Week 5 of the 2025 fantasy football season featured a number of big performances and a handful of disappointing ones.
Who were the big winners and losers?
Matt Bowen and Tristan H. Cockcroft offer their analyses.
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Ranking winners | Ranking losers |
Biggest injuries and what’s next
1. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts: Another week, another three-touchdown, 30-plus PPR fantasy point performance for Taylor, who has suddenly moved into second place at his position (121.3) behind Christian McCaffrey (123.9) for the season. Taylor scored 31.6 points in his latest dominant effort, this one against the Las Vegas Raiders, despite his not touching the football over the final 17 minutes of the game. Put aside his past injury questions, as he’s running about as well as anyone currently and is a locked-in RB1. — Cockcroft
2. Rico Dowdle, RB, Carolina Panthers: With Chuba Hubbard down (calf), Dowdle took advantage of the positive matchup vs. Miami, scoring a career-high 32.4 points. Dowdle saw heavy run game usage, carrying the ball 23 times for 202 yards and a score, plus he added 28 yards receiving on three catches. With open daylight to attack versus the Dolphins front, racked up six rushes of 10 or more yards. Explosive. If Hubbard is still out for the Week 6 game versus Dallas, Hubbard fits as a solid RB2, and he’s currently available in over 60% of ESPN leagues. — Bowen
3. Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams: Williams’ boost in receiving usage pushed his total to a season-high 31.1 points in the Thursday night loss to the 49ers. Williams caught eight of 10 targets here for 66 yards, plus he added two touchdown grabs. Williams did lead the team in rushing with 65 yards on 14 carries (4.6 YPC), while backup Blake Corum saw just one rushing attempt. With a Week 6 matchup versus a banged-up Ravens defense, Corum will remain an upper-tier RB2. — Bowen
4. Dak Prescott, QB, and Javonte Williams, RB, Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys’ offense was humming once again against the mightily struggling New York Jets, scoring 37 points to give them a league-leading three games totaling at least that many. Prescott played a big part, throwing four passing touchdowns and scoring 28.28 fantasy points, to place himself at least among the top four at his position for the season (pending Sunday and Monday night results). Williams caught one of them and adding a rushing score of his own, for a season-best 26.9 PPR fantasy points that represented his third 20-point performance of 2025. The Cowboys’ defensive woes have resulted in Prescott frequently airing things out — his 195 passing attempts are easily the league’s most — which seems unlikely to change in the coming weeks. Expect more big scores from both in Weeks 6 and 7 against the Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders, teams that have also struggled defensively. — Cockcroft
5. Jake Ferguson, TE, Dallas Cowboys: Those aforementioned Cowboys defensive struggles, coupled with the absence of star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, has ramped up Ferguson’s usage in the passing game. He scored a career-best 23.9 PPR fantasy points while tying for the team lead in targets (9), giving him a tight end-leading 48 of the latter for the season. While Lamb could be ready to return from his ankle injury for Week 6, Ferguson should still be heavily involved enough to be a top-five option at his position. — Cockcroft
6. Matthew Stafford, RB, Los Angeles Rams: He orchestrated a late-game rally to tie, only to see his Rams lose a heartbreaker in overtime, 26-23, on Thursday night. Stafford’s fantasy managers were pleased nevertheless, as he scored 25.56 fantasy points after totaling 27.40 the week before. He’s making excellent use of his top two wide receivers, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, as well as running back Kyren Williams in the passing game, and should again be a fantasy QB1 in Week 6 against a Baltimore Ravens defense that has allowed four passing touchdowns to each of its past two opponents. — Cockcroft
7. Mac Jones, QB, San Francisco 49ers: On short week, with multiple backups playing critical roles in the 49ers pass game, a beat-up Jones scored 22.18 points in the Thursday night win over the Rams. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan schemed up Jones off play-action and used the quick game to get the ball out in this one. Jones, who completed 33 of 49 passes for 342 yards, averaged 6.0 air yards per attempt, with Kendrick Bourne (10-142) leading the team in receiving, while Christian McCaffrey and Jake Tonges caught touchdowns. With no return date set for starting quarterback Brock Purdy (toe), Jones (available in over 95% of ESPN leagues), could be in-line to start again in Week 6 at Tampa. — Bowen
8. C.J. Stroud, QB, Houston Texans: He scored 28.76 fantasy points, his first game above 20 since Week 4 of last season, and totaled four passing touchdowns in a dismantling of the reeling Baltimore Ravens defense. The performance spoke as much to Stroud’s own successes — he completed 9-of-10 passes to slot receivers for 119 yards and two scores — as it did the matchup itself. The Ravens have now seen three different quarterbacks top 27 points against them (Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes), which is worth tucking away for future opponents Matthew Stafford (Week 6), Caleb Williams (Week 8) and Tua Tagovailoa (Week 9). Stroud and the Texans, meanwhile, now head into their bye week. — Cockcroft
9. Darren Waller, TE, Miami Dolphins: After scoring 17.7 points in his first game of the season last week, Waller was productive again in Sunday’s loss to the Panthers. With an increase in snaps and routes run (26), Waller had 18.7 points in Carolina, catching all five of his targets for 78 yards and a touchdown. Waller has now scored at least a touchdown in each of his two games played, and he can still stretch the seams out in the field. With Tyreek Hill out for the season, Waller’s role as a middle-of-the-field option should remain steady in the Miami offense. Waller (available in over 50% of ESPN leagues) should be a top waiver add ahead of the Week 6 matchup versus the Chargers. — Bowen