NFL Week 5 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em

• Start Jordan Love: The first-year starter has been among the top fantasy quarterbacks this season, his offense is healthier than it’s been all season and he has a favorable matchup.

• Sit Najee Harris: Teammate Jaylen Warren has scored more PPR points than Harris in every game this season.

• Start Marquise Brown: Brown has built his career on dominating man defenses, and he’s facing a defense that runs man defense more than most teams.

Estimated Reading Time: 17 minutes

Deciding who to start or sit in fantasy football can be as easy as looking at the PFF rankings and going with the higher-ranked player. This start ’em, sit ’em column digs a step deeper, looking into why someone you might typically start might not have a good week, or why someone overlooked might have a good week. In many cases, it’s the usual starters who should star, but we want to explore the borderline players, too.

QUARTERBACKS

START

Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

Love is off to an excellent start in fantasy football, in part thanks to his 10 combined passing and rushing touchdowns.
While his touchdown efficiency will likely decrease over time, his general efficiency should improve. Aaron Jones and Christian Watson returned on Thursday Night Football last week and should be healthier this week. Ideally, Love will also be getting left guard Elgton Jenkins back after he missed the past two weeks.
Love might be a fantasy starter over the rest of the season, but he should be considered even more so this week due to the opponent.
The Packers have the third-easiest matchup for quarterbacks this week against the Las Vegas Raiders, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
The Raiders have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season.
Love has earned a 73.3 PFF passing grade when facing man defenses and a 57.3 grade against zone.
He has a 9.1% big-time throw rate against man and a 2.1% rate against zone. He sports a 3.8% turnover-worthy play rate against zone compared to no turnover-worthy plays against man.
The Raiders are using man defense at the sixth-highest rate in the NFL this season.
Love, like all quarterbacks, performs better without pressure. He has completed only one-third of his passes this season under pressure, but he likely won’t face much heat this week.
The Green Bay offensive line has the fourth-largest advantage over the Raiders’ defensive line in pass protection, according to PFF's offensive line/defensive line matchup chart.
Love could be one of the best fantasy quarterbacks this week, even if he doesn’t throw as many touchdowns as in previous weeks.

Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

Goff has been a borderline fantasy starter during his time with the Detroit Lions, with four top-five finishes over the past 10 games.
He’s among the top 10 quarterbacks this season in passing yards, touchdowns and big-time throws.
Goff doesn’t run nearly as much as other quarterbacks, though, which is why he’s only a borderline fantasy starter rather than a consistent one. He’s run the ball 11 times this season, which is more than usual, but that’s only because he’s kneeled seven times.
He should be closer to a fantasy starter this week than a backup due to the matchup.
The Lions have the second-easiest matchup for quarterbacks this week against the Carolina Panthers, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
The Panthers haven’t allowed many fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, but they’ve also only faced one quarterback who ranks in the top 22 in fantasy points.
Carolina’s big strength on defense is its pass rush, ranking fifth with a 77.9 team pass-rush grade. The Lions have the fifth-highest-graded offensive line in pass protection, though, and that’s with left tackle Taylor Decker missing much of the season so far with injury. He returned last week, so the line should be playing even better.
Throw in the return of Jameson Williams, who could be in store for a big play or two, and Goff should have a fairly successful game.