Fantasy Football: Best and worst DFS targets in Week 5

Week 5 of the 2021 NFL season features a handful of interesting DFS plays that could provide tournament-winning upside, as injuries and movements in usage rates are giving underrated players such as Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. a chance to become one of the best low-salary, high-ceiling plays of the week.

Let’s focus on salary and upside to identify the best and worst DFS play at every position for NFL Week 5.

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Quarterback

Best: Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings

DK: $6,500 | FD: $7,500

Cousins has picked up a QB13 ranking through the season's first four weeks and is barely on the outside looking in at QB1 territory. His 83.5 fantasy points are a great start, and so is his Week 5 matchup against a Detroit Lions defense that has been very kind to opposing quarterbacks through the first month of the season.

Detroit Lions vs. quarterbacks this season | 2021

Cousins is much more comparable in talent to Aaron Rodgers (Week 2) and Lamar Jackson (Week 3) than Jimmy Garoppolo (Week 1) and Justin Fields (Week 4), so we can probably expect a fairly solid game. Remember: the Vikings signal-caller has got a tremendous floor — he’s scored fewer than 22 fantasy points only once this season.

Worst: Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles

DK: $7,000 | FD: $8,100

Betting against Hurts seems relatively rash, given his QB3 ranking thus far. However, we cannot afford any slip-ups at his salary, and he’s got a tough matchup against the Carolina Panthers coming up.

The Eagles quarterback has relied relatively heavily on his rushing production this season, as 28.2% of his fantasy points have come by way of his legs. Unfortunately for Hurts, the Panthers have allowed only 70 rushing yards and the second-fewest passing yards (725) to quarterbacks this season.

Hurts may be able to overcome this matchup, but rostering him for Week 5 DFS could be a costly decision.

Running Back

Best: Damien Williams, Chicago Bears

DK: $5,600 | FD: $5,800

There may not be a cheaper RB1 workload available on DFS sites. Taking over for the injured David Montgomery last week, the eighth-year back played just 19 snaps yet recorded eight rushing attempts for a 20.5% rushing share and two targets on only eight receiving snaps for a 12.5% target share. Expect both of these numbers to skyrocket, with no barrier to a workhorse workload ahead.