I've watched a lot of football, and I've seen a lot of wonky games. Week 5's Tennessee Titans vs. Arizona Cardinals matchup is up there as one of the wonkiest.
The Cardinals came into this game 2-2, well-rested after back-to-back divisional losses in a stacked NFC West. A tough Thursday Night loss to Seattle last week felt like a moral victory, with a strong second-half showing.
The Titans, under rookie Cameron Ward, had yet to win a game. They were coming off an embarrassing shutout handed to them by the Houston Texans. Through the first four weeks, you could argue that the Titans were the league's worst team.
The Cardinals were 7.5-point home favorites, the second-widest spread of the week. They were expected to get an easy win. And up 21-3 with 10:43 left in the second quarter, they were doing what they were supposed to do. But you know the NFL. When you think you've figured it out, it quickly veers into chaos.
The Cardinals slowed things down, leaning on the run and playing sound defense. Fast forward to 12:51 left in the fourth quarter, and the score hadn't changed. Suddenly, Emari Demercado hit one cut behind the line of scrimmage and was off to the races, untouched. A 72-yard kill shot to put the Cardinals up 22 points.
As Demercado celebrated, cornerback L'Jarius Sneed frantically started waving his arms. The play went under review, and the unthinkable happened. Demercado finger-rolled the ball across the goal line, losing possession, resulting in a turnover and touchback. And this isn't even close to the weirdest part of the game.
The Titans drove down the field off the touchback. Tony Pollard punched in a one-yard touchdown. A missed extra point kept the Titans down by nine, but they had quickly closed the gap. Still a two-possession game with 10:20 left in regulation.
A quick Cardinals three-and-out gave the Titans the ball back with 8:45 remaining. The Titans were energized and driving. After surgically marching down the field and into the red zone, Ward had a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage. It went right into the hands of a Cardinals defender. After intercepting the ball, Dadrion Taylor-Demerson rolled in an attempt to change direction, and the ball popped loose. One Cardinals defender kicked the ball, another slapped it off another's foot. Eventually, the ball found its way into the end zone, where Titans receiver Tyler Lockett jumped on top of it. The ball bounced around the field like a greased watermelon before the Titans walked away with seven points, cutting the lead to two points with 4:39 left.
Using all but one timeout, the Titans forced the Cardinals to punt the ball after the two-minute warning. They drove down the field again, kicking the game-winning field goal as time expired.
One quick lapse of judgment from Demercado zapped the life from the stadium. What should have been the defining stamp on an easy win started a series of fluky errors. And while this was just a single game in an NFL week, it's a good microcosm for fantasy football.
You can do all of the right things. You can draft the best players. You can win every impactful waiver bid. You can start the risky players in the right weeks. But that doesn't keep you safe from the seemingly unavoidable pitfalls in fantasy. Superstars get injured. Consistent compilers are suddenly game-planned out of a random week. Or worse yet, you face off against the last-place guy who picked up Justin Fields, Rico Dowdle, and Kendrick Bourne and started them all.
What matters is how you respond. Last year, the Chicago Bears strutted into a Week 7 game in Washington off a three-game win streak and a 4-2 record. After baiting the crowd before the final snap, Tyrique Stevenson got turned around on a Hail Mary throw, which cost them the matchup. The Bears responded with a whimper, losing the next ten games.
The Cardinals could spiral similarly. They could also use this embarrassing defeat as a rallying moment to play tighter football. After all, they're 2-3, and still just one win away from a .500 record.
That message feels especially relevant as we move deeper into the fantasy season. Bye weeks are always tricky to navigate. Combining that with the slew of recent injuries could have you ready to lighten your load. But as those injuries close the doors for some, they open the doors for others.
After five weeks, we have a clear picture of many teams and players. But trends shift fast. Young players rise, veterans slip, and injuries open doors for others.
The NFL season is a constant churn of unpredictability and surprises. While we can't accurately predict what will happen, re-ranking every player every week helps to identify trends among the risers and fallers. Next to each player and ranking will be their change from last week.
Let's start with the tight ends.
Tight Ends
This week's biggest shakeup was definitely among the tight ends. Injuries cause some movement at the very top. Meanwhile, a lot of dead-zone tight ends are proving to be just that. This is the position that will require a separation from name value. An influx of new, young talent is drastically shaking up the rankings, replacing the familiar faces we've grown accustomed to.
- TE1 - Trey McBride
- TE2 - Tyler Warren (+1)
- TE3 - Jake Ferguson (+3) - Jake Ferguson has the second-most receptions. No, not among tight ends, but among the entire league. His 41 catches are second only to Puka Nacua's 52. Trey McBride, the next-closest tight end, has 29 receptions. Ferguson's 48 targets are fourth in the NFL. He's just 26 years old, which is when tight ends typically start to hit their age apex. A promising 2023 season was mostly forgotten about after an injury-plagued 2024. But Ferguson is emerging as one of the league's best tight ends and biggest surprises.
- TE4 - Tucker Kraft (+1)
- TE5 - Brock Bowers (-3) - I'm definitely not getting the warm and fuzzies about Bowers' knee injury. It was finally labeled this week as a PCL and a bone bruise. After an early-week limited practice, Bowers missed the following two practices and Sunday's game. Reports are that it will only heal with rest, which Bowers was unwilling to do. Bowers was his typical self in Week 1, pulling eight targets for 103 yards. Since then, he has been hobbled on the field with a bulky knee brace, averaging just 40.7 yards per game. The Raiders are currently 1-4. With a Week 8 bye, it might be in the Raiders' best interest to rest their superstar tight end through then.
- TE6 - George Kittle (-2) - Now considered "a long shot" for Week 6, Kittle hopes to return in Week 7. Kittle was injured in the first half of Week 1 and hasn't had his 21-day practice window opened since.
- TE7 - Dalton Kincaid (+7) - Touchdowns buoyed his early-season production. In Week 5, though, Kincaid was deployed and effective in a way we haven't seen since his rookie season. He looked spry and fast, catching in-breaking routes across the middle of the field and running for yards after the catch. His 108 yards were a career best. A litany of injuries marred Kincaid's 2024 season, clouding the memories of a promising 2023 rookie campaign.
- TE8 - Sam LaPorta (-1)
- TE9 - Hunter Henry (-1)
- TE10 - Kyle Pitts Sr. (-1)
- TE11 - Travis Kelce
- TE12 - Darren Waller (+10) - 16.3 points per game. That's as many half-PPR points as Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Sure, it's probably unsustainable. Waller has played in just two games and scored three times. Amidst his five catches for 78 yards, though, we saw shades of the old Waller. He's always been a unique player: size of a tight end, fluidity of an inside receiver. His usage in Week 5 was ideal for his skill set. He caught deep posts, a screen, a slant through traffic, and a goal-line touchdown. We're half a decade removed from Waller breaking fantasy leagues. Given the nature of the tight end landscape, however, Waller is worth the swing for upside.
- TE13 - Dallas Goedert
- TE14 - Harold Fannin Jr. (+3) - In Dillon Gabriel's debut, over 40% of his targets went to tight ends. Fannin found paydirt for the first time in his early career. He's played a slot role alongside David Njoku, who is more of a traditional tight end. Fannin is sixth among all tight ends in targets, with the Browns playing in many multi-tight-end sets.
- TE15 - Mark Andrews (-5) - Aside from a vintage game in Week 3 (six catches, 91 yards, two touchdowns), Andrews has been a massive liability in lineups. He's had two or fewer catches in three of five games. He's had single-digit yardage totals in two. His upside on any given week puts him in the streaming discussion, but he's far from the plug-and-play TE1 he used to be.
- TE16 - T.J. Hockenson (-4) - The good news is that Hockenson has seen a slight bump in usage and production with Carson Wentz. The bad news is that it's only averaged out to five receptions for 38.5 scoreless yards. The worse news is that J.J. McCarthy will be back soon. Hockenson has been a reliable underneath target this year, but there are very few after-the-catch opportunities. He's more valuable in PPR and Tight End Premium leagues, but he's borderline rosterable in shallow leagues.
- TE17 - Zach Ertz (-2)
- TE18 - David Njoku (+2)
- TE19 - Mason Taylor (+6) - After suffering a preseason ankle sprain, Taylor's ramp-up to NFL action has been slow and steady. He's increased his target total in every game, topping out with career highs of 12 targets, nine receptions, and 67 yards in Week 5. While there are reasonable concerns about a low-volume passing offense, let's not forget that Justin Fields kept Cole Kmet afloat as 2023's TE7. Expect targets to consolidate towards Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, and Taylor, the Jets' three best receiving weapons.
- TE20 - Evan Engram (+6) - Engram has played a limited 34-44% snap share in every game. However, he runs a lot of routes and pulls significant targets when on the field, especially since returning from injury. His limited snap share makes him admittedly risky, but he's a streaming option.
- TE21 - Taysom Hill (New) - What a fool I was for thinking that a gruesome late-season injury to a 34-year-old utility player would mark the end of his career. Hill returned in Week 5 and immediately assumed his role as a short-yardage battering ram. He also lined up as a traditional shotgun quarterback once, throwing a dart up the seam to Juwan Johnson. Hill was limited to just 11 snaps. Expect his role to grow and huge boom games in fantasy to follow.
- TE22 - Brenton Strange (-4)
- TE23 - Chig Okonkwo
- TE24 - Juwan Johnson (-8) - Johnson's 28 targets through the first three weeks were inspiring. Over the last two weeks, though, he's seen just seven targets. Johnson falls into the never-ending churn on tight end streamers.
- TE25 - Jonnu Smith (-6)
- TE26 - Cole Kmet (-5)
- TE27 - Colston Loveland (-3)
- TE28 - Theo Johnson (+9) - He's probably not going to keep catching touchdowns every week, but Johnson clearly has a rapport with Jaxson Dart. Johnson is an athletic specimen, measuring in at the 2023 Combine at 6'6", 259 pounds, and having packed on size since. His size-adjusted speed score ranks in the 98th percentile. If there's a connection brewing here between the young tight end and the rookie quarterback, the upside could be immense.
- TE29 - AJ Barner (+5)
- TE30 - Jake Tonges (+6) - With George Kittle out, Tonges has done his best impression. He's been a pleasant surprise this year, fulfilling his duties as a blocker and making plays after the catch. He's streamable while Kittle remains out, but there's likely to be little value beyond that.
- TE31 - Isaiah Likely (-4)
- TE32 - Dalton Schultz (-4)
- TE33 - Dawson Knox (-4)
- TE34 - Mike Gesicki (-4)
- TE35 - Pat Freiermuth (-4)
- TE36 - Oronde Gadsden II (-4)
- TE37 - Cade Otton (-4)
- TE38 - Elijah Arroyo (-3)
- TE39 - Michael Mayer (-1)
- TE40 - Noah Fant (-1)
- TE41 - Will Dissly (-1)
- TE42 - Ben Sinnott (-1)
- TE43 - Ja'Tavion Sanders (-1)