup for Las Vegas in Week 4, but dealt with less than inspiring QB play from rookie QB Aidan O’Connell that led to just four targets and five points against the Chargers. The good news: Jimmy G should be back this week, and with him also come targets for Meyers.

In his first two starts with Jimmy Garoppolo under center, Meyers averaged 11 targets per game (32% target share), 35% targets per route run, 37% air yards share, and 22.5 fantasy points per game. That’s with his teammate, WR Davante Adams, also registering a 35% target share, 32% targets per route run, 45% air yards share, and 16.5 points per game.

That tight target distribution at the top of the depth chart is going to be key for Jakobi Meyers to unlock his true fantasy upside in Las Vegas the rest of the way, but injuries to both himself and his quarterback derailed the momentum he had going in that two game stretch. His usage, not surprisingly, cratered last week with O’Connell stepping in as the starter, and it’s clear that the Raiders offense is better off when Meyers is involved. With Jimmy G back, Meyers should have a chance to re-enter the WR2 conversation this week.