Jake Ferguson, A.J. Barner and the Week 5 TE Takeover

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Mike's Hard Lemonade:

I’m not sure if I find it depressing or hilarious that on the week where nearly every tight end went off that the “elite” cohort of Brock Bowers (hurt), George Kittle (hurt) and Trey McBride (5-41) all did nothing.

Check out this list of other TE performances from yesterday, though:

A.J. Barner (!): 20.8 points (2 TDs)
Jake Ferguson: 20.4 points (2 TDs and the current TE1 on the year)
Theo Johnson: 18.3 points (2 TDs)
Sam LaPorta: 17.7 points
Darren Waller: 16.3 points
David Njoku: 15.7 points
Mason Taylor: 13.2
Tyler Warren: 12.4
Evan Engram: 11.3

Pending MNF, 12 different tight ends have already scored over 10 points, which is more than any other week this season. Needless to say, the Elite TE crew is down bad right now to the punt/streaming TE club.

Notable performances at other positions worth mentioning:

Rico Dowdle (30.9), who has the best player picture on our site (seriously, go look at it right now; I hope we never change it), went ballistic vs. the Dolphins (23-206-1; 3-28).
Jonathan Taylor (30.1) continued to cement his status as the true 1.01 in 2025 fantasy football with another hat trick.
And Emeka Egbuka (27.8) stayed scorching red-hot (7-163-1). His first five games put him in some outrageously good company.

I’ll leave the Week 5 disappointments to Ronis down below (cough, Cardinals, cough, Cardinals) …

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Another Hat Trick For The Likely 2026 1.01

How did Jonathan Taylor slip to the end of the second round in some drafts? While the Colts offense has been much better than anyone anticipated with Daniel Jones, Taylor finished last season strong and is back getting almost all of the touches. He rushed for 66 yards on 17 carries with three TDs and caught three passes for 20 yards in a blowout win.

Who else finished among the top performers on Sunday’s Week 5 fantasy football slate? Adam Ronis dives into the heroics of Taylor, Emeka Egbuka and more in his game-by-game recap of the slate. ⬇️

MORE TAKEAWAYS FROM SUNDAY’S SLATE

Looking Ahead to Week 6 with Kendall …

Well … at least when I said it couldn't get worse on the injury front compared to last week—I was right! So, let's go through the good news: there are only two teams on a bye heading into Week 6—the Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings. The bad news? We had a lot of injuries in between the Week 5 and Week 6 waiver wire article.

Rico Dowdle, RB, Panthers (58% rostered)

Chuba Hubbard was kept out of practice all week leading up to the Panthers Week 5 matchup against the Dolphins and eventually was ruled out with a calf injury. Rico Dowdle might be rostered in your league, but we always have to talk about the next man up and if Hubbard is held out another week—or even limited—then Dowdle is the guy we're turning to. Because WOW WHAT A SUNDAY FOR DOWDLE! He rushed 23 times for 206 yards and a touchdown while catching three of four targets for 28 yards—good for 30.9 fantasy points. The Panthers take on the Cowboys in Week 6, which is a matchup we want to pick on.

Ryan Flournoy, WR, Cowboys (0% rostered)

The Cowboys lost KaVontae Turpin due to a foot sprain and with CeeDee Lamb also unable to return for Week 5, Flournoy stepped up for Dallas. He reeled in 114 receiving yards on six catches—that included 104 receiving yards in the first half! According to the Cowboys, combined with the 108 rushing yards from Javonte Williams in the first half, Williams and Flournoy became the first duo in any game since 1978 to have both a 100-yard receiver and 100-yard rusher in the first half of a single game.

We can't ignore how involved Flournoy was in this game. The Cowboys get the Panthers on the road next week. Plus, he's easy to root for.

Mason Taylor, TE, Jets (13% rostered)

If you start any Jets players, you might not want to actually watch the games, but when you check back, you could be pleasantly surprised! Mason Taylor was targeted 12 times by Justin Fields in the Jets' loss to the Cowboys. In Week 4, he was targeted seven times, which means he looks to be the second option in the passing game for Fields. He finished Sunday with nine receptions for 67 yards and a 27% target share. And every single week, we have seen that target share grow. Buy him now!

MORE WEEK 6 WAIVER WIRE TARGETS

2026 NFL Draft Top-60 Big Board

Get used to the name LaNorris Sellers. He’s big (6-foot-2, 242 pounds) and can fly, as he hit 22 mph during a recent game. The South Carolina redshirt sophomore is going to be moving up draft boards almost as fast as he does on a football field.

Where does Sellers rank on Thor Nystrom’s Top-60 Big Board? In his big reveal for draft season, Thor goes 60 deep in NFL Draft prospects likely to come out next year. There are some familiar names in there, and one that is not (guess, who). And there are also plenty new names you’ll become quite familiar with in the coming months. ⬇️

WHO’S THE TOP WR ON THE BOARD?