Week 5 Fantasy Football Stock Watch: Players To Buy/Sell/Hold

Fantasy football championships aren’t won in September; they’re won by managers who know how to play the long game. And right now, that means buying Rashee Rice before he steps back on the field in Week 7. This is the cheapest Rice will be all season, and when he returns, he has a clear path to league-winning production.

Nobody on this offense has stepped up this season; each week, it’s a different cast of characters because Mahomes is a spreader, but let’s not forget it’s a different story when Rice is on the field. Last season, he had 24 receptions on 29 targets and averaged 96 YPG in his only three games he appeared in, along with 2 TDs. To dive even deeper, in his last seven games of his rookie campaign of 2023, he caught 47 balls, averaging 8.7 targets per game, for 80 YPG.

Buy – CeeDee Lamb

This is exactly the type of buy-low opportunity that separates contenders from pretenders. Injuries early in the season fade fast when you’re in a fantasy semifinal watching a fully healthy Lamb rack up double-digit targets and torch secondaries. Lamb, who has missed the last two weeks because of an injury, is primed to return, hopefully in Week 6. In Weeks 1 and 2, Lamb was sensational. His 24 targets and 222 yards equal monster volume.

If his manager is hurting in the Win column and panicking over a few missed games, swoop in now. Once Lamb is back in uniform, you won’t be able to touch him without overpaying. Buy the dip and set yourself up for a massive second-half surge.

When he returns, he’s going to remind everyone why he’s one of the most dangerous weapons in fantasy football, and the best part about that is his newly acquired counterpart, Pickens, is drawing attention away from Lamb, so that means more feasting opportunities from the slot.

Also, make sure to check out our favorite streaming options for Week 5 of NFL football.

Sell – Christian McCaffrey

Most would say it feels almost blasphemous to even suggest trading Christian McCaffrey right now because he’s been great through four weeks (at least in the receiving department). But here’s the thing: great fantasy managers don’t get emotional about names on their fantasy teams and shouldn’t be blind to previous injury history. Read the market, anticipate the second half of the season, and sell high when the return outweighs the risk. And right now, trading CMC might be the smartest power move you can make.

First, let’s talk about mileage. McCaffrey has been an absolute workhorse again this season, logging one of the highest snap shares and touch counts among all running backs. That’s great for short-term production, but it also comes with risk. His value may never be higher this season than it is right now.

McCaffrey is putting up 20+ points a week, and entering Week 5, he’s legitimately the only game in town. I always say I’d rather be a week too early than a week too late, so if you have CMC, I’d highly recommend trading him away to fill weaker positions on your fantasy team. Could he survive the whole season? Sure, but that’s one bet I’m not willing to take.

Second, take a look at his rushing numbers this season. He’s averaging 56.25 rushing yards per game, which ranks 23rd in total rushing yards this season. That is a combination of his lack of explosive burst and a very poor offensive line play.

Lastly, this is not me doubting CMC and his skill set for being one of the most complete backs of all time, but more of Father Time catching up to him, combined with an injury-riddled team seemingly since the 2020 season. As a huge CMC fan that I am, do yourself a favor and get out while you still can.

Sell – Quentin Johnston

Johnston has been on a warpath this season, and I’ll be the first to say I didn’t see that coming. He’s always had the size and speed, but trouble catching the football has always handicapped his productivity. He reminded me of Hanon from the movie Little Giants. The Chargers are stacked at wideout, and oddly, the odd man out is who we all thought would dominate the team in targets, that being one Ladd McConkey.

Personally, I was not a fan of Ladd entering the 2025 season, although most were taking him in rounds 2/3 of most drafts. My reason wasn’t the skill set but the offensive system. Assuming the Chargers were going to pound the rock 30 times a game, leaving very few pass attempts for Herbert a game. Clearly, I was wrong as well.

Johnston is a sell-high candidate because I don’t see the game script for the Chargers continuing to be an air raid offense as the season goes on. Johnston, currently the WR 3 overall in fantasy football, seems like more of a mirage than reality. Yes, his 9.2 targets a week and 20.6 average fantasy points have been a grand slam for where he was drafted. I would move Johnston to a CeeDee Lamb owner if I could.

Hold – RJ Harvey

Harvey has been everything I wanted him to be through four weeks of the season. He’s getting his feet wet in that Payton offense, along with getting acclimated to the NFL. His 25.3% touches in the backfield have been key, and if I’m a manager with him on my bench in hold him tightly. Harvey had 14 touches in the rushing department Monday night to Dobbins’ 16.

That just shows Payton’s trust in the rookie. I do believe this time share will continue each week, and I don’t think Harvey pushes Dobbins to the backup role, but stay patient. Dobbins is like CMC, full of soft tissue injuries and it’s bound to happen sooner or later. Whether it’s Week 6 or Week 12, it’s bound to happen. I do expect Harvey’s touches to increase as the season goes on, especially an increase in his receiving targets

Hold – Harold Fannin Jr.

Joe Flacco being announced as the Week 1 starter for the Browns had Njoku fans enamored because of the previous year’s production out of the combo, but oddly, it turned out with a different result. Fannin was on Flacco’s radar from day 1, which not many expected because of Njoku being there, but if you watched Harold Fannin in college, you understand why Flacco seemed to favor him over Njoku.

Now entering Week 5, rookie Mr. Dillon Gabriel takes over the reins. The best friend of a quarterback, and especially a rookie one, is usually the tight end. Njoku is 29 years old and, honestly, never really panned out given his skill set.

Fannin is a 21-year-old beast with elite talent, and I’ll be expecting the rookie-to-rookie hookup to start in Week 5. Fannin has averaged 6 targets a game while sharing the position with Njoku, and while I don’t expect Njoku to go anywhere because he’s very talented, I do expect Fannin to be more involved in this offense than he already is if this team wants to win some games. For me, Fannin is a starter in deeper 12-14 team leagues.