Fantasy football Week 5 WR preview: Zay Flowers a cautious start with Lamar Jackson likely out

Lamar's injury lowers the ceiling for Baltimore's breakout star with Huntley under center, plus key Week 5 stats for Metcalf, London and Coleman

Oct 6, 2026 at 6:13 pm ET • 2 min read

It is no hyperbole to say that Zay Flowers has been one of the very best wide receivers in football this season. HIs 39.3% target per route run rate leads all receivers and is three points higher than Jaxon Smith-Njigba. His 6.29 yards per route run is two full yards better than Smith-Njigba and probably three yards better than any number you could reasonably expect a receiver to post over a full season. His 22.4 Fantasy points per game mark is sixth-best despite the fact that Week 4 was the first time this season he has played more than 33% of the offensive snaps. Now that he's fully healthy, we shouldn't even be discussing him; he should just be an obvious start. But, unfortunately, Lamar Jackson has an ankle injury, and Tyler Huntley is projected to start Week 5.

Huntley has made 16 starts in his NFL career and has averaged 156.9 passing yards per game. He has 10 passing touchdowns and nine interceptions in those 16 starts. When all of the player props are out for the week, he will quite likely have the lowest projected passing yards. This is not exactly the offensive environment that produces top-20 wide receivers, much less top-5 options. 

Trying to build a projection around it isn't easy, but if we expect Huntley to throw 26 passes, and Flowers to be targeted on 30% of them, then you get a projection of eight targets. Huntley has completed 64.5% of his passes as a starter, so let's assume five catches. This year, Flowers has accounted for 49.6% of the Ravens' receiving yards when he's on the field; last year, it was 39.7%. If you split the difference, you get a yardage projection of 70 yards. Five catches for 70 yards with a mediocre chance at a touchdown is probably as good a guess as one could make, which makes Flowers a WR2 this week. In other words, you probably aren't getting the elite production you have so far, but you don't have to run away from him, even with Huntley at QB.

Here is the rest of the Week 5 WR preview:

Week 5 WR Preview

WR Preview

Numbers to Know

• 488 -- DK Metcalf has received 488 targeted air yards, the fourth-highest mark in the league. He's improved his production the past two weeks and looks like a low-end WR2.
• 4.02 -- Drake London is averaging 4.02 yards per route run. Only Zay Flowers and Jaxon Smith-Njigba have been better.
• 31.5% -- CeeDee Lamb has a 31.5% target share, leaving just 19.4% for George Pickens. If this continues, Pickens is a boom/bust WR3.
• 22.4% -- Keon Coleman has a 22.4% target share when DJ Moore is not on the field. We are not projecting Moore to play in Week 5.
• 9 -- Michael Wilson has nine red zone targets this season. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are the only receivers with more.
• 17.4 -- Denzel Boston has an aDOT of 17.4. It is hard to be a consistent receiver with that profile, but it can lead to big weeks.
• 70.8% -- Mike Evans' 70.8% catch rate would be a career best.
• 44 -- The Texans have given up a league-high 44 PPR Fantasy points per game to receivers this year. At some point, this is just who they are.

WR Preview

Waiver Wire Targets

Week 5 Adds (WR Preview)

MIA Miami • #6 Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs CIN CIN -7.5 O/U 42.5 OPP VS WR 12th WR RNK 37th ROSTERED 31% YTD Stats REC 17 TAR 28 REYDS 219 TD 0 FPTS/G 9.5 I understand that Washington is not exciting, but I also don't think we've seen his upside yet either. He's averaging seven targets per game and 54.8 receiving yards per game but is only averaging 9.5 PPR FPPG due to his lack of touchdowns and the fact that the Dolphins are averaging 52.5 offensive plays per game. While I do expect the Dolphins to be a low-scoring low-volume team, I also think there is some regression to come here and a decent chance that Washington has some 15-point spike weeks in his future. I like him as a number three receiver in Week 5.

PIT Pittsburgh • #14 Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs IND PIT -2.5 O/U 44.5 OPP VS WR 21st WR RNK 38th ROSTERED 8% YTD Stats REC 14 TAR 24 REYDS 188 TD 2 FPTS/G 11.2 Wilson has seen exactly six targets in all four games and topped 15 PPR Fantasy points in each of his last two. The Colts have not proven to be a difficult matchup and Wilson is slowly earning Aaron Rodgers trust. He's a low-end WR3 for me this week, but as he's shown the last two weeks he has top 20 upside.

BUF Buffalo Age: 23 • Experience: 3 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ LAR LAR -3 O/U 54.5 OPP VS WR 15th WR RNK 33rd ROSTERED 13% YTD Stats REC 14 TAR 16 REYDS 217 TD 1 FPTS/G 10.4 Coleman and Shakir will be two of the most popular waiver wire additions at receiver due to the fact that DJ Moore is projected to be out. Coleman has earned a 22% target share with Moore off the field and Shakir has been right behind him at 20%. I'm a little lower than consensus because I am slightly worried about the Rams defense. Still, they are good boom/bust WR3s for as long as Moore is out. For now, Coleman is my favorite but it is close to a coin flip.

LAC L.A. Chargers • #9 Age: 24 • Experience: 2 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs DEN DEN -3.5 O/U 42.5 OPP VS WR 9th WR RNK 36th ROSTERED 14% YTD Stats REC 13 TAR 21 REYDS 209 TD 0 FPTS/G 8.5 Harris should be the best Chargers wide receiver for as long as Ladd McConkey is out. Still, its fair to wonder how valuable the best Chargers wide receiver will be. They could get a break this week with injuries to the Broncos secondary, but the Chargers have looked pretty miserable in some fantastic matchups. View Harris as a boom/bust WR3 with top 20 upside.

Stashes (WR Preview)

WR Preview

DFS Plays

Top DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

NO New Orleans • #12
Age: 26 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP vs MIN MIN -2 O/U 42	OPP VS WR 14th	PROJ PTS 16.6	WR RNK 5th

YTD Stats
REC 35	TAR 48	REYDS 491	TD 1	FPTS/G 22.5

Olave's price remains reasonable relative to the other elite wide receivers and trust me, Olave has certainly earned inclusion into that group this season. He's averaging nearly 20 FPPG and he only has one touchdown. He also leads all receivers in routes run, which helps his floor. Only CeeDee Lamb has more catches than him this season.

Contrarian DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

CHI Chicago • #10
Age: 22 • Experience: 2 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown
MATCHUP @ GB CHI -3 O/U 45.5	OPP VS WR 17th	PROJ PTS 11.1	WR RNK 25th

YTD Stats
REC 19	TAR 29	REYDS 219	TD 1	FPTS/G 11.7

Since his Week 1 disappointment, Burden is averaging eight targets per game, which leads the Bears. The Packers have been bad against wide receivers, but that is somewhat hidden by the fact they played Tampa Bay last week. I expect this game to turn into a shootout and Burden to once again be the top targeted Bears receiver. But I think his lackluster start to the year should hold down his roster rate.

WR Preview

Heath's Projections

My full set of Week 5 Fantasy football projections for every position is now available here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 5. Projected stats for all starting wide receivers are updated throughout the week, so make sure you check back in later in the week for changes.