Week Five Fantasy Football Winners

Week Five provided fans with more of the same offered in the 2025 NFL Season. The 1972 Miami Dolphins will hold onto the NFL’s only undefeated season for one more year, and the Jets are the only remaining team without a win. Baker Mayfield added another game-winning drive in an offensive shootout with former Carolina Panthers teammate Sam Darnold. The QBs combined for 73 points, 720 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception as Chase McLaughlin kicked a game-winner as time expired. The now 1-4 Baltimore Ravens are falling apart due to injuries, among other problems, playing without more than seven starters, including Lamar Jackson and Roquan Smith, losing at home to the Texans 44-10 behind C.J. Stroud’s four-touchdown game. Fans almost experienced another primetime tie, but the 49ers held the Rams on fourth down in field goal range, getting the 26-23 win. Week Five showed players who stepped up due to injuries and cemented themselves as true waiver wire pickups if the depth chart starter misses more time. Here are some players who absolutely balled out in the fifth week of the NFL season.

RB Jonathan Taylor – (31.6 Fantasy Points)

The 4-1 Indianapolis Colts are on fire. Granted, their four wins have come against non-playoff teams, and their only loss so far in 2025 came at the hands of the LA Rams, who lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champions in the 2024 NFC Divisional Round. Jonathan Taylor finished the 40-6 rout of the Las Vegas Raiders with 86 total yards, three touchdowns, and a two-point conversion. This was Taylor’s second hat trick in 2025 and third game with more than 29 fantasy points. The Colts only play two more 2024 playoff teams before their Week 11 bye, matching up against the Chargers in Week Seven and the Steelers in Week Nine, both of which are road games. Taylor is undoubtedly a must-start player, even in those two road matchups. The only question is, are the Colts going to be like the 2024 Vikings? A QB who was given a second chance in a new offense and takes the team to new highs, but really only against much inferior teams. Only time will tell, but start Taylor, who is a low-risk, high-reward type of player who is averaging 20 touches per game.  

RB Rico Dowdle – (32.4 Fantasy Points)

In case you didn’t know, Rico Dowdle is on the Carolina Panthers. The former Cowboy was backing up Chuba Hubbard until Hubbard went down. Dowdle was the most-added player in Week Five and deserves to stay on rosters even after Hubbard returns from his calf injury in the coming weeks. Through four weeks, Hubbard was averaging just over four yards per carry for 217 rushing yards. However, in the one week versus the Miami Dolphins, Dowdle almost passed that mark with 206 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries, marking one of the best running back performances of the season so far. Dowdle barely played in his first four years in Dallas, but recorded 1,000 yards in his fifth season. Dowdle may be able to carve out a larger role with Hubbard still considered day-to-day and recording his first career 200-yard game, so keep him rostered until he gives you a reason to release him back to the waivers.

WR Stefon Diggs – (24.6 Fantasy Points)

Stefon Diggs is back. That might be jumping to conclusions, but Drake Maye’s favorite target just notched back-to-back games with over 100 yards receiving, most recently against his former team, the Buffalo Bills, in a 23-20 Sunday Night Football victory. The 2015 draft selection out of Maryland was making incredible momentum-shifting catches and had multiple sideline toe-drags for first downs, recording 10 receptions for 146 yards. Diggs had not recorded a 100-yard game since Week Six of the 2023 NFL Season, when he was playing with Josh Allen and the Bills, starting the season with five of six games with 100 or more yards. For the future, Diggs is a shaky flex play, but has a respectable floor and ceiling considering he is emerging as Maye’s favorite target.  

RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt – (26.0) and WR Deebo Samuel – (23.6 Fantasy Points)

Jacory Croskey-Merritt has finally arrived, recording 150 total yards and two touchdowns, but lost a fumble for the first time in his career. While Croskey-Merritt, nicknamed “Bill” or “JCM,” has only played in five games, he broke his career-high in yards and touchdowns after recording 82 yards and a single touchdown in Week One. After Austin Ekeler’s season-ending injury, fantasy owners thought the big-brain move of drafting JCM would finally pay off. Although it took a week or two, it appears that JCM is the new true RB1 in Washington. Bill is still a risky play due to the potential of the Commanders’ RB room being run by committee, but after another strong game or two, JCM has the opportunity to be the Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Deebo Samuel has been proving all of the doubters wrong since joining the Commanders via trade in the most recent offseason. Many believed Samuel had injury concerns and conditioning problems, but whether those were true, it doesn’t appear to be a problem now. Terry McLaurin didn’t play in Week Five, but Jayden Daniels did, allowing Samuel to put up 96 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions, barely missing the 100-yard mark, which he hasn’t hit since Week Six of 2024. Samuel is a strong start in an explosive Washington offense, but be wary of the target share when McLaurin returns.

WR Emeka Egbuka – (29.3) and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba – (27.2 Fantasy Points)

For the first time in the series of Winners and Losers of Fantasy Football, I have decided to group two players from different teams in the same section. Yes, while Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold had stellar performances, each with over 300 yards and multiple touchdowns in an offensive shootout, the star receivers from each team posted similar numbers, earning themselves recognition in a game that ended on a walk-off field goal. Emeka Egbuka finished with seven receptions for 163 yards and a touchdown, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba recorded eight receptions for 132 yards and a touchdown. Egbuka is firmly cementing himself as an early candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and JSN proves that he did not need D.K. Metcalf or Tyler Lockett to make plays. Both receivers look to continue with their great seasons, and one can imagine they hope there is a rematch waiting for them in the playoffs.

Honorable Mentions

Also, for the first time in this series, I want to recognize some that could have easily made the list. Matt Stafford, Kyren Williams, and Puka Nacua recorded a combined 79.1 fantasy points, thanks to Stafford's 389 yards and three touchdowns, Williams’ 131 total yards and two receiving touchdowns, and Nacua’s 85 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches. Dak Prescott, Javonte Williams, and Jake Ferguson also put up huge numbers. With two touchdowns from both Williams and Ferguson, the Cowboys took care of business, sending the Jets to 0-5. Lastly, C.J. Stroud deserves some recognition, as in his fourth career game against the injured Baltimore Ravens, Stroud threw for his first touchdown against Baltimore, adding three more in a demolition that is leaving Ravens fans questioning their playoff chances. As I have mentioned in almost every iteration of this series, the 2025 NFL Season is shaping up to be the most chaotic, surprising, and eventful season in recent history. I can only imagine what Week Six has in store for fans.