Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

This could be a tough week for fantasy owners. With the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, and San Diego Chargers on byes, a good deal of fantasy point getters will be on the sidelines, leaving many owners scrambling for good bye week options in week 5. Fortunately for you, the Bruno Boys are providing you with some solid Start ‘Em players for this week in the Fantasy Football Week 5 Start Ems.

QUARTERBACKS – START ‘EM

Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia Eagles) vs. Tampa Bay

Finally, McNabb is healthy enough to play and what a great week to come back. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have allowed 14 passing plays over 20 yards and 6 plays over 40 on the year. Part of McNabb’s essence is throwing the deep ball to play maker DeSean Jackson and perhaps even getting rookie WR Jeremy Maclin involved. The Bucs have allowed 222 passing yards per game and 9 TD’s in their four games in 2009, so look for the Eagles to exploit the obvious holes in the Buccaneers’ secondary. Start McNabb without hesitation.

Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys) @ Kansas City

What a disappointment Romo has been in 2009. After such a magnificent start in week 1, he has only posted 1 TD to 4 INT in his following three games. Romo should bounce back this week with a cushy match-up versus a weak opponent in the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs have allowed 250 passing yards and 2 passing TDs per game, and those are some numbers that you can bank on for Romo in week 5. Look for Dallas to try and find a rhythm offensively by allowing Romo to get back on track. An 18-point week should be easily reachable for the Cowboys star QB.

Derek Anderson (Cleveland Browns) @ Buffalo

We understand that Anderson hasn’t exactly been a fantasy owner’s dream since his Pro Bowl 2007 season. In fact, his stats have been downright ugly. However, after a rocky beginning in 2009 (1 TD and 4 INTs), he gets to face a Buffalo Bills defense that has been less than stellar; ranking 21st in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game. While Anderson is more of a recommended start in larger fantasy leagues, with four stud QBs out in week 5, you may be struggling for options and Anderson could fill that void. Even without WR Braylon Edwards, Anderson could post average enough numbers to warrant a start against the Bills.

RUNNING BACKS – START ‘EM

Marshawn Lynch (Buffalo Bills) vs. Cleveland

Marshawn was not the typical Marshawn in his first game back from suspension in 2009. He averaged a whopping 0.5 ypc on 8 carries to the chagrin of many of his fantasy owners. Look for him to right his wrongs in week 5 against a porous Cleveland Browns rush defense. Even though Cleveland “shut down” the Bengals rushing attack in week 4 (154 yards, 0 TDs; if you want to call that shutting a team down), the Browns have really not been good. In weeks 1-3, the worst fantasy output for a starting RB against the Browns was 17 points put up by Correll Buckhalter, so if you’re looking at that as a target, it could be reachable. While Lynch will be splitting carries with Fred Jackson, he should see enough to be a RB2 this week, with Jackson being a potential spot starter in a flex position.

Tim Hightower (Arizona Cardinals) vs. Houston

Coming off a bye, look for a refreshed Hightower and Cardinals offense to come up gunning to get back into contention in the NFC West. Fortunately, they have the Houston Texans on their schedule. To say the Texans rush defense has been horrendous would be an understatement. Ranking 29th in the NFL, they have allowed 165 yards per game and tied for an NFL-worst 8 rushing TDs. While Hightower isn’t the best pure RB, he has an uncanny ability of finding the end zone (11 TDs in 19 games) and is heavily relied upon in the passing game (as witnessed by 57.3 receiving yards per game in 2009).

Clinton Portis (Washington Redskins) @ Carolina

While Clinton Portis has been the antithesis of good in 2009, he has too much ability, barring injury, to be this bad. He has the opportunity to right the ship against an NFL-worst Carolina Panthers rush D that has given up 183 yards per game and 3 TDs in their 3 games. Hopefully, you’re a Portis owner that hasn’t given up on him, because you could finally reap the benefits of the man you probably drafted as your RB2.

Ahmad Bradshaw (New York Giants) vs. Oakland

There is something to love about Bradshaw’s match-up in week 5 against the Raiders (barring injury status). Oakland is 26th in the NFL allowing 146 yards per game and 4 rush TDs in 4 games. More importantly for Bradshaw’s success is that the Raiders have given up 3 rushes of over 20+ yards in their four games this season. Bradshaw is lightning-quick and has shown big-play ability since his inception in the NFL with 6 runs of over 20 yards in very limited time since last season. While Bradshaw may not put up numbers that your starting RBs will be tallying this week, he makes for a great flex play having averaged 7 fantasy points per week with the potential to blow up at any time.