Check out Marc Caviglia’s fantasy football rankings and hot takes on the Week 5 team defense matchups:
- The Los Angeles Rams DST has been a disappointment to-date but that should change in Week 5 against the Washington Football Team. Throughout four games Los Angeles has scored just 24 fantasy points in standard scoring ESPN and Yahoo! leagues. The defensive front is averaging 3 sacks per game and has forced 6 turnovers On the flip side, Washington’s offensive line has surrendered 14 quarterback sacks and they have turned the football over six different times. Factor in the benching of QB Dwayne Haskins Jr. in favor of Kyle Allen (making his Redskins debut) and you have a top-5 defense on paper for the Rams this week.
- A defense to avoid this week is the Los Angeles Chargers. They’ve scored just 4 fantasy points per game on the young season and have struggled pressuring the quarterback. Their 6 sacks ranks them toward the bottom of the league and they’ve only created three turnovers over four games. Take away the Chargers defensive touchdown and you have a bottom 5 units so far. Next up, is a road matchup against a New Orleans Saints offense that has taken care of the football and dropped 30-plus point on the Detroit Lions last week. Not an ideal spot for Los Angeles.
- A couple of other defenses that I am high on this week include the Pittsburgh Steelers (vs. Eagles), Arizona Cardinals (@ Jets) and New Orleans Saints (vs. Chargers). The Steelers and Cardinals have favorable matchups on paper and I feel the Saints defense makes a statement against a banged up Chargers offense.
- I would stay away from the Indianapolis Colts (@ Browns), Dallas Cowboys (vs. Giants) and Seattle Seahawks (vs. Vikings). All three defenses are trendy streaming options in Week 5 but don’t intrigue me. The Colts have been a top fantasy unit, but the Browns should win that game, while the Seahawks and Cowboys have nice matchups on paper but can’t defend a fly.
Rankings are based on the following scoring:
2 point per interception
2 point per fumble recovery
1 point per sack
2 points for safety
6 point for defensive/return touchdown
