Fantasy football Week 5 projections: Bears-Panthers featuring Jay Cutler, Cam Newton, Kelvin Benjamin

The Week 5 matchup between the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers features two teams who've given up a lot of points lately. We've got the fantasy projections for you courtesy of numberFire.

It finally looks as if Brandon Marshall might be turning the corner with his ankle injury, as the wide receiver was able to practice fully on Thursday. Although he hasn't missed starting a game this season, he's been relatively ineffective the last two weeks especially. Of course if he does feel better, Marshall is always a good bet for fantasy points as one of the league's premier receivers. The Carolina Panthers have given up a lot of points over the last two weeks and some of those will no doubt go to Marshall as long as he can run at somewhat full speed.

Any big fantasy numbers put up by Marshall this week will of course be a direct result of the play of quarterback Jay Cutler. Cutler was put in a tough spot against the Green Bay Packers last week as he was forced to play from behind. While he did turn the ball over on two occasions, his yardage and completion totals still allowed him to put up decent fantasy numbers. Tight end Marcellus Bennett has been Cutler's saving grace this year and that should continue against the Panthers even if Brandon Marshall makes an impact.

It might be time to start wondering whether quarterback Cam Newton will ever reach elite status in terms of fantasy production. Through four games, he has a grand total of 728 passing yards and three touchdown passes. That's not exactly the stuff elite quarterbacks are made of. There's a good chance he could still be feeling the effects of a rib injury that kept him out of the opening game of the season, but whether he's healthy or not, his upside will likely remain limited as long as he's not running out of the pocket.

Shaky as Newton has been this year, receiver Kelvin Benjamin is looking like one of the game's promising young stars. Benjamin could've had two touchdowns against the Baltimore Ravens last week if not for the fact that one of them was overturned after an instant reply showed he bobbled the football. Despite the close call, Benjamin still has touchdowns in each of the last two games and is on pace for over 1,300 receiving yards this season. He's a good bet to do well against the Bears' secondary this week, especially if the two teams start putting up lots of points.