We have surged through four weeks of NFL action, with dozens of injuries, surprise developments, and T-Swift cutaways along the way. It has been an exciting ride and an even more lucrative stretch for us on the DFS front, in large part because we always pinpoint strong sleepers and value plays on FanDuel and DraftKings. We'll do more of that today as we prepare you to make some money in your Week 5 daily fantasy football contests.
If you're new here, the concept of this column is simple: Identify players we view as undervalued or overlooked by the majority of daily fantasy players. Every Tuesday, we scour DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft to pinpoint the best investments — like my mother-in-law scouring for Christmas decorations my wife and I don't need on Oct. 1. We then write about our favorite plays for each position, explaining why each player or D/ST has a good chance of vastly outproducing their respective price point. We also review our hits from the previous week, kind of like a kid pinning positive quiz results to the refrigerator.
By capitalizing on affordable sleepers in certain DFS roster spots, we leave ourselves the budget to greatly improve other roster spots with weekly studs. Let's face it, in order to afford a Patrick Mahomes ($8,200 on DK), you must invest in the occasional Michael Wilson ($3,700, we'll mention him later). If you grabbed De'Von Achane for $5,000 two weeks ago — or even for $5,700 last week — you certainly know how much of a game-changer value plays can be in DFS.
WEEK 5 FANTASY ADVICE:
Sleepers | Busts | Projections | Start 'em, sit 'em
We hit on our value picks week in and week out in 2022, consistently delivering 10-plus players in the 18-22 fantasy point range. Our first few weeks of 2023 have been no different. We've been ahead of the game on breakouts like Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams, Zack Moss, Nico Collins, and of course, we rode the Achane train last week (Achane train doesn't technically rhyme, but we're sticking with it).
WEEK 5 DFS:
DK lineup | FD lineup | Best stacks
Take a look at this collection of hits from last week:
| Pos. | Player | Wk. 4 Game | DK Price | Pts |
| QB | C.J. Stroud | Texans vs. Steelers | $5,600 | 24.8 |
| QB | Brock Purdy | 49ers vs. Cardinals | $4,900 | 23.3 |
| QB | Russell Wilson | Broncos at Bears | $5,800 | 22.2 |
| QB | Matthew Stafford | Rams at Colts | $5,700 | 20.2 |
| RB | De'Von Achane | Dolphins at Bills | $5,700 | 30.0 |
| WR | Nico Collins | Texans vs. Steelers | $5,100 | 38.8 |
| WR | Terry McLaurin | Commanders at Eagles | $5,100 | 22.6 |
| WR | Gabriel Davis | Bills vs. Dolphins | $5,900 | 15.1 |
| DST | Baltimore | Ravens at Browns | $3,200 | 17.0 |
| DST | Tampa Bay | Buccaneers at Saints | $3,300 | 16.0 |
| DST | Denver | Broncos at Bears | $3,700 | 12.0 |
Well, it's not as big a hit list as we usually enjoy — and our running back success rate was putrid outside of Achane — but we did have multiple QB, WR, and D/ST hits. We averaged 22 points per hit while spending an average of just $4,390 per pick. Our eight position players alone averaged nearly 25 PPR points per player. Not too shabby!
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Let's run it back! This year, we're also incorporating SuperDraft into our weekly DFS column. For those unfamiliar, SuperDraft's DFS scoring involves point multipliers as opposed to traditional salary-capped or tiered contests. A winning lineup will likely feature a strong mix of stud fantasy contributors with 1x-1.6x boosts, as well as matchup-based sleepers with larger multipliers. Each player is assigned a scoring multiplier based on their value as determined by SuperDraft. So, the sleepers who carry lower salaries in DK/FD have higher boosts on SD. The best part: SuperDraft users can roster any player with no restrictions.
MORE SUPERDRAFT DFS: How to play SuperDraft
Let's get to our picks. Below we will reveal our Week 5 DFS sleepers and values at each position. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy the next episode of the NFL reality show!
All player values are from DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft. All stats are from NFL.com and Pro Football Reference.
NFL DFS Picks Week 5: QB sleepers, values for DraftKings, FanDuel, SuperDraft
Russell Wilson, Broncos vs. Jets (DK: $5,700 | FD: $7,300 | SD: 1.35X)
Well, what do ya know? Wilson can still be DangeRuss with the right coaching. Russ has been eating through four weeks, ranked firmly within the top 10 of QBs in fantasy points scored. He has averaged 23.8 DK points over Denver's past three games, and his lowest score during that span was 18.2. Sean Payton and a healthy receiver corps have breathed new life into Wilson, and we're fine with taking a slight risk and using him at home against Sauce Gardner and company.
Zach Wilson, Jets at Broncos (DK: $4,900 | FD: $6,700 | SD: 1.45X multiplier)
Do not adjust the resolution on your laptop — you read this right. We are actually advocating for Wilson in a DFS lineup. Hell hath frozen over! Hey, what can we say — he actually looked halfway-decent against the Chiefs in primetime, and now he draws the NFL's most generous defense in terms of fantasy points allowed to QBs. Denver couldn't stop a nosebleed (altitude pun), so the Zach-to-Garrett Wilson connection should be strong this Sunday.
Other solid Week 5 values: Daniel Jones, Giants at Dolphins (DK: $5,800 | FD: $7,500 | SD: 1.35X); Matthew Stafford, Rams vs. Eagles (DK: $5,600 | FD: $6,800 | SD: 1.35X); Ryan Tannehill, Titans at Colts (DK: $4,900 | FD: $6,300 | SD: 1.45X)
WEEK 5 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
NFL DFS Picks Week 5: RB sleepers, values for DraftKings, FanDuel, SuperDraft
De'Von Achane, Dolphins vs. Giants (DK: $6,100 | FD: $7,500 | SD: 1.25X)
Achane followed up a 54.3-point DK performance in Week 3 with a 30-point showing in Buffalo last week, but his DK price has only jumped up $400. We don't typically love featuring players over $6,000, but Achane should probably be priced at about $6,600-7,000 right now, so he's easily a value in our eyes. The Giants have surrendered the fourth-most rushing yards and third-most rushing TDs to RBs so far this season.
James Conner, Cardinals vs. Bengals (DK: $5,800 | FD: $6,500 | SD: 1.25X)
Selecting Conner has me thinking of a remix to the old "tree in the woods" adage: If an RB puts up solid fantasy numbers but nobody's watching, did it really happen? Well, it has indeed been happening, at least up until last week when the Cardinals played the 49ers. The best defense in the NFL held Conner to 6.6 DK points, but he had scored 19.6 in each of Arizona's previous two games and 12 in Week 1 in Washington. The Bengals have allowed the sixth-most ground yards to RBs this season, and Joe Burrow and the Cincy offense are in disarray, so this could be a pretty good game for Conner and the Cardinals.
Breece Hall, Jets at Broncos (DK: $5,400 | FD: $6,500 | SD: 1.3X)
Hall needs to be unleashed, and Nathaniel Hackett would be crazy not to unlock that cheat code in his quasi-revenge game at Mile High, the sight of his season-ending injury last year. The Broncos made friggin' Khalil Herbert look good last week (22 total touches, 120 total yards, TD), so we have no doubt that the second-year Jets back will see more than 13 touches for the first time this season. If Breece Lightning flashes like Achane and Raheem Mostert did against Denver — or even puts up half of the production they enjoyed that game — this pick will be the steal of the week.
More solid Week 5 RB values: Isiah Pacheco, Chiefs at Vikings (DK: $5,700 | FD: $6,600 | SD: 1.25X); Gus Edwards, Ravens at Steelers (DK: $5,000 | FD: $6,000 | SD: 1.45X); Jaleel McLaughlin, Broncos vs. Jets (DK: $5,000 | FD: $5,700 | SD: 1.45X); Tyler Allgeier, Falcons vs. Texans (DK: $4,700 | FD: $5,800 | SD: 1.55X)
WEEK 5 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
NFL DFS Picks Week 5: WR sleepers, values for DraftKings, FanDuel, SuperDraft
Garrett Wilson, Jets at Broncos (DK: $6,000 | FD: $7,400 | SD: 1.35X)
Garrett is so damn talented that he can produce viable WR1 production despite the fact that the Jets' other Wilson — the aforementioned Zach — is one of the league's worst QBs. Garrett posted 30.7 combined DK points across Weeks 1 and 2 after Aaron Rodgers got hurt, and he had 15 points in the Jets' narrow loss to Kansas City on Sunday Night Football in Week 4. Now the 2022 Rookie of the Year gets to do some damage in Denver, facing a Broncos defense that ranks in the bottom-third in the NFL in catches, receiving yards, and TDs allowed to wideouts. Go get 'em, Wilsons.
Zay Flowers, Ravens at Steelers (DK: $5,500 | FD: $5,900 | SD: 1.45X)
Flowers posted his first single-digit PPR performance as a pro last week, but playing in Cleveland against a Myles Garrett-led defense never returns the most fruitful results. The Steelers' secondary has been bad this year, surrendering the third-most DK points to wide receivers. Give this man his Flowers and throw him the damn ball, LJax!
Drake London, Falcons vs. Texans (DK: $4,700 | FD: $6,300 | SD: 1.5X)
At first glance, this looks like a bad matchup on paper for London. The Texans defense has been pretty damn good under DeMeco Ryans (go figure!), allowing the third-fewest receiving yards to wideouts. However, Houston has not exactly been perfect defending the slot, which bodes well for London. Look for Desmond Ridder to continue targeting his tall, speedy receiver this weekend in another game in which Atlanta could find itself playing catchup.
More solid Week 5 WR values: Michael Wilson, Cardinals vs. Bengals (DK: $3,700 | FD: $5,300 | SD: 1.65X); Skyy Moore (DK: $4,400 | FD: $5,700 | SD: 1.55X) and Kadarius Toney (DK: $4,300 | FD: $5,600 | SD: 1.55X), Chiefs at Vikings; Darius Slayton, Giants at Dolphins (DK: $4,100 | FD: $5,900 | SD: 1.6X); Josh Downs, Colts vs. Titans (DK: $3,700 | FD: $5,300 | SD: 1.65X)
NFL DFS Picks Week 5: TE sleepers, values for DraftKings, FanDuel, SuperDraft
Dallas Goedert, Eagles at Rams (DK: $4,200 | FD: $5,500 | SD: 1.45X)
Goedert is way too good and plays for way too strong an offense to continue putting up underwhelming fantasy numbers, so we'll buy the dip. He does have 18 targets over the past three weeks, and the Rams aren't very good at defending the tight end position. Through four weeks, only eight defenses have surrendered more DK points to TEs.
Zach Ertz, Cardinals vs. Bengals (DK: $3,500 | FD: $5,100 | SD: 1.6X)
Ertz had an 87-percent route participation against the 49ers last weekend, which translated to six catches for 53 yards. He dropped a would-be touchdown, too, which would have given him a finish of close to 20 DK points. Cincinnati has allowed the sixth-most PPR points to TEs this season, so Ertz seems like a great value play toward at a tough position.
More solid Week 5 TE values: Dalton Schultz, Texans at Falcons (DK: $3,400 | FD: $4,900 | 1.6X); Hayden Hurst, Panthers at Lions (DK: $3,100 | FD: $5,000 | SD: 1.7X); Tyler Conklin, Jets at Broncos (DK: $3,200 | FD: $4,800 | SD: 1.65X)
NFL DFS Picks Week 5: D/ST sleepers, values for DraftKings, FanDuel
New York Jets at Broncos (DK: $3,100 | FD: $4,200)
The Jets might have a new lease on life after nearly knocking off the Super Bowl-champion Chiefs at the Meadowlands in primetime, so don't be surprised if Sauce Gardner and the Jets come away with a couple of takeaways and Quincy Williams gets in for some Russell Wilson sacks. Sure, we listed Wilson as a value play at QB, but we still think Denver will make enough mistakes to give Gang Green a fantasy score much better than this price point suggests.
Other solid Week 5 D/ST values: New England Patriots vs. Saints (DK: $3,100 | FD: $4,400); Tennessee Titans at Colts (DK: $2,200 | FD: $3,500); Broncos vs. Jets (DK: $3,200 | FD: $4,300)
