Running back PPR rankings for Week 5 fantasy football

Week 4 is officially in the books and just as we all projected, Cordarrelle Patterson finished as the RB1 on the week with a 34.6 point performance. We saw a bounceback performance for RB Jonathan Taylor amid much panic as he ranked as the RB29 heading into Week 4, along with another solid outing for Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who managed his second consecutive game of 100+ rushing yards and a receiving touchdown.

Each week, we continue to learn more about some of the more confusing backfields in the league, too. The Ravens, for example, made rookie RB Ty’Son Williams inactive for the team’s Week 4 matchup against the Broncos. This left Latavius Murray to fill the clear-cut RB1 role for the team totaling 19 touches on the day. With Giovani Bernard out of the lineup for the Bucs, Leonard Fournette was the team’s primary back, totaling 128 total yards on 23 touches to Ronald Jones’ line of six carries for 25 yards and a score.

Unfortunately, left for us to consider as we set our Week 5 fantasy football lineups, there was a slew of injuries as well. Let’s get into it.

Injury news

David Montgomery, Chicago Bears (knee)

Montgomery left late in Sunday’s game after scoring two touchdowns on the ground with a nasty-looking knee injury. Monday’s MRI revealed a sprain, luckily avoiding a torn ACL, but he’s likely to miss at least 4 weeks. Damien Williams will serve as his backup, with rookie Khalil Herbert next on the depth chart.

Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals (ankle)

Mixon suffered a mild ankle sprain that left him sideline late in the fourth quarter of the Bengals primetime matchup against the Jaguars. Samaje Perine is his backup.

Chris Carson, Seattle Seahawks (neck)

Carson was listed as a DNP Tuesday ahead of the team’s Thursday Night Football matchup against the Rams. Backup Alex Collins rotated snaps with Carson last week, finishing the game with 12 touches for 78 scrimmage yards and a score. Continue to keep an eye heading into Thursday.

Week 5 RB streamer

Jeremy McNichols, Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

McNichols is one of my favorite deep flex plays in full-PPR leagues. In the absence of Julio Jones and AJ Brown in Week 4, McNichols ran 32 routes — the fifth-most among RBs on the week — and finished the day with 8 catches for 74 receiving yards. If Brown and Jones are out again for the Titans, look for McNichols as a deep flex play at RB, as the team faces the Jaguars, who have allowed the 7th most catches and 6th most receiving yards to the running back position so far on the season.