The Week 5 matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers features an interstate rivalry that’s not exactly a classic. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 5: Jaguars-Buccaneers featuring Allen Hurns, Doug Martin and Mike Evans
We break down the Week 5 matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers boast the 30th -ranked run defense in the NFL. That’s a good sign for rookie running back T.J. Yeldon who managed to put together his first career 100-yard rushing game against the Indianapolis Colts last week. It doesn’t exactly look like quarterback Blake Bortles is destined for stardom these days, so Yeldon is definitely the Jaguars player to own in fantasy leagues for those looking for some upside the rest of the way. He should have an easy time putting up totals against the Bucs. Perhaps that will instill some confidence in Yeldon and his owners going forward.
As much as Yeldon is the future, wide receiver Allen Hurns may be the present. While the Jaguars as a team struggle to keep games close, Hurns is starting to rack up totals when the team inevitably turns to playing catch-up. Hurns has 13 catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns in the last two weeks combined. While most of that came last week against the Indianapolis Colts, it’s good that he’s showing signs of realizing his potential. Somebody in Jacksonville has to step it up and it might as well be him.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
After a slow start of the season, running back Doug Martin finally broke out of his shell against the Carolina Panthers last week. Although the game was a blowout, he managed to eclipse 100 yards rushing for the first time this season and score his first rushing touchdown on the year. Martin hasn’t been in the elite conversation since his rookie season, but if he can put together a second straight good week against Jacksonville, maybe fantasy owners can start believing again. He should get every opportunity possible to pounce on the Jaguars, although both offenses are generally seen as being anemic.
Maybe a better performance from teammate and wide receiver Mike Evans will help Martin find room on the ground. Evans was held to just three catches for 32 yards against the Panthers last week. He’s clearly the team’s best player and will need to play better going forward. Evans shouldn’t have any problem at all doing that against Jacksonville, a team that has given up at least 20 points on the scoreboard in three of its first four games. Evans is an automatic starter in fantasy leagues unless he’s up against Panthers’ cornerback Josh Norman, which won’t be the case this week of course.
