Shawn Siegele examines the biggest RB and WR developments from Week 5, including veteran options pushing to make their presence felt.
Week 5 again brought the full range of emotions. Our favorite RB options joined the ground parade, with Saquon Barkley returning from the sidelines to score the game-winning touchdown, Raheem Mostert averaging 6.3 yards per carry and scoring his first TD of the season, Breece Hall gaining almost 200 yards and continuing to establish himself as the next superstar, Ken Walker coming off the bench for a 69-yard score, and even Eno Benjamin showcasing his elite burst with an 11-yard TD sprint to tie the score late.
Unfortunately, Walker’s path to league-winning upside comes at the expense of Rashaad Penny, who’d again looked sharp before a broken fibula ended his season. This depressing RB dynamic explains why both Seahawks stars were on the Zero RB Countdown. Each possesses elite ability, and as Geno Smith’s shock season appears less fluky by the week, Walker is now positioned to be the 2022 league winner.
While veteran RBs were the Week 5 headliners – we’ll get to them in the body of the article – a handful of foundation receivers fought to hold serve. Justin Jefferson and Cooper Kupp combined for more than 56 points, furthering their arguments to be the 1.01 and 1.02 next season. Stefon Diggs was overshadowed by Gabe Davis (32.1) and Khalil Shakir (16.5) but continued to illustrate the immense value of the Buffalo passing offense with 24.5 of his own.
Beyond the stars, it was a weekend of strife, discontent, and impotent frustration.
- Tee Higgins was actually hurt.
- A.J. Brown floundered in Arizona and the Eagles responded with a game-winning, 17-play field goal drive that featured zero passes to the WRs.
- Amon-Ra St. Brown was a shadow of himself in New England.
- Skylar Thompson wiped out the Dolphins pass-catchers.
- Zach Wilson wiped out the Jets pass-catchers.
- The trifecta of Arthur Smith, poor officiating, and injury dealt a fatal blow to Drake London’s short-term value and further tarnished a dynasty outlook that shined so brightly just a few scant weeks ago.
- The Giants secondary wiped the deck with Aaron Rodgers.
- The Cowboys didn’t need CeeDee Lamb to humiliate the cratering Super Bowl champions.
- Deebo Samuel dropped a flurry of passes to finish with two catches on nine targets.
- A game was played between Houston and Jacksonville. It resembled what I’m told takes place in the USFL.
It wasn’t all bad. A few key veterans continued to burnish their 2022 credentials. I’ll dive into the WR1 seasons from Marquise Brown and Mike Williams, plus the big weeks from Tyler Lockett and Amari Cooper, in the WR breakdown.
