Fantasy Football Week 5 Sleepers: Why Trey Sermon and Joe Flacco can deliver a win for managers

Anthony Richardson (hip) is questionable for Week 5 at Jacksonville, and Jonathan Taylor (ankle) has been ruled out. That puts Joe Flacco and Trey Sermon on the radar as sleepers.

We’ll get to Sermon below, but let’s start with the Colts passing game. Richardson was at practice Friday, but according to The Athletic, Flacco was “taking most, if not all, of the first-team reps.”

Flacco came on for Richardson in Week 4 against the Steelers and was 16-of-26 passing for 168 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for 19 Fantasy points. Just like last year for the Browns, Flacco could be a solid replacement option for the Colts and Fantasy managers if needed in Week 5, and I like him as a borderline starter in all leagues.

Jacksonville is No. 2 in most Fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks, and Josh Allen and C.J. Stroud have each scored at least 27.5 Fantasy points against the Jaguars in the past two games. Flacco likely won’t do that, but 20 Fantasy points is a strong possibility.

With Flacco under center, that helps the outlooks for Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs. Pittman becomes a No. 2 Fantasy receiver in all leagues, and Downs is a high-end No. 3 option and should be considered a sleeper.

Both receivers just had their best game in Week 4 against Pittsburgh with Flacco. Pittman had six catches for 113 yards on nine targets, and Downs had eight catches for 82 yards and a touchdown on nine targets. The Jaguars are No. 5 in most Fantasy points allowed to opposing receivers, so the matchup is fantastic. There have been six receivers to score at least 12.3 PPR points against Jacksonville this year.

Now, as for the run game, Sermon should get the start, but he’ll share touches with Tyler Goodson. Sermon should be considered a low-end No. 2 running back or flex in Week 5, while Goodson is more of a desperation flex.

Goodson only has one catch on the season and no carries. Sermon has at least two carries in every game this year and scored a touchdown in Week 3 against Chicago. After Taylor was hurt against Pittsburgh, Sermon had five carries for 8 yards.

Again, this is a great matchup since the Jaguars are No. 7 in most Fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs. Four running backs have scored at least 13.6 PPR points against Jacksonville this season, and hopefully Sermon can be a capable fill-in replacement for Taylor.

It’s not ideal to be without Taylor and Richardson against the Jaguars. But Flacco can be useful as a replacement quarterback, and his presence is great for Pittman and Downs. And hopefully Sermon can do well enough against Jacksonville that he can be at least a flex option in all leagues. 

Week 5 Sleepers

Defense/Special Teams
Broncos (vs. LV)
Packers (at LAR)
Dolphins (at NE)

Kickers
Will Reichard (vs. NYJ)
Chris Boswell (vs. DAL)
Austin Seibert (vs. CLE)