4 NFL DFS Stud Picks for Week 5

Hitting on high-salary players is the first step to having success in NFL DFS on FanDuel.

These players take up the biggest chunk of your salary cap, and they need to deliver quality performances for your lineup to reach its ceiling.

With some help from our NFL DFS projections, here are four studs to target on this week's main slate, which starts at 1 p.m. ET.

All betting odds come from the NFL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook and may change after this article is published.

NFL DFS Stud Plays for Week 5

Josh Allen, RB, Buffalo Bills

FanDuel Salary: ($9,300)

Josh Allen is coming off a rough showing on Sunday Night Football, one in which he failed to reach double-digit FanDuel points for the second time in four games. That's resulted in some mild early roster rate projections from across the industry.

I'm buying the dip.

Allen exceeded 30 FD points in both of his other two games. And while we'd appreciate a bit more consistency from the highest-salaried quarterback on the slate, his Week 2 dud didn't have anything to do with poor play -- the Buffalo Bills just didn't need him as much in a 21-point win.

This week, they're going to need him. Buffalo is just a 1.5-point road favorite against the Houston Texans, and with a 47.5-point total, this is shaping up to be one of the slate's premier game environments.

Houston presents a strong matchup for a potential Josh Allen ceiling game. The Texans are 12th in schedule-adjusted pass defense, per numberFire, but they've yielded the sixth most FD points per dropback and most air yards per attempt in football. Houston has also generated pressure at the second-highest rate, and that could push Allen to use his legs more and do damage on the ground.

Our NFL DFS projections peg Allen for 22 FD points, the second-most on the slate. But with Lamar Jackson projected for nearly twice as high of a roster rate, I'm more than happy to go against the field with one of the most fearsome fantasy producers in football.

Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams

FanDuel Salary: ($8,400)

There are several high-salary running backs with good matchups this week, but Kyren Williams' utilization makes him hard to ignore at $8,400.

Williams enters Week 5 averaging 25.3 adjusted opportunities (carries plus 2x targets) per game, seventh among all running backs. He's played a league-best 84.9% of snaps for the Los Angeles Rams, and we've seen his usage trend up even further with LA down their top two receivers.

Over the last two weeks, Kyren's adjusted opportunities have jumped to 27.5, and he's seen a staggering 14 red zone rush attempts. That's resulted in 4 total touchdowns and a per-game average of 24.5 FD points per game.

Both of those came in tough matchups -- something he won't need to worry about this week. Williams and the Rams host the Green Bay Packers in a game with the kind of tight spread (Packers -3.0) and high total (48.5) we're looking for in DFS.

It doesn't hurt that Green Bay has been a league-average fantasy matchup for opposing running backs -- nor that they're allowing the 10th-most rushing yards over expectation per attempt to the position, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

The Packers themselves have a few intriguing DFS values to consider pairing opposite of Kyren, adding to his intrigue at $8,400.

Between that potential correlation and Kyren's stellar utilization, Williams is my go-to high-salary running back in Week 5.

CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys

FanDuel Salary: ($9,400)

Early roster rate projections are understandably hesitant on CeeDee Lamb. Though he's coming off his best fantasy performance of the season, Lamb's on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers this week -- a defense that's top-10 in FD points allowed to receivers and features one of the best perimeter corners in football, Joey Porter Jr.

As you'd expect, the Steelers are seventh in schedule-adjusted defense. But they're only 13th against the pass, and Lamb's heavy slot role (50.2% slot% per PFF) should give him plenty of opportunities to produce away from Porter Jr.

We saw Indianapolis' Josh Downs pop for a 32.1% target share and 18.2 FD points in that role last week, and that bodes well for Lamb's Week 5 outlook. Pittsburgh has given up 46% of receiver fantasy points to the slot, according to Razzball.

So, while the Steelers aren't a cupcake matchup, they're not one that has me fading Lamb -- not when he's coming off such a big game. Last week, Lamb saw a 30.8% target share (his second-highest of the season) and totaled 106 scrimmage yards (his most of the season). Brandin Cooks and his 12.9% target share is out this week, too, and that could push even more looks CeeDee's way. In the one game Cooks missed last season, Lamb saw a 35.1% target share.

This could also be a better game environment than you'd expect. The Dallas Cowboys' defense is banged-up enough that the Steelers could have some success on offense, and that would push Dallas into an even heavier passing script. They're top-10 in pass rate over expectation (PROE) as it is, and they've had a positive PROE each of the past two games.

On top of that, this is the fastest-projected game on the main slate when looking at adjusted pace.

Lamb isn't someone I'll lock into every lineup at this salary, but he's someone I'll be overweight on relative to the field. There's just too much proven upside to ignore him in what could be a sneaky-strong matchup.

Brock Bowers, TE, Las Vegas Raiders

FanDuel Salary: ($6,300)

Tight end is rough enough even when we have all the top names active. But with Travis Kelce, Dallas Goedert, and Sam LaPorta all off the main slate, pickings are slim at the top of the position.

Even so, this is a slate that I'm interested in turning back to rookie Brock Bowers against the Denver Broncos.

Bowers exploded onto the scene in Weeks 1 and 2, but he's averaged just 4.9 FD points and seen an 11.1% target share over the last two games. And while his 72.8% snap rate is still solid during that stretch, a 56.3% route rate certainly raises some eyebrows.

That's reflected in a low roster rate projection heading into the weekend -- one I want to take advantage of.

Bowers still ranks third in FD points per game at the position, and he's rocking essentially the same target share (18.3%) as guys like Travis Kelce (18.8%), George Kittle (18.7%), and Dalton Kincaid (18.4%).

But Brock's target share was up at 25.7% in Weeks 1 and 2, and that's around where I expect him to end up this week with Davante Adams sidelined.

Now, Adams missed last week, too, but it was Jakobi Meyers (41.7% target share) who reaped the benefits. But Meyers is expected to see plenty of Pat Surtain II on Sunday, and he's a big reason Denver has allowed the third-lowest target rate to opposing wide receivers.

Those targets have to go somewhere, and against the Broncos, they've gone to tight ends. Denver has permitted the eighth-highest target rate and seventh-most receptions to tight ends.

That puts Bowers in line for a busy day, and it makes him my favorite high-salary tight end to allocate a large chunk of salary towards.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.