Week 5 WR Rankings: George Pickens Continues to Ascend
It's Week 5.
That means we're almost a quarter of the way through the NFL regular season.
Time flies. Time lies. Time dies.
In the immortal words of Scott Stapp: "No time for mourning, ain't got no time."
Let's get into the Week 5 WR edition of Freedman's Favorites, where I highlight guys I'm upgrading because of:
- Favorable betting factors and situational spots
- Advantageous defensive matchups (perhaps aided by injury)
- Increased usage expectations (again, maybe aided by injury)
For process notes regarding this series, my weekly fantasy football rankings, and my weekly projections, see the end of this piece. Also, check out the rest of my favorite Week 5 fantasy football plays.
To see our full rankings and projections, use the promo code FREEDMAN for 20% off the FantasyLife+ package.
Week 5 Wide Receiver Rankings
George Pickens Leaps Up the Week 5 WR Ranks
The Week 1 Cowboys debut for George Pickens was forgettable (3-30-0 receiving, four targets), but since Week 2 only three WRs have 15+ fantasy points in every game (per our Fantasy Life Scoring Matrix).
- Puka Nacua: 32-373-1 receiving | 39 targets
- Amon-Ra St. Brown: 23-262-6 receiving | 26 targets
- George Pickens: 18-270-4 receiving | 29 targets
Is Pickens in the same tier as Nacua and St. Brown? No.
But over the past three games he has more receiving yards than one and more receiving TDs than the other. Just saying.
Doubtless, Pickens has benefitted from the absence of No. 1 WR CeeDee Lamb (ankle), who exited Week 3 after just seven snaps.
But he has also benefited from two macro factors.
- The Cowboys are playing fast. They're No. 7 in pace (26.4 seconds per snap, per FTN).
- The Cowboys are throwing the ball. They're No. 2 in pass rate (64.8%).
And that means the Cowboys are No. 1 in pass attempts (124), completions (124), and passing yards (1,160).
With his dynamic skill set, it would be hard for Perkins not to produce in that kind of offensive environment.
And then there's the matchup this week: The Jets are No. 30 in defensive dropback EPA (0.342, per RBs Don't Matter). The Cowboys should once again be able to move the ball through the air.
While this game has a consensus total of 47.5, the over is a five-star bet in our Fantasy Life Game Model.
I'm expecting a plethora of points.
Xavier Worthy Is Worthy of a Week 5 Rankings Boost
In Xavier Worthy's 10 final full games last year, he had 754 yards and seven TDs on 76 targets and 14 carries.
And last week (his first full game of the season), he had 121 yards on eight targets and two carries.
For as much as the second-year speedster struggled to connect with QB Patrick Mahomes in the first half of his rookie campaign, he's now integral to the Chiefs offense, which gets an upgrade this week: The Jags are No. 4 in largest fantasy boost allowed to WRs (+6).
And I'm not worried about the Chiefs being away from Arrowhead Stadium: For his career, Mahomes on the road is 33-24-3 ATS (11.9% ROI, per Action Network).
As long as Rashee Rice (suspension) is out, Worthy deserves fantasy WR1 consideration.
Wan'Dale Robinson Is a High-Floor WR3 in Week 5
No. 1 WR Malik Nabers (knee) suffered a season-ending injury on Sunday, which means Robinson is now the No. 1 pass catcher for the Giants.
In that role, he did very little in Week 4 (3-14-0 receiving, five targets). And it's arguable that he's not truly ahead of perimeter WR Darius Slayton, based on their numbers over the past two weeks.
- Robinson: 4-40-0 receiving | Nine targets
- Slayton: 7-74-0 receiving | Eight targets
Slayton should certainly be added in most leagues.
But of the two, I prefer Robinson, who has 167 targets since last season (to Slayton's 83). Robinson is just a more involved member of the offense, and we saw that last week: With Nabers exiting early, Robinson had a 100% route and was the No. 7 WR with a 97% snap rate.
As for this week, I like his matchup against the Saints, who are No. 32 in defensive pass DVOA against No. 1 WRs (67.2%). And I specifically like his matchup in the slot against CB Alontae Taylor, who has never had a coverage grade of even 60.0 in any season (per PFF).
Chris Godwin Earns Week 5 Rankings Upgrade
I was skeptical of Chris Godwin entering last week.
He was great in 2024 (50-576-5 receiving, 62 targets in seven games), but the season-ending ankle injury he suffered was severe enough to sideline him for Weeks 1-3, and at 29 years old, he seemed (to me) to be a candidate for age-related decline.
And maybe that's what we'll see in 2025. In terms of production, he didn't look good (3-26-0 receiving). Plus, I still have concerns about how he'll do when No. 1 WR Mike Evans (hamstring) returns to the lineup.
But Evans seems likely to miss at least one more game, and in his absence Godwin had strong utilization in Week 4. In fact, his usage was highly comparable to that of Emeka Egbuka.
- Godwin: 91% route rate | 25% target rate | 26% target share | 45% air yards
- Egbuka: 93% route rate | 24% target rate | 26% target share | 44% air yards
He doesn't have an easy matchup on the road with the Seahawks, who have three extra days to rest and prepare coming off Thursday Night Football.
Still, he just got 10 targets in his first game back after an 11-month layoff, and he had three straight 1,000-yard seasons before his 2024 campaign was cut short.
I can't rank him any lower than a WR3.
The Deep Route
Justin Jefferson (Vikings) vs. Browns (in London): The Vikings have a large travel edge because they played in Ireland last week (the terrible 2024 Jags scored 32 points with a similar edge last year), and Jefferson has looked like his former self with 15-201-0 receiving on 18 targets in two games with QB Carson Wentz. The Browns are No. 29 in defensive pass DVOA against No. 1 WRs (39.2%).
Nico Collins (Texans) at Ravens: Collins disappointed in Week 1 (3-25-0 receiving, five targets), but in three games since then he has 15-235-2 receiving on 26 targets. The Ravens are No. 5 in most fantasy points allowed to WRs (32.2), and CBs Marlon Humphrey (calf) and Nate Wiggins (elbow) both exited last week early with injuries.
Quentin Johnston (Chargers) vs. Commanders: By route rate (92%), Johnston is still the No. 2 WR on his team … but across the league he's the No. 6 WR in Utilization Score (85, per our Fantasy Life Utilization Report). Johnston has impressed this year with 22-337-4 receiving on 36 targets, and the Commanders are No. 32 in defensive pass DVOA against No. 2 WRs (75.4%). If he were to become available in Guillotine Leagues™, Johnston is someone I would aggressively pursue. I think what we've seen out of him in 2025 is real.
Tetairoa McMillan (Panthers) vs. Dolphins: The first-round rookie is yet to have a big week, but he's the No. 3 WR in air yard share (47%) and No. 5 WR in WOPR (74%). He could see more usage than usual without WRs Xavier Legette (hamstring) and WR David Moore (elbow) and TE Ja'Tavion Sanders (ankle), and the Dolphins are injured in the secondary: No. 1 CB Storm Duck (ankle) last played in Week 1, and slot CB Jason Marshall (hamstring, IR) is out.
"WOPR" stands for "weighted opportunity rating," and it measures the overall quality of a player's aerial role in his offense by considering his share of targets and air yards.
Tee Higgins (Bengals) vs. Lions: This season has been disastrous for Higgins, who has just 10-136-1 receiving on 20 targets … but the Lions are No. 30 in defensive pass DVOA against No. 2 WRs (49.3%), and starting perimeter CBs D.J. Reed (hamstring) and Terrion Arnold (shoulder) are uncertain after exiting last week early. If not now, when?
Elic Ayomanor (Titans) at Cardinals: With apologies to veteran Calvin Ridley, the rookie Ayomanor is the No. 1 WR for the Titans, given that he has an identical target share (21%) and superior share of air yards (38% vs. 31%) and endzone targets (60% vs. 20%). The Cards are No. 28 in defensive dropback SR (52.9%), slot CB Garrett Williams (knee, IR) is out, and No. 1 CB Will Johnson (groin) last played in Week 2.
KaVontae Turpin (Cowboys) at Jets: Turpin has an efficient 8.9 yards per target since last year, he regularly has extra opportunities to score as a runner (six carries this year) and returner (2024 first-team All-Pro), and he's had a nice 69% route rate since Week 3, when No. 1 WR CeeDee Lamb (ankle) went out. Slot CB Michael Carter (concussion) might be out.
Wide Receiver Rankings Notes
Byes: This week, the Falcons, Bears, Packers, and Steelers are on bye.
Injuries: Since I write Freedman's Favorites on Tuesday, I have incomplete injury information. After I submit this article, any updated thoughts I have regarding injuries will manifest in my rankings and projections. For our quick fantasy thoughts every day, subscribe to the Fantasy Life Newsletter.
Schedule: This season, I have the following rankings and projections schedule.
- Tue AM: Publish rankings and projections
- Thu AM: Refresh rankings and projections
- Thu PM: Make necessary TNF rankings changes
- Sat PM: Update rankings and projections
- Sun AM: Revise rankings
- Sun PM: Finalize rankings based on news prior to 1 pm ET kickoff
Accuracy: I'm a six-time top-20 ranker in accuracy and a long-time profitable player prop better.
Scoring: All fantasy points are half-PPR scoring unless otherwise stated.
Cohesion: My positional breakdowns are published separately, but I think of them as comprising one whole, so check out the rest of my favorite Week 5 fantasy football plays (via my Fantasy Life author page).
Abbreviations: Here are some abbreviations I might have used in the piece.
- Fantasy Points per Game (FPPG)
- Against the Spread (ATS)
- Over/Under (O/U)
- Team Total (TT)
- Moneyline (ML)
- Return on Investment (ROI)
- Adjusted Yards per Attempt (AY/A)
- Expected Points Added (EPA)
- Success Rate (SR)
- Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE)
- Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA)
- AirYAC (Air Yards + Yards After Catch)
- Weighted Opportunity Rating (WOPR)
- Average Depth of Target (aDOT)
- Short Down and Distance (SDD)
- Long Down and Distance (LDD)
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