Week 5 PPR WR fantasy football rankings including injury news, sleepers, more

Welcome to Week 5 of the fantasy football season. It was an eventful Week 4 for fantasy wide receivers, with Nico Collins leading the way with 12 receptions for 151 yards and one touchdown. Collins was already in that top tier of fantasy receivers, but not everyone really knew that as a fact. They are learning.

Collins is the top fantasy receiver in standard and half-PPR, but rookie Malik Nabers kept the PPR crown for now. Currently, it is a race between those two and Justin Jefferson as best fantasy receiver. Of course, we are only four games in and things, they change. Just ask Rashee Rice and his fantasy managers.

Amon St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Ladd McConkey, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley

Nabers and the Giants played on Thursday Night Football last week, but there is still a chance Nabers can’t be cleared of his concussion, as he is currently in the early stages of recovery, per Jordan Raanan. Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton would likely see the biggest bumps for fantasy.

Adams “injured” his hamstring during last week’s Friday practice, but all indications are that he is trying to force a trade. That makes him likely out for Week 5. Jacobi Meyers, Tre Tucker and Brock Bowers all should see more work while Adams isn’t on the field.

Head coach Sean McVay has already told reporters that Kupp won’t play in Week 5. This likely means he will have trouble playing in Week 6, but should be back on the practice field to ramp up for Week 7. Since they chose to not put him on I.R., they must believe he will be ready by Week 7.

Shakir hurt his ankle on Monday night, but was able to get it taped up and returned to the game. He likely will need some rest this week and there is of course a possibility the injury is worse than they hope. But for now, the odds seem to point to him playing in Week 5.

Watson has an ankle sprain, but he could avoid going on I.R., per Jordan Schultz. He still won’t go this week and is probably going to be out at least a couple games. His absence helps Dontayvion Wicks see more snaps and a tiger fantasy ceiling, as we saw last week when he caught two touchdowns with Watson injured.

Dell missed Week 4 due to a chest injury, but will reportedly play in Week 5 against the Bills, per Will Kunkel.

Palmer suffered a concussion in Week 4, which means he won’t be cleared on a short week when the Bucs take on the Falcons on Thursday Night Football. McMillan suffered a hamstring injury in practice last week and was listed as not practicing on Monday. He is likely out again this week. That should help Cade Otton and Sterling Shepard see extra work, while Mike Evans and Chris Godwin continue their top roles.

Brown appears to be on track to return in Week 6 after this week’s bye. The same should be true for DeVonta Smith , who missed last week due to a concussion.

In Downs’ second game back from injury he tied for the team lead in targets with nine and caught eight for 82 yards and a touchdown. This week he gets a Jaguars pass defense that ranks 29th in yards per pass attempt, 30th in pass defense EPA, and 28th in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers. The Colts pass defense isn’t a whole lot better, so this game could end up being high scoring and Downs is starting to look like the top receiver in Indianapolis.

At this point, Jayden Reed is an automatic start, but with Christian Watson out, Wicks is hard to bench, especially in this matchup. Wicks was a part-time player with a lot of upside, so when Watson was hurt early last week, Wicks got full-time work and led the team in targets, and scored two touchdowns. The Rams rank 31st in pass defense EPA and 22nd in fantasy points allowed to receivers. They also rank last in yards allowed per pass attempt and completion. Fire up your Packers’ receivers this week!